Jeffrey Katzenberg, who sold DreamWorks Animation to NBCUniversal last year for $3.8 billion, has been busy since then pursuing an ambitious goal Variety says would revolutionize the entertainment business.
In an in-depth feature on Katzenberg and his new venture, Variety reports: “Katzenberg’s plan involves nothing less than the creation of a whole new species of entertainment targeting 18- to 34-year-olds: short-form video series produced with budgets and production values you might expect from prime-time TV, along with top-shelf creatives on both sides of the camera.
“For example, imagine a drama akin to ‘Empire’ or ‘Scandal’ but shrunk to 10-minute episodes made for mobile consumption. Or a five-minute talk show, or a two-minute newscast — all with high-profile talent attached.”
The report notes that Katzenberg has been working to line up allies for his venture, meeting with a wide swath of power brokers — Apple’s Tim Cook and Eddy Cue, YouTube’s Susan Wojcicki and Verizon’s Lowell McAdam, Marni Walden and Tim Armstrong, to name a few, and plenty of media heavyweights appear interested.
Katzenberg has tentatively dubbed the idea “New TV.”
We encourage readers to click here to go to Variety to read the full report, including Variety’s interview with Katzenberg.
in twenty years … it will be five second long telenovelas and 1 second commercial spots
Short Attention Span Theater.
This will an interesting competition between the Networks, Amazon, Netflix, HULU, etc, to see if people want a traditional program or short form. For short form there is already YouTube and many other sites that do not charge a fee. If there is an intention to charge a fee, rather than advertising, it may be a tough sell.
In order to get someone to watch the next episode of a drama, you usually need a cliffhanger. A story with a cliffhanger every 10 min. might get annoying.
He’s an idiot. Another exec who thinks he’s in touch with what viewers want but doesn’t have a clue.
it’s not about length you moron, it’s about good compelling content. Do the work and stop looking for false shortcuts.