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Tag: House of Cards

  • Netflix May Soon Add DVD-Like Extras For Its Streaming Content

    As previously reported, Netflix is slowly rolling out a big update to its Android app. This was revealed by the company at the GigaOm Mobilized conference.

    This isn’t the only interesting piece of news from the company from that event, however. Engadget reports that they also revealed they will start offering supplemental material for their shows via the streaming service. This means users may soon be seeing DVD-like special features accompanying their favorite Netflix originals. Nicole Lee writes:

    Netflix’s VP of Product Innovation, Todd Yellin, mentioned at the GigaOm Mobilized conference today that the company will begin testing enhanced content or extra features around its original shows such as House of Cards or Orange is the New Black. If that works out, he says Netflix is open to offering DVD extra-style content to other partner providers as well. “Hopefully if we try something like that,” said Yellin, “We have that lightning bolt of an idea that it’s more than just a tiny percent user game.” For those who’re in the process of giving up physical media, additional extras like these could certainly be welcome.

    Hear that? That might be the sound of DVDs becoming obsolete. If you’re thinking they already are, think again. There’s a reason Netflix still offers its DVD-by-mail service. In fact, it’s the only way Netflix currently has of getting the majority of its titles to customers.

    But even for titles that Netflix offers via streaming, subscribers are missing out on a lot of great content. While obviously it varies from title to title, many DVDs are loaded with interesting extras – behind the scenes clips, director/actor/writer commentaries, trailers, alternate endings, deleted scenes, etc.

    If Netflix is able to start offering this kind of stuff to streaming users, it’s going to amount to a whole lot more time spent watching Netflix. It’s probably also going to mean a decrease in DVD/Blu-ray sales, so it will be interesting to see how this evolves.

    Even if Netflix never gets past its own shows with this stuff, it could add a lot of interesting content to the service. There is already plenty of extra stuff making its way to YouTube right from Netflix itself. It would actually make a great deal of sense for Netflix to provide this stuff straight to its users, rather than sending them to YouTube, which is in some ways a competitor, though it does serve as a great marketing vehicle.

    In fact, if Netflix posted all of the content it does to YouTube to the actual Netflix streaming service, it could serve as an effective, untapped (and somewhat obvious) marketing channel for its upcoming content.

    Image: Netflix (YouTube)

  • ‘House Of Cards’ Season 2 May Be The Last, Suggests Producer

    The upcoming second season of Netflix’s House of Cards may be the last despite its critical acclaim and recent Emmy wins (and nine nominations). That is according to one report anyway.

    The news comes from Gold Derby, which recaps some comments reportedly made by Rick Cleveland, co-executive producer on the first two chapters of the series, at the Vancouver International Film Festival this past Friday.

    Riley Chow reports:

    Although showrunner Beau Willimon tweeted in August that he hopes to write further seasons, Cleveland thinks that these two are all that will ever be produced. “‘House of Cards’ is only going to go a second season and I think that’s it,” he said before immediately explaining that “Kevin Spacey likes to do movies and Robin Wright likes to do movies.”

    Although the pair reaped lead acting nominations at this year’s Emmys, Cleveland thinks that they do not want to be held down for years by a commitment to series television. If the actors do not renew their contracts and the series ends so soon, it would qualify as something of an anomaly in terms of Emmy-nominated fare.

    Recent reports have already indicated that creator David Fincher, who won an Emmy for the show, is not directing any episodes of the forthcoming season. Spacey and Wright, however, have both been said to be directing an episode each. Jodie Foster also directs one.

    Netflix’s original deal for the show was for two seasons, though many of us assumed it would continue if successful. It still could. This is hardly conclusive news, but it is something of a rain on the proverbial parade.

    The Gold Derby report also suggests that the second season will come out later in the year than the first one did, to get closer to the Emmy nominations deadline. The first season came out in early February.

