Cisely and Mariel Saldana. Katzenberg and
four Quibi staffers follow, taking seats around
a big square table illuminated by a light fixture
that looks like a giant white lima bean.
At first it’s the Saldanas who are in full-on
pitch mode, talking about how Latinx mil-
lennials like themselves are “fed up with the
maids and the gangsters and the narcos.” “I
want to see aRiverdalewith a multicultural
cast and have it be super-elevated,” says Zoe,
referencing the subversive TV take on the
Archie comics characters. The Saldana sisters’
production company, Cinestar Pictures, has a
number of multicultural, millennial-leaning
show concepts looking for a home, and they
lob a few ideas at the table.
But about 15 minutes into the meeting,
Katzenberg takes over, describing one star-
laden series after the next. He drops names
like loose change, talking about how he’s
signed on Justin Timberlake to ask famous
musicians about the song that inspired them
to get into the industry, then do a duet of it.
He’s persuaded Zac Efron and his brother to
go to a remote corner of the earth and attempt
to survive without food, water, and technology
for a to-be-determined number of days. (Kat-
zenberg says he told them, “We’re only going
to do this if you’re in real danger.”)
He’s wrangled Chris Rock to narrate wildlife
mini documentaries produced by National
Geographic that sound like a mashup ofPlanet
Earth and thePlanet Earth spoof voiced by
rapper Snoop Dogg. “It’s just sort of a circle of
life of an animal, an elephant one week, a sala-
mander the next week. It doesn’t really matter
what the animal is,” Katzenberg says, shrug-
ging. If there were a thought bubble above
his head, it might read, “Who cares about the
freaking animals? We got Chris Rock.”
As he begins to wrap up with Zoe and
her sisters, Katzenberg leans into the table
separating them with a plea: “We need you,
we need your celebrity, we need your bud-
dies. We need to get the stars, the people who
mean something to this audience, on our
platform.” “Like, in front of the camera?” Zoe
asks, warily. “Absolutely,” says Katzenberg. The
cool kids’ table, after all, relies on perception.
What Katzenberg and Whitman need right
now are known quantities who mean as much
to Quibi’s target demographic as Quibi means
to these two ambitious boomers.[email protected]BIG FOES FORSHORT VIDEOS
QUIBI AIMS TO BE THE LEADER IN VIDEOS FOR A FLEDGLING
FORMAT. IT WILL FACE FIERCE COMPETITION FROM A BEVY OF
MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR COMPETITORS WITH A YEARS-LONG
HEAD START IN VIDEO PRODUCTION.AMAZON
The e-commerce
giant financed
three Funny or Die
comedy shorts,
which premiered
on its Prime Video
service in fall 2017.
It marked Amazon’s
first investment
in original and
exclusive content
through its content
creator–friendly
Video Direct
program.SNAPCHAT
Desperate to
win teens back
from Facebook’s
Instagram, Snap
Inc. has rolled out
a dozen exclusively
produced scripted
series and docuseries
this fall. Dubbed Snap
Originals (“Class of
Lies,” above), the
shows are designed
for mobile viewing
and encompass a
variety of genres.NETFLIX
Recent Netflix
Originals include
short documentaries
produced with
media partners
(Vox’s “Explained”
and BuzzFeed’s
“Follow This”) as well
as Jerry Seinfeld’s
popular “Comedians
in Cars Getting
Coffee” series, and
15-minute stand-up
specials with up-
and-coming comics.YOUTUBE
The gold standard of
digital short-form,
though its success
was built more by
amateur vloggers
than professional
filmmakers.
YouTube Originals
could bridge the
gap. The premium
programming —
soon supported
by ads—will be
available to all users
later this year.APPLE
Behind the scenes,
the Cupertino,
Calif., company
is assembling a
roster of exclusive
TV content. Short-
form will join the
lineup as well. Apple
in June gave a
10-episode straight-
to-series order for an
English adaptation
of the French short-
form series “Calls.”
—Aric JenkinsLonger-form
shows are finding
success on
Facebook Watch,
including the
Elizabeth Olson–
starringSorry for
Your Loss. But
short news and
lifestyle clips are
still available. And
Facebook-owned
Instagram’s IGTV
is like a user-
generated Quibi.CO
UR
TE
SY
OF
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AP
IN
C.