The running joke of the last several months is that legendary director Steven Spielberg is anti-streaming. This stems from his seeming reluctance at having streaming services like Netflix compete for Oscars, when he considers original films from the company to be “TV movies” due to their method of distribution. That being said, Spielberg is definitely not anti-streaming. In fact, he seems to be embracing all forms of streaming, especially with his new series, tentatively titled “Spielberg’s After Dark.”
According to Variety, Steven Spielberg is teaming up with Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg on the latter’s latest venture, Quibi, for a new horror-themed series, which will be written by the director. But unlike different streaming anthology series that have been released on Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, and other streamers, Spielberg’s show is going to have at least one unique wrinkle — you can only watch it at night.
“Steven Spielberg came in, and said, ‘I have a super scary story I want to do,’” Katzenberg said. “He’s writing it himself. He hasn’t [written anything in a while] so getting him to write something is fantastic.”
‘After Dark’ is planning on taking advantage of Quibi’s distribution method to allow viewers to only experience the horror show when it’s dark outside. How will the streamer know the time of day? Well, Quibi is expected to be released only on mobile platforms, allowing for the app to know exactly what time it is when you open it. And if it’s not dark yet, the app will give you a timer, counting down to the expected time that your location will be dark.
Now, you may be saying to yourself, “That’s all well and good, but what the hell is Quibi?” According to Katzenberg, Quibi is different from TV and films, existing in this third realm of streaming distribution. Due to its release on mobile platforms, series and films will be released in 7 to 10-minute chunks, but not in the way you may be thinking. They won’t just take a film and cut it to pieces. Instead, Quibi will develop original content built squarely around this release strategy, offering bite-sized chunks of quality storytelling that will be easily digestible on the go.
“What Quibi is doing, it’s not really short form,” he said. “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.”
There’s no release date set for “Spielberg’s After Dark” or the Quibi platform, in general, but with talent like the filmmaker involved, it would appear like we have another streaming service to keep our eyes peeled for.
