1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts. And how the 4 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: tech are you? Maybe this following exchange will sound familiar 5 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: to some of you out there. Hey yeah, do you 6 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: ever wonder why we're here? That's how the very first 7 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: episode of Red Versus Blue, an animated web series that 8 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: launched nearly twenty one years ago. As I record this 9 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: in March of twenty twenty four, and it's a series 10 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: that spans nineteen seasons and multiple mini series offshoots. This 11 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: year that series will conclude, which was planned. They had 12 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: planned to finally wrap up Red Versus Blue. Also, the 13 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: company that produces that series, Rooster Teeth, is going to 14 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:08,400 Speaker 1: shut down. That was not planned, or at least it 15 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: wasn't anticipated to be this particular year. I thought I 16 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: would do a pair of episodes. It turns out as 17 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: a retrospective on Rooster Teeth. By necessity, this is going 18 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: to be a cliffs notes version of that company's history 19 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:29,479 Speaker 1: because it packed in an awful lot during those twenty 20 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,039 Speaker 1: one years of existence. But I felt it was important 21 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: to acknowledge Rooster Teeth because it was one of those 22 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: forces that helped shape Internet culture and how online media 23 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: can work. Rooster Teeth was one of those early web 24 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: based media companies that would fuel memes and fuel merchandise sales. 25 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: It would help shape the sense of humor for a 26 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: generation of fans, and I actually put it up there 27 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: with a lot of other early web based comedy shows 28 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: off like Aska Ninja and Homestar Runner. These were things 29 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 1: that sort of defined Internet culture and Internet humor in 30 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: those early days. You could also point to other groups 31 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: like Lonely Island. You know, the trio of Lonely Island. 32 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: We're finding amazing success online, but would find even greater 33 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: success in mainstream media as they would go on to 34 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: work with Saturday Night Live and then other projects. Also, 35 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: way back in twenty twelve, I actually had Rooster Teeth 36 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: co founder Bernie Burns on this show. We did an 37 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: interview with Bernie way back in twenty twelve. So if 38 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: you want to crawl through the tech Stuff archives, you 39 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: can actually find that episode. It's titled tech Stuff Talks 40 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: to Rooster Teeth. We actually have done classic reruns of 41 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: that show, so you should be able to find it 42 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: through the archives. It originally published on February twenty second, 43 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: twenty twelve, while I've been doing the show a long time, 44 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: or you can check out the sod How the Great 45 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: Movie Ride Worked. That published on September two, twenty twenty two, 46 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: a decade later, and that featured special guest Jack Battillo, 47 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: who also worked at Rooster Teeth. He was a founding 48 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: member of their Achievement Hunter channel, which I'll talk about 49 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: more in a little bit. However, to tell the story 50 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: of Rooster Teeth, we actually need to go way back 51 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: to the early two thousands, before there was a Rooster 52 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: Teeth company to speak of. There were a group of 53 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 1: friends and co workers who lived in Austin, Texas, and 54 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: they decided to collaborate and to launch a website. And 55 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: some of them had had a little bit of experience 56 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: doing this. All of them had had some interest in 57 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: creating content of one form or another. Some of the 58 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: group had actually even attended film school and had the 59 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: actual education to go into things like production. One of 60 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: the founding members had served in the military as a photojournalist. 61 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: It also launched magazines or zines, as they would say 62 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: in the old school fandom days for the punk rock scene. 63 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: Most of the founding members had at one time or 64 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: another worked for a tech help call center, and so 65 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,679 Speaker 1: they were familiar with each other and they loved video games. 66 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: Oh also they loved to drink as an alcohol. They 67 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: loved drinking, though for the record, most of the guys 68 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: have seriously cut back or stopped drinking alcohol these days, 69 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: and they decided to make a comedy and culture website 70 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: called drunk Gamers. So on this site they did everything 71 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 1: from game reviews to commenting on culture to razzing each 72 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: other and their audience, usually while inebriated. The joke more 73 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: or less ran its course, and they decided to sunset 74 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: the website after a while, but it gave them a 75 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: taste of creating content for the web. And one of 76 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: the things that they produced during the drunk Gamers era 77 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: was a trailer for a proposed series. This series would 78 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: make use of the Xbox video game Halo as a 79 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: sort of engine for their show. The Drunk Gamers would 80 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: use controllers in a multiplayer mode to make the characters 81 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 1: bob their heads in time, with lines being spoken in voiceover, 82 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: and then they would also you know, move the characters 83 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: to specific locations in view of one character that acted 84 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 1: as the camera, so it was like they were hitting 85 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: their marks on a soundstage and they would act out 86 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: a script. They would record the voiceover to go with 87 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: the action, and it was akin to digital puppetry, and 88 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: this relatively new art form had the name machinema. Rooster 89 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: Teeth did not coin that term, nor were they the 90 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: first to do this, but they were an early example 91 00:05:55,760 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: of machinima. The trailer they produced featured a narrative and 92 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: an increasingly combative subtitle editor who would squabble as the 93 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: editor would paraphrase what the narrator was saying. And meanwhile, 94 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: you're watching these clips of video game characters doing stuff. 