This topic outlines how to deliver movie trailer and bonus value-added material (VAM) content. For guidance on TV VAM delivery, see TV Value-added material (VAM).
Trailers and bonus content for movies are delivered and displayed on the detail page of the movie. VAM titles are treated as separate entities from movie titles. Each movie VAM content asset requires:
- A unique identifier/SKU
- Dedicated metadata (MEC)
- Dedicated manifest (MMC)
- Avails (EMA)
- Component-based playable package with a semi-textless mezzanine and discrete timed text and secondary audio.
- Artwork
Supported VAM types
Supported VAM types
Prime Video supports delivery of trailer and bonus content. These are differentiated upon metadata delivery: you must provide a “promotion” value for trailers and a “supplemental” value for bonus content. Categorizing these correctly is essential, because it drives the storefront experiences by accurately placing each VAM in the appropriate spot on the title display page.
- Trailers
- Main trailer, teaser, 30-second trailer, title announcement, and so on.
- Bonus
- Behind the scenes, bloopers, making of, and so on.
Storefront experience
VAM content is shown on a title’s display page in two unique placements:
- Trailer button
- Extras tab
The Extras tab appears only when:
- More than a single trailer is provided (for example, a teaser and a main trailer are delivered)
- Trailer(s) and bonus content are provided
- Only bonus content is provided
Titles delivered with a “promotion” WorkType in the MEC appear under Trailers. Titles delivered with a “supplemental” WorkType in the MEC appear under Bonus.
For information about VAM order, please see Sequence later in this page.
Metadata (MEC) references
To successfully ingest VAM metadata, please ensure that you submit parent-level metadata for a movie asset first. If VAM metadata is delivered prior to parent metadata, Prime Video systems will attempt to match them for 20 hours. If matching does not occur in that window, redelivery of VAM metadata will be required.
The following table lists VAM-relevant fields in MEC title metadata:
Field name | Definition and notes | Accepted values | Prime Video usage |
| TitleDisplayUnlimited | The title that will be displayed on the storefront. It’s recommended to only include the VAM type, and exclude the main title of the Parent. Localized values are expected when localized metadata for the Parent is provided. | Suggested title examples: · Trailer · Teaser · Bloopers · Behind the scenes · The making of | Required |
| WorkType | Type of the work. Trailers: promotion Bonus: supplemental | promotion supplemental | Required |
| Parent | Identifies the parent (movie) title. | Required for WorkType “promotion” and “supplemental” | |
| @relationshipType | Type of the work. Trailers: ispromotionfor | ispromotionfor issupplementto | Required for Parent |
| ParentContentID | ContentID of the movie metadata. | Required | |
| SequenceInfo<Number> | Sequence number that will be used to identify the display order of VAM. Order priority is determined by the highest sequence number provided. The highest number appears first. | Integer | Required for WorkType “promotion” and “supplemental” |
Sequence
When multiple VAM titles are available, their order on the display page is determined based on the SequenceInfo number provided in the metadata (MEC)
Order priority is determined by the highest sequence number. For example, if 5 VAM titles are delivered, the title with SequenceInfo 5 will be displayed first, SequenceInfo 4 will be displayed second, and so on.
If no valid sequencing exists (for example, all VAM is delivered with a SequenceInfo value of 0), order is prioritized based on the latest start date of the VAM avail. If no distinction between sequence or avail start date is provided, trailers will be selected at random. Prime Video reserves the right to re-order VAM content to provide the best customer experience.
Manifest (MMC) references
MMC delivery for VAM content is similar to an episode or movie MMC delivery, but a unique, separate MMC for VAM content is still required. In the VAM MMC, different values are expected under the Experiences section of the MMC. Please be sure to correctly identify the SubType in your VAM MMC delivery, as shown in the following examples.
Warning: Failure to provide this information will lead to a playback error on the detail page. Therefore, it’s critical to provide the following information in the VAM MMC file.
Trailers:
<manifest:Type>Main</manifest:Type>
<manifest:SubType>Trailer</manifest:SubType>
Bonus:
<manifest:Type>Main</manifest:Type>
<manifest:SubType>Bonus</manifest:SubType>
Note: These requirements are in addition to the MMC requirements found in the MMC asset manifest.
Content rights (EMA avails)
Avail delivery is required to publish movie VAM content for all business lines avails that are submitted. VAM avails can be delivered along with your movie avails or separately on a dedicated VAM tab. Please reference the samples available on this page for more information. Note that not all license types can be used for VAM content.
- Trailers
All trailers (delivered with a promotion value in the MEC) must be submitted as Free Video On Demand (FVOD). This ensures that customers can sample content without being logged in, making a purchase, or subscribing to a channel. Don’t use Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) or Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD) offer types for trailers. - Bonus
Bonus content (delivered with a supplemental value in the MEC) can be submitted as FVOD or SVOD. Use FVOD if the content is intended to be available to all customers. Use SVOD if the content is intended to be available only to customers who have a valid channel subscription.
The following table lists VAM-relevant fields in EMA avails.
Field name | Definition and notes | Prime Video usage |
| WorkType | Type of the work. Trailers and bonus: supplemental | Required |
| LicenseType | Trailer: FVOD Bonus: FVOD, SVOD | Required |
Artwork
Trailer and bonus art is 16:9 artwork that captures the context for the trailer or bonus content. Similar to movie art, this is usually a still from the trailer or bonus content, and must be free of any text elements unless it’s a part of the overall image (for example, a sign behind the protagonist with text on it). The accepted value for Purpose in the manifest delivery is “cover”. If artwork is not provided for trailer and bonus content, Prime Video will fall back to the movie content.
Samples
The following sample files provide commented code and field examples that you can edit to reflect your own information. Right-click a link and select Save link as to save the file to your computer. You can then make changes in Excel and/or XML editors.
