Netflix's Tudum was a three-hour online "fan event" Saturday on its YouTube channels and other social accounts. Named after the distinctive drumbeat at the start of Netflix's audio-logo, Tudum set out to hype more than 100 Netflix titles with first-look clips, new trailers and conversations with stars and creators.
The sections below have links to all the highlights, which included new clips from Stranger Things' fourth season, Cowboy Bebop, Cobra Kai's fourth season, Bridgerton's second season, Ozark's final season, Emily in Paris' second season, Red Notice, Don't Look Up, The Sandman, La Casa de Papel (aka Money Heist), Arcane, and the growing franchise based on The Witcher.
Other titles in the spotlight included series The Crown and Umbrella Academy and films like The Harder They Fall and sequels to Extraction and The Old Guard.
Here's everything to know, including a PDF of the full schedule and sections with links to the main things that were released.
What was Tudum?
Tudum was a three-hour online video showcase of some of Netflix's big original titles. The company recruited dozens of its stars to show up and discuss their shows and help release new details, clips, teasers and trailers.
It was the first marathon online fan event of this kind for Netflix. The company had experimented with other forms of fan events during the pandemic, including its own Geeked Week riff on a virtual Comic Con-style event over the course of five days in June. But this was Netflix's first big-tent virtual event of this kind.
When was Tudum?
The event ran for more than three hours online Saturday starting at 9 a.m. PT/noon ET.
Earlier in the day, Netflix had a separate online fan event, which it called a preshow, focused on Korean, Indian and anime titles, starting at 5 a.m. PT/8 a.m. ET.
How did people watch? And is there a recording?
Netflix streamed Tudum free simultaneously across most of its major social-media channels and accounts, including its main YouTube channel, as well as its Twitter, Twitch and Facebook pages. (Ironically, though, you couldn't watch the event on Netflix itself.)
Now that it's over, you can watch (and skip around within) an on-demand video of the full show.
Tudum was also streaming on many of Netflix's localized YouTube channels, in a number of different languages. The preshow focused on Korean, Indian and anime was on the relevant localized YouTube channels.
What was the schedule?
Netflix provided an hour-by-hour rundown of Tudum prior to the event -- that full agenda is embedded at the bottom of this section.
Some of the highlights, with links to the what was released, included:
Tudum hour one
- Red Notice -- Dwayne Johnson premiered an exclusive clip of the action-comedy also starring Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds.
- Stranger Things season 4 -- Netflix unveiled a new Stranger Things season 4 clip, the next installment of the hit show, which still doesn't have a release date. The clip shows off a new location for the fourth season, a spooky home called the Creel House.
- La Casa de Papel, also known as Money Heist -- Star Álvaro Morte was on hand to show off a new scene from the upcoming final episodes of the series.
- Ozark -- Jason Bateman premiered a first-look video of the final season.
- Jeen-yuhs -- Netflix dropped a first look at some of the never-before-seen footage from its Kanye West documentary, which has followed West, with his permission, for 20 years.
- Bridgerton -- Cast from the first two seasons discussed the series and debuted a first look at season 2.
Tudum hour two
- The Sandman -- The fantasy series, based on the Neil Gaiman DC comic, released a first-look video from the show as well as character posters.
- Cobra Kai season 4 -- The martial-arts series released a sneak peek and announced that its fourth season will premiere Dec. 31.
- Extraction -- Star Chris Hemsworth offered an announcement teaser for the upcoming sequel of the action movie, which was the most-watched title on Netflix ever (according to the company's own controversial metrics).
- Arcane -- A new trailer gave a long look at the League of Legends animated series, which was announced to be premiering on Nov. 6.
- Tiger King -- A new teaser revealed the release date of the second season: Nov. 17.
- Cowboy Bebop -- The live-action reboot of the cult favorite anime show debuted its reimagined opening title sequence.
Tudum hour three
- Emily in Paris season 2 -- The cast premiered the first teaser of the second season and announced that it'll be released Dec. 22.
- The Crown season 5 -- Imelda Staunton, who joined the show's cast to portray Queen Elizabeth in the award-winning series about the British monarchy, announced that the fifth season will be released in November 2022.
- The Umbrella Academy season 3 -- The cast of the superhero series answered fan questions. That included Elliot Page -- Umbrella Academy was the first major on-screen role he shot after publicly announcing he was trans.
- Army of Thieves -- Filmmaker Zack Snyder helped introduced the new trailer to this prequel to his The Army of the Dead zombie heist movie, which was one of Netflix's most-watched titles over the summer.
- Don't Look Up -- The star-packed comedy released a new clip from the film, introduced by star Jennifer Lawrence and writer-director Adam McKay.
- Enola Holmes -- Star Millie Bobby Brown was joined by co-star Louis Partridge, announcing that he'll reprise the role of the Viscount Tewkesbury in the upcoming sequel to the popular Sherlock Holmes-related comedy-caper film.
- The Witcher -- Netflix had a handful of unveilings for its Witcher universe. It dropped two clips (one and two) from the second season of The Witcher, which it also announced has been renewed for a third season; it revealed a franchise trailer with additional glimpses of The Witcher's second season; and it released a behind-the-scenes video on the set and Icelandic filming locations for prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin. Netflix also announced that it would expand the franchise with a second anime feature film and a new family series set in the world of The Witcher.
The full agenda below is a handy cheat sheet for rewatching the full show to know when other titles got their moments in the spotlight.
Tudum agenda by jonathan_skillings
Why did Netflix hold this Tudum event?
This sort of big-tent virtual event is the first of its kind by Netflix, which dominates the streaming world as the biggest subscription service, with 209 million subscribers. But as dominant as it is, Netflix still faces intensifying competition from upstart streaming rivals like Disney Plus, HBO Max, Apple TV Plus and others. Tudum underscores a new marketing experiment stepping up Netflix's outreach to its various fandoms.
Tudum brings to mind events like ComicCon, Disney's D23 or DC FanDome, which aim to tap into fervor of well-established fan bases. Tudum appears to be Netflix trying to sculpt its own version.
But Netflix has yet to cultivate the kind of global, passionate fandoms that are devoted to the likes of Disney's Marvel and Star Wars franchises, WarnerMedia's DC properties or ViacomCBS' Star Trek programs. Stranger Things, and more recently The Witcher, have come closest. But other attempts have sputtered, like Jupiter's Legacy -- a superhero drama series that reportedly went spectacularly over budget only for Netflix to scrap plans for future seasons just a month after it premiered. (Netflix isn't giving up, though: Other projects in the so-called Millarworld of comic-book writer Mark Millar are still going forward, like anime and live-action interpretations of villian-focused Super Crooks.)
For one, Netflix doesn't have the same multi-faceted business model of a Disney, which can pump its fandoms with theatrical movies, spin-off shows, amusement park and cruise experiences and mountains of merchandise. Netflix has been flirting with selling merchandise in its own store recently, but the effort is still in its infancy.
