Category: Backstage Conversations

[ 00:00:19 ] When I approach commercial work I have to look at it a lot differently than say like a documentary. There’s a lot more at stake right the brand the brand has a certain look a certain color they want a certain feel they want to vote a certain emotion out of what you’re doing. Whereas at doc it’s like a singular subject right. And you have a little bit more leeway with how you shoot a doc kind of thing especially if you’re like a DP 6 IDB indirect so as a DP on a dock you can kind stylize it a bit more and come up with certain ideas but really in a commercial There’s a lot of checks right. You have to go through all the creatives their bosses then you get to go to the account people in the brand. So everyone has to be on the same page. So a lot of communication has to happen. There’s a lot more I would say is a lot more planning doing commercials and also just thinking it through a lot more. Right. Like what if you’re doing a soda can. What’s behind the soda can what colors is the other brand colors. Is that the new soda cans that soda can match. Do they want to flirt with them or do they want the balls. So there’s like so many things you’re not just shooting a soda can it’s like why should the soda cans. And it might seem like it’s just like a product shop but as everyone knows who does commercials sometimes the product shot is like half the day. So there’s a lot more planning. Everything from the creative approach to the look the feel the coloring the actors the wardrobe you know. Are you going to get the right music and get the music cleared. Is that painting clear. Did that artist sign off on that. You know so there’s there’s there’s a lot more to think about when you’re doing commercials when it comes to commercials like every shot matters right. So what are you doing. Doxey you might you know pick up a shot of a pigeon and it might work it might not. It’s like whatever you just kind of get as much in the can as possible when you do commercials usually don’t have that kind of time. Right. So everything’s kind of scheduled with you’re kind of down to the minute. So as far as every shot you know as far as every shot having to get bought off. It’s kind of like you’re focusing a lot more on a frame than you would say shooting a commercial or like a TV show or something like that. Because even though that shot might only be on for two seconds it says a lot about the brand. So if I’m doing like a beer commercial it’s about a beer tasting room. You know that room has to feel like it’s part of that brand right. Because say like a you know a Stella might be a lot different than their natural light. Right. So it’s like really thinking like it’s not just a wide shot it’s like what are the tones. Is it warm. Does it have a lot of years behind the brand. So it’s like really thinking about that you know. And then once you get the ascetic and you do with all the people then you bring in a lighting and you get the lighting down are we doing this moody Is it a bright sunny day.

[ 00:03:01 ] Are we trying to make it dramatic. Are we trying to make people cry or trying to make people laugh and that’s all different kind of life. And then once you get that down then the camera moves come in and or the movie’s going to match the lighting. If I’m doing a dolly shot what changes in the background if I end on that shot is the editor going to take the shot half way through. And now I end with the parking meter rather than the stop sign. Even though in the beginning everyone’s checking off a sign. So it’s like following the shot all the way through and I always think about the edit in commercials where they’re going to cut this. So I was to a lot of the action before the action after and give the editor options.

[ 00:03:33 ] I was like It’s like someone like an editor as just a continuation of the director or the DP really. That’s what it is. They’re taking what you did your baby and like infinity and and so you know getting back to the original answer.

[ 00:03:44 ] Every frame in a commercial matters. So you’re spending a lot more time making sure that everything from the art to the lighting the actor the wardrobe camera moves camera focal length height all of that stuff comes into play.

[ 00:04:04 ] Well working with an it when I work with my editors. OK. Every job is different. Right. So if I’m doing something that’s been storyboarded to death and it’s kind of like it is what it is and they’re just pressing buttons and they might just do a little nuances here and there. They might not come in that early unless we have someone in mind that is like you know creating beast that they want that specific person on the agency side. I’ll have ideas for editors are going to want for certain things. So something like you know something with storyboarded the editor might come in later. And even though it’s been storyboarded I don’t want the I’d rather the editor doesn’t see the boards I want to give the footage and give them a day to do whatever they think it could be because sometimes I’ll come up with something so much more genius and you weren’t thinking it because all you’re thinking about is the hair on the arm on the shop and they’re like it’s about the elbow man and you’re like oh shit. And it’s not real. You know it’s like I love giving that and then all coming back oh you’ve got it totally wrong. Or like wow think that. Or am I just take a little sliver of it but something I just did a thing for the Nets that I directed DPN that’s going to play on their Jumbotron before every game. And it’s very fast paced and it’s very quick. There’s like layers upon layers of footage and stuffs being caught. So I need an editor that knew how to deal with the speed of the car knew how to tell the story of the Campisi without having to see it like in motion because they were like doing all the work and doing all the rendering. So someone who could like see that. So I needed someone who’s like you know rock star right. Then I’ll do something that’s really much more emotional and I’ll need an editor that can really yank on the tears and really let it hang and not be afraid to let a shot just sit there for a minute. So you can see the emotion of the subject right. So every editors kind of different you know get those kids that come out and they want to cut on the little that the camera moved oh I used that as a curtain and they’re focused just on that you know then you get the guys you don’t care what it looks like they’re all story. And so I try to find somewhere in between with most of my stuff. But every job has a different answer just like you get a different director for every kind of job. You know you want to give a guitar.

[ 00:06:17 ] To like Eric Clapton and talent you tell him the chords or GDC but you’re not going to tell him how to play those chords right here or the chords play them in any order you want but you have only these chords. He’ll play something that is going to be so much more beyond what you are able to like tell him.

[ 00:06:33 ] Right because he’s going to play with it. He’s going to play the G first and he’s going to fingerpick the D and then he’s going to see my plate Scott. You know what I mean. So that’s you want the editors there and creative. And then I’ll come in and just push the buttons. So I want to give them leeway for sure. As far as prep goes I mean yeah. Budget I mean budgets are a big part of it. Also the creatives like how crazy are they in our day like so. You know. For better lack of words like frame fucking me on everything that they have to do every single board every single shot.

[ 00:07:04 ] That’s cool. I’m down with that. But then that’s shoots going to go a certain way.

[ 00:07:07 ] I like to prep work I know exactly what I’m shooting what time of day is the lighting the lenses the camera my guys right wardrobe or all that kind of stuff but then I like inboards sure but I like to get in there and I usually change it all.

[ 00:07:22 ] I’ll see something that’s so much better. But I usually get everything that everyone wanted and then let her decide in the end. But I overshoe It’s just like kind of what I do just because I like options.

[ 00:07:34 ] I want to get the audience in Charlotte tennis ball shit like it was a dog food commercial bubble. But the tennis ball rolling by itself would have a great and you know so I’ll take my time. Just people that why machine that has nothing to do with it. I’m like well it could. Maybe the editors see something different than you know. So getting back to prep. Yeah I prepped everything but budget budget time frame when we have to deliver where we’re shooting who we’re shooting all that stuff comes into play.