    Image via Redbox

  • Netflix Rival Redbox Runs ‘House Of Cards’ Promotion

    Netflix competitor Redbox is running a contest, giving away the first season of Netflix original series House of Cards on DVD. In a post on the company’s “Redblog,” it says:

    You’ll understand why this new series has earned a whopping NINE Emmy nominations—including Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actor, Lead Actress and Director—if yours is the name we draw on Wednesday. You’ll become the proud new owner of Season 1 of House of Cards (Approximate Retail Value (ARV): $55.99)!

    Nice words from a company competing directly with Netflix. Redbox Instant launched earlier this year.

    Redbox is currently offering users episodes 1-6 through its kiosks. The other half of the season will be available next month.

    House of Cards: Season 1 was released on DVD and Blu-ray, as well as on-demand back in June. Amazon, another competitor of Netflix’s, has also been promoting it. This is a significant sign that Netflix is onto something with its original programming (as if the Emmy nominations/wins weren’t enough).

    Netflix has indicated that it will double its budget for original programming, and the shows being released via other channels ensures that they will find broader audiences outside of the Netflix universe, which could ultimately lead to more memberships in the long run. Orange is the New Black will also be making its way to DVD.

    On Sunday, House of Cards won director David Fincher an Emmy. The show also took home Emmys in the casting and cinematography departments.

    Image via Redbox

  • Netflix’s ‘House Of Cards’ Wins David Fincher An Emmy

    Netflix original shows were nominated for a combined fourteen Emmys. On Sunday night, they came away with one as David Fincher won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for House of Cards.

    Netflix released this congratulatory video for Fincher:

    In addition to this award, House of Cards had actually already won two Primetime Creative Arts Emmys announced last week. These were for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series (casting directors Laray Mayfield and Julie Schubert) and Outstanding Cinematography for a Single Camera Series (Director of Photography Eigil Bryld).

    Other nominated Netflix shows included Arrested Development (Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series, Outstanding Music Composition For A Series) and Hemlock Grove, (Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music, Outstanding Special Visual Effects).

    Next year, Netflix may have even more horses in the race. Look for Orange is the New Black and Derek to generate some buzz going in. House of Cards will have another season to work with as well.

    Netflix also plans to double its investment in original content in the coming years, so we may be seeing quite a bit more from them in these awards shows in the future.

    Image: Netflix (YouTube)

  • Netflix’s ‘House Of Cards’ Has Already Won 2 Primetime Creative Arts Emmys

    Netflix announced on Sunday that its show House of Cards has already won two Primetime Creative Arts Emmys, “making history” as the first win in a major Primetime Creative Arts category for non-linear programming.

    House of Cards won for Oustanding Casting for a Drama Series and Outstanding Cinematography for a Single Camera Series. The awards went to casting directors Laray Mayfield and Julie Schubert and Director of Photography Eigil Bryld.

    “We are so proud that both Casting and Cinematography were recognized with these historic Emmy wins for ‘House of Cards’ and Netflix,” said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer for Netflix. “Laray Mayfield, Julie Schubert & Eigil Bryld’s work was truly exquisite, and the Academy’s acknowledgement for their work is richly deserved.”

    Netflix shows are up for a total of fourteen Emmys. House of Cards makes up nine of those nominations, with the others going to Hemlock Grove and Arrested Development.

    This all must be very encouraging to Netflix. Sarandos indicated last week that the company is about to double its budget for original programming. Also last week, Netflix debuted its latest original, Derek.

    Filming for the second season of House of Cards is currently underway. It will debut next year.

    Image: Netflix

  • Apparently It’s ‘Arm Sock Day’ On The Set Of House Of Cards Season 2

    Cast and crew of Netflix’s House of Cards are working hard to get the second season of the nine-time Emmy-nominated show wrapped up. Today, was apparently “Arm Sock Day” on set. Michael Kelly, who play’s Frank Underwood’s right-hand man Doug Stamper on the series tweeted out a Vine of the antics:

    It’s unclear how much filming is left for the second season, but we do know it will have Jimmi Simpson, Kate Lyn Sheil, Sam Page and Molly Parker in it. We also know that one episode will be directed by Jodie Foster (who also directed a Season 1 episode of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black). It remains to be seen if arm socks will figure into the plot.