95 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: And it was all supposed to take place in the 96 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: era immediately following the events of the video game Halo, 97 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: and the story was there erupted a civil war back 98 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: on Earth, and the two sides of the civil war 99 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: divided into Red armies and Blue armies, so Red versus Blue. 100 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: It gave a hint at what the irreverence style of 101 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:41,919 Speaker 1: the series would feature, but at the time it didn't 102 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: get that much attention. As drunk gamers wound down, the 103 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:50,039 Speaker 1: team had the opportunity to give the Red Versus Blue 104 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: series another go, and they jotted down a list of 105 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: ideas and jokes sort of scenarios that they could incorporate 106 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: into the episodes, and each episode was only going to 107 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: be a few minutes long, as the founders have explained subsequently, 108 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: the original idea was to create a limited mini series 109 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: of just a few episodes, so it wasn't meant to 110 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: be an ongoing thing. But it turned out the show, 111 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: which launched on April first, two thousand and three, would 112 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: receive much more attention than they anticipated. Plus they still 113 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: had plenty of jokes and ideas left from the brainstorming session, 114 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: and gradually they started to get the feeling that they 115 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: could perhaps do something larger and more ambitious with this 116 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: recipe of materials and ingredients. So the show largely lampooned 117 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: military life and bureaucracy, as well as tropes you would 118 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: find in video games and science fiction action films. The 119 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: first season was pretty low fi, but it also had 120 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: to be because it was limited to the original Xbox 121 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: Halo title, and this was also in an era before YouTube, 122 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: so YouTube didn't launch till two thousand and five, two 123 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,120 Speaker 1: years after Red Versus Blue started coming out, which meant 124 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: the team had to host the video files on a website, 125 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: so they had to put the files on a server 126 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: and make that available to the audience, and the audience 127 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: would actually have to go to the website, click on 128 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: a link, and download episodes, and they had a choice. 129 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: They could download in quick time, or they could download 130 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: in Windows media file formats and then watch the videos 131 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: once you've downloaded them. I was actually one of these people. 132 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: I didn't discover Red Versus Blue on day one. I 133 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: was not like an OG fan from the very beginning 134 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,240 Speaker 1: of the launch. But when I discovered Red Versus Blue, 135 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: they were only maybe four or five episodes into season 136 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: one when I found out about it, and I got 137 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: hooked right away, so I would end up downloading episodes 138 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: the day they published, and ultimately I even burned the 139 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: episodes of season one to a CD because back then 140 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: PCs had optical drives. But anyway, the humor in those 141 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: early episodes is frequently juvenile and vulgar. I think saying 142 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: that not all the jokes have aged well is a 143 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: more than fair assessment, and I suspect that if the 144 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: creators were to put out the series today, they would 145 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: make very different choices in some instances, but the spirit 146 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: of Red versus Blue shares commonalities with literary classics like 147 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: Catch twenty two. That novel highlights the absurdities and contradictions 148 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:34,439 Speaker 1: of military, particularly during wartime, So Rooster Teeth lampooned conventions 149 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: found in bureaucracies in general, not just the military. And 150 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: while there was never a guarantee that they would succeed, 151 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: the show did find an audience, and it was a 152 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: large enough audience to actually create challenges for the team 153 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: because again, the audience had to go to a website 154 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: and download a file, and internet traffic isn't free, right. 155 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: If you are hosting files on a server and there 156 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: are a lot of people going to that server to 157 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: download those files, it can start to rake up a 158 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: pretty substantial bill. So hosting the files would actually require 159 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: better servers. Fairly early on in Rooster Teeth's history, so 160 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: the group actually formed the company called Rooster Teeth. Rooster 161 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: Teeth takes its name from a sanitized version of a 162 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: vulgar insult used in the original series trailer, an insult 163 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 1: that I will not repeat here, but it's easily found. 164 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: The company traces its origins to April first, two thousand 165 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: and three, and the founding members, depending upon which version 166 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: of the company's history you're reading, would include Bernie Burns, 167 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: Matt Hollum, Gustavo Sorola, Jeff Ramsey, Jason Seldanya, and Joel Hayman. 168 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 1: And the group started on a journey that would lead 169 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:53,040 Speaker 1: to a lot of really interesting opportunities for those folks, 170 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: as well as others who would join the company. Now, 171 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:59,840 Speaker 1: the early days weren't exactly glamorous. The company's headquarters was 172 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: even an office space. It was a relatively small spare 173 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: room in Bernie Burns's home, and some of the folks 174 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: meant that, you know, they were crammed into spaces like 175 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: a closet where they would work, and they were working 176 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,560 Speaker 1: in a perpetual crunch time. They also, at this point 177 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: they also had separate jobs. Not everyone could just work 178 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: on this full time. In fact, I don't think anyone 179 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: was working on it full time. Early on. They were 180 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: maintaining a normal job as well as trying to produce 181 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: a technically complicated web series. Because getting this right was 182 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: not easy. You know, it's hard to tell when you 183 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: are performing one of these episodes, if you're in the 184 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:45,199 Speaker 1: right spot, if you're looking in the right direction, if 185 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,080 Speaker 1: you're all your settings are correct. It's tricky to do, 186 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,959 Speaker 1: and so they were constantly working in Crunch and they 187 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 1: were trying to stick as close to a weekly publication 188 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: schedule as they possibly could despite all the technical challenge, 189 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: some of which were more server side. Right, if your 190 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,560 Speaker 1: server happens to be down for whatever reason, it's not 191 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,000 Speaker 1: like you can upload your file. And uploading took a 192 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: long time because this is the early days of internet connectivity. 