Netflix
“The World is on Netflix”
Director
Debuting during the Opening Ceremonies for the Tokyo 2021 Summer Olympics, viewed in 13 countries across broadcast TV and digital outlets, this intergalactic-themed commercial was designed to tell the story that streaming video is the future of global entertainment, including outside the Earth, with an Alien Watch Party consisting of a leader and four minions.
The world unites to cheer for Olympic athletes from across the world, while Netflix’s global brand campaign celebrates our shared humanity through the most powerful skill – storytelling.
It’s the first time Netflix has debuted a brand campaign during a major global moment, and only its second global brand campaign in less than a year’s time.
In the charming commercial, we see the curious, wide-eyed aliens in their spaceship hovering around and observing earth through a reception of videos, primed for attack. That is, until they discover the joyful, heartwarming stories on Netflix while scrolling through its originals like Bridgerton, The Queen’s Gambit, and My Octopus Teacher, and begin to see human life differently – experiencing what life on earth is like. They get a better sense of our peculiar behaviors and obsessions, and eventually have a change of heart.
“The fully CGI TVC introduces a new host of original animated characters developed by The Mill in close collaboration with Netflix and Robert Stromberg. ‘We invested a lot of time in character expressions, as we don’t hear the aliens speak. There was also the delicate balance of trying to make the creatures somewhat scary, but cute in the same breath. We focused on the aliens’ eyes, eyebrows and overall expressions to tell the story in-lieu of dialogue.”
Behind-the-Scenes Magic
From fully-animated environments to meticulous character design and effects, Robert’s task was to create relatable characters that would seamlessly intercut with the live action clips from the Netflix vault of content. In order to accomplish this, Robert had to treat the computer-generated characters as if they were actual actors in a scene. Of course, they aren’t real, but their emotions are emulated from real people. It was his job to connect with the animators, and to act out or talk through what creates these emotions, and thereby directing the animators we direct the character. An astrophysicist affiliated with Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) was even hired as a consultant to the project.
From start to finish, it took about twelve weeks to produce the commercial, including an initial script approval, environment concept/creation, story boards, pre-viz and finally character design/creation. Robert stayed on the project well into the final VFX approvals – for him, investing in the design, concept and creation is not finished until the visual effects are complete. Seeing through the subtle tweaks in facial details for maximum impact was important right up to final delivery.
The campaign ended Netflix’s second quarter of 2021 with 209 million global subscribers amid a slowdown in growth.
“Netflix called on us to help develop a new global brand campaign highlighting the power of storytelling on Netflix. They had an idea, and they needed a flexible, authentic, and truly global team to help craft the visual storytelling and narrative in a way that would resonate with people all over the world.
From there, Netflix’s brand team and Oscar winning director Robert Stromberg brought the vision to life. It’s the first time Netflix has debuted a brand campaign during a major global moment, and only its second global brand campaign in less than a year’s time.”