    Season 2 is due out sometime in 2014. The first season debuted in February.

  • Netflix Is About To Double Its Original Content Investment

    Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos spoke to at the RTS Cambridge Convention, where he revealed that the company plans to double its spending on original content in the coming years.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sarandos said that originals are currently at ten percent of the budget, and that they expect them to grow to twenty percent.

    While Netflix launched its first original series, Lilyhammer, in 2012, 2013 has clearly been the year of Netflix. The company started off strong early in the year with the nine-time Emmy-nominated House of Cards, before quickly following with Hemlock Grove, Arrested Development and the much-talked about Orange is the New Black.

    Since then, the company has quietly put out the kid/teen-targeted Mako Mermaids (which has new episodes debuting this weekend), and this week, it just launched the Ricky Gervais dramedy Derek.

    The company has also been releasing a number of exclusive stand-up comedy performances from comedians like John Hodgman, Rob Schneider, Doug Stanhope, Mike Birbiglia and Kathleen Madigan. Netflix made headlines with news that it would be releasing other exclusives from Aziz Ansari and Russell Peters (which includes both a stand-up special and a “docu-series”). A special from comedian Marc Maron is also reportedly in the pipeline.

    Other Netflix originals that are expected to debut in the coming year include Marco Polo, Narcos and Sense8, not to mention the stuff we’ll be seeing from the big DreamWorks animation deal Netflix announced back in June.

    Second seasons of Lilyhammer, House of Cards, Hemlock Grove and Orange is the New Black are all on the way. An Arrested Development movie (which Netflix will likely be involved with) is in the works, probably along with another season eventually, and Ricky Gervais has already indicated he’ll do another season of Derek (it’s not yet clear if Netflix will be involved, but it seems very likely).

    And that’s just the stuff we know about. It sounds like we’re going to be hearing about a lot more Netflix originals in the not too distant future. It will be interesting to see if this has a significant impact on the amount of non-original content it licenses. So far, it hasn’t been much of a problem.

    Word is that all of this original content is making subscribers want to stick around, which should certainly please investors. The company’s stock hit a record high this week, by the way.

    Image: Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

  • Netflix’s Original Content Is Making People Want to Stick Around

    In the past year, Netflix has released the Emmy-nominated political drama House of Cards, the Eli Roth-produced horror series Hemlock Grove, and the surprise hit of the summer, Orange Is The New Black. They’re also in the process of adding a bunch of exclusive comedy to their streaming options and are about to premiere season 2 of the less-popular but still buzzed-about Lilyhammer.

    Next year, Netflix is set to premiere a bunch of new original content as well. This includes a Marco Polo drama that they snatched from Starz, a Pablo Escobar drama called Narcos, and a new sci-fi series from the creators of The Matrix called Sense8.

    What does all of this exclusive, original content mean for Netflix? According to one analyst, it means happy customers.

    Happy customers that have no desire to unsubscribe, more specifically. RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney says that this massive push into original content will reduce customer turnover and lead to higher earnings. That’s why he’s bullish on Netflix’s future stock performance.

    Of course, Netflix has already come a long way from the days of highly-publicized price increases and that whole Qwikster debacle. Netflix’s stock priced has tripled in 2013 alone.

    RBC Capital is basing their statements on original content and low user turnover based, in part, on a survey where 80% of Netflix customers called original content “extremely, quite, or moderately important” when it comes to deciding whether or not to keep paying that monthly subscription fee.

    In April, shortly after House of Cards debuted, Netflix said that they saw very little “free-trial” gaming in order to binge-watch the series. In other words, people who subscribed generally stuck around. Another survey found that 86% of Netflix users said that House of Cards made them more likely to stick around and keep subscribing.

    I guess if you produce great content, and a lot of it, people are willing to pay for it.

