WEBVTT - Inside Dawn Ostroff's Last Days at Conde Nast Entertainment 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:10.840 Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties, podcast featuring conversations with industry 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:13.960 leaders about the business of entertainment. Less than twenty four 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:17.600 hours before this episode was scheduled to publish, Variety learned 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:21.439 that Conde Nast Entertainment President Don Ostroff has taken a 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:25.600 new job as chief Content officer for Spotify. This wasn't 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.479 something Ostrof divulged at the time of her interview with 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:32.640 Variety co editor in chief Andrew Wallenstein earlier this month, 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:36.120 so this conversation does not touch on that next chapter. 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.680 But we've decided to publish this interview with Ostrof nonetheless 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:42.879 because it serves as a good retrospective of her tenure 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:49.320 at a company facing some fascinating challenges. Thanks for coming in, Dawn, 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:51.560 Thank you for having me. And we should warn the 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.240 viewers you've got to touch you laryngitis, but we've pumped 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.200 you full of drugs and you're gonna make it through. Well. 0:00:57.240 --> 0:00:59.200 I hope I do. Yeah, my daughter says, my voice 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:02.280 sounds sexy, so we'll go with that's our interpretation. That 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.199 helps in the podcast. What is it like at Conde 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:09.760 Nast in terms of trying to get viewers that you 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:12.479 used to try to get on the TV side. Well, 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.399 I think the way we approached the Conde Nast is saying, 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.880 how can we be good storytellers on all platforms, which, 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:23.400 of course are you know, magazines, print our first business, um, 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:27.240 feature films, television, and of course then the digital business. 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:29.880 And that is really what we set out to do, 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.680 is create a studio that makes content across all these 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:37.240 different platforms. When you look at digital in its own right, 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:40.080 you can see that there are many different versions of 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:43.160 digital depending on what the platform is. And so it's 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.200 become a priority for us to be able to make 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:50.160 the content that is worthy of the viewers eyeballs um, 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:52.640 that people will talk about and it will be must 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:57.080 see viral videos um. And it's across all of our brands, 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:00.320 but it's also on every digital video platform that is 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:02.960 out there. The good news is is that the trends 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.360 bode well for where for you where you stand. You 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.720 were still in the TV business at a time where 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:11.440 you were starting to see a very real drift of 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:16.079 particularly younger viewers to the digital program sorry digital platforms. 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:20.399 Where you now program? Are you finding that with these 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:23.480 brands that people really know more from the magazine world 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:28.600 that you're able to bring these fleeing younger viewers. Yes, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.800 we actually if you if you were to look at 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.720 our demographics now, the audience we have in digital video 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:41.280 is young twelve to BALI forty, The digital text business 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:43.760 of our website is a little bit older, and then 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.160 of course print is even a little bit older than that. 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:49.080 So what we're able to do is really expand what 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:52.600 the brands mean two different generations, but also make the 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:55.880 brands relevant to the gen Z and the millennials, which 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:59.880 is very hard to do these days. And being able 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.720 to take license with what the brand verticals are has 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.480 been a key to our success. And then reinventing formats 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:09.880 that have worked on linear television but looking at them 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:13.040 through a different lens for these digital platforms have been 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.239 incredibly helpful. Give an example of it. So an example 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:19.040 of that would be UM. For example. If you look 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:23.240 at Entertainment UM and you look at UM interview shows, right, 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:24.880 and you look at a late night show like let's 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:29.800 say Jimmy Kimmel or UM or fallon UM, and you're 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:33.200 typically seeing an interview show as a television viewer, as 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:36.000 a voire of two people having a conversation and you're 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:39.160 watching that conversation. But in the digital space, we always 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.760 make it much more personal. It's much more um, it's 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:46.560 you're you're much more included in behind the curtain. And 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.000 so like seventy three questions would be a great example. 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.600 Not only do we have the celebrity who's being interviewed 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:56.040 speaking directly to the camera and our director is asking 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.080 the questions as more of a friend, and the questions 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:01.480 are very sort of you know, um, it could be 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:03.800 very fun and not on topic at all for anything 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:06.840 that they're particularly promoting. But it also takes place in 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:10.120 the celebrities home. So while the celebrity is walking through 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:13.320 their home as if they were just going through you know, uh, 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:14.960 you know, meaning a friend and sort of taking them 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.440 through the house, we the viewer on that ride with 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.920 them and hearing all of the different, you know, kinds 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:21.599 of questions that you may or may not hear on 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.039 a late night talk show. But the point is is 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:27.279 that the celebrities