We wanted to give Netflix credibility in Brazilian cinematography and empower Brazilians to promote their favorite local films. We ended up creating a fun and social experience that promoted Brazilian film globally.

Netflix choose 10 independent movies to compete for the Netflix Award. We built a unique trophy for the award built with Arduino technology. Voting was done through a Facebook App and Twitter.

The award ceremony took place during the Kinoforum Festival of Cinematography in Sao Paulo, which introduced Netflix into the local cinematography circuit. The winning film would become available around the world by becoming part of the Netflix global catalogue.

We built a unique trophy for the award built with Arduino technology. The trophy lit up every time users voted on a movie through the Facebook App and Twitter. Every time users voted on a movie, the corresponding award lit-up and the total voting score of the film would be reflected on the app.

The trophy was developed using a single board computer (Rasberry Pi and Arduino) and a Wi-Fi USB dongle. The dongle worked first as a hotspot, and then as Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet and illuminate the trophy with each vote. A third party vendor did the cut and glue of the acrylic, and all electronic design and assembly was made inside the office.

The Netflix Award received ample coverage in Brazlian media, reaching all major newspapers (Folha, Estadão and O Globo), the major weekly magazine (Veja) and one of the largest portals in Latin America (UOL), among others (R7, G1, Omelete). News also spread to other regions (Tribuna do Norte, A Tarde, Hoje em Dia) as well as Variety and the AFP newsagency.

Meanwhile, the Netflix Brazil Facebook page fan-base increased by 18% over 6 weeks. Facebook stats rose significantly across the board including mentions (12950%), Likes (177%), engaged users (158%), total reach (3646%) and organic reach (207538%).