WEBVTT - Digital Native Creatives Talk Shop, Compare Notes on Social Media Platforms 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:04.160 Welcome to Strictly Business, Variety's weekly podcast featuring conversations with 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.880 industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:11.000 your host, Cynthia Littleton, co editor in chief of Variety. 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:15.560 Today's episode features highlights from two lively and informative panels 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:18.680 that Variety hosted on September twenty fifth at our annual 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:22.439 Entertainment and Technology conference in Los Angeles. The day was 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:25.320 packed with great speakers who got right to the point 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:29.080 of the day, the intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:34.479 Last week's Strictly Business episode featured the opening panel of 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:38.519 the Entertainment and Technology event, a session I moderated with 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:42.960 the group of heavyweight TV and streaming executives. This week's 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.640 installment opens with highlights from the final session of the day. 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.560 My great colleague Mark Malkin, Vrighty's senior editor of Culture 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:55.200 and Events, moderated in session with the fabulous representative sample 0:00:55.360 --> 0:01:00.960 of successful digital media entrepreneurs slash Personalities. Then after that 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.800 we'll hear a slice of my conversation with streaming pioneer 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:10.200 Jack Perry, CEO of ZEM and the inimitable John Stamos. 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:13.440 The two spoke with me about their partnership on the 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.680 zine's streaming platform, which is in the middle of a 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:21.800 very ambitious buildout. Mark's conversation with the six Digital multi 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:25.120 hyphenates ranges widely, and it can be hard to keep 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.319 track of who's who unless you happen to be a 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:29.800 super fan of all of them. But it's really more 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.920 about listening to the points they make on how younger 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:36.800 and older millennials view their opportunities in the entertainment arena 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:39.840 these days. Mark also gets them to talk about their 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:44.480 own entertainment and social media habits and preferences. Regular listeners 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.360 of Strictly Business know that I love nothing more than 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:51.520 talking to everyday people at conferences and fan conventions about 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:55.320 what they watch, how they watch, when they watch at all. 0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:59.280 It's fascinating, So enjoy the ride here as Mark converses 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.200 with Nicole Byer, host of Why Don't You Date Me? 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:06.520 Aaron and Sarah Foster, executive producers of Nobody Wants This, 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:11.200 and hosts of the world's first podcast, Matt Rogers, host 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:17.880 of Las Culturistas, Jake Shane, host of therapust and Benito Skinner, creator, writer, 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:22.480 executive producer and star of Overcompensating and host of Ride. 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:26.959 Here's the panel, so let's do a little introduction. Nicole 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.560 Bayer host Why Don't You Date Me? 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:30.359 Who? 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:31.520 This is their podcast? 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:36.040 Aaron Foster, Sarah Foster, EP Nobody Wants This and host 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.560 of the World's First podcast, Thanks Sarah. 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:41.160 Thanks. 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:43.800 Aaron Fosser, creator, writer and EP of Nobody Wants This 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:51.040 and host the World's First Put Put Jake Shane, host 0:02:51.120 --> 0:03:04.240 of Therapists, Benito Skinner, creator writer, EP actor Compensating and 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:11.480 host Ride. And Matt Rogers He Does Like Everything Also, 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.320 and hosts of Last Say Them All. 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:26.079 Chapter, Makeup Artists, costume designer, influencer or host Lost Carter Recess. 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.680 Hi, everybody. I want to start off with just asking 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:33.920 about the platforms, the apps that you guys are scrolling 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:36.600 the most. I want to know where are you looking 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:38.920 for stories? What are you enjoying the most? 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:43.320 I love Instagram. I love it so much. Give me pictures, 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.360 give me videos. I'm happy. 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:48.240 What about you, Sarah? 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:48.720 Oh? 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:52.360 Yeah, I mean I think Instagram obviously is the place 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.440 that I am the most. It moves the needle the most. 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.240 I think for our businesses. It's football season, so I'm 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:58.160 on YouTube a lot. 0:03:58.560 --> 0:03:59.720 No, you go on Twitter a lot too. 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.920 Yeah, but I don't know the algorithm is. 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:07.560 I'm so curious to see what the I mean, Nicole, 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:08.960 you're much younger than us two, but we're like the 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:11.720 young people think of us saying Instagram because I do 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.880 think it makes us seem old, because Instagram is like millennials, 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:17.320 and it is the only platform I look at. And 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:20.279 then when I'm feeling like really disgusting and dirty, I'll 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:24.000 go on the Daily Mail just to like feel really 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:26.400 bad about myself. And now they've changed it up where 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:29.479 like most of the interesting things are like exclusives you 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:31.640 have to pay, and I'm like, I'm obviously not going 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:33.640 to pay for that. But on a dark day, like 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:35.520 you never know, I. 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:37.839 Also read the Daily Mail, but only on like the 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:39.640 Snapchat daily mail app. 