WEBVTT - Red Bull Practically Invented Branded Entertainment. What's Next? 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:09.640 Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:11.879 which we talked to some of the brightest minds working 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:16.160 in media today. I'm Variety co editor in chief Andrew Wallenstein. 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:20.159 For many people, Red Bull is the energy drink that 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:22.680 gives you wings, but for the past ten years, the 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:25.640 beverage company has become a lot more than that, the 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.960 pioneering force in the worlds of branded entertainment and action sports. 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:33.879 That non carbonated component of the business is overseen by 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:37.440 today's guest, Garrett Meyer, who has served as CEO for 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:42.280 Red Bull Media House for the past two years. Thanks 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:45.320 for coming in, Garrett. Let's do a little level setting 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:47.360 for those who may not be familiar with Red Bull 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:49.599 in the media business, because as long as you've been 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.400 in the job, you've been pretty quiet and let the 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.720 brands work do the talking. Now it's your turn. Yes. 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:58.680 The Red Bull Media House over the last ten years 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:01.000 has been a drive of everything that we've been doing 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.240 on the content on the media side, both in support 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:06.400 of what we do on the brand side, but also 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:09.320 with a lot of the unbranded exercises. So during that 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:12.720 time we've created red Bull TV as a stone alone 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:15.560 app as well as an integrated experience red Bull dot 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:18.760 Com together with all the various content features that we've 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:22.480 had a cross video, whether that's music that is audio 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:25.880 in general, our podcast, but also our text and our video. 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:30.080 We're really much focusing on the editorial pieces around our events, 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.240 around our seven d plus athletes that we do, but 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:36.039 also all the inspiring and inspiring stories that we hear 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:40.160 in the world, whether that's in sports or culture, dance, music, etcetera. 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:42.440 So we're super excited that we're now at a point 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:44.360 we really feel what kind of can take it to 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.240 another level. And So you've been at this now for 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:49.400 the past few years, but the Red Bull has been 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:53.600 in entertainment for a lot longer than that. What did 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.960 you inherit two years ago and how has it changed 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.840 in your time in the top job. So when I 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.320 came to the job a couple of years ago, what 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.080 I found was a company, as you said, super strong 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.400 and Brandon Entertainment. We've done some really really good pieces 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:12.400 of content. Everybody remembers Stratus, Felix Bomb Gardener jumping from Space. 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.600 And I think we had gotten ourselves to a really, 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:18.040 really strong point where we had platforms that attracted a 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:22.000 sizeable audience. But now given where we are two thousand, seventeen, 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:24.840 eighteen and nineteen, media world, as you know and as 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.280 we all know, changing rapidly with an influx of content 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.959 investments that has reached absolute new heights, with an unsurpassed 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:34.440 amount of content that we're seeing out in the world 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.320 being consumed on multiple platforms. So for us, it was 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:39.760 really important to take it to the next level. Next 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:42.880 level for US means really still focusing on platforms that 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:45.560 we have, but they're really becoming much more audience centric. 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:49.679 Audience centric for US means finding audiences that kind of 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:53.200 find communities around the world or locally to kind of 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:55.400 get together. For us, obviously that has to do with 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:57.360 a lot of the course boards that were in, whether 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.160 that is surfing, whether is skateboarding, whether that's bike king, 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:02.839 but a lot has also to do with things were 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:08.920 not so relevant, so not so known with which is music, dance, arts, etcetera. 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.320 So for us, building an organization that is really focused 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:15.160 around these audiences and then speaking to these audiences with 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:19.720 relevant content, finding them where they actually live, whether that's 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:22.640 digitally or terrestrially, and then talk to them in a 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:24.920 tone that is native to kind of their community and 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:27.520 how they talk with each other. That is the relevancy 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.560 that we're trying to create to also then work through 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:33.760 what we've always believed in authenticity and what as we say, 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.680 giving wings to people and their ideas and so now 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:39.960 for the last two years, we've really worked on refocusing 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:44.800 around audience centric programming, audience centric content creation also not 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:46.800 just alone but also with a lot of the partners 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:50.760 set out there. And so people understand it when you're 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:55.360 talking about this sort of audience centricity. How is the 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:59.360 Red Bull media experience different today than it was a 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.720 few years You mentioned, for instance, partners, and I guess 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:05.480 you're doing a lot more of that. Yes, absolutely. I 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.160 think what really has changed is that what we consider 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:10.800 the Red Bull Media network has really expanded beyond our 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:15.160 own and managed platforms into other shared and distributed platforms. 