Is this the newNetflix?
An up-and-coming streaming network titledQuibi, short for “quick bites,” is set to hit phones in April 2020 — and it already has secured support from Hollywood heavyweights fromGuillermo Del ToroandSteven SpielbergtoJennifer LopezandZac Efron.
Quibi Founder and Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg (who co-founded DreamWorks Animation) and CEO Meg Whitman (who previously served as CEO and president of Hewlett Packard) are leading this new platform, which has already garnered$1 billionin investments.
“I’m going to continue to believe, and argue, and preach that Quibi is not a substitute or a competitor for television,” Katzenberg, 68, toldVanity Fair. “Our [service] is exclusively about what you do from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on your phone. And what you’re doing today, if you’re in our core demographic of 25- to 35-year-olds, is you’re actually watching 60 to 70 min of YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. That growth is now a well established consumer habit that Quibi is sailing into.”
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images; Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images; Christopher Polk/Getty Images
RELATED ARTICLE: Jennifer Lopez Cuddles Up with Her 11-Year-Old Twins Max and Emme Ahead of Chicago Concert
Once released, users can pay $4.99 to access the platform with advertising or $7.99 without it. It’s set to feature 7,000 pieces of content at launch, according toVanity Fair. It will also feature both vertical and horizontal video,Thrillistreported.
“It’s just sort of a circle of life of an animal, an elephant one week, a salamander the next week. It doesn’t really matter what the animal is,” Katzenberg toldFortune.
Lena Waithe.Vera Anderson/WireImage
Emmy-winning actress Lena Waithe will host her own sneaker show titledYou Ain’t Got Thesewhile director Del Toro, 54, will release a “modern zombie story,“THRreported.
PEOPLE’sSexiest Man AliveIdris Elbais set to star alongside Ken Block on a stunt-driving series, while Spielberg, 72, will work on a horror series that viewers can only watch at night,Vanity Fairreported.
Lopez, 49, will also hit the phone screen with her own show titledThanks a Million— Lopez and nine others will choose an influential person from their early lives and give them $100,000 each, as long as that person passes down $50,000 to a similar person and that person hands off $25,000 and so on, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.
The Quibi videos are expected to be short, but will still tell long-form stories just over a longer period of time.
“We love the idea of ‘one a day’ because we think it builds watercooler,” Katzenberg toldFortune. “The problem with streaming is that on the one hand, it has a lot of convenience; you’re in control of it. But on the other, you and I are never ever watching the same thing.
Efron, 31, will also get his own show alongside his brother. The Efrons will attempt to survive without food, water and technology for a set number of days. Meanwhile,Justin Timberlakewill host a show where he asks singers about the songs inspired them to become musicians. Timberlake, 38, and the featured singers would then sing a duet of that song.
Other big names joining the new platform includeChrissy Teigen,Spider-Mandirector Sam Raimi,Get Outproducer Jason Blum,Training Daydirector Antoine Fuqua andTwilightdirector Catherine Hardwicke.
“I don’t think we’re going to steal minutes from anyone else,” said Whitman, perTHR. “I think we’ll add to [the content people consume] and help lift all boats.”
source: people.com