193 00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: Bandwidth was limited, and some shots that they made would 194 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,199 Speaker 1: call for special circumstances that were not easy to generate 195 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,479 Speaker 1: or to replicate within the game. Like they were possible obviously, 196 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: but they weren't easy. So it could take an hour 197 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,240 Speaker 1: or more just to set up a site gag, and 198 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: if you messed something up, then you had to do 199 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: it all over again. Also, you've got to remember these 200 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: are guys who were mostly in their early twenties at 201 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: this point, early to mid twenties, and sometimes they would 202 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:45,439 Speaker 1: get up to shenanigans and purposefully do things that would 203 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: sabotage a shot and force everyone to set everything up 204 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: all over again because that was funny. Yeah, that's the 205 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: kind of activity that will get you thrown off of 206 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 1: any normal production set, and I'm sure there were times 207 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:03,280 Speaker 1: where the creators were considering throwing people out of the 208 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: Bernie's house. Anyway. There were also the technical issue of 209 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: just making sure that the files were available for folks 210 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: to download, because as the show grew in popularity, this 211 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: became a bigger concern. One way the company generated revenue 212 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: was to offer viewers the chance to become what they 213 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,719 Speaker 1: called sponsors, and in return, the sponsors would receive a 214 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: DVD copy of the episodes at the end of the season. 215 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:30,719 Speaker 1: Then Rooster Teeth also began to produce merchandise like T 216 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 1: shirts and other items featuring characters and catchphrases. I used 217 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: to have a couple of red versus Blue T shirts 218 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: way back in the day. I got them pretty early on. 219 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: I remember having a T shirt from the character Caboose 220 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: that said I like me, which you know, it's a 221 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 1: good thing to remember once in a while. Now. In 222 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: those early days, this small team handled everything themselves, and 223 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: by small, I mean there were fewer than ten people 224 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 1: working at Rooster Teeth. Everything that they did included fostering 225 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: their growing community, managing merchandise orders, keeping track of inventory, 226 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: responding to technical issues, plus you know, just creating the show. 227 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,679 Speaker 1: So people wore many hats figuratively. I don't think they 228 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 1: literally wore a lot of hats. Okay, this is a 229 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: good place for us to take a quick break to 230 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: thank our sponsors. We'll be right back with lots more 231 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: about the early days of Rooster Teeth. Okay, we're back. 232 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:39,680 Speaker 1: So Rooster Teeth would launch the first season of Red 233 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: Versus Blue on April first, two thousand and three, and 234 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 1: the first five seasons of Red Versus Blue are collectively 235 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: called the Blood Gulch Chronicles, named after a map in 236 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: the Halo multiplayer game. These episodes are just largely comedic 237 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: in tone. They're also just a few minutes each. They 238 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: get longer as the series went on, and later seasons 239 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: would introduce much more dramatic elements, though it never strayed 240 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: too far away from comedy. Some episodes have very little 241 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: comedy in them, but most of them still have at 242 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: least elements and references, and the series would also begin 243 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: to incorporate original animation using techniques like motion capture technology 244 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: to achieve effects that would be impossible if they relied 245 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: solely on the various Halo game engines. And yes, they 246 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 1: did upgrade to later versions of Halo as those versions 247 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: came out in order to produce subsequent seasons of Red 248 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: Versus Blue, and they would find reasons within the narrative 249 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: to explain the changes, often as a way that was 250 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: just a joke, but you know, they would still acknowledge it. 251 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: They would at least hang a lampshade on it, as 252 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: they might say. Now. As I mentioned at the top 253 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: of this episode, this year twenty twenty four marks the 254 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: final season of Red Versus Blue, and the series has 255 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 1: taken a break here and there over the last twenty 256 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: plus years by spinning off mini series which adds more 257 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: lore and intrigue to the story. Some of those mini 258 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: series are far more action oriented than comedy oriented, but 259 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,440 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth would end up being much more about a 260 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 1: single web series. While that was what got the company 261 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: off the ground, it wasn't the only thing they did. 262 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: For one thing, Rooster Teeth would end up doing a 263 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: lot of commercial work. They would help companies, primarily video 264 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: game companies and retail establishments, they would help them produce commercials, 265 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: and this was another healthy source of revenue for them, 266 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: like they had already shown that they could produce cinematic 267 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: quality content using video game engines, so they would end 268 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: up doing this work on behalf of advertising agencies for 269 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: their clients. But this would mean that members of the 270 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: team would often have to travel as part of their 271 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: jobs to do this work, and that would cause disruptions 272 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: and production. The company did grow, but very slowly at first. 273 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:12,240 Speaker 1: In fact, they wouldn't hire on employee number eight until 274 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:16,120 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, five years after they got started, 275 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 1: and they still didn't even have eight employees. So they did, 276 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:23,880 Speaker 1: over time start to hire additional staff to help take 277 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: over some of the duties so that this one small 278 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: team wasn't constantly on the verge of working themselves to death. 279 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: In October of two thousand and four, however, jumping back 280 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: a little bit, the company launched a second machinema series. 281 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: This one was called The Strangerhood, and it was a 282 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: comedy featuring characters waking up in a strange suburban neighborhood 283 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: and had a silly kind of Twilight Zone sort of 284 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: vibe to it. This show used the SIMS two for 285 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:57,679 Speaker 1: that first season. There was a small gap between season 286 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 1: one and season two, eleven years between the two. The 287 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: second season would actually use the SIMS four game engine 288 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,040 Speaker 1: in order to create the story. They did have a 289 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: couple of other specials and related sort of the mini 290 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,880 Speaker 1: series between those two seasons, so it's not just two 291 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: seasons of material. There's some other supplemental material as well. 292 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,879 Speaker 1: And season two only exists because it was a stretch 293 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 1: goal for a fundraising campaign that Roster Teeth held for 294 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:31,240 Speaker 1: a feature film, which we will talk more about later 295 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: in this episode. So the Strangerhood did not see the 296 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 1: same success as Red Versus