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:17.880 If you look at our relationship with that's with YouTube, 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:20.240 or you look at our relationships with Twitch or other 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.920 publishers that are out there, we've gotten a lot deeper 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:27.680 in our relationship with traditional broadcasters. But even on our 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:30.000 feature film site, if you look at some of the 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:32.839 documentary releases that we've done over the last few years, 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:36.479 we've shouldn't seen much much deeper relationships and distribution and 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:40.200 theatrical releases. So overall we've just gotten much much broader 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.280 in the way we kind of consider our own world 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.480 of Red Bull and where our content lives, of our 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:49.080 audiences lives. You mentioned hundreds and hundreds of athletes give 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:50.680 us a sense of, you know, some of the big 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:52.960 names that we've heard of that are sort of in 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:57.080 the Red Bull camp. Well, I think that really depends 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:59.279 on we go. You know, we talk about so many 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:02.400 different disciplin lens, but you know, we have you know, 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:06.080 as we talked about relevancy last week, Lindsey Vonn who's 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.920 been with Red Both for such a long time unfortunately 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:13.960 announcer retirement. But we have max Va staff and in 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:17.559 Formula one obviously, we're working very closely with Anthony Davis 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:21.560 on their basketball side, and we have Marcel here show 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.120 For anyone who is now doing the winter season, especially 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:27.000 me coming from Austria as one of the premier ski 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:30.159 athletes out there, I think we can talk about a 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:33.640 number of athletes that we can point toof over the 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:36.360 years have provided so much success and so much joy 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:38.479 to the people out there, and really our role in 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:40.960 all of this is to just document all the successes 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.719 and everything that they've been doing, telling their stories out 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:47.039 to the world. And also your definition of sports probably 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:50.320 keeps expanding. The sports is now part of the mix. 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:54.080 Absolutely e sports. But as I also mentioned dancing, if 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.520 you look at the Global Dance Competition, you know, we're 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.880 very strong in any kind of urban sports. We host 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:04.240 every year the World Championship and break dancing, which has 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:07.120 been growing in popularity. That's the sport now, it's not 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:08.839 it's always been a sport, but it's been a sport 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:12.040 that actually has been growing in popularity significantly. And you know, 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:15.240 the athleticism that you see what the athletes are participating 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.240 in those has been huge. But yes, you're absolutely right. 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:21.599 If we're looking at the sports and professional gaming, we've 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:25.200 gotten ourselves into a number of different competitions with our 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:28.080 own teams, with some of our own events, and what 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:31.040 we're seeing is that, obviously, with that popularity that the 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.760 sports is experiencing right now, again we found another kind 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.280 of sports. But that being said, there's also a lot 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:39.760 of sports that have had relevancy over the last few 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:42.440 years that have now gotten mainstream attraction. I mean, just 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.680 look at Tokyo for next year their WebEx Olympics. We 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:50.560 have skateboarding being at it, you have surfing being at it, 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:52.800 you have bouldering being at it. I mean those are 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:55.120 all sports that we at Red Boats have been considered 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.680 court to what we do for many, many years. So 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.839 it's great to see that those athletes now their accomplishments 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.960 are actually being recognized on an international level, you know, 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:06.680 and obviously the Olympics are at the highest level that 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:09.400 you can compete at. So we're extremely proud to kind 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.680 of see, you know, that our athletes are not having 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:13.800 a chance to kind of prove themselves. I'm ashamed to 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:18.560 admit that boulder ring, is that rock climbing that last week, 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:22.600 that's exactly that's what everybody kind of does. It's amazing 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:24.320 when you actually kind of see it in personal what 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:26.760 what do what those people do? It's Uh, those athletes 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:29.760 are phenomenal in their accomplishments. Let's talk a bit about 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:33.400 branded entertainment because I think Red Bull really is unique 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.760 in when going back, you know, farther than you were 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:40.800 even at the company they have, Red Bull has gone 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:44.680 deeper into this than probably any other company out there. 