[ 00:07:58 ] I mean every job is different but prepping. Sure that’s.

[ 00:08:03 ] A huge part.

[ 00:08:11 ] I can work really fast. So bang it’s stuff out. I still deliver which is an I level. They want it delivered. So I kind of like that stuff sometimes it’s like. It just to be honest. But you know. In this area you know like OK.

[ 00:08:27 ] I saw it all change right like when I started there was no five these you know it was like the D.V. X came out five years into my career. But they were like 24. It looks like a film like shooting on cards. People are like What are you talking about. You know first card for the HP except for gags on it. And then they had like some storage store drive or whatever that was image store. And you know even the footage was on it and you know it’s come a long way. But now anyone can go out and buy a five day put it on a slide or get a guy who has a couple of lights. Shoot something like wow that looks great. Now I am looking for people. When you see their handheld stuff let me see the handheld where they have to react and make a decision in no time. And that’s how I start to judge who I use. You know because anyone can put these days can do that. Well the market saturated. Right. So there’s a lot more people doing what we do. There’s a lot more avenues for it. I mean I shot the first stuff when cell phone footage started happening. I was working for my GI as a freelancer director DP at the time and we did the first videos that were on cell phones. And I did nothing like 20 and we did like Sprint we did like A-Kon Rehana Umbrello and that’s not that’s when that was happening.

[ 00:09:34 ] Stuff like that Sundance 50 cent that you amaze would whatever look all this content. People are like what’s content what is that. You know now Pontin’s king right. So it’s kind of like I seen it all happening and I’ve been in there doing it because when I a brushing up we were one stop shop.

[ 00:09:51 ] We were that and no one wanted to be called that at that time. It was like that was like they’re not there kids right. And now it’s like that’s what everyone wants and it’s like we were ahead of the curve.

[ 00:10:00 ] It’s really funny to see it now come together. I mean it is really funny to be honest with you because people were not looking for a one stop shop and say sure but you know it’s a 360 approach for everything now. Right. So you have the VR component you have the digital component on your cell phones the mobile component you have the stuff that lives. Right. And then you have the stuff that’s on TV. Then you have the stuff that might be maybe on a big screen. So for something really to hit home in the commercial world and they really want to make a stamp on it they’ll usually hit all those things. And so you know for me I’m cool to do any of that. Honestly I’d rather have the big spot put some of the social stuff I’ve done it this morning and it’s been just as cool. It’s paid just as well and it’s been a little bit more easier to do. I’m sick if people breathing on your neck. They go digital. I’m like oh OK. And you come back with something like wow that should be the spot. OK.

[ 00:10:51 ] You know maybe it helps when everyone’s not there you know with that. But you know the market’s actually a lot more saturated now there’s a lot more space for it. You know with Netflix Amazon Prime Hulu Internet phone computer I mean I think the average person is even watched most the TV on TV anymore. So there’s a lot more vehicles for everything which means there’s a lot more people wanting to pay for content. Which means there’s a lot more people that are willing to do it. So.

[ 00:11:20 ] How do I feel about it all. Yeah I want the Super Bowl commercial sure but am I happy getting the $100000 Internet thing. And it’s going to be just as cool. I’m going to get something out of it. Yes. I mean it’s cool. I don’t. I don’t judge what I do on where it’s going to live.

[ 00:11:36 ] I judge what I do on how I’m going to do it what am I going to get out of it what does that people do if we’re going to get out of it. It’s going to build relationships. We’ll get them a real life to get paid. I mean you know all this stuff. You know one thing for me is like I love what I do. So like if I’m a doc in Africa or I’m shooting a spot for the NFL it’s like it’s all good every day is different and meeting new people new experiences and you know I like to give it my best every time. So really whether it’s a small job or a big job it doesn’t matter for me. And obviously the money’s better on the bigger job.

[ 00:12:16 ] When I first started there wasn’t that the idea. Right. And then you know the car the camera started coming out where you’re shooting on cards right. So then you’d have someone who would just like dump footage right drag and drop. And that was like what people don’t even call a media manager first right. And then it started to grow and then all of a sudden you’re getting bigger files bigger cameras that big or you start shooting on cards and this red camera comes along the Panasonic’s. So it started to change and evolve and then as it even progressed more then people started bringing like the wheels out on set. And and really diving into the metadata and diving into like that we’re shooting information. Like what you’re seeing isn’t really what you’re getting as much a once in Ozen information. And once that started to click I think people start to realize that while maybe we should have someone who was not just a kid dragging and dropping files. So for me the I.T. role has really evolved over the years and it’s come to the forefront that we’re shooting digital right. And I like to have my D.A. on board for many reasons. One they’re watching my back right. Something’s not right they’re going to come up and whisper in my ear and tell me to if I’m doing something that’s like an HDR X on a red or some sort of high speed speed ramping on comp being on putting digital stuff in and or maybe I’m shooting at a little dark but at a 200 ISO so I can have the colors a lot more richer when I bring them up I have a lot more room on the top. I have my DMC on set to show me exactly what I’m trying to do so I can show the agency right in and make it feel a lot more at ease. Know what they’re getting. And it also just helps speed up the process when we get into post and for color correct. So like I said I looked down and said what I was thinking some ideas and then by the time the color correct gets it they’re already on their way. And now we’re fine tuning and we’re really getting creative and really playing with stuff rather than like. All right let’s get a look.

[ 00:14:11 ] It’s like no we already kind of had that vision. You know you didn’t. Think you wouldn’t have someone on set. Loading your film camera. If they didn’t know what they were doing right. Like you need a pro who is the first. Seems like dials in. Right. Doing it with his eyes closed the whole time. And the whole thing. So why wouldn’t you have someone who’s dialed into the metadata and information technology doing the digital stuff. And it seems like it’s a no brainer. And a lot of times you know you hear people that do really need to get there. It’s like we’re shooting Red aka And like I’m cropping in images now I want that done on set so that they don’t get to the edit and I’m living with these watch that’s good right. Everyone shoots AK 6K for Cain anti-phishing tenants pay rent and then I know I’m cropping it I just don’t know how much I really want to cropping it because of the movement and then it gets to and I see the final and I’m like what did that was and. Like oh it looks great. I’m like yeah it looks great but it was supposed to be in here because the next shot’s wider. So it’s kind of like using the DHC for my benefit. For the agencies. They can see but also they bring the creative flow to the team. They’re like hey why don’t you try this. What about if we told it like this. What if we pushed the ISO here and put a little green in and I get to try all that stuff while I’m doing it. The deal is great also for testing. If I want to test if there’s flicker here if I were a test what that movement looks like if I want to keep something in. I’m going to see what my map looks like. You know I can do that. I could pound a shot off for five seconds. Boom get it to him it’s up and rockin and I’m doing it like in three minutes. You know a lot of people say that DOHC onset might slow it down if the DP is like working with them and talking with them. I mean I strongly disagree. I mean the same thing is me going over to the agency and talking about what I’m doing now I just get the shot. Like the reason why this is six stops dark is because I’m doing HDR X. So we can meld it. So the inside and outs match. So the outside it’s not blown out because I don’t have a 10K on this person’s face you know like they don’t understand that sometimes they hear the lingo and they like to throw in the lingo. But I mean this is what we do every day. And the D.A. that’s what he does every day. So if he’s telling me like my is a little off you know I’m going to listen to him because that’s what he does he’s staring at that thing all day. You know so I think it’s the D.A. is a vital role on set. It’s a continuation of the whole thing just like if there is a cause for it I like that my editor Onsen.

