Starz Originals

Background
Starz Originals is the production arm of the Starz network producing original series, formed in 2006 as Starz Productions.

1st Logo (as Starz Productions) (October 27, 2006-February 2, 2007)
Nickname: "The Starz Star"

Logo: On a black background, there is a narrow white rectangle with a narrow medium-sized rectangle inside it. Inside it is the Starz star logo from the time. Below the rectangle is "STARZ PRODUCTIONS" in Helvetica Neue Black with the giant word "STARZ" on top and "PRODUCTIONS" below.

FX/SFX: The fade in and fade out of the logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Seen on S2 of Masters of Horror on Chiller, Reelz Channel and its DVD releases.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (April 18, 2007-May 22, 2009)
Nicknames: "The Starz Star", "Starz Drawing"

Logo: On a waving blue silk background, we see the 2005 Starz logo's star draw in and "starz" in white appearing in a teal flourish of light. Then the word "ORIGINALS" fades in.

Variants:
 * A still version on a black background exists.
 * Another still version has the words in all uppercase and bolded placed next to the star, with "ORIGINALS" in.

FX/SFX: The waving silk, the logo appearing. This logo was complied by Landor Associates of San Francisco, California. Read more here.

Music/Sounds: A harsh synth flourish with twinkles, followed by three piano notes and a reversed cymbal crash. None on the still versions.

Availability: Seen on the first seasons of Crash: The Series, Head Case, and Party Down on Starz and Starz Edge.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (July 9, 2008-February 25, 2011)
Nicknames: "Shine", "Starz Focus"

Logo:
 * Opening Variant: On a bronze background, four frame lines, mimicking the style of a camera shot, expand quickly. A blurred close up shot of the Starz logo appears, with "ORIGINALS" below it. The blur disappears quickly and the logo focuses. A little lens blur appears. The camera frame expands and shrinks back to its normal size. We see a close up shot of the text "FEATURE", stacked on top of "PRESENTATION". The text focuses. The background shows a blurred panning transition of the text. The frame and the text fully expand out of view. On the same background, this time with the effect of a strip of film flickering, the given rating for a specified program appears. It is arranged like this: Below the text "THE FOLLOWING IS RATED", is the program's given rating, for example "TV-MA". If the program has Dolby audio encoding, the then-current Dolby logo is shown present inside a black border, with the text "DOLBY DIGITAL" next to the border. If the program contains closed captions, the respective symbol representing closed captioning is shown inside another black border, below the other one, with the text "CLOSED CAPTIONED" next to the border. A flash appears, erasing everything but the background. If the program has a TV-PG, TV-14, or TV-MA rating, a black border(s) (ranging from 1-4 depending on the given rating info) appears on the right-hand corner of the screen.
 * Closing Variant: The focus from the opening variant is shown. In it, an even larger close up of the Starz logo is shown as it sways around the screen like a camera pan. The screen then flashes and "ORIGINALS" appears. The text pans. The screen flashes again, and the logo zooms out in its fully formed position. The background flickers and the logo gives out a lens flare. The screen flashes one final time and the logo disappears.

FX/SFX: The focus, the text, the flashing, the zooming, the panning, the flares. This logo was complied by Troika Design Group of Hollywood, California (you can see the full showcase here). They also complied the 4rd and 6th logos.

Music/Sounds: An organ-synth theme.

Availability: Seen on Crash: The Series, Martin Lawrence Presents: First Amendment Stand-up, Head Case, Party Down, Spartacus, and Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (February 25, 2011-August 9, 2013)


Nicknames: "The Next Big Thing", "Starz Focus II"

Logo: We start on a sparkling star-hole (between the "a" and "r") in the "starz" logo, which reveals itself and zooms out in a bright space. There is an torrent below. Four brackets surround the logo and "ORIGINALS" expand below it. The torrent below shines.

FX/SFX: The logo unveiling itself and zooming out. This logo was complied by Troika Design Group of Hollywood, California (you can read more about the rebranding here). They also complied the 3rd and 6th logos.

Music/Sounds: An original fanfare with four beats at the end.

Availability: Seen on Spartacus Vengeance, Camelot and Magic City.

Editor's Note: TBA.

5th Logo (2013-2016)


Note: A higher quality version of the logo (audio-only) can be found here.

Nicknames: "Taking You Places", "Starz Focus III"

Logo: On a black background, a satin-silk smoke trail rises up. The Starz Originals logo from the previous logos forms beside the smoke trail.

FX/SFX: CGI animation. This logo was complied by yU+co of Hollywood, California. You can read more about the rebranding here.

Music/Sounds: A bouncy synth with a nice piano ditty.

Availability: Seen on shows from the era on DVD and Blu-ray. Don't expect this to pop up on Outlander, Power, or Ash vs. Evil Dead episodes from the 2015-2016 season, as they have been plastered by the next logo below.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (April 5, 2016-)


Nicknames: "Obsessable", "The Black Room", "Bland Starz", "Boring Starz", "Where's The Star in Between the A and R in Starz?", "Hypocritacalz"

Logo:
 * Pre-show Variant: On a monochromatic background with beige lighting and frosted glass flooring, a video shot of the show about to play (lasts one second) appears as it zooms out to reveal another shot, and again to reveal one more shot. Then on a similar background with a different focus and dust residue from the lighting flying over the screen, the shot zooms out to reveal the show's name (in Museo Sans) in all caps (for example: "OUTLANDER"). Below it we see "STARTS NOW". A viewer discretion warning fades in, bearing a resemblance to the 2nd logo but with a few differences. First, the background. Second, the font. Third, the warning borders are replaced with flat lines and have been moved to the beginning. And finally, all program specifications have been moved to the bottom center of the screen. This variant also doesn't mention Starz whatsoever.
 * Opening Variant: On a black background, a flash reveals the Starz logo. Next to it, "ORIGINALS PRESENTS" fades in.
 * Closing Variant: In the same setting as the pre-show variant, a light reveals the text "STARZ ORIGINALS", which zooms out. The light dies down but remains on the flooring.
 * App Variant: It is the same as the pre-show variant, but it is viewed in portrait and landscape views. It is also used in on-demand prints, but with a viewer discretion warning shown after the logo.

Trivia:
 * Starz has compiled their own brandbook with more info about their rebranding. Read it here.
 * The animation was complied by Troika Design Group of Hollywood, California, who were also responsible for the 3rd and 4th logos. You can read more about the rebranding (and see the full showcase) here.

FX/SFX:
 * Pre-show Variant: The show's clips zooming out, the text following, the transition to the viewer discretion warning.
 * Opening Variant: The flash, the text fading in.
 * Closing Variant: The flash, the text zooming out.

Music/Sounds:
 * Pre-show Variants: A piano tune with percussion and bass notes that sounds similar to the current WMHT logo music.
 * Opening Variant: None.
 * Closing and App Variants: Same as the pre-show variant, except a whoosh has been added to the beginning of the logo, and the tune has been shortened to 3 piano notes.

Availability: Seen on post-2016 episodes of Starz Original series, including Outlander, Blunt Talk, the Power franchise including Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Kansas Rising, Power Book IV: Force, and Ash vs Evil Dead. It also seen on new Starz Original series such as American Gods, The Spanish Princess, the TV adaptation of Blindspotting and Gaslit. It started to plaster the previous logos on former and pre-2016 episodes of Starz originals such as Boss and Flesh and Bone.

Editor's Note: This logo, as well as the rest of Starz and Encore's post-2016 branding, has received negative criticism due to being considered bland in terms of design and music compared to its predecessors.