In an ad, which debuted on the BET Awards last night, Netflix features Ava Duvernay, Alfre Woodard, Lena Waite, Laverne Cox, Mike Colter (Luke Cage), Spike Lee and Rev. Run and 40 other black creatives featured on their platform.
“A Great Day in Hollywood,” was directed by Lacey Duke and pays homage to “A Great Day in Harlem,” the iconic photo by Art Kane featuring four decades of jazz greats—Count Bassie, Sonny Rollins, Hank Jones, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Mary Lou Williams, Maxine Sullivan and 50 others—which appeared in Esquire in January of 1959.
The Netflix ad duplicates the image:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTTs7yqjC0I&feature=youtu.be
“This is a new day, built from the ground broken by legends—a day for our generation to see untold experiences of our blackness,” said Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin, who is the narrator of the video. “We’re not a genre because there’s no one way to be black. We’re writing while black. Nuanced and complex; resilient and strong. This is not a moment. This is a movement. We are strong black leads. Today is a great day in Hollywood.”