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Miguel Santos

General Manager, Myx TV

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[ 00:00:19 ] Sling Media which was acquired by Dish Network back in 2008. Pioneered over-the-top television right through their revolutionary Slingbox and it was due to the vision of our. Executive Council that understood the long term benefit of a platform like that right. Who knew that you could take your content from your television provider and treatment worldwide to your cell phone or your desktop and without paying any incremental cost. Right. And you talked about what a target we became I think both from a litigious standpoint and technically that’s when everyone started trying to figure out how to enable mobile devices to take your content and consume it the way you want to. So we set the groundwork but I also think that we’ve embraced being the target in the industry because it’s allowed us to leapfrog into platforms such as Sling TV. Right. We’re not tied to the satellite delivery network. We are also able to look at the benefits of doing a pure play so that the cord cutters the cord nevers.

[ 00:01:24 ] We have an answer for them that isn’t tied to your residential household or a traditional subscription service. We were able to negotiate our presence in that value chain of content creation and the monetization of content delivery. Very It was it was innovative because the technology benefited both the consumer.

[ 00:01:55 ] And the content creator and the broadcasters. We have. Met data that we’re acquiring we are able to in some ways offer value both up and down stream. And I think that has in many ways helped lower the things I would say from our other partners and allowing us to have conversations both ways. We’ve been able to I think monetize.

[ 00:02:29 ] Innovate and utilize various value streams for better data on every aspect of our platform from a satellite perspective. It helps in contract negotiations in terms of. Who is watching what. How much are they watching. Are they are they purchasing the products that are advertised during that content. All of that information is so valuable and it has opened doors for us on satellite on OTTF delivery and we continue to leverage our platform to look for ways to continue amassing. That data. And the reason it is so valuable to our partners is because it’s real it’s not a sampling it’s not assumed there are very little extrapolations that go on. It is the true data. And so that. Coupled with our desire to be innovative and go into new revenue sharing opportunities has just been the sweet spot for us. Our. Method data aggregation. Parameters are just more detail. Like I said I’m not going to you know name competitors directly but I will say that because we are taking. Real user viewing habit. We are able to make. Conjecture. We’re able to use that data and leverage it in ways that other partners cannot. And and again it’s not extrapolated. There’s no box sampling throughout the United States. It’s however many millions of subscribers there are watching our content there or are able to create and utilize it. And it’s anonymised right. I don’t there’s no. Privacy concerns here it’s anonymize it is managed appropriately but it also helps us to talk to our partners about how their content is being viewed what’s best for our subscribers and it has helped I think right now we’ve pivoted less from the technology standpoint it’s more survivable and going where the market’s going right.

[ 00:04:57 ] Our satellite television platform has always been traditional subscriber based platform. And when we saw the cord cutting the over-the-top which we did pioneer right with our Slingbox But when we saw the way the market was going and the way people were consuming content. It was our thought that we need to also play in that platform rather than lose the subscriber. Let’s give them what they’re looking for. So so the birth of sleen TV the other avenue and the reason I’m so excited and get up in the morning is about selling studio which also has the brand name but it’s more. It is a multi camera prosumer device that offers portability wireless capability for the production enthusiasts like yourself who want to create content on the fly live streaming and offer it to those same types of viewers who want to consume their content.

[ 00:05:56 ] Now the way they want to write.

[ 00:06:07 ] No I don’t think we’re leaps and bounds Slingbox was revolutionary per our discussion. I will say that today though it is it is it is necessary for you to offer media and you see all of our competitors doing it offering content on various platforms based on the fragmented customer base. So I wouldn’t say we’re leaps and bounds. We certainly see we read the tea leaves and we we responded but much like our competitors did the value add is we’re going down market and I’m speaking of selling studio particularly we have taken the engineering know how you talk about Slingbox. We’ve taken that engineering know how we’ve taken 35 years of set top box engineering and put it into a product that is. Consumer friendly easy to use value base for less than $2000 you can create a production quality content that’s consumable on social media which we know is huge. And any other platform that you want to use right. I’ve got high end producers such as yourself who are using it to broaden their scope. Of how they capture content who they’re talking to and the. Financials associated with that right all the way to your small church who wants to figure out how we live stream to reach our flock and they are able to use it. So slate studio talks to all ends of that marketplace. But it is borne out of years of engineering expertise that is selling Dish Network and EchoStar people are seeking us out of this show because it fits their niche and we hear. Varied stories all day on how this works. I’ve got a professor out of India who wants to distribute these values in studios to all of the classrooms to. Produce high quality educational content to distribute. We’re seeing the small church provider come and say I need to figure out how to wait to enable my mission trip. And figure out how to capture that content and a high quality fashion so that I can gain more parishioners. The corporate corporate applications in terms of training. So. What you’re saying and what is at the helm of all of this is. High quality low production cost. Quick to market content that needs to happen right social media is redefining. You talk about this for Idiocracy. I believe that social media is also adding a. An urgency to that because people want to get the content out there because that is so important to their platforms to get the word out there marketing messages etc.. We are looking at opportunities for monetizing that we’re exploring. We’re still in the early stages we’re really excited about the hardware and the platform that is selling studio because we’re learning right. And yes there are additional monetization opportunities but I also think that there are opportunities that we haven’t thought of and the more we talk to our base we’re still a young product and we’re getting great user feedback and reception. And so part of our job here and continuing forward is learning how are people enabling our technology on their platforms. And where are the other value products for us throughout that so not yet but there’ll be more to come. Sling studio and our value proposition speaks to many verticals house of worship education sports corporate and you talk about the proliferation of social media Facebook LinkedIn YouTube. Slings studio allows the unexperienced social media platform user to leverage those platforms in a seamless way. It’s cost effective. It is easy to use but it does give you high production. Value. And in those markets those verticals that I talked about it resonates with each of them differently. Your parishioner may not have a clue how to log into his Facebook account but. His you know part time videographer in the back of the sanctuary can have it up in minutes. We’ve heard stories where it has helped them evangelize out to the marketplace from an education perspective. We’ve had teachers talk about how they can offer studio to their students. It’s easy to use. There used to be I’ve had iPhone interface content can be easily captured via your cell phone and it enables low cost consumption or low cost production into a high quality video platform. So it. Is meeting the juncture of the growth of social media. And. The need for high quality content. And enabling those partners to utilize both to to.

