An important new series, #FreeRayshawn, is set to premiere on Quibi when the new streaming service launches April 6 starring Laurence Fishburne and Stephen James. The series takes place in New Orleans, where Rayshawn, a young black army vet (James) has just returned from the Iraq war. In the trailer, he is set up by police in a drug deal and locks himself inside his apartment with his wife and young son, brandishing a gun to protect them as Chicago PD and a SWAT Team wait outside, threatening to storm the building. Fishburne plays a sympathetic cop named Steven Poincy who tries to mediate the situation. As tensions rise, a large crowd gathers outside the building, causing a supportive chant and a social media hashtag to crop up: #FreeRayshawn. Watch the trailer here:
Quibi is a new streaming service geared exclusively toward a mobile audience, featuring only short-form videos. It was founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former head of Disney and Dreamworks Studio and its CEO is Meg Whitman. They have announced plans to spend around $1 billion on content during their first year. The service will cost $5 a month.
Many big names have already signed on to take part in new projects on Quibi, including Guillermo del Toro and Steven Spielberb as directors and Kevin Hart, Chrissy Teigen, Idris Elba, Tyra Banks, Jennifer Lopez, and Naomi Watts as actors in various projects.
The series will be released on Quibi on April 6.