Have you ever wanted to see a two-division UFC champion trade workout secrets with an Olympic soccer gold medalist? If so, you’re in luck. Iron Sharpens Iron, a new show launching on Quibi, will pair all-star professional athletes from different disciplines to exchange training ideas, reveal the science behind their fitness regiments, and find some things in common as they both strive to stay at the top of their games. Golfers will swap tips with volleyball players, hockey stars will work out with world champion boxers, and we’ll get a glimpse into what makes these athletes so different—and so similar.
The show was conceived by Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who is also executive producer. Newton teamed up with Liquid Light, the Hollywood production company behind Newton’s slick, cinematic YouTube channel, to bring the idea to life.
“It’s the ultimate sports show for sports fans,” says Scott Brown, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Liquid Light. “It’s going to take viewers into the heart of what it means to perform as an athlete, how the human body can push its limits.”
Newton will star in the first episode along with NBA point guard Trae Young. The rest of the eight episode series will spotlight different pairings, like Carli Lloyd, the Olympian and FIFA champion who captains the US Women’s National Team, meeting MMA fighter Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes, the first woman to become a two-division champion in UFC. In some ways these women’s jobs couldn’t be more different. But they’ll definitely have a lot to talk about.
Newton’s Show Will Debut on Up and Coming Streaming Service Quibi
Iron Sharpens Iron is set to debut on Quibi, the up-and-coming video platform at the center of a considerable amount of buzz. Quibi hasn’t even launched yet and already exciting things are happening. The mobile-first video platform, founded by Jefferey Katzenberg, aims to deliver ‘snackable’ bite sized video content designed to fit in your pocket, and to fit in the in-between spaces of your day: during Uber rides, in line for your latte, anytime you would scroll through Instagram or crush some candy. They’re touting it as a platform that marries the high production values of Hollywood with Silicon Valley tech.
And when they say high production values, they aren’t kidding.
“The way we consume video is changing,” says Liquid Light CEO and Co-Founder Mo Darwiche. “Quality video production isn’t just for big screens and long form features anymore.” He says when most people think of YouTube, they picture a badly lit teen vlogger in a bland room. But it doesn’t have to be that way. And if you’re not convinced, look no further than Cam Newton’s polished YouTube channel, which Liquid Light produces.
Liquid Light’s unconventional business model brings venture capital to video production, meaning they finance everything they film for their clients, who are mostly celebrities and athletes. Before founding Liquid Light, Darwiche and Brown also executive produced video content for The Rock. Once a series has been developed with their celebrity partners, Liquid Light sells the concept to platforms like Quibi for production and distribution. In their case, Quibi ended up being a perfect fit because of Liquid Light’s focus on short form, serial content for YouTube, which is exactly the kind of content Quibi is built for.
More ‘Evolutionary’ Than ‘Revolutionary’
Quibi has spent around $1 billion for the 7,000 pieces of content it will roll out over the course of its first year, starting in the spring. They’ll be releasing reality shows (like Iron Sharpens Iron), dramadeys, historical biopics, news programs, you name it. The schtick is that they’re all diced up into quick episodes, or chapters, making the content portable in more ways than one.
“I don’t think of this as revolutionary as much as it’s evolutionary, in that you’re combining together these two tested forms of filmed narrative,” says Katzenberg. “The first generation was two-hour movies that were created and designed to be watched in a single sitting in a movie theater. And the next generation was these very long, episodic and serialized stories that had either 13 or 26 chapters to them, and they were designed to be watched an hour or half-hour at a time in front of the TV set. What Quibi is setting out to do is the next form of film narrative — the convergence of those two ideas together. What we’re doing is telling stories that are two to two and a half hours long in chapters that are seven to ten minutes, with great talent, and designed to be watched on your phone.”
Although it was founded by Katzenberg, veteran of Disney and Dreamworks, Quibi’s CEO is Meg Whitman, who formerly lead eBay and HP. It’s big names like these that have been drawing major financial backers.
Quibi could take streaming video subscriptions to the next level. The make or break factor will undoubtedly be the appeal of its content. And if Iron Sharpens Iron is any indication, Quibi shows will be worth the $5 per month membership fee. They might even give Netflix a run for their money.