Blue. This might explain why 297 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,119 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth migrated away from the property. It didn't try 298 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,879 Speaker 1: to create numerous seasons of that. It just felt like 299 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:49,439 Speaker 1: they had a limited amount of assets, largely in the 300 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: time department, and so it didn't make sense to dedicate 301 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: a ton of their effort towards something that was just 302 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,120 Speaker 1: not taking off at the same level as Red Versus Blue. 303 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: And in late two thousand and four, Rooster Teeth launched 304 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:08,919 Speaker 1: a new project called RT Sponsor Cut and as that 305 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: name implies, that project presented exclusive content for folks who 306 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: signed up for a sponsorship, so the company would embrace 307 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,200 Speaker 1: this model more and more in the future. This idea 308 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: that if you subscribe, you get extra content. You don't 309 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 1: have to subscribe, and you can get all the free content, 310 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: but there will be stuff that you won't have access to. Eventually, 311 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: sponsors would transform into first members, so called because these 312 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 1: folks would get access to the normal content a little 313 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: earlier than the general public, and they would also get 314 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: access to exclusive content just for first members. Now, I'm 315 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: not going to go through every single production Rooster Teeth 316 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:52,120 Speaker 1: ever created, because this company has been around for more 317 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: than two decades and it has tried a lot of stuff, 318 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:58,399 Speaker 1: and it would just get to be a laundry list 319 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 1: of projects, many of which I only saw a few 320 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: episodes before the company decided it wasn't working or just 321 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: found a new direction. But as for mashinema style content, 322 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,439 Speaker 1: since that's where they got their start, they did a 323 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 1: few series using different games. There was Panics, which was 324 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 1: a comedy set in the first person shooter horror game Fear. 325 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: There was one eight hundred Magic, which used the computer 326 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:30,360 Speaker 1: game Shadow Run as the engine for its Machinema. There 327 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:35,120 Speaker 1: was Stroyant that lampooned infomercials and used the Quake engine 328 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 1: to do it. And there was Supreme Surrender, which is 329 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: a comedy that used the game's Supreme Commander. There was 330 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 1: also a series later on called Minimations. This would take 331 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: excerpts from Achievement Hunter Let's Play video sessions and would 332 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:55,920 Speaker 1: animate these excerpts using the game Minecraft. So it would 333 00:20:56,119 --> 00:21:00,920 Speaker 1: be repurposing material that they had already produced for one 334 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: style video and doing it for another. That would also 335 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 1: be the method for one of the other series that 336 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,920 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth would produce, one that used traditional style animation 337 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: called RTAA Rooster Teeth Animated Adventures that would take excerpts 338 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 1: largely from the Rooster Teeth podcast and then animate according 339 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,920 Speaker 1: to that stuff. Now beyond Mashinima, Rooster Teeth would branch 340 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 1: out into lots of other forms of content, so as 341 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:34,200 Speaker 1: I mentioned that would include traditional animation, it also included 342 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 1: live action shorts, a social prank show. There were various 343 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: game shows. There was a ridiculous reality show that would 344 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: recreate video game tropes in the real world. That one 345 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: was called Immersion. There were podcasts they did a few 346 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:52,640 Speaker 1: feature length films, they had a comic book series, and 347 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: they even produced a couple of video games. By two 348 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 1: thousand and five, using a spare room in Bernie's home 349 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 1: just wasn't cutting it for the company's HQ. The team 350 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: would relocate to an office in Austin, Texas. This would 351 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 1: be the first of several moves for the group as 352 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: they would grow and they would pursue increasingly ambitious goals. 353 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 1: So they moved in two thousand and five, but they 354 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: would relocate again in two thousand and seven, then again 355 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 1: in twenty ten, and then yet again in twenty fourteen, 356 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: so they kept on outgrowing their environment and moving into 357 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: a new one, kind of like a hermit crab. In 358 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:34,200 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, Jeff Ramsey and Jack Pattillo, who 359 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:36,960 Speaker 1: had been doing some work with Rooster Teeth on a 360 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: contract basis, would found the Achievement Hunter branch of Rooster Teeth. 361 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,920 Speaker 1: So Jack would become employee either nine or ten. There's 362 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 1: some disagreement in the company history, but in one video 363 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:55,480 Speaker 1: Jack famously proclaims himself as employee number nine. The division 364 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 1: Achievement Hunter would take its name from Xbox Achievements, So 365 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,720 Speaker 1: if you're not familiar with achievements. These are goals that 366 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:06,359 Speaker 1: game developers set inside their own games, and when you 367 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: complete one of these goals, you get a notification that 368 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,440 Speaker 1: you acquired an achievement. So each game has a certain 369 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,640 Speaker 1: number of achievements. They've been capped at different levels throughout 370 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,680 Speaker 1: the history of Xbox, and in turn, these achievements are 371 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: associated with a point value, so when you make an achievement, 372 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,360 Speaker 1: the point value of that achievement gets added to your 373 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 1: total score. And some gamers put a lot of emphasis 374 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,159 Speaker 1: on their achievement scores, like a lot, a lot, And 375 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: there are even gamers who will seek out specific Xbox 376 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 1: titles not because they're good games that these folks want 377 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:48,160 Speaker 1: to play, but instead because these games are notoriously easy 378 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: to rack up achievements. Likewise, there are some gamers who 379 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:55,200 Speaker 1: will avoid titles that are known to have really tough 380 00:23:55,280 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: achievements associated with them, particularly games that include online play achievements, 381 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: because those tend to be the hardest to get. And 382 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:05,680 Speaker 1: this was a terrible idea. I think there are a 383 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,719 Speaker 1: few games out there where the developers created an achievement 384 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,479 Speaker 1: that required you to essentially become the best player in 385 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,680 Speaker 1: the world in order to secure this achievement, and by 386 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: definition that meant that it was a really hard achievement 387 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: to get and that most people would never be able 388 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: to get that, which means they would never be able 389 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,719 