[ 00:11:47 ] Forward their businesses and application.

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David J. Thompson, SOC is a member of the Society of Camera Operators and has extensive credits in both feature film and television as a camera operator and a Steadicam operator. His partial credits include top projects such as: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Insurgent, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Divergent, American Hustle, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Silver Linings Playbook, Boardwalk Empire, Without a Trace and The Wire.

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[ 00:00:19 ] Websites about you know 20 years ago were such that you could just stand up and you would be relatively resilient because there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic online at that time. It has progressed over time to the point now where you actually need something like a content distribution network as well as security overlay as well to make sure that your site and one can stand up and two can be resilient to attacks because if a site is even remotely popular you could have thousands upon thousands of visitors hitting your site every minute. And this was not a problem back then 20 years ago when you’d have you know that many a year. Now it has very much change so if you’re looking at the Amazons and Microsoft’s of the world where they have a lot of volume they have to have some sort of resilience in place in order to ensure that they can stand up under load not only from attacks but just from something like a sale. So they’re having a sale like Amazon has their Pi Day or Black Friday is coming out. This is a heavy traffic day so just by sheer volume of the number of people they are going to the Web site it could in some cases take it down if the site is not set up to be perfect. At this point we’ve really reached the point where it is necessary for all sites to have some sort of acceleration in front of their site. In addition to security because we have gotten to that point now we’ve tipped over to you know streaming media online. You have various companies out there like the Netflix of the world and things to that effect where they’re delivering a lot of content online to multiple devices. And you know for example if my 3 year old can’t get his wiggles on his iPad there’s going to be hell to pay. When people try to expand their size and they have to understand that there are going to be attacks it’s inevitable and it’s not because of the vertical they happened to be in it simply by virtue of the fact they have an IP address attached to the Internet at this point that time in time or that it is really gotten to that point where you know we have to look at it from the acceleration and the security to make sure that we’re looking at the security attacks that are happening so that we can pull productions for people across the board and with a service like ours you are looking at it from a cloud based offering because appliances simply don’t scale. If you go dropping appliances in every organization that needs help that will have very limited utility and you really have to look at it from a cloud based offering at this point because it gives you the scale and ability to react to not only threats but pure volume. IOS has really become the bacon of the Internet. Everything is better with bacon. IOC literally means anything with an Internet access be it a toaster. I’ve seen actually a toothbrush with IMT related toothbrush and all of these devices present a target of opportunity for an attacker. So if an attacker is able to compromise this device and either exfiltrate data or get into their network further if you are home network or your enterprise whatever it happens to be they’re always looking to see how much they can get away with. And the attackers are going to do what they do. So if you provide them more targets of opportunity the chances for them to get in rises simply because a lot of these devices to end up being shipped with deprecated libraries that reintroduce security problems that had been previously remedied. I ot is fraught with problems but it’s also fraught with opportunity. If you look at it you play on any device that you go through you will click except because you want your shiny new toy. A lot of the same problem applies for any sort of OT device. So if you’re just clicking through and just accepting it and attaching to the internet most people don’t have a firewall at their house. I’d say by and large you know 99 percent of people don’t have a firewall at home. So these devices end up being directly connected. Now for example with our organization we don’t look at the end user consumer device as we look at the infrastructure that supports it. So for example if the DNS goes down for whatever my gadget dot com not actually a Web site I don’t think. But if they if that particular DNS goes down none of those devices can communicate back to the backend systems. And these are the things you have to worry about as is your infrastructure going to be resilient. And is it going to be able to take an attack. Because you know while the device might stop working that’s one of the things you want to test with your consumer device if you have a device that you unplugged from the internet and it stops working. This is a bit of a problem. You want to make sure that if you’re paying money for these devices it still works even if it doesn’t have an internet connection. With these consumer grade iOS devices really is about time to market for a lot of these companies they want to be out before their competitors are out and a lot of time security unfortunately gets bypassed. And this is a problem that can grow from that. And I really do worry about these sort of things where you know great opportunity great devices but they have planned excuse me planned obsolescence built into them and they don’t intend for the device to have longevity whereas they worry more about their infrastructure. So. It really is a tradeoff for the end user to say you know how much of this money is really going to be well spent. My own personal home is actually IATSE able where I can walk into a room and the lights turn on and the TV turns on. I don’t have to do anything just because I have. No free time but somehow I managed to pull it off. But you know that’s the geek in me having fun with it. I ot is definitely something that we are transitioning into in a large way for primarily protecting infrastructure but there are different groups out there that are spitting out different types of efforts to better secure IOTAs So it’s not a case of all is lost. Definitely not that at all. But it’s really a case of you won’t pay a dollar upfront or ten thousand on the backend so it’s better to have security in the conversation at the beginning. That way you don’t have to worry about ending up on the front page of The Wall Street Journal the next day. I think the great thing about I ot is the opportunity that presents security can be addressed as long as manufacturers are taking it seriously as long as end users are voting with their dollars to make sure they’re driving that change. Because when I see all the types of data and how they can be used and I mean and I’m walking around with an ID device basically on my wrist every day and the amount of data that it has is absolutely fantastic and how it can be used. For example I saw a story just last week about one gentleman who saved his life because his heart rate monitor spiked and he couldn’t understand why he went to the hospital. Turned out he was having an embolism. And it saved his life literally. So the possibilities are great and I think that’s where security likes to be an overlay to make sure that devices like this are secure so we can see more good news stories like this. We are definitely working with lots of media companies because we deliver their content online and we help stream them so it is faster because we want to make sure that the consumer in India. None of it in northern and northern Canada as well as in southern Brazil are able to get the same user experience. And it’s one of those things where we want to make sure that that is driving forward and also in a secure fashion because attackers would love nothing more than to be able to hijack one of these streams and you know alter it to how they see fit. And this is a problem but this is a problem that can be addressed and is being addressed.

