Interactive Storytelling is Coming to Netflix
Netflix has launched its first choose-your-own-adventure series.
The video streaming giant has released interactive branching narrative episodes of two shows: Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale and Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile.
“The intertwining of our engineers in Silicon Valley and the creative minds in Hollywood has opened up this new world of storytelling possibilities on Netflix,” says Carla Engelbrecht Fisher, Director of Product Innovation at Netflix. “Being an internet-based company enables us to innovate new formats, deliver at scale to millions of members all over the world on multiple device types and, most importantly, learn from it.”
The first two shows will debut on Netflix on July 14, and a third branching narrative—Stretch Armstrong: The Breakout—is in the works, coming in 2018.
“The children’s programming space was a natural place for us to start since kids are eager to ‘play’ with their favorite characters and already inclined to tap, touch and swipe at screens. They also talk to their screens, as though the characters can hear them,” explains Fisher. “Now, that conversation can be two-way.”