Speaker 1: to complete their list of achievements for that game, and 390 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:30,720 Speaker 1: for some folks that can drive them crazy anyway. Achievement 391 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,640 Speaker 1: Hunters started off with videos that explained how to secure 392 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,640 Speaker 1: various achievements in different games, but it quickly evolved into 393 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:40,439 Speaker 1: a channel that would feature things like let's play style 394 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: videos as well as office shenanigans among the growing staff 395 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: of the department. Some of their most infamous videos were 396 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 1: live action videos where they would pull pranks on each 397 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: other or just do wild stuff in the office, frequently 398 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:02,919 Speaker 1: resulting in massive dam image to company property. It was 399 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: almost like Jackass for the corporate world. Also in two 400 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:11,159 Speaker 1: thousand and eight, the Rooster Teeth podcast launched. Now, originally 401 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: it was not called the Rooster Teeth Podcast. It was 402 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: called or the RT podcast, as it's usually referenced. Instead, 403 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: back in the early early days, it was called the 404 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:23,200 Speaker 1: Drunk Tank, and eventually they did change the name. One 405 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 1: reason that they made this change is that it turned 406 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: out to be really challenging to convince sponsors to buy 407 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,600 Speaker 1: advertising for a show that had the word drunk in 408 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,680 Speaker 1: the title. That's not necessarily an association that ad partners 409 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: are eager to go after. So the first episode of 410 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:43,200 Speaker 1: Drunk Tank featured Bernie Burns, Gustavo Sola, and Jeff Ramsey, 411 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:46,240 Speaker 1: three of the co founders of rooster Teeth. Now it'd 412 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,440 Speaker 1: be quite a few episodes before they would find their 413 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: go to podcast crew, which typically but not always, would 414 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: feature Gustavo Sorola, Bernie Burns, Barbara Dunkleman, who would reload 415 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 1: from Canada to work for Rooster Teeth after first being 416 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:06,880 Speaker 1: a fan of the series Red Versus Blue, and then 417 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:10,120 Speaker 1: Gavin Free who would actually move from England to work 418 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 1: for Rooster Teeth after being a fan of Red Versus Blue. 419 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:15,960 Speaker 1: In those early days, both of them were community members 420 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 1: for Rooster Teeth before they would subsequently work for the company. 421 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,359 Speaker 1: The Rooster Teeth podcast would become one of the most 422 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: popular comedy podcasts online, and it like the company would 423 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 1: go through some pretty major changes, particularly in the summer 424 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: just last year, that being twenty twenty three. For those 425 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: of you who are listening from the future, Gustavo Sorolla, 426 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 1: who at that point was the singular remaining original podcast member, 427 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:49,640 Speaker 1: would hand the reins over to a younger group of podcasters, 428 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: which would include Armando Torres, Griff Milton, and Andrew Rosas. 429 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,400 Speaker 1: Barbara and Gavin would step down around that same time. 430 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 1: Bernie had already left the company by twenty twenty. Tie. 431 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,480 Speaker 1: In two thousand and nine, Rooster Teeth's influence made its 432 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:05,879 Speaker 1: way into the video game that provided the company with 433 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:10,200 Speaker 1: their first mashinema engine, that being Halo specifically, it made 434 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: its way into Halo three, which included a new online 435 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:17,359 Speaker 1: competitive game mode called Griftball. Griftball started as just a joke, 436 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: kind of a throway line in Red Versus Blue, but 437 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,719 Speaker 1: it became a type of community game on Halo servers 438 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: after Bernie Burns made up a rugby style competition using 439 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:32,199 Speaker 1: Halo matchmaking. So it was a fan made game, a 440 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:34,959 Speaker 1: fan in this case being Bernie Burns, a fan of Halo, 441 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:39,119 Speaker 1: and with Halo three, Griffball graduated from being a community 442 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:44,920 Speaker 1: game type to an official matchmaking game within Halo. Pretty 443 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: cool to see now. On top of that, the voice 444 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 1: talent and the on camera talent at Rooster Teeth started 445 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:57,000 Speaker 1: to land opportunities to voice characters in the very games 446 00:27:57,359 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 1: that they would feature in their videos. You can hear 447 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:03,199 Speaker 1: the voices of Rooster Teeth crew in numerous video games, 448 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: including big titles like the Halo series or the Red 449 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,960 Speaker 1: Dead Redemption games. If you are really familiar with them 450 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: and you start playing these games, you might start to 451 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:17,119 Speaker 1: hear familiar voices as you encounter various NPCs around the world. 452 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,119 Speaker 1: Another important moment in Rooster Teeth's history happened in two 453 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:23,879 Speaker 1: thousand and nine. The company hired Monty Ohm, an animator 454 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,640 Speaker 1: who would go on to create the series Ruby. Now. 455 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,439 Speaker 1: He originally was working on Red Versus Blue, and he 456 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,920 Speaker 1: was known for pulling extremely long hours at his job 457 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: and was an incredible and passionate artist. He would work 458 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: with the company for more than half a decade, but 459 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 1: tragically he passed away in twenty fifteen after a severe 460 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:48,479 Speaker 1: allergic reaction. This was two years after his series Ruby 461 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: had premiered, and several Rooster Teeth staff would promise to 462 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 1: carry on his work on that series. We'll talk more 463 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 1: about that in just a bit. We're going to take 464 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: another quick break to think our sponsors, But we have 465 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: lots more Rooster Teeth history to get through. Okay, we're back, 466 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: and we're up to twenty ten. That's when Gavin Free 467 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,040 Speaker 1: would create a new YouTube channel with his friend Dan 468 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: and they called it The Slow Mo Guys. And as 469 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: the name suggests, they specialize in shooting various stuff in 470 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: ultra slow motion. You've likely seen their stuff at one 471 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: point or another. Multiple videos that they have produced have 472 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,959 Speaker 1: gone crazy viral over the years. In fact, I remember 473 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:42,120 Speaker 1: seeing them even pop up in a Delta Airline safety 474 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,840 Speaker 1: video several years ago. That's how big they got that 475 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: they were being recognized in other forms of media, including 476 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: a safety video on an airplane. In twenty thirteen, Rooster 477 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: Teeth would officially acquire The Slow Mo Guy's channel, so 478 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: Gavin was working with Rousti Teeth Back in this time, 479 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 1: he wasn't working for them yet, but he was doing 480 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:09,760 Speaker 1: work with the company but had not been hired on 481 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,760 Speaker 1: as an official employee. In twenty eleven, Rooster Teeth would 482 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 1: hold its first live event in Austin. This was called RTX. 483 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:22,680 Speaker 1: The original event was relatively modest in ambition, and even 484 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: so it attracted more than five hundred attendees. Now, over 485 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:30,040 Speaker 1: the following years, Rooster Teeth would hold many, many more 486 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 1: in person events, some of them would be large enough 487 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: to fill out an entire convention center in Austin, Texas. 