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Backstage Conversation Season: 2017

Dan Bigman

Publisher, Verse

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Glodina Connen-Lostanlen

CMO, Imagine Communications

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[ 00:00:19 ] I think the environed right now with independent high Castres is very collaborative and very supportive. They have a couple live events where everyone goes to support each other brainstorm learn together. There are few events where what the independents call pro caster’s like Bill Burr Mark Marin TUDO Queens where I think the independents feel not just competition but also like. As my editor says like get out of my sandbox go play in your own sandbox. And some of that I think comes from fear that everything was fine and dandy until corporations came in and started to try to make money. And then there are shows and I mean my own personal attitude is they’re raising the bar for what’s a good standard and what’s not a good standard which is well needed because there are four hundred thousand shows in iTunes right now and you know. If 100000 are good. That’s a miracle right. So. So let people who are professionals who are rational speakers who are celebrities. Let them come in and show what good content can be so that we can level up and be our best selves so we’re not just turning our on our computer. And you know using whatever Mike is closest by let us get editors and let us get producers and sound designers although no one I know has a sound designer but I mean. I think that’s important. I don’t think I don’t think they should feel competition. Also the way I try to describe it is. You know you have an you store you make beautiful hats You make beautiful scarves you’re not really competing with Donna Karan and Tom Ford. So why. I mean they’re in your sandbox but they’re not really in your sandbox. So I love that the independent podcasters are so supportive of one another and that’s male. I mean I have a Facebook Group of Eight thousand women. They’re extremely supportive of one another. I think that when you go into online communities where there’s men there can be a little bit of. The word. I don’t want to see mansplaining but it’s sort of like men who are just there are certain men specially men who are in technical fields that are sort of more know it all and they kind of can make anyone male or female feel like every question is a stupid question. I think that’s personality driven though so for the most part I feel like it’s a very collaborative space. And then actually when I interact with them more professional podcasters even that is a very collaborative space. It’s just that the two I mean I don’t know why am. I mean I know why I’m a bridge but I happen to sort of belong in both circles and they do not know of one another very well which I don’t but I again should that be that be or not I don’t know. But your answer to What’s it like to launch a brand. I mean I think it’s a little scary based on the fact that. There are so many famous I mean Bill Mark and those guys are already famous. They already have huge audiences. And then you have people who have who are nobody and they are starting from scratch and it can feel really like I’ll never get there. But you can you just need really good content. You need to treat it like a business and you need to focus on audience growth and you need to take it seriously.

[ 00:03:55 ] I think for beginners there is a huge misunderstanding as far as what to expect from any show that you’re going to put out. I think when people start their own business isn’t the advice always niche niche niche down niche down niche down niche down and sometimes it’s good advice and sometimes that’s not good advice when it comes to podcasting and you’re not talking about the thing you’re really enthusiastic about content not going to be good anyway. The problem is that there are coaches and teachers out there who have huge audiences that they’ve built from nothing. And I think people feel like if they follow that formula exactly of what that person did then they too should in turn have the same large audience. But it’s not necessarily true. And in addition the most common question that I get from new PI caster’s is I have this great idea for content. I’m starting it next week. When can I start talking about monetization. When should I go after my first sponsor. I have 70 downloads per episode. Am I ready. And the answer’s no and stop thinking about it and stop talking about it because you think your content is your product. It’s not your audience is your product. And. And that’s true not just by how many but who. Though Underwater basket weavers are very valuable to people who sell baskets. So they’re going to pay you way more than by the numbers whereas if you have a show with 50000 downloads an episode probably that’s a broader topic. Yes but it also means that you have to sell way cheaper $18 per thousand $30 per thousand downloads per episode. But if you have such an you know a ballet podcast or or an underwater basket weaving podcast or even like mine it’s a podcast for women podcasters. I think the most we’ve ever gotten is two or three thousand downloads an episode. But I don’t sell per thousand I sell per influence. We also have a group of eight thousand We also have 30000 followers between us on Twitter and so people pay for that they pay per month they’ve paid 500 750 1000 a month which has nothing to do with the number but everything to do with the niche. Because when we recommend a business coach or a podcast coach they will sell out. Doesn’t matter how many people are listening and that’s the key to. Niched and specific content as well. So yeah I think there’s a huge misconception of what to expect.

[ 00:06:26 ] I also think they’re not going after money in the right way every time. So if you think about how people listen to the radio or even streaming radio you turn it on and you kind of go about your business are partially listening partially not listening listening.

[ 00:06:48 ] And then you think about what you go through to listen to a podcast. Let’s just say you already know the name of the podcast you still have to find it on your phone. Then you have to find the show. Pick the episode. Hit play either put your earbuds in or you know tire shoes or do whatever it is you’re going to do before you get in. I mean most people listen to podcasts while doing a specific activity. So in itself the medium requires a much higher engagement which is why there’s so much more of a return on investment for advertisers and podcasts. That’s for the worst podcast that’s just over the board. Now you talk about whether or not a show or a host has influence over their audience. And actually it’s an interesting question because. For the past two or three years there’s been a podcast upfront.

[ 00:07:38 ] Which is the large networks trying to sell their shows to the outsiders. Now the first upfront they paraded out Katie Couric Jim Breuer Mark Marion all these people some of them were out there going.

[ 00:07:52 ] Yeah I do my show and my producer does all the work and I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to say it’s like I was in the audience just dying like why is this selling podcasts advertising. These people don’t give two hoots about podcasting. They don’t care they just show up and talk and go about their day.

[ 00:08:09 ] And so they I I don’t know if they heard me in my head or what but the following year it was the hosts from stuff I learned in history class the hosts from from people who have been pocketing for a really long time. It was samples of ads that they’ve done and the effect it’s had on the brand like I said I liked this. And then they got brand lift of you know 30 percent uplift and it’s because Mark Mary Kate hurt famous people have a reach but they don’t have influence. And that’s because.

[ 00:08:44 ] Their fame makes them a little unrelatable. If you take a pie crust like my favorite Burger who gets two million downloads an episode I mean because they’re not very famous.

[ 00:08:57 ] They have a huge influence over their listeners way more so than Katie Couric because they’re relatable they’re just like you and I were listening to two people talk about their favorite murders and gossiping about it. And so therefore the influence there is huge. I would also guess that they respond to their fans on Twitter that they ask for feedback that they read the feedback online that they sometimes do live events and that they’re interacting with their audience whereas like what is Katie Couric going to do a live event and they had her podcast and that’s never going to happen. So and also simply as someone who’s had no minor success you know I’ve never had a show that had like $50000 an episode or maybe I never will. But. I know when my audience is engaged because I blog for 10 years before I started a podcast and then soon as I open my mouth and they could hear me talk it was like all of a sudden they were tweeting to me. Great show great episode. I listened while I was packing I list while I was driving. What do you think about this. Have you ever thought about that. I love what you say but it was like they came alive. I knew they were there all along. Based on.

[ 00:10:07 ] Statistics and traffic and reach and stuff like that. But it was like.