    Image via YouTube

  • ‘House Of Cards’ Season 2 Episode To Be Directed By Jodie Foster

    Jodie Foster, better known for her acting career appears to be getting more into directing. She helmed the third episode of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, titled “Lesbian Request Denied,” which is one of the more talked about episodes of the series to date.

    Now, according to a report from Vulture, she’ll be directing an episode of another critically acclaimed Netflix show, House of Cards. Vulture’s Josef Adalian reports:

    While the streaming service declined to comment, our sources say Foster is already on location in Baltimore, where the Emmy-nominated drama films.

    Foster’s other directing credits include a Tales from the Darkside episode called “Do Not Open This Box” Little Man Tate, Home for the Holidays, The Beaver, and Money Monster, which is listed on IMDB as in pre-production.

    On the acting front, Foster can currently be seen in Elysium, which was released last month.

    House of Cards: Season 2 is due out in 2014 on Netflix.

    Image: Silence of the Lambs (YouTube)

  • Here’s The Kevin Spacey Q&A That Followed That Amazing Speech

    Actor Kevin Spacey gave a popular speech about the television industry – past, present and future – at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival last week. It has since been the topic of numerous industry headlines.

    The House of Cards actor/executive producer also engaged in a Q&A at the event. The festival’s YouTube channel has shared part of that for your enjoyment:

    The speech itself, which is a lot more inspiring (and time consuming) can be found here in its entirety.

  • Here’s That Kevin Spacey Speech You Keep Hearing About In Its Entirety

    Actor Kevin Spacey, star of the nine-time Emmy-nominated Netflix series House of Cards, has been making a lot of headlines over the past few days for a speech he gave at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival last week.

    The whole speech has been made available on the official YouTube channel for the festival, so here you go. It’s about 45 minutes long, but it’s Kevin Spacey talking, so totally worth it.

    He says that his role on House of Cards is probably the only reason he was asked to speak, but come on, Kevin. Your’e Kevin Spacey.

    “From his unique perspective as a director, producer and actor working across the world on stage and screen, mainstream networks and the internet, Kevin Spacey considers the changes sweeping across our industry and the opportunities for innovation and creativity for those who live to tell stories and engage audiences,” the festival says in the video description.

    And his thoughts about the industry are precisely why the talk has been in the headlines. The industry is watching the Netflix approach closely as it makes history in television consumption.

    Thumbnail images associated with this article on this site via YouTube.

  • Netflix Wants To Make Sure Its Users Know About Its Emmy Nominations

    Netflix shows have been nominated for a total of fourteen Emmys. We’ve known this for a while, but Netflix also wants to make sure all of its users know it too. The company has put out a new video driving home this point.

    The video was uploaded to Netflix’s YouTube channel wit the following description:

    Netflix Congratulates its Original Series “House of Cards,” “Arrested Development,” and “Hemlock Grove” on a combined 14 Emmy nominations. Watch them all, only on Netflix.

    According to The Wrap, Netflix will be showing the ad to subscribers.

    Netflix’s Emmy nominations are, of course, historical. They mark the first time online video programming has ever received a nomination (let alone multiple nominations).

    Hemlock Grove was nominated for two Emmys, while Arrested Development was nominated for three, and House of Cards was nominated for nine.

  • Kevin Spacey Defends House of Cards’ Emmy Noms on the Colbert Report

    Kevin Spacey appeared on The Colbert Report last night, and the two spent most of the time talking about Spacey’s popular Netflix original series House of Cards. Colbert grilled Spacey on how the show could be up for an Emmy, considering it’s not really a TV show.

    “Nominated for 9 Emmys,” said Colbert. “Ok, I got a beef about this though, Kev. It’s not a TV show. It’s an internet show…you are admittedly the Jackie Robinson of the internet. Why should you get an award for TV when you’re not on TV? What do you want next, a Heisman? Defend yourself!”

    Here’s what Spacey had to say about it:

    “Look, it’s where things have been going. If you look at the last 8 years, the way in which people are watching, binging on shows – it all really started with box sets. And the truth is I think that what’s been kind of remarkable about how the audience has responded with House of Cards coming out all at once…is that they are in control. They can watch it how they want to watch it.

    Check out the full interview below:

    Netflix made history in July by snagging 14 Emmy nominations – the first non-traditional platform to be rewarded with any noms. House of Cards led the pack with 9, including nods to Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, and David Fincher for direction. Eli Roth’s horror series Hemlock Grove came away with 2 nominations, and Arrested Development grabbed 3.

  • “House of Cards” Use of Soliloquy

    Translated from Latin phrase as “talking to oneself,” soliloquy is a storytelling device that’s been around for centuries. Ever see a character talk directly to an audience when the other actors don’t pay attention? Well, that’s kind of what soliloquy does. It’s a way for a character to explain thoughts or feelings without letting others know what is going on, except the people looking on, of course.

    The “House of Cards,” features a story about Frank Underwood, a soulless Washington D.C. politician, played by actor, Kevin Spacey. Beau Willimon, screenwriter and the show’s creator says virtually no one can deliver a soliloquy more effectively than Spacey.

    “Kevin has a lot of experience on stage doing Shakespeare and the soliloquy is something he is particularly good at,” he said. “He makes the black and white on the page become gold and seismic on the screen.”

    Willimon further explains the use of soliloquy allows an audience to partake in what he characterizes as Underwood’s “illicit behavior.” He says this artistic device allows an audience to be more fully drawn in. It also makes a drama unfold for them in a much more powerful fashion.

    “He is up to some pretty nefarious things,” he said. “The more he explains or tells an audience what he is doing, the more it lends to the character’s philosophy and rationale behind his actions.”

    Last month, the “House of Cards,” was nominated for multiple Emmys including one for Kevin Spacey as Best Actor. The anticipated Season 2 is reportedly well underway. Reed Hastings, chief executive producer, says his hopes for the show remain ever positive.

    “Hopefully, by the time we get to season three, four, five, if we’re fortunate enough to get there, then we turn it into a Harry Potter-esque global massive phenomena,” he said.

  • ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Is Being Searched For More Than All Other Netflix Shows Combined [Bing]

    Last month, we looked at some search data from Yahoo about Netflix’s original shows. Orange is the New Black was quickly generating more search buzz than even Netflix’s Emmy-nominated shows House of Cards and Arrested Development.

    Now, Microsoft has shared some information with us about how Netflix’s shows have been comparing with one another in terms of search volume on Bing. Unsurprisingly, Orange is the New Black is being searched a lot more than the others over there as well.

    Orange is the new Black has been the most searched Netflix show of the entire summer, followed by House of Cards, then Arrested Development, according to Bing. In fact, Orange is the New Black has been searched for more than all other Netflix shows combined.

    The rank in search volume on Bing for Netflix shows has been like this:

    1. Orange is the New Black
    2. House of Cards
    3. Arrested Development
    4. Hemlock Grove
    5. Lillyhammer

    Orange is the New Black does have the advantage of being released more recently than the others, but the rest of the list doesn’t really indicate that recency of debut is playing much of a role, other than the fact that Lilyhammer is fifth. It was, of course, the earliest Netflix original. It’s unclear where Mako Mermaids factors into this. Out of the six, it is actually the newest, but hasn’t received nearly the publicity of the rest.

    House of Cards has been out since the beginning of February, and it managed to take the number two spot. The fact that it is up for nine Emmys probably has something to do with it. Arrested Development and Hemlock Grove are also nominated in various categories.

    Lilyhammer is the closest to having a second season available to watch. It’s due out sometime this year, while second seasons of OITNB, House of Cards and Hemlock Grove are all due out next year. Arrested Development is still up in the air, but it’s looking like a movie might be more likely than a fifth season.

    “Laura Prepon was the most search for OITNB cast member, even ahead of series lead actress Taylor Schilling,” a Bing spokesperson says.