488 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: They would even do live theatrical shows that would sell 489 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 1: out major venues, and they would hold events in various 490 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 1: cities and countries around the world. In twenty twenty three, 491 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth president Jordan Levin revealed that the RTX event 492 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: had never been profitable and the company had decided to 493 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,480 Speaker 1: cancel the twenty twenty four RTX. This is in twenty 494 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 1: twenty three, and the plan was to go back to 495 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: the drawing board to kind of figure out how to 496 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,480 Speaker 1: go about handling live events in the future so that 497 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,840 Speaker 1: they wouldn't be a money losing proposition. But as it 498 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:16,280 Speaker 1: turns out, that concern is moot now. Rooster Teeth continued 499 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:18,719 Speaker 1: to grow, but it was still very, very small at 500 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,040 Speaker 1: this point. By the end of twenty eleven, there were 501 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 1: only around twenty employees. One of the last to join 502 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,480 Speaker 1: that year was Barbara Dunkleman. As I mentioned, she was 503 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 1: a fan from Canada who relocated to Austin, Texas to 504 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 1: work for the company. As a community manager. Then the 505 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 1: next year, Gavin Free, who again had left England to 506 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:42,120 Speaker 1: join Rooster Teeth, would officially become an employee near the 507 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: beginning of twenty twelve. He had already done a lot 508 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,200 Speaker 1: of work on Red Versus Blue at that point, but 509 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,960 Speaker 1: now he was an official employee. And I mentioned these 510 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: two specifically not just because they're two of the more 511 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,960 Speaker 1: forward facing members of the company, but also because of 512 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: their situation, right because eavn their home country to work 513 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 1: for Rister Teeth. That's a huge thing. I'm pretty sure 514 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: a lot of you out there have never done anything 515 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 1: like that. I certainly have never done anything like that. 516 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:12,840 Speaker 1: Some of you may have, though, some of you may 517 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 1: have left your home country to go work somewhere else. 518 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:20,959 Speaker 1: And as you know, your work situation is incredibly important 519 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: because in most countries, that's what justifies you living in 520 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,040 Speaker 1: that country, right, and if that situation changes, you might 521 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 1: be in a bind. Right if your company shuts down 522 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: while you're working in a country that isn't your home country. 523 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:38,240 Speaker 1: You know, maybe you were required to have something like 524 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,320 Speaker 1: a green card. Well, you are in a challenging experience. 525 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:45,120 Speaker 1: And so I imagine that Barbara and Gavin and others 526 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:49,280 Speaker 1: like them are in a pretty stressful situation at the moment, 527 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:54,040 Speaker 1: more so than your average employee who's also facing unemployment. 528 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: In the near future, the company began to tackle more 529 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,560 Speaker 1: ambitious projects. In twenty twelve, they launched a game show 530 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:03,920 Speaker 1: called The Gauntlet, in which competitors attempted to win at 531 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,560 Speaker 1: video game related events. Some of the entrants in that 532 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 1: show would actually later on become Rooster Teeth's staff members. 533 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: Two of Rooster Teeth's staff, Carrie Shawcross and Christa Maras, 534 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 1: would travel to New Zealand to walk from the filming 535 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:20,960 Speaker 1: location for Hobbiton in Lord of the Rings to the 536 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,320 Speaker 1: filming location for Mount Doom. That's a one hundred and 537 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 1: thirty mile trek, and they titled it a Simple Walk 538 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 1: into Mordor, and it really highlighted how ill suited the 539 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,120 Speaker 1: two were to take on such a task, which of 540 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:38,000 Speaker 1: course made for really great content. The company also released 541 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,160 Speaker 1: a trailer for Ruby that year. That was the animated 542 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 1: series dreamed up by monteaum So. Ruby features a group 543 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,640 Speaker 1: of four young women, that being Ruby, Rose Weiss or 544 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:55,960 Speaker 1: Vice Schnee, Blake, Belladonna, and Yongshao Long and their initials 545 00:33:56,400 --> 00:34:00,520 Speaker 1: create the title r W B Y that's pronounced Ruby. 546 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 1: It's a fantasy science fiction series in which there are 547 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 1: monsters and monster hunters, plus lots of different intrigue, and 548 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:12,520 Speaker 1: it's a highly stylized series. It's in many ways a 549 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:16,560 Speaker 1: real departure from much of Rooster Teith's other content. It 550 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,080 Speaker 1: would go on to find its own passionate audience beyond 551 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,520 Speaker 1: the company. It also would become the subject of lots 552 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:25,360 Speaker 1: of debates does Ruby count as anime or not? And 553 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 1: there are passionate people who argue either side of this 554 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:32,640 Speaker 1: particular debate, And I am not going to get into 555 00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:36,640 Speaker 1: it because that is not my area of expertise if 556 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:40,320 Speaker 1: I even have an area of expertise. Ruby would debut 557 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:43,759 Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen. RTX attendees got the first chance to 558 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,880 Speaker 1: see the very first episode before anyone else outside the 559 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,959 Speaker 1: company had had seen it, and after Monteaum would pass 560 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:54,200 Speaker 1: away in twenty fifteen, other members of Rooster Teeth decided 561 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,879 Speaker 1: to continue the series without him because they wanted both 562 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:00,960 Speaker 1: to finish the story they had started and also to 563 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:05,560 Speaker 1: honor Home in the process. So when the show debuted 564 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:09,239 Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen, it quickly found an audience, and it 565 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 1: has had nine seasons, which they call volumes, with a 566 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,839 Speaker 1: total of one hundred and sixteen episodes so far as 567 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 1: of last year. The aforementioned Kerrie Shawcross is the showrunner 568 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,480 Speaker 1: for the series and has said that he hopes to 569 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:26,560 Speaker 1: find a home for Ruby so that he and the 570 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:30,240 Speaker 1: team can finish the stories that they've begun. In twenty thirteen, 571 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth received a Webby Award for Best Animated Series. 