Steven Spielberg is slightly well known as a filmmaker. But given that it's been a few years since he put his name to a project as a writer, the idea of him getting back behind the keyboard is an intriguing, enticing one. And it's one that he's bringing to life for regular business partner Jeffrey Katzenberg's new platform Quibi. The focus? Horror! The hook (besides the Spiel-brain)? It'll only be viewable at night.
"Steven Spielberg came in, and said, 'I have a super scary story I want to do,'" Katzenberg told the audience at the Banff World Media Festival in Canada. "He’s writing it himself. He hasn’t written anything in a while so getting him to write something is fantastic."
According to Katzenberg, it'll be a horror series released in short chunks across 10-12 "chapters" (Spielberg's written six or so of them to date) on the Quibi app (short for "Quick Bites"). And they're aiming to be something new in terms of media, not just "short form" entertainment. "What Quibi is doing, it’s not really short form," Katzenberg says. "We’re putting those sciences together. Chapters or act breaks that are 7 to 10 minutes long. They are specifically shot to be watched on the go. If you’re 25-35 years old, you get up and you’re on a smartphone for over five hours." You kids today, with your digital watches and your Defective Pokechus...
Spielberg's show will be one of the flagship productions to help launch the service next year. And as for the timing idea, it'll show a clock on screen counting down to when the sun vanishes after sunset, at which time the show will be viewable. Once the sun appears at sunrise, the episodes will vanish again.
Right now, the show, or whatever we're supposed to call it, is being developed under the title Spielberg's After Dark. No, we're not sure it'll stick, given that it either sounds like a porn programme or a new chocolate pudding...
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