    Orange is the New Black1 day ago

    You learn something new everyday… #SwollenFeet #OITNB

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    “Natasha Lyonne was searched for more than her American Pie co-star Jason Biggs,” he adds.

    Both, of course, are in Orange is the New Black.

    The top-searched OITNB cast members on Bing have been:

    1. Laura Prepon
    2. Taylor Schilling
    3. Natasha Lyonne
    4. Kate Mulgrew
    5. Jason Biggs

    “Kata Mara was searched more than any other House of Cards cast member, including Kevin Spacey,” the spokesperson notes.

    The top-searched HoC cast members on Bing have been:

    1. Kate Mara
    2. Kevin Spacey
    3. Robin Wright
    4. Corey Stoll
    5. Kristen Connolly

    “Also, people like Kevin Spacey, Jason Biggs, Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon, Robin Wright, Kate Mulgrew, and Natasha Lyonne show up in Snapshot in Bing,” the spokesperson adds.

    Bing recently started adding more info about celebrities in its autosuggest feature as well.

  • Netflix’s ‘House Of Cards’ Wins Nothing At TCA Awards

    Netflix’s House of Cards may be nominated for nine Emmys, and be eligible for the Directors Guild awards, but it didn’t win anything at the Television Critics Association awards this past weekend.

    The show, which has been the subject of a great deal of critical acclaim since premiering on Netflix in February, was up for the awards for Outstanding New Program and Program of the Year. It lost to FX’s The Americans and AMC’s Breaking Bad respectively.

    While the show won’t be competing much with The Americans for the Emmys, it is up against Breaking Bad for multiple categories.

    Here’s the list of winners from the TCA awards:

    Individual Achievement in Drama: Tatiana Maslany (“Orphan Black,” BBC America)
    Individual Achievement in Comedy: Louis C.K. (“Louie,” FX)
    Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: “The Central Park Five” (PBS)
    Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: “Shark Tank” (ABC)
    Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: “Bunheads” (ABC Family)
    Outstanding New Program: “The Americans” (FX)
    Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: “Behind the Candelabra” (HBO)
    Outstanding Achievement in Drama: “Game of Thrones” (HBO)
    Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: (Tie) “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS) and “Parks and Recreation” (NBC).
    Career Achievement Award:Barbara Walters (ABC)
    Heritage Award: “All in the Family” (CBS)
    Program of the Year: “Breaking Bad” (AMC)

    House of Cards Season 2 has already been filming, and is due out in 2014.

    [via Deadline]

  • ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Generates More Search Buzz Than Netflix’s Emmy-Nominated ‘House of Cards,’ ‘Arrested Development’

    Netflix’s latest hit Orange is the New Black appears to be taking the web by storm. The praises have been flowing since even before the show debuted on July 11th, but OITNB continues to draw great interest from web searchers nearly two weeks later.

    Yahoo tells WebProNews searches for “orange is the new black” are spiking 7,830% for the month. Over the past thirty days, 51% of searches for the show have come from males, so its audience appears to be pretty balanced. The top searched cast members over the past month are: Laura Prepon, Taylor Schilling (up 4,487%) ,Kate Mulgrew (up 2,051%), and Jason Biggs (up 1,749%).

    This week in particular, “orange is the new black season 2) is spiking 490% and “orange is the new black cast” is spiking by 221% on Yahoo. The top searches related to the show over the past seven days are as follows:

    1. [orange is the new black review]
    2. [orange is the new black wiki]
    3. [orange is the new black book]
    4. [laura prepon orange is the new black]
    5. [orange is the new black trailer]
    6. [orange is the new black theme song]
    7. [orange is the new black quotes]
    8. [orange is the new black when is season 2 coming out]

    Even though other Netflix shows House of Cards and Arrested Development were nominated for Emmys (Hemlock Grove was also nominated for a couple), Orange is the New Black is drawing more interest from searchers than either of them. According to Yahoo, OITNB is being searched for two times more than House of Cards and eight times more than Arrested Development this week.