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.160 Yeah, honestly, I think darker. 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:44.200 It's awesome. 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:46.600 I guarantee you Aaron does not have a same. 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.120 No, they pick out the they pick out the best stories. 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:50.640 You. 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:52.960 He just read you so much. 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:54.479 I don't even have Snapchat. 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:58.440 It's amazing, and I read the ones I'm most interested in, 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.640 but I use TikTok the most probably or sometimes Twitter. 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:04.360 I just think it's interesting. I like all the charte 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:08.679 accounts that talk about different pop girls. Yeah, so same. 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:11.640 I feel like Instagram was my first love. 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.760 I love it so much so that and then I'm 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.000 on TikTok a lot, I would say. 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:20.479 And then I don't even go near Twitter because I 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.760 can't hate myself more. Yeah, deeply Instagram, I'm the same. 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:26.400 And also I'm gonna give like a millennial answer too. 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:28.400 I guess an aging millennial answer here, like the end 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:32.760 Dell Sleep app is everything, like all sorts of soundscapes. 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:35.200 And I'm a YouTube person too. I will just refresh 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:35.719 the YouTube. 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:38.240 I think I'm part of the problem, like not watching 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:41.479 TV because I will just refresh YouTube and that's the day. 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:46.800 Well, yeah, do any of you watch TV? Yeah? 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:50.839 I watched over compensating Sason, one of them run, I 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.600 did it. I saw on Instagram the new trailer where 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:54.640 nobody wants this today? 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:55.080 I'm better. 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:56.400 Hello. 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:00.760 Obviously all of you are on multiple platforms. How do 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:04.200 you decide what goes to what platform? 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.880 Length of the clip. 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.080 Well, I was just wondering how many platforms there are, 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:12.280 like where does it go? Because I don't really know. 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:15.480 I couldn't think of anything besides Instagram for the app question. 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:17.120 So I don't know, I like. 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:19.039 Don't utilize or sorry you go you first. 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:22.000 I would way rather hear from you about platforms because 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:22.560 I really. 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:26.640 Am for Instagram, it usually is just photos. I don't 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:30.640 really sometimes all do videos, but most I really just 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:32.440 kind of do the distinction. Well, if it's a photo, 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:34.400 I'll do Instagram. If it's a video, I'll do TikTok. 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.240 And that's really just as simple as it is for me. 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:39.560 It's a really scientific method. 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:42.799 I feel like we have this conversation all the time 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.920 is how best to utilize social. 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:46.680 Media to our advantage? 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:49.080 Right, we have a fashion brand, we have a podcast, 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:50.360 we have you know stuff. 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.520 But the truth is we don't do a good job 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:53.840 with it. 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.719 We don't have social media managers. Anything you see is 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:59.159 just us like all right, like let's put it out there, 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:00.480 but we don't. 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.359 And of course Instagram for favorite daughter. 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:03.920 No, I don't think we do a very good job 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:07.960 on actually like utilizing. I think we have ten people 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:09.560 watching on YouTube. 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:09.880 Of our podcast. 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:10.680 Like that's not a joke. 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:12.880 Like I do this like really cool trick where I 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:16.360 post the same thing on Instagram and TikTok, so I 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:17.360 don't have to think. 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:20.680 And apparently if you post it on LinkedIn, you're only 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:21.840 supposed to do it once a week. 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:24.760 LinkedIn is not trying to see a bunch of posts. 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:26.680 I've never had a real job. I don't know what 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:27.360 LinkedIn is. 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:29.560 LinkedIn is such a mystreet to me? 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:32.119 Oh no, I went from Lane Bryant to the TV. 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:33.800 You guys can be batting. 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:37.280 LinkedIn is actually thriving, though i'd actually descriving. It's not 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.880 like Facebook, like with where you're like, oh, who's on there, 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:40.240 my aunt? 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:41.800 No, it's like LinkedIn. 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.520 I'm building another business right now and I have single 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.440 handedly put all the pieces together through LinkedIn. 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:52.160 Where do you see your storytelling going? Someone says to you, 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:54.320 whatever you want to do, it's greenlit. You have all 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.400 the money in the world. What story would you tell 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:57.440 and how would you tell it? 0:07:57.560 --> 0:07:59.480 Well, mine definitely wouldn't be about myself. 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:02.480 I think that that's one thing I'm like done with 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:05.480 is I feel like that's like out there already. 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:07.960 And I do think that that's one thing that is 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.119 a little bit of a bummer of when you tend 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:14.120 to pop off as a like a an Instagram not Instagram, 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:18.520 a podcast situation or that type of deal is because 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.000 they're like, oh, we love you, we want more of you, 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:24.320 and it's kind of like you got me girl, like 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:27.840 i'd be I can't say another thing. You ask me 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:29.440 who I follow, and I'm like, what have I not 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.320 already said? You know, I would love to do something 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:36.240 that was very different from me, so and I plan to. 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:38.280 I really want to tell. 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:42.679 More relationship stories from different perspectives and kind of I 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:44.400 don't know if you guys feel this way, but I 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.440 think when one thing really takes off, it makes you 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:50.360 feel like you not in a way to chase something, 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:52.760 but that you want to prove to yourself you could 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:55.400 do it again, you know, on purpose instead it's not 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.439 a fluke. And so I have that for sure in 0:08:58.480 --> 0:08:58.880 my head. 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.800 But I feel like for us, like through our production company, 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:04.280 we've always been like what's our flea bag? You know, 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:07.480 like Aaron's like Phoebe waller Bridge, and we're kind of 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:09.720 like I think we've spent a lot of our lives 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:14.040 sort of resisting maybe who we are a lot and 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.520 trying fighting to be taken seriously, and you know, I 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:19.760 fought to be taken seriously as an actress for so 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:21.480 long it never really happened. 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:25.280 And it could still. It could still happen. 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:28.520 But we talk about this all the time, like we're 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:32.240 living in such hustle culture, right, It's like when is 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:35.439 enough enough? It's like you got to have the podcast, 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.040 you gotta have the brand. Oh you didn't sell any shows. 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:38.800 That's bad, you know. 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.640 It's just like it's like when when can you actually 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:44.520 sit back and go okay, like I want to I 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:46.120 want to enjoy the fruits of my labor. 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:47.719 Like it's all literally what. 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:49.319 I was going to say, I was gonna say. 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:51.800 It just made me think that something that people don't 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:53.880 talk about enough is that work life. 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:55.079 Balance is really important to me. 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:57.720 Yeah, and I only like to work with other people 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.800 who respect work life balance. And when you go home 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.640 and you're in bed with your partner by yourself watching TV, 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.360 I have a baby at home, and it's really shaken 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:10.800 up what I prioritize. And there's this culture of bragging 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:13.760 on how little sleep you got or responding to everything 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:16.920 in real time. And I've gotten more comfortable where if 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.559 I get a text at eight thirty at night, I 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:22.440 am not afraid to say guys, I'm watching Real Houswards 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:24.680 of Miami with my husband and that's our me time 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:27.040 and I'll get back to you at eight am tomorrow 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:28.880 and everything will be fine. And I don't want to 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:30.959 feel embarrassed by that. And I think the more you 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:33.320 do it and prioritize your life, the more it gives 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:35.960 other people permission to do that. And I just think 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:38.600 we need to spend time with our friends and family 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:41.640 and by ourselves and not be so obsessed with always 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.640 being on, because it's a recipe for a really unhealthy 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:45.439 mental state. 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:48.560 Nicole, what's your project? What's that dream project? 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:52.520 My dream project obviously centered around myself. I love who 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:56.640 I am. I think I'm fun. My best friend is 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:58.840 to shar Zameida and we work together a lot. So 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:01.320 I think a dream would be show or like a 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:03.800 movie that we have written or created and we get to, 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:05.719 you know, be in charge of it. 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:08.800 I like telling love stories. I also love interviewing people 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:09.400 about love. 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:10.760 Jake. 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:15.000 I think my dream would be to like write a 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:19.800 show similar to you about myself and see where that goes. 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:24.480 Meet like a definitely a comedy, dream coast star, dream coastar. 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.320 I would love to do like improv alongside like Meg's altar. 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:29.840 I think that would be awesome. 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:32.640 Time's up, Thank you guys. 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:36.920 Next up, we'll hear from ziem's Jack Perry and John Stamos. 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:40.600 Stamos is a multi hyphenate who will, of course forever 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.560 be a pop culture icon for his long run on 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:48.680 ABC's nineteen ninety sitcom Full House. As such, Stamos was 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:51.559 the perfect pitch man to star in a cheeky Super 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.319 Bowl ad this year that was taken out by ZEEM 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:58.640 to tout its broad offering of local TV station streaming signals. 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.360 Stamos was impressed by the company and Perry's track record 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:06.679 as a broadcast and technology pioneer. Stamos now serves as 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:10.720 zem's Chief Innovation Officer. ZEEM right now is on a 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:16.120 big push to offer live streamed original content built around comedians, musicians, 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:20.640 and other types of performers. Here, Perry and Stamos talk 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.640 about how they became partners, and they talk about all 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:25.840 the promise that they see in this growing company. 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:28.880 I met Jack and got introduced at ZEEM when they 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:30.400 had me do Super Bowl a couple of years ago. 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:32.600 I did a thing where I was saying we don't 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:35.559 need We don't need gimmicks. Zem works so well by itself. 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:38.080 And I'm sort of walking through and there's fire and 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.160 I'm in a pool, and like, I'm not trying to pander, 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:42.840 but I was really pandering. And then after I got 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:45.160 to know Jack on that shoot, I said, let's. 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:45.480 Do something else. 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.440 We did like an eight minute sort of a sort 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.280 of a Christopher guest style, a little ten minute thing 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:52.840 about the two of us in zee. 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:53.959 A little mockumentary. 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:56.360 Actually, that's right, Jack, it's at the table for us 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.000 about what zeem is and the two major polls of 0:12:59.040 --> 0:12:59.600 your business. 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.280 Sure. So I started Zeem in two thousand and nine 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:06.600 after I had sold my prior company, which wrote the 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:11.080 authentication technology that sits between the satellite companies and the 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:14.320 networks and all the local affiliates and really just make 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:17.080 sure you get the right local channels. And so I 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:19.840 thought looked at that and thought, well, streaming is next. 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:22.439 Yeah, in two thousand and nine, not many of us 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.599 were saying streaming is next. We were just trying to 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:26.520 figure out how to work YouTube well. 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.720 And I learned the value of local there. And that's 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.600 where John and I really bonded in the beginning is 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:38.360 everybody is somewhere, they're from somewhere, they're going somewhere. There's 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:42.160 things happening somewhere. So local news just made sense to 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:46.200 lean in on that, and so we wrote the backbone 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:50.360 to start streaming. We literally had no idea what the 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:53.920 business model was going to be. But after about a 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.120 year we had four hundred local TV stations on our 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:01.959 backbone and they were just streaming to themselves because there 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:04.719 was no business figured out yet. And so when you're 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:09.000 watching local on Paramount Plus, and we power lots on 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:13.119 Hulu and Fubo and lots of platforms, it's our backbone 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:17.000 that goes into those local TV stations, pulls the broadcasts 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.160 out and make sure you can stream them. 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:21.920 That sounds simple, but it is not. 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:22.720 No, it's not. 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:24.840 And you know, I when they asked me to the commercial, 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:26.840 I was like, what is this, zeam. I don't get it, 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:28.720 you know, And it took me a while to sort 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.320 of understand it. Just talking like that. It's sort of 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:33.400 broad right now. We have an app on the phone 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.800 and he has we broadcast local news and sports from 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:38.240 all over the country. So if you want to see 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.040 what's going on, in you know, your hometown, whatever, you 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:42.680 go there, and then we're doing some you know, original programming. 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:45.040 But we've really been kicking to the live situation. 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.280 You know, local is the one constant no matter what 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:54.080 business models rise up, you're always going to need local news, weather, sports. 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:55.840 So on that side, we're just going to make a 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:59.000 brain dead simple to get all your local channels. And 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:02.280 I don't care if it's the CTV companies or the streamers. 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:05.480 You want local come to us, We'll make it inexpensive 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:08.880 and easy from there, that's where we're starting to build 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:12.760 on the local original content side of things. We're pushing 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:15.960 the envelope. We've done things as crazy as a ice 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.680 fishing shanty in the middle of a national forest in 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:22.720 the Upper Peninsula Michigan and live streaming. You know, two 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:25.880 people sitting in a shanty ice fishing and we had 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:27.360 people tuning in watching it. 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.800 You think nothing's on folks ice fishing right there? Is 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:33.920 that something you kind of did to see if you 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:34.560 could do it? 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:36.120 In part? 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:39.480 Yes, But we also you know, as John and I 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:42.280 started more about the content opportunity, it was clear to 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:46.360 us live is the next great frontier and the more 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:50.479 we can do live the better, and so we've got destination. 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:52.680 John is leading on Destination Music. 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:55.400 We have a studio in New York as well, on 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.840 close to Times Square that we go in there on 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:01.000 tour with the Beach Boys couple months ago, and I 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:02.640 grabbed a few of the guys. I said, that's going 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:03.960 to the studio. We flipped the switch and then we 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:06.160 went on for an hour and just played acoustically, and 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:10.160 you know, it was really a special thing. So there's 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:11.360 so much going on with ZEEM. 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:12.680 It is complicated. 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:14.840 It's hard to wrap your head around. But I think 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.120 there's so much opportunity there, especially as a creator and 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:20.280 have a lot of creative friends over signing deals with people. 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:22.840 There's a young comic that who I love, and we're 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:25.800 going to do a live talk show with him and 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:28.960 a late night talk show. We're doing Destination comedy. He's 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.920 got a van to a three sixty van that goes live. 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:36.360 We're doing music, and we're doing comedy and fishing in 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:37.080 a hole somewhere. 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:39.560 Can you sketch out those specifically, what you did with 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:43.560 the Destination Comedy event, Explain why you did it and 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:46.680 what you hoped it would represent for your capabilities. 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.320 So I wanted to push the envelope on the technology. 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:55.280 I wanted to get creative folks involved that had a 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.880 network of their own that could then tell their friends 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:00.720 to tune in and their contacts tune in. And I 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:04.000 wanted to try to live stream for five straight days 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:07.159 twenty four to seven. And I said, when you go 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:10.040 to bed at night, park the van so it can 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:12.800 see a logo of any kind. I don't care what 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:14.760 it is. It could be a Marriott. 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:16.280 Logo, it'd be Adidas for YouTube. 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.000 The next time we'll have it pointed out Adidas shoes. 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:21.080 Because if you look at well, you know we have 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.480 an ad technology that you know, since John came out 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.400 of the Flaming Pool and our Super Bowl commercial, we've 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:31.600 done maybe seven billion ads that we've inserted into streams. 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:34.880 We know that the advertising community is saying, hey, there's 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:38.040 got to be something more, not just dynamic ad insertion, 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:42.479 but what are the live branding opportunities we can participate in. 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:46.000 So yes, when we unleashed the technology on a couple 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.320 of comedians, we've said, go out there and do everything 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:51.680 that you possibly can do so we can then go 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:55.239 on the next generation of this programming and bring in 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:58.600 advertisers ahead of time that are not necessarily looking for 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.639 dynamic ad insertion, but to be a part of the 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:03.280 Destination comedy family. 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:06.640 Is there a world John where a touring comedian could 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:07.919 monetize a. 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.639 Tour that, yes, that's a good question. What I always 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:15.119 chipped these guys with and girls is that he invented 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:18.720 the technology called ads Sync that places ads throughout the 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.000 day and all these local markets, so if a comic 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:22.600 or a musician is going to be playing. We did 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:23.960 it with the Beach Boys just to test out with 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:25.800 a QR code, and we sold a lot of tickets 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.040 at Jones Beach I think it was. But he went 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:31.280 and got ten seconds here, fifteen seconds here that were 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:35.040 not being used so for free. So that's what we 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:37.480 would do with the comics of the touring musicians as well. 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:38.600 That makes sense. 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:41.040 So one of the things we did with Jeff Ross 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:45.920 was we created one thirty second spot because he's done 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:48.320 the take a Banana for the Ride tour on Broadway 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:51.439 and so we took it. We said, just shoot a 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.680 fun ad, send it to us. And I'm sure everyone 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.880 here is familiar with the dreaded slate We'll be back 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:01.480 in a moment, you know, enjoy this moment or whatever. 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:04.119 That's because the ad wasn't sold, and so what we 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:07.360 did in the case there was our ad Sync technology 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:11.520 would then condense the ads. So because at the end 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:13.720 when you see that slate, it's because there isn't an 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:14.800 ad that fits. 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:16.760 That feels like failure, honestly. 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.480 Right, So we wrote something that very quickly said all right, 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.919 grab the Jeff Ross ad. Take it from a thirty 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:25.639