Jeffrey Katzenberg on Quibi regrets, awards potential and a new app update: In two weeks people can watch on TV [EXCLUSIVE] – Gold Derby

Just weeks after Quibis $1.8 billion with a b launch, CEO Jefferey Katzenberg admits 100% regret about his phone-only platform. Timing was everything. Now he says Quibi will offer a TV option. It also might be up for traditional awards like Emmys and Critics Choice in certain categories. Movies and Oscars, not so much. And dont ask him to produce next years show. In a candid phone call, the former DreamWorks co-founder talks hiccups and successes in his new venture.

Gold Derby: What have you learned since you launched?

Jeffrey Katzenberg: Weve learned a whole lot, but at the top of the list? People are loving movies in chapters. People are coming back every day. The completion rate in other words, you start something and go all the way and finish it is extremely high. And thats true across the entire Quibi platform. Its as high as any platform anywhere. It may be the highest. Thats great because people are wanting to stay with these stories.

GD: So to be clear, consumers have a better chance of finishing a Quibi movie than one on Netflix?

JK: I dont want to compare because its kind of like comparing apples to submarines, in that a commitment to watch a Quibi show or an episode is six to eight minutes. And a series is two hours. To watch a Netflix series Im in the middle of Ozark right now thats ten hours. And theirs is about watching on a TV set and ours is about watching on a phone.

GD: So you have no regret about launching in the middle of a pandemic with people unable to watch your content on TV?

JK: I have 100% regret about it. The good news about being a startup and being entrepreneurial is that when your customer talks to you, if not shouts at you, you must listen. And so literally we will launch, in less than two weeks, an update for the app that will let people watch Quibi on their TV set. Thats something we didnt anticipate. And obviously we didnt realize the world would be sheltered in place, literally. If thats what the customer wants its our job to give it to them.

GD: The rules are changing for Oscar consideration. Could a Quibi film ever win an Oscar?

JK: I dont think we will get theatrical releases.

GD: They dont have to.

JK: Right, but we designed and shot to look good on your phone which no other content today does. This is just quite different. Different doesnt mean better or worse, its just different.

GD: How about Golden Globes, Emmys, and Critics Choice for television?

JK: I think well be eligible for TV categories. But these are things people do to you, you dont get to decide. We certainly are going to be supportive of our filmmakers and storytellers, and anywhere that people want to celebrate their work we are going to lean in and going to support them.

GD: You mentioned were all going back to theaters. Where do you stand on the AMC/Universal dust up?

JK: I dont want to offer an opinion on something Im not up to speed on. But I will say, we all at some point will be going back. Its not a question of if were going back to movies, its when. Going to movie theaters is a great experience and theres nothing like being surrounded by a couple hundred people and watching either a comedy or a thriller or a scary movie. That reaction is contagious and communal and the best way to see it, right? Comedy is best as a shared experience. Laughter makes other people laugh. And we will go back to sports, and we will go back to concerts. There will be a vaccine. Theres no ifs in any of these things, they are certainties. The question is when. But Im not a doctor, Im an entertainer. I dont know when.

GD: Youre also a producer. Circling back to the Oscars, if you were producing next years show, what would you do differently?

JK: Ive been out of that business for too long. My fingers not on the pulse of that world today.

GD: Are you talking to Quibi talent these days?

JK: Absolutely.

GD: How are they doing?

JK: Theyre great. I mean they loved making the content and now seeing it on the platform theyre thrilled. Ive talked with Liam Hemsworth, Christoph Waltz, Chrissy Teigen, Chance The Rapper, Sophie Turner and Anna Kendrick, and the beauty of platform is we have so many great people making content. Chris Paul has a new show coming out in two weeks, and the Reno 911 gang are coming back next week. Frankly, everybody made great content. Hollywood showed up and made for me and this platform, stuff that is really, really strong. And the people whove downloaded the app and watched it, theyre the ones that matter and theyre voting with their time. And theyre spending more time watching more content than we thought they were going to. Now, how thats going to change when we get back out of our homes again, we dont know, but were pretty optimistic.

GD: Do you have Bill Murrays 800 number?

JK: (Laughs) I dont but I know where to send a smoke signal when I need him.

Be sure to make your Emmy predictions today so that Hollywood insiders can see how their TV shows and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions as often as you like until just before the nominees are announced on July 28. And join in the fun debate over the 2020 Emmys taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our television forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.

More:
Jeffrey Katzenberg on Quibi regrets, awards potential and a new app update: In two weeks people can watch on TV [EXCLUSIVE] - Gold Derby

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero