Netflix unveiled a surprise new animated ident for its originals over the weekend. The familiar Netflix N now explodes into a rainbow of colour. It’s bright and flashy, but also nice and classy. I really like it a lot.
The new ident animation reflects the diversity and variety of our content. Our favorite part is when the Netflix symbol breaks out into an array of colors--which is inspired by the spectrum of stories, emotions, languages, fans and creators that collectively make up who we are as a brand.
The ident will be introduced to existing Netflix titles in their library over the coming months, but debuted on the weekend with Russian Doll and Velvet Buzzsaw. Netflix advised Fast Company that the company had spent two years developing the ident.
It has me wondering when HBO will get around to revamping its familiar static buzz ident. Yes, it’s iconic, but I think it has been a good ten years since I have seen static on my television like that - its relevance to the viewer is long gone at this point.
Machinima, best known for producing gamer culture friendly YouTube series, has been shuttered. Last year AT&T sold the company to Otter Media following the acquisition of what is now WarnerMedia. 81 staff have been fired as a result, with a select number of employees remaining with Otter.
There is a Groundhog Day sequel on the way… made by Sony for VR. Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son will debut later this year.
Published by Sony Pictures Virtual Reality (SPVR) and produced by SPVR and MWM Immersive, Groundhog Day VR is slated to land on the PlayStation Store later this year for PSVR. The studio makes mention of “other major VR platforms” as well, showing both the Oculus and Vive logos. It’s uncertain whether this means PSVR has timed exclusivity, or if it’s set for simultaneous release on all platforms.
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Catastrophe is just a few weeks now away from its final episode, with Sharon Horgan offering some info on how the series comes to an end:
“I can tell you that we really wanted to mess with everyone’s heads. It’s emotional, and it’s a little bit longer than usual,” she added at the Radio Times Covers Party. “All of Rob’s family are there, and it’s not in England. That’s enough, right?”
CBS has sold its entire inventory for the Super Bowl with the average ad costing $5.2 million. Apparently advertisers have spent $3.2 million to promote that they have commercials playing during the Super Bowl.
Related: Puppy Bowl XV has released information on its starting lineup. Every singly puppy since the Puppy Bowl’s inception has since been adopted, which is kind of nice. But, also remember that there are abandoned dogs constantly available from shelters and foster organisations - your dog doesn’t have to be a TV star to receive your love.
Comedy Central pulled those F**kJerry sponsored posts ABW mentioned last week amid pressure from the world at large. Amid the backlash was a number of comedians stepping forward (including John Mulaney) to attack F**kJerry of stealing jokes from them. Elliot from F**kJerry has posted a statement via Medium:
Effective immediately, we will no longer post content when we cannot identify the creator, and will require the original creator’s advanced consent before publishing their content to our followers. It is clear that attribution is no longer sufficient, so permission will become the new policy.
One wonders if ‘JerryMedia’ regrets getting involved in the Fyre doco, considering the extra attention now placed on them.
For those of you who enjoyed the rather excellent Russian Doll on Netflix over the weekend, but don’t feel like you entirely ‘got’ it, Caroline Famke at Variety has a column explaining the deeper meaning within the show.
Netflix has cancelled Travelers after 3 seasons. I feel terrible for star Eric McCormack who now only has one TV show on the air.
And finally…
Jerry Seinfeld, notoriously hard up for cash, is being sued for selling a fake Porsche for $1.5 million.
The buyer, FICA FRIO Ltd. claims the car isn’t the GS/GT that it was promised in the auction, and that Seinfeld himself intentionally misrepresented the car’s authenticity. The buyer further claims that they had the car inspected by an historic Porsche dealer, who expressed concern about the car before launching an investigation which allegedly brought something to the surface backing their claims.
According to TMZ, Seinfeld is working to get to the bottom of this. As per his attorney:
"Jerry consigned the car to Gooding and Company, an auction house, which is responsible for the sale. Nevertheless, Jerry is willing to do what's right and fair, and we are confident the court will support the need for an outside evaluator to examine the provenance of the car."
