The late David Bowie will be featured in an upcoming mini-series on a rather surprising platform.
The famed artist’s company announced on Monday that Instagram will be the exclusive home to “Unbound: A Blackstar InstaMiniSeries.” The 16-episode mini-series will premiere on Instagram on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. EST. Bowie’s representatives say that the subsequent episodes will land on Instagram each subsequent Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
It’s rather surprising that Instagram will be the exclusive home to Bowie’s mini-series. The Facebook (FB)-owned site has built its name and brand on the ability for users to share photos and videos with other. With help from the Instagram account InstaMiniSeries, however, it’s become home to original content.
“Unbound” will be available on InstaMiniSeries. The service, which was founded by actress Nikki Borges, exclusively produces content for Instagram. “Unbound” will be the fourth show to join InstaMiniSeries’ content lineup.
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Original content has become the next big frontier in digital media. Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) have established their streaming services in large part due to their original content, including House of Cards on Netflix and Transparent on Amazon’s Prime Video. Apple (AAPL) is producing an original show starring famed artist Dr. Dre. Google’s YouTube recently launched YouTube Red, an ad-free platform designed to showcase that company’s own original content. A slew of other companies are working on original content as well.
“Unbound” will provide a unique interpretation of Bowie’s final album, “Blackstar,” which hit number one on the Billboard charts after its release on Jan. 8. Bowie, who died just two days after the album’s release, allowed the InstaMiniSeries team to follow him last fall while the album was being produced. According to a statement, Bowie offered Borges and her team “advance, unmediated access to the music and images from ‘Blackstar,’ thus allowing them to create their own visual interpretations of the songs, with no limits or preconditions on his part.”
InstaMiniSeries says that the 16-episode mini-series will feature “evocative images inspired by the moods suggested in the album’s music, lyrics and artwork.” Each episode will represent a “visual interpretation” of Bowie’s final creation and will not tell “a literal, linear narrative.”
For more on Instagram, watch:
Bowie’s death on Jan. 10 sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry. The iconic singer/songwriter’s death was viewed as sudden by the public, but he was actually diagnosed with liver cancer 18 months prior and never publicly disclosed his illness. Since his death, several Bowie tributes have cropped up, including one in Rolling Stone and another on the Grammys featuring Lady Gaga. His legions of fans have also held several memorials around the world.
Click here to view the trailer for “Unbound: A Blackstar InstaMiniSeries.”