[ 00:10:11 ] Something about hearing my voice made them feel like they knew me even that much more. And I’m not a shy gal but it was like all of a sudden. They felt like they knew me and I still kind of get that with my own show where people say hi to me at events and say Oh did you pack your Neutrogena makeup remover wipes and I was like Did I mention the. Guy that’s creepy that you know. But but that’s influence. You know they remember what I’m what products I’m using and I’m not even selling them. So it makes me think that I think you can gauge that but each host I think. You know it’s kind of like asking like how do you know when you’re in love. You just know you know when they’re talking about you when you when you hit it and they’re engaged with you you know when you have influence are these people.

[ 00:11:02 ] You know. Howard Stern said like podcasts are stupid if you you know don’t come to me and tell me are successful with your podcast you’re an idiot and he’s the same age as my dad. I think they’re like a year or so of her it’s like my dad Howard Stern. Gene Simmons and like the guys in Rush are all the same age. It’s very strange. But my dad used to come to any shows he was never speaker. He had a video production recycling business he would recycle videotapes and sell to people who needed videotapes. It was kind of an innovative thing and I mean like. Similarly he went to school he has a masters in video production and then he taught at Montgomery College and that I mean yeah there there’s some suffering that goes along with what happens when you go traditional and you go to school and then you go to college and then you get a master’s and then you fail and fail and fail and fail and fail.

[ 00:11:52 ] And I could not respect that more because while I haven’t done it in broadcasting I’ve had 40 jobs in 40 years. Before I started my own business I mean I’ve done every waitressing and retail job you could even have. And so. It’s.

[ 00:12:09 ] In a lot of ways when it comes to podcasting. I think he’s right. But also he’s wrong because podcasting is not broadcasting. So when it comes to the knowledge I will fully admit I do not know what I’m doing when it comes to editing. My first show I just I used a blue yeti or I think it was you know a snowball and I just would turn it on. Sometimes I don’t even think it was on properly. I never edited because I felt like I was too busy and want to learn how they don’t sound that bad but I mean there’s a severe difference between my first show and what’s happening now that I have an editor and someone who’s mixing my levels was with my co-host levels and stuff like that is someone who has the secret and two to go to college for it.

[ 00:12:56 ] And you can hear the difference. It’s a huge difference is an important difference. If you want to be taken seriously I think. That said if you can hire an editor which you know Howard doesn’t edit his own shows so if you can hire an editor I do think you still have to be meticulous about your content to have a good show. And I know that they have writers meetings and staff meetings and he’s paying writers and he’s got all these people because he has four hours of content that’s another thing I’m not doing four hours of content at the most I think I’ve had a show for two hours that’s the longest show I’ve probably ever done so.

[ 00:13:35 ] I don’t have to work as hard because it doesn’t have to fill air time. So to me it’s almost like two different animals. And so if you are the animal that has had to work harder that still has to work harder because you are in a studio. You have to be there at a certain time. People are listening live.

[ 00:13:53 ] I mean I would kind of be like it’s I mean. I mean again I have to go with like. It’s like Donna Karan. Like don’t act like you know fashion because you make scarves on Etsy like. You’re right. I’m not gonna care and I’m not Tom Ford I’m not making suits that are being worn site by celebrities he’s interviewing celebrities every day famous people hour long things like I’m not doing that I’m talking about women podcasting in their closet. What’s happening on panoply like a totally different animal. So I understand where he’s coming from and I kind of agree. And I think podcasters that took.

[ 00:14:29 ] Offense to that probably did so because you know I think we’re really hard repassing is really hard. It’s really hard to grow. It’s really hard to market. It’s really hard to monetize and it is really hard to have good content. I mean you have to be really meticulous about it. But I don’t think for the same thing.

[ 00:14:57 ] I mean how dare he question Howard. He is the by far the best interviewer of our time by far. I mean he’s being used in college courses and for good reason in fact the only reason I’ve ever been good is because I listen to Howard as a kid I grew up in the US listening to him in Philly Oh it actually D.C. 101. I listen to him and nobody digs like Howard. And so even when I was doing like entrepreneurial business like I used to do a show called The Business radio. I learned that from him like I learned to get you know Howard taught me that your job as a host is not to be their friend is to get the story. You know. And so that’s what makes a good interviewer is getting the story and if that’s the case and you can learn that from him like really who cares what the medium is. That’s I think his legacy is teaching you that you need to get the story and if that means dig and not be their friend and put them on the spot you do it because your allegiances to your audience not to your guest. You’re not supposed to be kissing as you’re supposed to be getting the story you know. And Howard is forever even if he’s in the Hamptons with the Aniston Thoreau party. You know he’s still forever that outsider that person who’s representing the rest of us. I mean that’s not neither here or there as far as like your question about broadcasting versus podcasting but like you know like think about like the people who do.

[ 00:16:11 ] I don’t know like do you think that people at NBC are like oh your show got picked up on Hulu. So you saw a show it may have less budget but as you work just as hard and people are still seeing it for that much of a difference. But right OK. On NBC. We get it. You’ve suffered. You know it’s kind of like yeah I’m on the line I guess.

[ 00:16:36 ] I saw an ad hoc housecleaning business radio in 2013. At that time there were not that many entrepreneurial podcast now that’s changed certainly. But at the time it was entrepreneur on fire. Smart passive income I think did some interviews and they weren’t really interviewing women. And at the time I was like I had to grow my business somehow or I’m going to go broke. I need to get on some podcast. And so I looked and I was like oh these people are never going to have me on because they’re mostly interviewing their dude costs. Interviewing do burners. And I’m and why the heck with it. What I mean just because I’m engaging they don’t know me they don’t know that yet. So this isn’t going to work. And also I’ve been on stations I was a little kid and I was kind of like and I was doing branding and web design and I felt. A little lonely doing that. So I started my own show and I thought you know what I’m going to talk about what women go through like every conversation on those shows was like what’s the key to success.

[ 00:17:33 ] What business book are you reading. But I want to know like what does your husband say when you on book tour for two weeks are like Are you making dinner every night or like who is handling that for you because you seem really busy and so. I went to New Media Expo and in Vegas.

