Skip to main content

Shield 5 is the first-ever scripted Instagram series, to be broadcast daily in 28 episodes

Shield 5 is a 28-part thriller that will be broadcast daily on Instagram during the month of February on its very own dedicated page on the app.

Set in present-day London, the show follows a security driver who must evade the police following a diamond heist and the resultant death of a colleague.

Recommended Videos

The first episode of the show (see below) has already been posted on the Shield 5 Instagram page. The clip clocks in at a fleeting 15 seconds and depicts the show’s protagonist, John Swift, nursing a bloody wound as he stumbles down a London street.

Shortly after posting the first episode, an image of a wanted poster for John Swift was also added to the page, indicating the multimedia approach the show will take in order to add context to the proceedings.

The show will continue with this format, broadcasting a 15 second episode followed by a related image each day, reports Deadline.

Shield 5 was created by director Anthony Wilcox and writer Adam Dewar. Wilcox previously worked as an assistant director on Hot Fuzz, Layer Cake, and Pearl Harbor. Dewar is an editor at UK newspaper the Guardian.

Shield 5 currently has just over 5,000 followers and its first episode received 581 likes, well short of the numbers accumulated by the app’s biggest users. The show will no doubt be relying on positive word-of-mouth from the app’s 400 million-strong user base to help make it a success. If it does manage to find an audience, it could result in more original narrative content making its way on to the platform.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBQFI-rupmS/

Correction: The original article incorrectly listed Shield 5 as being produced by Instagram. It is in fact an independent production.

Saqib Shah
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Saqib Shah is a Twitter addict and film fan with an obsessive interest in pop culture trends. In his spare time he can be…
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Incogni: Recover your privacy and remove personal information from the internet
Incogni remove your personal data from brokers and more

Everything you do while online is tracked digitally. Often connected to your email address or an issued IP, trackers can easily identify financial details, sensitive information like your social security number, demographics, contact details, like a phone number or address, and much more. In many ways, this information is tied to a digital profile and then collated, recorded, and shared via data brokers. There are many ways this information can be scooped up and just as many ways, this information can be shared and connected back to you and your family. The unfortunate reality is that, for most of us, we no longer have any true privacy.

The problem is exacerbated even more if you regularly use social media, share content or images online, or engage in discussions on places like Reddit or community boards. It's also scary to think about because even though we know this information is being collected, we don't necessarily know how much is available, who has it, or even what that digital profile looks like.

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more