Producer Sahil Mirchandani Captures the Wild, Real‑Life Spirit of Amazon’s The Sticky

Written by Tom White

When Amazon Prime Video released The Sticky, a darkly comic thriller about a real Canadian maple syrup heist, the streamer needed key art as audacious as the series itself. To lead that campaign, it turned to Sahil Mirchandani, a Los Angeles–based producer known for elevating marketing shoots into must‑see events. Mirchandani produced the show’s billboard campaign and a widely viewed promotional interview with executive producer and guest star Jamie Lee Curtis, continuing a relationship with Prime Video that has already delivered high‑profile campaigns for Kids in the Hall, Three Pines, and Last One Laughing: Canada.

The six‑episode series The Sticky is equal parts caper and character study. Set in Quebec and premiering globally on Amazon Prime Video on 6 December 2024, it stars Margo Martindale as Ruth Landry, a farmer whose livelihood is threatened when powerful interests try to seize her maple syrup farm. Rather than accept defeat, Ruth concocts a plan to steal millions of dollars' worth of maple syrup in revenge. The cast includes Chris Diamantopoulos, Guillaume Cyr, Gita Miller, Guy Nadon, and others, with Jamie Lee Curtis appearing in a guest role. The series was created by Brian Donovan and Ed Herro, produced by Blumhouse Television, Comet Pictures, and Sphere Media, and directed by Michael Dowse and Joyce Wong.

While the tone is playful, the show’s premise is inspired by a very real crime. Between 2011 and 2012, thieves siphoned nearly 3,000 tonnes of maple syrup, valued at C$18.7 million, from a warehouse run by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. The heist, now referred to as the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, remains one of the most valuable robberies in Canadian history. The Sticky drizzles that history with black comedy; early reviews praised its eccentric characters and “spiky yarn,” and the show holds an 80 % approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a Metacritic score of 67/100.

Sahil Mirchandani’s task was to translate this offbeat story into imagery that would stop viewers in their tracks. Working closely with Prime Video and Blumhouse, he produced the key art shoot and billboard campaign for The Sticky, shepherding everything from creative concept through final delivery. Billboards showcasing Martindale, flanked by barrels of syrup and looming forests, appeared on highways across North America, while digital banners and streaming thumbnails brought the show’s maple‑syrup mayhem to viewers’ screens.

 Mirchandani also oversaw a promotional interview with executive producer Jamie Lee Curtis that added star power to the marketing push and contextualised the show’s blend of comedy and crime. The resulting assets were impossible to miss, contributing to the series’ pre‑launch buzz and reinforcing Mirchandani’s reputation for producing campaigns that resonate widely.    

Mirchandani’s ability to bring big‑budget polish to even the quirkiest concepts is rooted in a career built from the ground up. Born and raised in Toronto, he fell in love with film and television as a teenager. A sudden injury kept him homebound for months; unable to join friends for milestone moments, he found solace in movies and TV shows. “For an hour and a half at a time, I wasn’t me,” he recalls. “I was the character on screen… I found incredible cathartic relief through watching characters play out coming‑of‑age experiences.” That empathy inspired him to pursue a career where he could give audiences the same escape.

Self‑taught and self‑funded, Mirchandani started producing music videos and small commercials in Toronto. Recognising a gap in the Canadian market for high‑quality key art and service productions, he launched his own company and began delivering gallery shoots and advertising spots for major brands. Before relocating to the United States, he produced commercials and billboards for Nike, Adidas, Gymshark, and Kappa. He also ran the key art service production for Amazon Prime Video’s Canadian titles, laying the groundwork for long‑term collaborations with the streamer.

Those early years were not without obstacles. As a young South Asian producer entering a largely homogeneous industry, Mirchandani often struggled to get his calls returned. He persisted by outworking his peers and increasing the production value of every project he touched, even when budgets were tight. He recalls being praised for “maximising the production value” on a limited‑budget music video, making the final product look “vastly out of its budget range.” That resourcefulness has become a hallmark of his work: whether he’s producing a 30‑second commercial or a sprawling billboard shoot, Mirchandani assembles the right crew, manages scheduling down to the minute, and ensures that every dollar spent shows up on screen.

On The Sticky, Mirchandani applied the same passion and precision that made his earlier campaigns stand out. The series’ premise, a maple‑syrup farmer plotting a heist, required visuals that balanced humour with suspense. To achieve that, he collaborated with photographers and set designers to evoke the forests and sugar shacks of Quebec while spotlighting the show’s star, Margo Martindale. Because the show draws on the real Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist—when thieves made off with thousands of tonnes of syrup worth millions—Mirchandani’s team incorporated props like syrup barrels and vintage trucks into the shots. The resulting key art nodded to the true crime while embracing the series’ irreverent tone.

Coordinating the shoot meant juggling the schedules of actors, photographers, and marketing executives across multiple time zones. Mirchandani is known for his meticulous organisation, and he credits his success to marrying “creative problem‑solving with a self‑determined attitude.” On the day of the shoot, he orchestrated lighting setups, wardrobe changes, and set builds while keeping the energy high. The result was a suite of promotional images and videos that captured the spirit of The Sticky and conveyed why audiences should tune in.

Mirchandani’s drive extends beyond delivering polished campaigns; he is committed to diversity and mentorship in an industry where both remain rare. As one of the few South Asian producers working in high‑end entertainment advertising, he actively seeks to open doors for others.

When producing Gymshark’s AAPI Heritage Month campaign, he assembled an all‑Asian cast of athletes and a majority BIPOC crew, noting that it was “really insightful to bring their stories to life in a creative way that appeals to broad audiences.” He runs informal mentorship programmes on set, promoting production assistants to coordinators and production managers and giving them the experience needed to become serious industry players. His ethos—“Dreams are oddly achievable if you just keep working at them”—is advice he offers to anyone pursuing a creative career.

That dedication to representation also informs how he approaches stories like The Sticky. The cast spans generations and backgrounds, from Emmy‑winner Margo Martindale to Quebecois actors Guillaume Cyr and Suzanne Clément. Mirchandani’s inclusive leadership helped ensure that each performer felt valued during the key art shoot and that their unique personalities shone through in the final images. By blending Hollywood expertise with sensitivity to the show’s Canadian roots, he delivered marketing materials that felt authentic both to the series and to its cultural context.

With The Sticky now part of his portfolio, Sahil Mirchandani continues to cement his place among entertainment’s top marketing producers. Critics have noted that the series “lays it on thick” with memorable characters, and the marketing campaign he helmed helped convey that sense of fun and unpredictability. His previous work, ranging from billboard campaigns for Kids in the Hall and Three Pines to live performance shoots for Tate McRae and commercials for global brands, has collectively garnered tens of millions of views and appeared everywhere from Times Square to the Sunset Strip. Each new project allows him to blend the organisational rigor of a seasoned producer with the wonder he felt watching movies during his injury‑filled high‑school days.

Looking forward, Mirchandani aims to expand into feature films, with aspirations to executive-produce a slate of genre movies each year. In the meantime, he continues to steer marketing campaigns that capture audiences’ imaginations and give new shows like The Sticky the lift they need. By transforming wild stories, whether a stand‑up competition or a maple‑syrup heist, into striking visuals, he remains a testament to the idea that great production is both an art and a craft. As he often tells the teams he mentors, making magic is not just about inspiration; it’s about showing up every day ready to turn dreams into reality.      

Photo Credit: Sahil Mirchandani