are used to having um, a different 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:29.800 kind of relationship with the with the viewer and the 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:33.839 consumer in the digital space, right if it's Twitter or 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.040 if it's YouTube, I mean, they speak to or Instagram 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.520 they speak directly to them, and that's the expectation in video, 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:43.200 and so the viewer has, you know, that one on one, 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.159 they feel like they're on the inside, and that makes 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.080 it it feel like it's a different same same format, 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:54.320 same concept, but really in execution, totally different. And in 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:59.560 terms of using magazine brands, I gotta say, it's interesting 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.440 to me that you know, you're talking about brands that 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:07.400 are literally a century old, incredible magazine brands. Do they 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:11.080 have the ability though, to be sort of the call 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.599 of entry for younger viewers who may not have grown 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:18.000 up reading g Q and Vogue. It's it's it's to me, 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:20.960 it feels like there's a real risk there and trying 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:25.440 to make these older brands newly relevant. But you know, 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:27.880 it's funny and because even at Lifetime we face this. 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:30.839 You know, you you you create a brand, and the 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:33.280 c W also you create a brand, and you have 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:37.000 to make sure that the brand moves with the generations 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:40.600 that come up as as as as they start to 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.680 to move forward, because if you don't, you don't stay relevant. 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:46.640 And relevancy is so critical to the success and the 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:50.680 future of these brands, and so let's take Lamor for example. 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.960 You know, Glamor has existed for many many years as 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:56.680 you know, a woman's magazine and has stood from many 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:59.400 different things. But in the video space, you can take 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:01.800 so much more risk and you can take so much 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.440 more leeway with what that means. And we have a 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:07.120 series that's one of our franchises called you Know You 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:10.040 Sang My Song, and it literally takes all of these 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:14.600 different artists Pink, Demilovado, Katy Perry, and what we do 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:18.320 is we play them cover songs from YouTube videos. Um 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.920 so it's average people who are singing their songs and 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.280 we played for them and get them to critique the 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:26.480 people who are just you know, the us or the means, 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:30.080 you know, trying to emulate them, and then we play 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:34.320 it back for that average person watching Pink watch them 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.719 and it's driven millions of views, I mean ten million 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:41.080 views per episode. And you would say, okay, well is 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:44.599 that a Glamour series? Well, it is a Glamour series 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:49.359 because it's really about inspiration and aspiration and that's so 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.080 much of what Glamours alwaystood for. Is it this exact 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:54.520 version of what they've always done in the magazine in 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:58.480 terms of inspiring people, maybe not, but it really works 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.760 and it's a new way to look at glamor can be. 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:04.280 So what I'm curious about is you're sort of working 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:08.479 the video arm of what was known for most of 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:11.600 its time as a publishing business, which has its challenges, 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:15.360 and so what is the pressure on you in terms 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:19.720 of making the economics work in a way that helps 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:22.840 the whole company? Uh, Because I would imagine, and maybe 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:26.120 I'm wrong, that it's still the traditional revenue streams for 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:29.080 these companies that are sort of carrying them right now, Well, 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:32.000 you'd be surprised at how quickly that's shifted. Really. I mean, 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.240 this is going to be one of the first years 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:36.080 that we really see a significant shift. And if you 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.320 look at digital and video together and that will be 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.280 the majority of the revenue for our company on the 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.760 at side. Um and if you look at our five 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:46.880 year plan, you'll see the video becomes a more prominent player. 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:49.720 And the opportunities that we have in video are quite 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:53.280 are quite grand. I mean, we have brands that never 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.480 became cable networks and if you look back, they probably 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:58.480 should have been and they probably would have been very 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:02.320 successful given the verticals that all these brands play in 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.760 UM and I think we have an opportunity to almost 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:09.640 leapfrog over what was missed, which was cable, and create 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:13.760 those kinds of verticals and channels in the digital space 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:17.480 where the next generation, who really will be familiar with 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.840 our brands through digital video, will really know what a 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:23.120 D is, will know what bone app is, will know 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.440 g Q and Vogue and any of our big brands 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:28.720 and what they really stand for because they will have 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.240 grown up on that programming. And you know, I'll give 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:35.600 you a great example. We do a show with a 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:39.640 d architectural digest called open House, and open House is 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.080 you know, celebrities taking you on a tour of their home, 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.440 and the episodes do very well. But we decided to 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:48.280 do an episode with z Now. Z is a DJ 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:52.320 that is incredibly popular world over and z bought an 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.160 amazing house in the Hollywood Hills. So we did this 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:59.360 video and it did fourteen million views in a matter 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:02.400 of three days. Okay, and so just within our own company, 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:05.600 we were curious, like, who's watching this video? We all 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:07.960 went home asked our kids have you seen this video? 