    That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of search buzz surrounding the Kevin Spacey-starring hit. “House of Cards” is spiking by 84% this month, and “house of cards season 2” is spiking by 46%.

    The top searched HoC cast members (in order) are: Kate Mara, Robin Wright (up 150%), Kevin Spacey, Kristen Conolly and Constance Zimmer. The top HoC-related searches over the past week, according to Yahoo, are:

    1. [house of cards season 2 release date]
    2. [house of cards cast]
    3. [house of cards emmy]
    4. [what is house of cards about]
    5. [house of cards episode guide]

    The company says 55% of “house of cards” searches come from males, and 79% of them come from people 35 and older.

    With Netflix releasing its earnings report for the second quarter and its subsequent earnings call (in the form of a video interview with the CEO and CFO), “Netflix Stock” has also been a popular search this week, spiking by 566% on Yahoo.

    Second seasons for both House of Cards and Orange is the New Black have been confirmed for 2014, by the way. The exact dates are yet to be announced. Netflix did reveal in a letter to shareholders this week that the second season of its first original show, Lilyhammer, will be released this year. Netflix’s executives also said they’d be “delighted” to produce another season of Arrested Development.

  • Kevin Spacey “Tweets” Photo Standing in the Flood

    Movie Star, Kevin Spacey, visited Charleston, South Carloina this weekend and “tweeted” a picture of himself standing on in the flooded waters that were making there way down Wentworth Street, in downtown Charleston. “I had a great time in Charleston, SC. Beautiful summer weather,” the 53-year-old tweeted on Sunday. It is reported that Charleston frequently floods due to it’s location so near to the Atlantic Ocean and it’s streets lying so low.

    (image)

    Spacey, one of the most well known Hollywood actors, has recently been nominated for an Emmy award for his role in the Netflix original series, “House of Cards”. Receiving the nomination marks the first time that television’s top awards has recognized a series delivered online as equal in quality to the series only viewed on television. “House of Cards” earned a total of nine nominations in all. Spacey was also nominated for the best drama series actor award. All 13 episodes of the season can be seen via Netflix.

  • With Its Emmy-Nominated Shows, Will Netflix Sway More People Away From Cable?

    The Emmy nominations are out, and three Netflix original shows have earned fourteen nominations. This is a good sign for the future of high quality original online programming. We’re talking about the Emmys here, and Netflix is just getting started. Its latest show Orange is the new Black is already getting as much positive buzz and as many positive reviews (if not more) than House of Cards did before it. House of Cards has nine nominations on its own.

    Suffice it to say that Netflix is getting off to a pretty good start with its original programming initiative, which largely just began early this year with the release of House of Cards. Prior to that, Netflix just had one original series with Lilyhammer, which hasn’t garnered the buzz that the rest of the shows have, but apparently has done well enough that Netflix decided to carry on with a second season, and the fact that the rest of the shows have generated so much buzz just might lead more people to check out Netflix’s first foray into original content.

    Beyond Lilyhammer, House of Cards, Hemlock Grove and Orange is the New Black all have second seasons in the works, and word is that the company is in talks to get another season of Arrested Development off the ground. The show’s creator has seemed pretty interested, so if all of the puzzles pieces come together on that (particularly the cast members), it’s highly likely that the show will continue.

    To make a long story short, people are interested in watching what Netflix has to offer, and when it comes to original series, it’s not like customers have to worry about titles going away before they get a chance to watch them like they do with other third-party content.

    Emarketer has compiled some interesting data about Netflix subscribers and their television habits. They point to a June study from Cowen and Company, which found that about three-quarters of Netflix subscribers in the U.S. kept their cable, satellite or telecom pay TV subscriptions, but that another 20% said they got rid of theirs. It seems fairly likely that the trend will move toward cord cutting as Netflix along with its competitors like Amazon and Hulu get more original content and make deals to get other well established content.