[ 00:17:52 ] Figuring out how to grow my podcast. And when I was there my current co-host now will see Escobar who works for Lipton. She and I had known each other in passing online for a couple of years and actually there was a horrible snowstorm and I was having a terrible time getting to Vegas. She had a connecting flight in Philly which she told me about. So we met up at the airport and then of course she wouldn’t ask the person next to me to switch seats and to talk to a girl scout. So. What a turn off by the way. My gosh. So anyway so we get there and there’s like a lot of male high. Not that many women and. I asked Johnny DOUMANIS How should I grow my audience like what’s the key and he said How long is your show. I said an hour. He said cut it in half do two half hour shows you’ll double your downloads. And I was like. Well that’s not what I wanted to know. So I asked Elsje and she was like oh well you could do this and you could do that and I’d had some other women they’re like I don’t even know if their shows are still in existence but there’s like five or six of us and we would have a meal together and we’d talk about what we were learning and by the end of the event I was like I really just want to keep asking them stuff like I don’t want this camaraderie to end so I started a group called Women new podcast and I added the six women I knew who podcast it well Elsie who’s done it for 10 years out and another 100 people. She knew a hundred women that were already doing it. So I was like All right. And it just started. Growing and growing and so. Three months later she was like you know I’ve always wanted to do a show for women about podcasting would you be my co-host. And I was like. You want me to do. I don’t know that much about Hungus just been like kind of winging it. She’s like do I know you’ll be perfect. So within 24 hours I built a web site and social challenges like this is where I have to offer is the like I can’t I can’t.

[ 00:19:42 ] I’ll be you’re out on parole. OK Dr. Drew because I don’t know what I’m doing. And that’s kind of how our relationship works on the show. But then. I mean I was pregnant when we started the show. So I went out for maternity for about two months. When I came back my Women’s Entrepreneurial group hadn’t grown at all. This group had doubled and she was like I’m dying here. You’ve got to come in and help this. Like I can’t answer every question. It’s growing like crazy and it has just continued to grow over the past three years. Like you wouldn’t even believe. I think we are about 30 members a day right now.

[ 00:20:15 ] So it’s eight thousand I feel like yesterday was seven you know. And I thought we just celebrated. It’s growing like crazy. And so I felt like you know this is a niche that seems to need some some attention. So.

[ 00:20:29 ] We started to do courses for the members.

[ 00:20:33 ] We we started to look into when we go to podcasting events doing live events they’re selling tickets to do live events. We are still hemming and hawing about membership and stuff like that. I mean it’s kind of difficult because we both have. I’m really interested in how the podcast make money aspect and she’s really interested in like community outreach and like you know organic grow. And I’m just like but where’s the cash. We’ll talk about the cash aid something about the cash. So it compliments but also it’s difficult to always agree on how to monetize. But you know I mean I still almost feel like it’s new even though it’s like three years old. But anyway that’s how I came into fruition. For me it was a need of wanting to bounce ideas off women and then they seemed to need the same thing. We somehow created a place where no question was you know being made to feel stupid for being asked like no host would be made to feel stupid for being asked. We created a space where we can celebrate our wins without promoting to one another. So you can say my show got this many downloads or I can’t believe I got this person on today but yet it’s not. Check it out. Now here is the link like we completely forbid that so people can support each other without feeling like they’re being sold too which I think is really rare online and it works really well and people love being in it. And every time I mean I’m here that any show which is like. I would assume no one would know me yet.

[ 00:22:03 ] Right in the first room my session is almost like I’ve gotten so much value out of your group and it’s like that’s amazing to me because why would you be here. Like I you know it completely boggles my mind. So I love that it has that kind of impact and that you know that women feel like there’s someplace safe where they won’t be sold to won’t be made to feel stupid won’t be given an answer that’s too technical too complicated to.

[ 00:22:28 ] Spend the or just whatever so it is been worked out really good.

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Jonathan Skogmo

CEO, Junkin Media

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[ 00:00:19 ] That’s that’s the question. It’s really hard. And I would just kind of stopped that thing because of the level of noise. It’s really hard and I think because of some of the things that you know we were just talking about including you know YouTube and the fact that you can find exactly what you want now. You know you don’t have to just pick the best of what there is you can find your. I don’t know. Blacksmithing video or whatever you’re looking for. I think that’s really tricky. I think the thing that we are trying to do and we are we’ve been somewhat successful and I don’t think we are there yet is trying to speak in a voice that feels not correct. You know the family was just on was about creativity and the question that our moderator asked was you don’t talk to me about something you guys have done that was a real problem. And what do you how do you solve it. You know how were you creative about that. And I’ll give just the top line you know we have a campaign that we do every year around March Madness where half of the internet. It suddenly feels that way comes after Tru-TV and basically trolls us like crazy. And so this is a family friendly channel. But you know it’s you know the most the most common thing you hear on Twitter for those two days is WITF is Tru-TV. And why do I have to find it and I am I’m so pissed off and I wish I didn’t have to and what the hell. Blah blah blah. And what we did was we. So for many years Tru-TV would do nothing right. Because it’s it’s a scary thing you know you have these vicious trolls and what you’re going to do. But when we pivoted to comedy so we used to be you know cops and. Storage and so on and we really pivoted the brand to more of a comedy landscape because those shows while they were doing well. I think we saw the declines and we saw the declines before they were coming. And so we decided to pivot to something lighter brighter more fun more comedic more of an oasis. As my boss likes to say and so we used those March madness that army of trolls that came after us and started to talk back to them. So for two days we set up a war room this like 30 40 people you know police in Beanie’s and Williamsburgh hipsters who are doing social analytics. They’re designers they’re writers. And what we do is we create over twelve hundred pieces of content where we talk back to these trolls and I don’t have some of the examples here but.

[ 00:02:46 ] You know I keep them con. We can you know whatever whatever. But it is a hugely successful campaign for us because that’s not what people are expecting. You know people when when somebody puts out something vicious on Twitter they don’t expect to be talked back to by a human. You know nothing they just expect. I can say what I want and it goes out onto the Internet. So we’ve been hugely successful doing things like that. We we have over 300 million impressions around those two days on Twitter. 200 million is significant. Super significant We don’t buy them we don’t buy them. We get them organically because you know everybody gets involved and people some people like the sport they like to follow us because they’ll see what somebody says to us and how we clap back and we can get pretty sarcastic with the vicious. All of those things you know I’ll give you an example I remember this one always it says one of the guys would say you know somebody say I think he’s a guy. You know it’s that time of the year. And I think his his his handlers thought kisses and so he said this last year. Oh it’s that time of the year and I have to find Tru-TV again we said back to him or it’s that time of the year where we talk to fully grown adults called put kisses and then a piece of talent made a video saying hey this is what’s that about why Jermaine bookcases didn’t go up. So that’s the kind of stuff we do. So I hope that that is creating signal in you know enough in an ocean of noise. But those opportunities are few and far between. I think in this case we think about and that was obvious.

[ 00:04:19 ] You know we take the lemons and make make lemonade.