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:11.439 Every one of the kids, who were teenagers, twenties had 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.680 seen the video and the follow up question was who 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:16.440 made the video? Do you know whose video it was? 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.120 And they all knew it was a D because a 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:21.679 D was on you know, the watermark was on the 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:23.920 screen the whole time, and they all said, a D. 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:27.319 So now a D has relevancy to this next generation. 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:30.120 They wound up watching the next episode, which was an 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.079 older episode which was Robert Downey Jr. And they all 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:36.720 loved that episode. And then Claudia Schiffer came on, which 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:38.839 was an episode we had done before that many of 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.360 them didn't know who she was, but you know, the 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:44.679 Z episode is what brought them all in. And now 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:47.200 all of these people know what a D is because 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:49.720 we made it relevant to them. And that's a good 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:53.040 example of how you can take something that you know 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:57.160 would never necessarily be known to any of this, you know, 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:00.080 to to these younger viewers and make it relevant and 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:04.280 important to them. What is it like though, strictly with 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:08.480 regards to content for digital platforms monetizing it at a 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:12.640 time where the prevailing narrative is the big platforms like 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:15.760 Facebook and Google are vacuuming most of the dollars out 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:19.520 of this, and it's you guys and maybe other publishing 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.480 companies or the vices or buzzfees of the world fighting 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:25.480 over the scraps right well, it depends, you know, on 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:29.680 the in the digital text world, there is much less 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:33.640 of the advertising dollars um available when you look at 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:37.800 the digital video side of the business right now, of 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:41.040 the advertising revenue spent on digital video will be left 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.120 over for others um. And that's a projection over the 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:47.400 next five years, and so that's a significant amount of 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:50.400 money when you start to consider how much advertising dollars 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:54.880 are really moving into the digital the digital video space um. 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:57.400 And then when you also take into account that we 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:00.000 are a premium producer really with brands that are well 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:03.400 known and trusted, which is incredibly important right now. That 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:07.040 also scales significantly with the thirty five series that we 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:10.439 have in the digital space that are considered to be hits. 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:13.760 Each episode does somewhere between two and ten million views, 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:16.880 which by any television network would be considered to be 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:20.240 a hit, um, you know, within a week um. And 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:24.720 so you can see how a considerable amount of the 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:28.840 fifty of that amount of money will will start to 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:31.840 really trickle down to the players who are you know, 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:37.040 trusted uh premium producers, and I think that we will 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:40.560 be right there in that sweet spot and for Conde 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:42.839 Nast Entertainment. I mean, you've been at this now for 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:46.440 seven years, and I'm curious has its played out as 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:48.360 you thought of what are you guys at the place? 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:51.040 Growth wise you thought you'd be. Yeah, it's a little 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:53.960 bit less than seven years because I joined the company 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.839 in like November eleven, so we really get started untill 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:01.120 we just brought on a few people because we were 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.840 a true startup. We had nothing when we started, UM 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:08.319 and we didn't launch the digital video business until March 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:11.920 of so that's you know, it's been it's been just 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:16.480 you know, probably four years. UM. But I do UM. 0:12:16.520 --> 0:12:19.880 I think we are shocked at how far we are. UM. 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.600 I don't think anybody could have predicted that the business 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:26.840 would have grown as rapidly, that the business will have 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:30.720 would have changed so quickly, that the revolution would have 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:33.600 really happened in such a way that you know, we 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.520 wake up and we see fifty of the eighteen to 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:38.720 thirty four year old twelve to thirty four year old 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:43.680 demographics disappearing from from television, and the eyeballs are going 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:48.120 to digital video and millions of people are watching these 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:52.120 videos within a week. It is just I think it's 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:54.360 it's it's eye opening, and I think it took us 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:59.160 all by surprise. And of course Conde Nast is not 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:03.880 just doing digital video. You've got producing for TV and 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:06.680 film on your plate as well. And what's interesting about 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:10.520 Conde Nasa is you're sitting on this treasure trove of 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.000 ideas that have come out of the magazine, stories that 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.000 have been written, and you're able to adapt that into 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:22.640 film and TV. Um. I'm actually curious just that versus 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:25.800 what you're doing in digital What is there any tail 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:27.959 wagging the dog here? Is there any one element of 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.520 the business that leads the way. Yeah, you know, it's 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:34.040 really been again fascinating. I don't know if I could 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:37.240 have predicted this. The feature business has been pretty much 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:40.160 the articles that are either in the archives or that 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:45.160 have come out that have incredible stories about really relevant topics. Um. 