After Orion Pictures launched in 1978, the label largely focused on genre-heavy storytelling from prominent filmmakers—James Cameron, Oliver Stone and Jonathan Demme, to name a few. When MGM relaunched the name in summer of 2020, the brand refocused its energy in a more inclusive direction, choosing to widen the scope of its storytelling slate to offer a platform for marginalized storytellers.
Now, the brand is recommitting to such efforts with an identity refresh.
On Thursday, July 21, Orion Pictures will officially debut a modernized rebrand of its longstanding logo, signaling a new creative direction for the MGM-owned label. While the new look retains the original constellation theme, the brand has ditched the monochromatic look in favor of a multicolored look beaming with blue, green, pink and purple hues. Orion worked with Black-owned agency Gravillis on the logo revamp.
“We were looking at the origins of the Orion brand and the literal space that it occupied since 1978,” MGM’s vp of social media and brand strategy, Val Aveni, told Adweek. “We just really wanted to expand and modernize that space and looked to incorporate all of those things that create space for new audiences, for everyone.”
The brand says that the new, colorful brand identity represents the wide spectrum of stories still waiting to be told—stories that Orion Pictures’ president, Alana Mayo, says the label will prioritize going forward.
“We want to continue building upon the impressive filmmaking legacy of Orion first and foremost, but also, this new iteration of Orion is becoming a more modern and future looking film studio,” Mayo told Adweek. “A place that is inclusive of a vastly broader spectrum of original, creative storytelling and storytellers. And one that cares about deeply engaging with and, hopefully, helping to define the next generation of cinematic culture.”
The brand refresh will launch across Orion’s social channels with a new AV logo, complete with a triumphant score by Kid Moxie, just one day before the Prime Video premiere of Anything’s Possible, a coming-of-age film that centers on a trans high school girl that will serve as Billy Porter‘s directorial debut. Other filmmakers that will debut works across Orion’s slate of films include Chinonye Chukwu, Sarah Polley, Emma Seligman and Nia DaCosta.