[ 00:04:29 ] So we use the comedy approach I think in a way that allows us to have the license to actually have a voice. You know when I worked in drama I worked in reality TV able to Bravo a lot of many different places. And I think that it was harder to have this dialogue to have this one to one dialogue with people of this one to one connection. And I think comedy gives you that opportunity too. And also the kind of comedy we have is a whole range of comedy shows on a huge spectrum of comedy from you know very very high quality scripted to man on the street stuff to prank shows with the impractical jokers to you know infamy of comedy investigative comedy with Adam ruins everything. So it really gives us I think I’m very nice to get to talk back to people and to kind of have this this back and forth. So it’s it’s easier I think. I don’t have to stay in character. I don’t have to because the stars of our shows are often the creators of those shows. So they have a voice as individuals as well. They’re not just a character that who has to kind of play his fake personality. So it is really and we can go back and forth. But yeah it’s a really great opportunity. I think so there’s you know we basically use I would see a lot of different you know as there’s been an explosion of platforms and tools. Things become harder to measure. Right. So it’s you know things might be working very well on one platform but not in another way. I’m going to use a couple of different things and I’m going to I think I’m going to forget maybe I won’t forget. John Landgraf the head of FX said I think at DC a couple of years ago he spoke about three Vorbis I think he said the audience gets a vote. The critics get a vote and the next one gets aboard. You know so I think that’s a one way of looking at it. I think we follow you know similar things we would look at up to the first part of the question which was we saw we had to pivot before we saw the decline. It was really about ad sales dollars. You know I think advertisers start are wary in general of you know like to kind of stay back and see what’s working and then jump in. And we you know to DVD or to TV used to be a really big network but was not. We could see the you know the lack of that that ratings decline was starting to come. Now we’re starting to soften but that advertisers were not really embracing who we were. So one big change for Apple that was really to make sure that we were relevant to the advertising market. And then Don took us to not. And I also I really give credit to my to the president of true Christian who I think really also started to see the vast amount of drama reality in the in the landscape. And really this is. Going back five years four years saying that there is going to be a stone to what’s comedy and that we want to be there before anybody else had gotten there because it would just be harder. And I think it’s so much more so precent of him then when I think about it now you know look at the landscape it’s pretty damn depressing. And I don’t mean just entertainment trade just news is you know it’s it’s so depressing. And I can imagine that. Bad things were happening forever but now we just know about them. You know now you know what’s happening in in in in Burma which you’d have to know before you see that on your Facebook feed. So I think moments of levity I really wish more welcome and moments of levity without them having a message necessarily they’re not preaching not trying to make you do something. It’s just about you know a really hard day. Take five minutes hang up at the TV and it’s going to be funny. You know you’re going to have one. So I think that one that answers one part of the question the second piece is we really look at. We definitely looked at the press. I think you know what the critics think because there are X-books to that very crucial. You know often really you know we might keep going if we think it’s. It could be a cult favorite or it could be a critical darling. We think about that. We definitely we definitely look at social and you know why we why we don’t have to look at the 300 million impressions that are several tools that will tell you what the sentiment is like. You know if something has is polarizing it has but you know we’ve recently realized and we actually you know we put a trailer out and we have the documentary coming. We have a show called The problem with Apple and it is a comedian call Hari Kondabolu he’s an Indian American comedian and his hit you know the point of the documentary is he’s young he’s maybe 2029. He said why is the voice of Apu on the Simpsons voiced by a white guy. Why is that Hank Azaria And why has that been allowed to go on for so long. And you know the point again he makes and he does a bunch of people in the documentary there’s Whoopi Goldberg there’s Azeez and. There’s there’s there’s you know the Who’s Who of all of you know other really diverse comedy set. And the point there is just you know. 30 years ago. You know comedy all these data types everything. That’s where the comedy comes from that’s where the humor comes from the little bit you know you know you offend people. Otherwise it’s bland and vanilla. Right. But for so many years Apple was the only representation of Indians in this country. And so you know if you didn’t know anything else that’s what you thought an Indian person was. It’s different now. The last couple of years certainly things have exploded. So we you know and it’s a it’s a dark it’s a one off it’s one documentary but the amount of press because that has got because it’s kind of both people. So. That’s important and we will put that out there as well. We’re not just looking for the ratings you know.

[ 00:10:15 ] So I think the big challenge is you don’t know that before you put it out there. If we did.

[ 00:10:31 ] We’d all be billionaires but we don’t you know sometimes people will spend millions on things that they are sure based on data and research. This is the exact right thing to on this time. But you know. And then sometimes things that are that you could not have imagined would hate to know because I just think even though we have become so nimble with content production there’s still a cycle to it. You know it takes three months six months nine months or a year. You know I think cories documentary has been in process all his life in some ways but really come together in you know two or three months. So you don’t know at the time that you’re launching something what else is happening. What was the news cycle or what. You know everybody talks about transparent coming out of Amazon. And it was the right time for it. You know there was a lot happening and you know in the transgender movement that allowed. A company that sells shoes putting out something that became such a you know such a. Culture touchpoint and then changed the conversation. I don’t think you can predict these things. So I think you we all. Do the best we can on every project. You know certainly if somebody does I think what helps some of the electoral TV and I feel very proud about that is you know our vision is to try and take creators and put them at the center of their project. So it’s not that our programming people are putting together a format and casting people and it’s ready that. You know double who came with his idea. And when somebody has a passion for something you know you can kind of support that. It’s easier you know to support that and all about almost all of our projects have created at the center of it and that’s that’s what we support we are again looking at many different things that are. So. I think the very core television is declining. I believe we are TV model as we know it ratings on TV are declining. We are one. And this is not spin. It’s completely true we are one of only two networks that has grown in the last two years one of two networks so it’s can study for us and ESPN. And 18 to 49. It’s awesome it’s awesome MSNBC. That’s huge. Nobody is growing and they’re certainly not growing two years in a row. So. For us metric like him right. The second thing we look at is critical buzz in a clean press people talking about it. We’ve had such great feedback on a lot of our shows are scripted shows some of unscripted shows like and from and from legit organizations the New York Times Wall vice the L.A. Times you know people that we that we just think that we’re doing a good job. And that’s another really great testament. And the third is we look at you know we had tracking studies you know we all in DV You’ve got you know we work with different organizations that tracks your brand on your. And we found in literally three shows we are up there where people asked when asked the question ready for comedy. You know we are there with CBS and Adult Swim lower than Comedy Central. They’ve got their name. So got a little bit of an advantage. And 20 years on us but to see this kind of success in three years tells us that we are on to something. And you know our eyes are our whole you know our positioning is we are a broad comedic network. We are we have comedy for everyone. We’re not trying to be super nice when I’m trying to be super cool and not just go still. You know we have fans across the country and our talent really speaks to that. You know and we try not to just go for not trying not to just before we really I would say go for the political. I think that that is that is avenue that is well-crafted and. Lots of people have that covered. So that’s not really something that we need to you know we want to shy away from it but that’s not the first place that people do.

[ 00:14:29 ] So.

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Backstage Conversation Season: 2017