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:49.000 And so we've been fortunate enough to make five movies now. UM, 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.200 and I would say that you know, all of those movies, 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:54.760 for the most part, I had some connection to an 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:58.000 article or to a brand itself. Um. When you look 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.720 at what we've been able to do on the television side, 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:04.840 particularly with unscripted. It's been a combination of some things 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.280 that have come from articles directly, some original ideas that 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:10.400 did not come from anything that had to do with 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.280 Condie Nast at all, but it was original ideas, and 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:16.360 some ideas are starting to come from the digital space 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.480 that have been huge successes UM as digital series that 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:24.720 have migrated over now to linear television, most expensive As 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.360 being an example. It started as a g Q short 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:31.400 form series two Chains basically is the Robin Leech of 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.240 today and it's lifestyles of the rich and famous for 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:36.880 lack of a better way to describe it, um but 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:40.920 the series and the digital space did over two fifteen 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:44.640 million views. Viceland bought it as a long form series. 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.240 We make it differently obviously for long form, but the 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.600 same concept UM and we're seeing that happen more and 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.680 more with some of our other franchises that they're starting 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.800 to migrate over to linear UM. So I do think 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.520 that we wouldn't have necessarily predicted that there would be 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.760 so much overlap, but there is a considerable amount of overlap, 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:06.400 and then they're always just original ideas. The digital ideas 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.200 do not necessarily come from the magazines. Those are usually 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:13.240 ideas that come from people who are experts on any 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:17.600 given platform, experts on YouTube, experts on Snapchat, experts on Facebook, 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:21.920 experts and syndication um, and so those ideas really do 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.920 come from the creators themselves. Different generation of creators, I 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.360 want to add, not yet, not the type of creators 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:30.760 that we would have seen in the linear side of 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:33.360 the business beat, either through film and television. This is 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:36.720 a new generation of creators who really look at things 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.360 very differently, and they've been able to make anything they 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:41.320 want and put it out for the world to see 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:45.240 and iterate their creative vision in a very different way 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:48.360 than the way we've been able to to immerse and 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:52.440 and and and and nurture our creators on the traditional side. 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:55.040 What's I've been like for you because your career you 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:59.560 spend most of the time shepherding these traditional long form things, 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.360 and that you're saying, you're programming to a platform where 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.600 the old rules just don't apply, So how are you 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:07.400 learning the new rules? It has been an m b 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:09.840 A for me. I mean it, and it's so humbling 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:15.080 because honestly, I came into this opportunity thinking I can 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.800 do this because if you have success on traditional and 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:19.840 you you know, gossip Girl at one point was the 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:24.360 biggest show in the country. Right every young person talked 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.000 about it, you know, read everything that they could get 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:30.400 their hands on about about our cast. Um. But it 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.800 really was eye opening to understand that the way in 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:37.640 which we make the content for the digital space has 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:41.320 nothing to do with the way we would create television ideas. Um. 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.800 You know, it's it. There's there's a understanding of what 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:48.320 the viewer expectation is when they're watching content on any 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.400 one of those platforms, and you have to really adhere 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:55.440 to be either a format that is the expectation, or 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:58.640 a storytelling style or a way in which you shoot 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:01.520 something that really does help determ and if something is 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:04.120 going to be a success or not and qualities quality, 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:05.879 So it has to be good and has to be 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.720 worthy of people's time. But it really is very very 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:14.680 specific about how the storyteller and how the director really 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:18.000 does bring that story to life on those platforms. But 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:20.280 I also want to get back to this question of 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:24.880 what's what's what's driving the train here at Condonas Entertainment. 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.000 Is it selling long form or is it new form? 