572 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:37,400 Speaker 1: This was for Red Versus Blue, and at this point 573 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:41,080 Speaker 1: the company was well known in online circles and was 574 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 1: getting recognition from the mainstream media as well. It was 575 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,239 Speaker 1: still largely seen as a company that made content for 576 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:52,080 Speaker 1: a younger web centric audience, so think like teens to 577 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:56,520 Speaker 1: young adults, and according to numerous podcast episodes, the folks 578 00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:59,200 Speaker 1: in Austin didn't really seem to be that aware of 579 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,359 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth in general, so it's not like they were 580 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:04,920 Speaker 1: a big deal in their hometown, but the company was 581 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:10,919 Speaker 1: finding some wider recognition. Some employees in particular, occasionally found 582 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:14,680 Speaker 1: themselves singled out by mainstream publications which would run features 583 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,640 Speaker 1: on this little upstart media company out of Austin, Texas, 584 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,799 Speaker 1: and it was starting to really gain traction. Also in 585 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:25,480 Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, Jack Pattillo would spearhead a charitable effort that 586 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,880 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth would embrace over the following decade. It was 587 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,640 Speaker 1: part of Extra Life, which is a charitable event that 588 00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:35,360 Speaker 1: raises money for the hospitals that are in the Children's 589 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 1: Miracle Network. Many participants in the event just in general, 590 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,160 Speaker 1: not just at Rooster Teeth, but many people who are 591 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 1: fundraising for Extra Life, will stream themselves playing games in 592 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,680 Speaker 1: sort of a video game version of a walkathon to 593 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:53,480 Speaker 1: raise money for their chosen hospital. I've done this a 594 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,080 Speaker 1: couple of times in the past, pulling twenty four hour 595 00:36:56,840 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 1: sessions of playing Minecraft in order to raise money. But 596 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:03,440 Speaker 1: Patillo's efforts meant that Rooster Teeth would raise more than 597 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:06,719 Speaker 1: three hundred thousand dollars for their chosen hospital that first year, 598 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:09,800 Speaker 1: and then every year he would really strive to beat 599 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:13,120 Speaker 1: that number to great success. Patillo says that he plans 600 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:16,920 Speaker 1: to do an Extra Lifestyle fundraiser this year twenty twenty 601 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,680 Speaker 1: four despite the fact that the company itself is shutting 602 00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:22,279 Speaker 1: down all right now. In our history, we're up to 603 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,120 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, and this is when I realized that I 604 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:27,880 Speaker 1: would have to break this episode up into two. But 605 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:30,840 Speaker 1: we've got a really good place to split our episodes 606 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:33,839 Speaker 1: coming up in twenty fourteen, because a major event would 607 00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:37,239 Speaker 1: happen that year that would completely change the course of 608 00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:40,759 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth. So in twenty fourteen, first of all, there 609 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,160 Speaker 1: was a group of fellas out in California who created 610 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:49,040 Speaker 1: a comedy media company called Funhouse spelled Funhaus. That group 611 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:54,359 Speaker 1: included James Williams, Sean Poole, Matt Peak, Lawrence Sontag, Bruce Green, 612 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:58,080 Speaker 1: and Adam Kovic. Many of them came from other web 613 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:02,080 Speaker 1: content companies that had either fold or had downsides significantly, 614 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:06,080 Speaker 1: such as Mainema Mashinima had not got out of business 615 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:08,960 Speaker 1: at this point, it still existed, but it had downsize 616 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:12,440 Speaker 1: quite a bit and changed dramatically. Or some of them 617 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:15,480 Speaker 1: had worked for a more traditional content company like G 618 00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:19,279 Speaker 1: four TV, but that particular media company went through its 619 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:23,360 Speaker 1: own long and protracted demise. As I covered in a 620 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:27,200 Speaker 1: previous episode of tech Stuff many many years ago. Funhouse 621 00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:30,960 Speaker 1: would create its own series and content, focusing largely on 622 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:33,839 Speaker 1: let's play style videos in which the cast would play 623 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:37,160 Speaker 1: a game or sometimes a series of games while they 624 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:40,520 Speaker 1: would just make jokes, and they would also launch other 625 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:43,800 Speaker 1: series that showcase the team's sense of humor, their writing, 626 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:47,319 Speaker 1: and their performance styles. While they would collaborate occasionally with 627 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,919 Speaker 1: their Austin counterparts, they mostly were left to do their 628 00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:54,279 Speaker 1: own thing, with some caveats, which we'll get to in 629 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,120 Speaker 1: the next episode. I mentioned earlier that Roster Teeth would 630 00:38:57,120 --> 00:39:00,960 Speaker 1: tackle hugely ambitious projects, including feature length films. Well. The 631 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:03,839 Speaker 1: first of those attempts that made it beyond the pre 632 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:09,239 Speaker 1: production stage was a film called Laser Team Lazer. This 633 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:14,000 Speaker 1: movie featured four hapless protagonists, each of whom dons a 634 00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:18,400 Speaker 1: piece of some alien made armor. And each piece of 635 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:22,120 Speaker 1: armor has its own abilities and was meant to go 636 00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:25,839 Speaker 1: to a specific person, a human champion who had been 637 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:30,719 Speaker 1: secretly training for this moment his entire life. But instead 638 00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:34,600 Speaker 1: the armor bonds with these four idiots who just happen 639 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:37,440 Speaker 1: across it, and then they have to defend the Earth 640 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:42,160 Speaker 1: from an extraterrestrial threat and hilarity ensues. Rooster Teeth launched 641 00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:45,880 Speaker 1: an indie Gogo crowdfunding campaign for a Laser Team, and 642 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:49,719 Speaker 1: their goal was to raise six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Now, 643 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:52,520 Speaker 1: this was not going to be enough money to actually 644 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:56,960 Speaker 1: fund the filmmaking. Instead, it was really to show potential 645 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:01,640 Speaker 1: investors that there was a passionate audience for this film, 646 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:04,520 Speaker 1: so it was kind of like seed money to help 647 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:07,719 Speaker 1: secure additional funding. By the end of the campaign, they 648 00:40:07,719 --> 00:40:12,600 Speaker 1: had raised nearly two point five million dollars their goal 649 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:15,480 Speaker 1: was six hundred and fifty thousand, and it made the 650 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:19,960 Speaker 1: project the most top funded film on indieg Go at 651 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:23,319 Speaker 1: that time, so they were able to secure the rest 652 00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:27,000 Speaker 1: of their funding because people said, oh, well, if folks 653 00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:29,400 Speaker 1: are passionate enough to pour their money into something that 654 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:33,440 Speaker 1: doesn't even exist yet, then it's worth supporting. And they 655 00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:37,040 Speaker 1: released Laser Team in twenty fifteen, and it's fine. I mean, 656 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:39,600 Speaker 1: it has its moments, but it really wasn't my cup 657 00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:41,840 Speaker 1: of tea. I was kind of hoping for something that 658 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:44,359 Speaker 1: would appeal to me more. It's not