Quibi was something of a surprise in the world of streaming. A bizarre new concept that seemingly sprang out of nowhere, secured huge investments, started spinning out thousands of ads, and somehow attempted to compete with the likes of Amazon and Netflix. With a unique selling point of selling smaller, ten minute programs aimed at commuters exclusive to phones, Quibi really was the little streaming service that could. Right up until it couldn’t anymore.
Despite the service’s huge investment in marketing and original programming, the service never actually found a strong foothold with audiences. After a while the writing was on the wall, and as revenues kept declining, the service attempted more marketing pushes, which still failed to reap the success they had hoped. Eventually the company made the decision to shut down, a decision that, as it turns out, was devastating for those working on Quibi originals.
As Quibi closed up shop, it was reported that the employees were also kept out of the loop, learning about the loss of their jobs around the same time everyone else did. A crewmember from the Quibi original Your Daily Horoscope admits: “We were blindsided. We had just signed contracts and turned down other jobs to keep working on this show.” Antonio Monge, an animator for the show, criticized Quibi’s lack of communication: “Our own execs had to constantly hound Quibi for further information.”
This is especially disastrous for those struggling to find work during the ongoing pandemic, which has made finding jobs in TV and film especially difficult. An associate producer for the show Sexology With Shan Boodram takes a more grateful view of the situation: “The way I’ve seen it is that I’ve been really lucky to be employed on a Quibi show during the pandemic. I was one of the only people I know who was working.” Quibi has reportedly given third party companies the responsibility to pay their employees and handle licenses how they see fit, meaning that the future of these shows may depend heavily on where they were made and by who. Overall though, one employee put the company’s legacy best when they admit: “We all knew this was coming. We just didn’t know it was coming this fast.”
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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