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.199 And I'm curious from a revenue perspective and just from 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:32.840 an energy and what you're spending your time on day 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:34.760 to day. Well, I can tell you my time has 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.920 spent you know, across the board. The digital business for 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.600 us is a real business. It is profitable, it's been 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:43.359 profitable for a few years, and it is really a 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:45.320 big part of the future of the company. There was 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:49.040 no doubt for our company. The digital video business is 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:53.480 really a sound business model that has huge amount of 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:56.520 upside for us. We did twelve billion views last year. 0:17:57.040 --> 0:18:00.679 Our business model has always been about monetization, so we 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:04.040 have really made the content where we know we can monetize, 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.440 and so we've been very very clear. You know, a 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:10.240 lot of our competitors or colleagues started their businesses with 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:13.480 investors who really felt that it was all about scale 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:16.439 and the monetization will come. We did not have the 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.800 luxury of that. We were funded by our parent company 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:22.360 and our mandate was to be able to scale and 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:25.439 be profitable at the same time, and so we really 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:28.240 had to look at our business model very differently, and 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:31.359 as a result, we've been able to probably get to 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.560 a place where you know, the business as as a 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:37.480 standalone business or as a as a significant part of 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:41.160 our existing business is a real proposition for our company, 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:43.240 and that was our goal when we started. How do 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.239 we make this a real business for the future, and 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:48.920 how do we keep the brands relevant for the next 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:51.560 generations to come? And I feel like we've been able 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:54.160 to achieve both of those things. So when you ask 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:56.240 if we would have thought that we would be here 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:59.920 six years in, you know, the truth is, I don't 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.040 know if we ever could have predicted that what we 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:06.199 thought would happen would actually happen, and it actually happened 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.399 faster than we ever could have imagined. But our goals 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:12.919 of being able to really be profitable and be a 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:15.440 significant part of the business and help keep these brands 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:19.199 alive definitely did come to pass in the past, you know, 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.720 in over the six years. Well, on the other end 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:24.440 of the spectrum, you know, the movie business. You've got 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:27.720 this Robert Redford movie coming out this fall, Old Man 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.679 and the Gun. I gotta say, I'm curious, and I 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.400 know it's not your first movie at Conde Nast. Why 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:36.760 even be in the theatrical business when it feels like 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:39.600 if you're not making like a two hundred million dollar 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:44.399 movie you get lost. Yes, and again that's something that 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:47.040 just happened over the past few years. Right. So when 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:51.200 we started this business, Argo UM had won the Academy 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:53.720 Award like the year before. Argo came from one of 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:57.000 our magazines, from Wired, And so that's the example of 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.600 why we started the business. Because although the article was 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:05.359 in our magazine and the company you know, obviously paid 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:08.760 for the research, the legal you know, all the different 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:11.359 elements that go into these magazines and spent months on 0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:15.200 the investigation, you know, they had no participation creatively or 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:18.600 financially in the movie. So that's why we started the 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:22.240 business UM and the business in the industry has changed significantly. 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:25.760 That being said, there's always going to be an audience 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:31.560 for adult movies that are great about great stories, great characters, 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:34.640 that are really important topics. And I think that there's 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:37.520 nobody who does those types of stories better than our company. 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:40.240 And so those are the types of movies that we 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:43.680 have been making. That being said, you know, it's it's 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:47.600 surprising because we do have you know, movies at Netflix, 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:51.919 we hopefully will sell movies to Amazon UM and the 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:57.000 movies that we are also making for theatricals are a 0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:59.720 broader range than what you would just think of UM 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:02.639 as counting as properties. We have some comedies with some 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:06.639 horror films, so UM a genre film sci fi. So 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:09.119 we really do have movies that are across a wider 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:11.480 spectrum and I do believe that that is going to 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.719 be a significant part of our business. The industry has 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:17.720 opened up because you now have these different platforms that 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:20.720 you can sell other types of movies too, So hopefully 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:23.240 it will make our business even more robust because there 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.960 are more choices. On the television side, it's just insatiable. 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:28.919 I mean, be it either on the scripted side or 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:32.640 the unscripted side, there's so much opportunity. We've gone into 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:35.720 a first look with Anonymous and paramount UM, and I 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:38.879 think that our articles and our type of storytelling on 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:41.920 the scripted side is incredibly well suited for what they've 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:43.879 been able to do in the industry and they feel 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:47.320 the same of us UM. And then the non scripted side, 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:50.959 we've had amazing success. We have eight series that are 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:54.159 either on the air in production. UM Last Chance You 0:21:54.240 --> 0:21:57.679 has been nominated for numerous awards. Fastest Cars, which is 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:01.040