Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia, directed by Emmy® winner Salima Koroma, premieres on CNN on Sunday, March 5 at 9:00PM ET/PT.
Salima Koroma, winner of an Emmy® for her work on CNN Films’ Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street, takes viewers on a journey through the meteoric ascent and unexpected fall of the once-ubiquitous mobile game show, HQ Trivia.
“HQ Trivia was supposed to ‘revolutionize television’. But what happens when the people who are running it – ‘the smartest guys in the room’ – don’t actually know what they’re doing?” said director Salima Koroma. “The CEOs who make the Vines and the WeWorks and the Twitters are hailed as the rockstars of our age. But a lot of them are simply emperors with no clothes on. It’s kind of absurd. And I wanted that absurdity to be felt all throughout the film.”
This documentary, co-produced by CNN Films and HBO Max and directed by Left/Right, explores the meteoric rise and spectacular fall of HQ Trivia, the groundbreaking “game show on your phone” app that captivated the nation in 2016 before imploding in 2017.
Celebrities including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Neil Patrick Harris, Jimmy Kimmel, and Kelly Clarkson joined the millions of daily users who enjoyed the game’s exciting trivia challenges and cash awards. Conflicts within the company, personnel changes, and a terrible death all contributed to the show’s eventual demise. The video captures the true-life humor and tragedy that occurred in front of and behind the cameras through the eyes of former presenter Scott Rogowsky and other first-person characters from inside and outside the corporation.
“HQ Trivia was a national sensation that captured the zeitgeist, disrupting daily habits to an obsessive degree – and then suddenly it was over in a flash,” said Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent and content development, CNN Worldwide. “CNN Films has developed a sweet spot for projects that uncover the stories behind the headlines, and we are delighted to work with the talented Salima Koroma to peel back the layers of this key moment in pop culture.”
Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia is produced by Left/Right for CNN Films and HBO Max. Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver of Left/Right are executive producers, alongside Amy Entelis and Courtney Sexton for CNN Films. Dylan Abruscato and Brandon Teitel are co-executive producers. The film is produced by Olivia Snyder-Spak and Kevin Vargas.
Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com and CNN OTT and mobile apps, or CNNgo where available. The film will be available On-Demand beginning Monday, March 6, to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN apps, and Cable Operator Platforms.