bad, it just 659 00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:47,080 Speaker 1: kind of forgettable for me. But still, it was really 660 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:50,319 Speaker 1: cool to see a media company that started out just 661 00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:53,880 Speaker 1: releasing short videos that were made in a Halo game 662 00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:57,719 Speaker 1: engine graduate into a fully fledged movie production company. That 663 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:02,200 Speaker 1: was really fascinating. Now beyond the film, Rooster Teeth would 664 00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:05,279 Speaker 1: release a whole bunch of different series, and I'm not 665 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:07,280 Speaker 1: going to go into all of them, but they included 666 00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:11,640 Speaker 1: shows that had titles like Social Disorder, Ten Little Roosters, 667 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:18,279 Speaker 1: the cute little mystery series on the Spot, Screenplay, and 668 00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:21,640 Speaker 1: Happy Hour, among others. And I just want to stress 669 00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:25,440 Speaker 1: how incredible it is for an upstart media company that 670 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:29,839 Speaker 1: was tackling a feature film to also be launching a 671 00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 1: half dozen new properties and still support ongoing shows like 672 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:39,200 Speaker 1: Ruby and Red Versus Blue. That is a ton of projects, 673 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:42,480 Speaker 1: and the company at this point is still fairly modest 674 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:45,200 Speaker 1: in size. I mean, it's much larger than twenty people 675 00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:48,719 Speaker 1: at this point, but still not like a major studio. 676 00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:55,239 Speaker 1: It's this sort of bootstrapped startup that's doing all this. 677 00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:58,000 Speaker 1: And of course people were working their butts off to 678 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:01,279 Speaker 1: get all this to happen, and and we'll talk more 679 00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:04,600 Speaker 1: about that in the next episode too, but this is 680 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:06,960 Speaker 1: where we get to the event that really caps off 681 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:09,440 Speaker 1: this episode and will serve as the launching point for 682 00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:13,799 Speaker 1: next episode. And it happened in November twenty fourteen. So 683 00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:17,719 Speaker 1: a company called full Screen, which in turn was a 684 00:42:17,719 --> 00:42:23,040 Speaker 1: subsidiary of another company called Otter Media, would acquire Rooster 685 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:26,440 Speaker 1: Teeth for an undisclosed amount of money. This would be 686 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:29,640 Speaker 1: the event that would redefine Rooster Teeth and change the 687 00:42:29,719 --> 00:42:32,440 Speaker 1: course of the company over the following decade. Now, you 688 00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:36,680 Speaker 1: could argue this move is what would spell out the 689 00:42:36,719 --> 00:42:40,959 Speaker 1: eventual end of Rooster Teeth itself, but I would argue 690 00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:44,000 Speaker 1: it's impossible to say if Rooster Teeth would have flourished 691 00:42:44,239 --> 00:42:49,319 Speaker 1: without this acquisition. The company had clearly developed hugely ambitious 692 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:52,520 Speaker 1: goals and it would have been really hard for them 693 00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:56,720 Speaker 1: to achieve those goals on their own. So in many ways, 694 00:42:57,360 --> 00:43:02,879 Speaker 1: being acquired by a larger concern was potentially a roadmap 695 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:06,760 Speaker 1: toward achieving these goals, and if they didn't do it, 696 00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:10,160 Speaker 1: maybe they couldn't achieve all the stuff they wanted to. 697 00:43:10,719 --> 00:43:14,840 Speaker 1: So they were in a pretty tough position to say no. 698 00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:18,280 Speaker 1: I mean, it would have been really kind of self 699 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:21,560 Speaker 1: defeating at least at the time, I'm sure, But as 700 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:26,120 Speaker 1: it would turn out, this acquisition would be the starting 701 00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:29,880 Speaker 1: point for what would lead to the situation where Rooster 702 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:32,719 Speaker 1: Teeth would shut down. So in our next episode, I'll 703 00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:36,160 Speaker 1: explain more about full Screen and what they were all about, 704 00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:39,759 Speaker 1: as well as their parent company, Outter Media. Then we'll 705 00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:43,799 Speaker 1: talk about the complicated series of corporate maneuvers that would 706 00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:47,080 Speaker 1: happen well above the heads of people working at Rooster Teeth. 707 00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:49,200 Speaker 1: They had nothing to do with it, but there was 708 00:43:49,239 --> 00:43:51,440 Speaker 1: a lot of stuff that was happening at top levels 709 00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:55,160 Speaker 1: of the companies that owned Rooster Teeth that would have 710 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:57,560 Speaker 1: a big impact on them. So we'll talk about how 711 00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:01,120 Speaker 1: these corporate changes actually filtered down to affect the people 712 00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:04,200 Speaker 1: at Rooster Teeth and how it would manifest and shape 713 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:08,280 Speaker 1: the way the company operated. We'll also talk about important 714 00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:11,200 Speaker 1: people in Rooster Teeth like Bernie Burns, who chose to 715 00:44:11,320 --> 00:44:14,319 Speaker 1: step away from the company for various reasons, and will 716 00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:17,319 Speaker 1: talk about some of the really ugly controversies that are 717 00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:20,840 Speaker 1: merged out of the company within that ten year period 718 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:24,440 Speaker 1: of twenty fourteen to today. And of course we'll explore 719 00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:27,239 Speaker 1: the reasons and timing of the company shutting down. But 720 00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:29,960 Speaker 1: for now we're going to step away from our history 721 00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:33,359 Speaker 1: lesson and we will rejoin in the next episode. I 722 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:37,440 Speaker 1: hope you're enjoying this retrospective look at Rooster Teeth. It's 723 00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:40,920 Speaker 1: a company that created a lot of stuff that I 724 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:45,040 Speaker 1: really enjoyed for many years, and while admittedly I've stepped 725 00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:47,520 Speaker 1: away from some of their content, Like I haven't watched 726 00:44:47,560 --> 00:44:51,040 Speaker 1: Red Versus Blue in many seasons. I have no idea 727 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:53,960 Speaker 1: what the storyline is at this point, but I have 728 00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:58,160 Speaker 1: watched other stuff that they have created subsequently and still 729 00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:01,520 Speaker 1: remain a fan of the the company and their shows. 730 00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:06,319 Speaker 1: I think it's one that's worth really exploring. For one thing, 731 00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:10,680 Speaker 1: while they're shutting down, it remains true that Rooster Teeth 732 00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:13,680 Speaker 1: is one of the most successful online media companies to 733 00:45:13,719 --> 00:45:17,759 Speaker 1: come out of the early two thousands. You know, most 734 00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:21,000 Speaker 1: of those other companies that created stuff in the early 735 00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:25,160 Speaker 1: two thousands either went into long term hibridation and only 736 00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:30,280 Speaker 1: occasionally become active again, like Homestar Runner, or the people 737 00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:33,279 Speaker 1: behind them have moved on to totally different things and 738 00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:37,279 Speaker 1: they don't do online content anymore, and their names are 739 00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:41,200 Speaker 1: largely just left in the history books. So it is 740 00:45:41,239 --> 00:45:44,040 Speaker 1: pretty phenomenal that Rooster Teeth has stuck around as long 741 00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:47,080 Speaker 1: as it has. So in our next episode, we'll keep 742 00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:50,000 Speaker 1: ongoing with the Rooster Teeth story. We'll cover what happened 743 00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:53,520 Speaker 1: in the last decade. And in the meantime, I hope 744 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:55,920 Speaker 1: you are all well and I'll talk to you again 745 00:45:56,600 --> 00:46:06,480 Speaker 1: really soon. Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more 746 00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:11,320 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 747 00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:13,280 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.