Netflix recreates iconic 'A Great Day in Harlem' photo for 'magical' advertisement
Netflix's new TV ad, which aired on Sunday night's BET Awards, featured 47 of its stars in a recreation of the iconic "A Great Day in Harlem" photograph.
Included in the ad, dubbed "A Great Day in Hollywood," were Spike Lee, Ava Duvernay, Mike Colter, Simone Missick, Antonique Smith and Cheo Hodari Coker.
The original photograph was taken in 1958 by Art Kane and featured 57 influential jazz musicians such as Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins standing in front of a New York City brownstone. Esquire magazine commissioned the photograph.
"A Great Day in Hollywood" was directed by Lacey Duke, who's directed music videos for Janelle Monae and Sza, and photographed by Kwaku Alston.
“It was a pretty magical couple of hours,” Duke said in a press release. “All these amazingly talented, beautiful individuals in one space being supportive and just looking stunning together, all here to pull off this one take wonder!"
"Alfre Woodard even [led] everyone in an epic rendition of ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ before we started shooting. It was beautiful, and in a flash it was over. It was probably the most overwhelming two hours of my career. I was just so happy to be a part of history,” she concluded.
Along with Woodard, other stars included in the ad were Justin Simien, Ashley Blaine Featherson and Logan Browning of "Dear White People"; "13 Reasons Why" actor Derek Luke; "Orange Is the New Black" stars Laverne Cox and Danielle Brooks; Marlon Wayans of "Naked"; and Nia Long of "Roxanne Roxanne."
The one-minute, 13 second advertisement, narrated by "Stranger Things" star Caleb McLaughlin, comes from the company's Strong Black Lead initiative, which tailors projects for an African-American audience.
Although it immediately drew praise on social media, the spot comes just days after Netflix CEO Reed Hastings fired the streaming company's chief spokesman, Jonathan Friedland, over repeated use of the N-word.
Friedland confirmed the news on Twitter.
"I’m leaving Netflix after seven years," he wrote last Friday. "Leaders have to be beyond reproach in the example we set and unfortunately I fell short of that standard when I was insensitive in speaking to my team about words that offend in comedy."