    “Cord-cutting is typically associated with those in the youngest age bracket, and the survey found this to hold somewhat true,” eMarketer says. “However, there was also a notable propensity to cut the cord among Netflix subscribers between 30 to 44 years old, with 41% having cut pay TV. Overall, this age group was more likely to subscribe to Netflix than 18- to 29-year-old respondents.”

    Netflix subscribers

    Original shows give Netflix an important weapon against its competition, though its competitors are working on similar strategies, but the licensing of third-party movies and television content will remain a critical component. As popular as House of Cards is, for example, it’s nothing compared to the popularity of some cable TV shows.

    The Wall Street Journal reports on a study by GFK, which found that House of Cards accounted for less than one percent of TV shows viewed by regular Netflix users during a week in April, compared to 3% for old episodes of AMC’s Breaking Bad and Mad Men (each). Star Trek (the combined catalog) accounted for 4%. Even still, other popular TV shows like The Office, Fringe, 30 Rock and Glee were also around the 1% mark, according to the report.

    Obviously Netflix knows how crucial it is to have the content people want to watch, which is why it constantly makes new deals to get it. Already in July, it has announced deals with Fox, CBS and PBS, which will enable it to exclusively stream reruns of New Girl, Super Why!, and The Bletchley Circle, as well as stream (non-exclusively) a variety of other popular shows. Meanwhile, to make room for stuff like this, Netflix also regularly filters out the stuff that people don’t watch enough.

    Netflix will report its quarterly earnings on Monday, so we’ll get an idea how things are doing on the business side of things. Either way, users and critics appear to be on board with Netflix’s strategy at large.

  • Netflix Shows Net 14 Emmy Nominations

    History has been made in television land as original shows from Netflix have received a total of fourteen Emmy nominations. This is significant on a historical level, because it marks a new era of TV show consumption – one that stems from the Internet. Original online shows are going head to head with the biggest names in television.

    Of course it’s really about the people involved with the shows more than the medium, but it’s still noteworthy.

    Netflix had been campaigning heavily to encourage nominations for House of Cards and Arrested Development, but it appears the company got more than it bargained for. Not only did House of Cards pick up nine nominations and Arrested Development pick up three, but even Hemlock Grove picked up a couple. Had Orange is the New Black debuted a little earlier in the year, I suspect we’d be seeing it on the list a few times too.

    Following are all the Emmys Netflix shows have been nominated for.

    House of Cards

    Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Kevin Spacey)
    Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – (Robin Wright)
    Outstanding Drama Series (House of Cards)
    Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (David Fincher)
    Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series (Casting directors Laray Mayfield and Julie Schubert)
    Outstanding Cinematography (Director of Photography Eigil Bryld)
    Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series (Editor Kirk Baxter)
    Outstanding Music Composition For A Series – Original Dramatic Score (Jeff Beal)
    Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music (Jeff Beal)

    Hemlock Grove

    Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music (Nathan Barr)
    Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Chris Jones, Jon Massey, Sean Joseph Tompkins, Sallyanne Massimini, Michael Kirylo, Jacob Long, Chris Barsamian, Colin Feist and Kyle Spiker)

    Arrested Development

    Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series (Jason Bateman)
    Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series (Editors Kabir Akhtar and AJ Dickerson)
    Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (David Schwartz)

    It will be interesting to see how many awards Netflix shows are able to claim. They are facing some pretty top notch competition. I wouldn’t want to compete in any category against Breaking Bad.

  • Amazon Is Not Above Suggesting Users Watch A Netflix Original

    Amazon and Netflix have become direct competitors in the online streaming video content space. Netflix is on a roll with its original shows, and Amazon is following suit (though it won’t be releasing entire seasons of shows all at once in Netflix fashion).

    But Netflix wants a wider audience for its shows beyond its own members, so it is releasing them on DVD (Lilyhammer Season 1 is also available). House of Cards Season 1 was released on DVD and Blu-ray earlier this month, and of course, it’s available on Amazon. Now Amazon is going so far as to suggest that users buy the Netflix original series by sending emails to users.

    House of Cards

    Perhaps Netflix will gain a few subscribers in time for Season 2, which is currently filming.