Oh Say Can You Stream: Unveiling Our Star-Spangled America 250 Lineup

Oh, say can you see… America's big birthday celebration on Netflix!

The United States turns 250 this July, and by the dawn's early light, we're so gallantly streaming a new docuseries and several new collections to ring in this major milestone.

The American Experiment , which debuted June 24, is a sweeping five-part documentary series that traces how the ideals of America's founders gave rise to a nation.

Directed by Brian Knappenberger ( Turning Point ) and executive-produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Sarah Huisenga and Knappenberger, the series features a wide range of voices including former vice presidents and cabinet officials, current and former members of Congress, a former Supreme Court justice, leading historians, tribal chiefs, military experts, and thought leaders across the political spectrum. (Check out some of the biggest moments from the series here .)

Casting a wide net across America

In addition to these familiar faces, we also enlisted former TV president Martin Sheen to voice the nation's first president, George Washington. To narrate the series' many other reenactments, we brought in more than 30 ordinary extraordinary Americans like firefighters, paramedics, police officers, military officers, historians, civil servants, and poet laureates.

We also traveled from the mountains to the prairies to film these recreations, sending production to nine states across the US, including Arizona, California (near our headquarters in Los Angeles), Massachusetts, New Jersey (at our soon-to-be studio in Monmouth County), New York (near our studio in Brooklyn), Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and, the nation's capitol, Washington, D.C.

Recreating historic battlefields using visual effects

For many of these reenactments, we collaborated closely with our partners at Eyeline Studios . By combining fully generative work, volumetric capture, and hybrid generative/VFX workflows, Eyeline enabled everything from expansive ground and naval battles to richly detailed town and aerial shots rarely seen in documentaries.

Previewing the series in our nation's capital

To celebrate The American Experiment , we hosted a special screening of the first episode at the Burke Theater at the US Navy Memorial on June 17. Presented in partnership with America250, guests included former Vice President Mike Pence (who is featured in the series) as well as members of America250, the DC America 250 Commission, the Military Women's Memorial, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the Smithsonian Institute, the US Chamber of Commerce, the US National Archives and Records Administration and the White House Historical Association.

The screening was followed by a Q&A with Knappenberger; Joanne Freeman, professor of history at Yale University and author of Affairs of Honor ; and moderator Sara Georgini, series editor for The Papers of John Adams and author of Household Gods .

Although Knappenberger said he came up with the idea for The American Experiment two years ago, the 250-year anniversary provided the perfect opportunity to dive deeper into the country's origin story. "I have to say, it was more moving, more powerful, and more amazing even than I thought it would be when we first embarked on this," the director said. "Getting into these stories and these figures and the tensions that gave rise to all of this, it felt fresh. Every turn of this story felt like something was prescient and relevant, and every time you learned something, you wanted to know more."

Exploring America through curated collections

If The American Experiment leaves you wanting to watch more about the land of the free and the home of the brave, we're also launching several collections of original and licensed titles to celebrate the country's birthday. In addition to our main collection, titled " USA 250, " we've also put together 11 sub-collections that honor and amplify the full diaspora of American experiences and American stories, from blockbusters ("Lights, Camera, America!") and westerns ("High Noon USA") to food ("The United States of Food"), music ("The American Songbook") and sports ("The American Playbook"). Explore middle America with "From Sea to Shining Sea" or dive deeper into US history with "250 Years of America." No matter where you're from or what you're into, there's truly something for everyone. (Find more patriotic title recommendations here .)

And the fireworks - literally and figuratively - continue after America turns 250 on July 4th. Next up to the plate, we're celebrating America's favorite pastime with a live broadcast of the MLB T-Mobile Home Run Derby , taking place in America's birthplace, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 13 at 8pm ET/5pm PT.

Check out The American Experiment and the "USA 250" collection - only on Netflix.