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:47.760 I mentioned at the beginning it was kind of a pioneer. 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:52.400 Has the strategic approach changed, you know, it felt like 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:54.680 for a time and you mentioned the stratus jump some 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:59.240 years ago that you couldn't turn on a television and 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:03.880 watch any sort of actions were and not see that logo. Yeah. Uh, 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:07.600 the strategic approach actually hasn't changed that much. In the 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.840 beginning or thirty years ago, when the company was created, 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:13.200 it was a means to the end. It was something 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.280 about a product that nobody really understood. The energy during 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:19.000 this category was not really well defined, so it's hard 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:22.480 to communicate actually what the brand was about. But what 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:25.000 what our founder kind of believed right from the beginning 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.400 was that if you brought people together in communities and 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:31.200 in this case it was around events, bring people together 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:33.760 and get to see, you know, the accomplishments of people 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:37.960 what they can do, driven through maybe Red Bull, then 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:40.680 you can achieve on a utility basis. So kind of 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:42.960 you get the boots when you need it within an occasion, 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:46.280 whether you're studying, your working or you maybe partying um 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.000 and specifically in sports, that you have an opportunity to 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.360 kind of like can perform more and higher. So what 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:54.640 we did right from the beginning is captured these events, 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.840 capture these athletes, and nothing really has changed. What has 0:08:57.920 --> 0:08:59.800 changed is that now there are a lot more brands 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:02.680 out there who are following, you know, the same path. 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:06.880 Traditional media as we know, it's all challenged, regardless of 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:09.800 the media that you're on, whether that's television, whether that's radio, 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:13.679 or that's magazines, newspapers. So there's a lot more companies 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:15.920 over the last eight years. And I don't know whether 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:17.320 I have the numbers all right, but I think over 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.880 the last eight years, the investment in brand entertainment has 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:23.400 more than doubled. Obviously very very much focused on video. 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:26.080 So now what we're seeing is we're not alone anymore, 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.280 kind of in the space that probably twenty thirty years 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:30.839 ago we still had a much more stronger voice in. 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:33.160 So for us, what is really important that we kind 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:36.439 of maintain the relevancy that we built, whether that is 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.880 through sports events or culture events. And what's good for 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:42.440 us to see is that our audiences, through the strength 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.360 of our stories and through the strength of our events 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:48.120 and athletes, has been kept growing. So the strategy, to 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:51.079 your question, hasn't really changed, but it has evolved and 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.520 it's gotten more complex also in the world. Whether it's 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:57.040 just a lot more content out there, what about your 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:00.760 relationship to the parent company. I'm wondering how that, if 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:04.640 at all, has changed. I'm wondering whether it's even necessary 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:09.040 for your division to be profitable. What are the expectations. 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.800 So the expectations are that we have a dual mandate. 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:15.120 You absolutely right. The media house sits separately from the beverage. 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:18.679 But what the one strong mandate is obviously to create 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:22.280 content around the stories of our athletes and our events. 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.240 That will never change. We now do over twelve hundred 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.679 events a year. We have, as I mentioned, seven d 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:31.160 fifty plus athletes, and that sounds expensive. Well, it's less 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:33.080 that it's about expensive. It's much about that they have 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:35.840 so many great stories to tell. I mean, our athletes 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:39.080 are just phenomenal individuals who are performing at the highest 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:42.240 level every day. And what we see now in this 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:45.319 world is that audiences around the world are much much 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.760 more interested about what the stories are behind. Of course 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.319 there's still interested in the results and in the competitions, 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:54.719 but really the narrative around this and so everybody these 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:58.680 days is talking about storytelling and narratives. But what we've 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:00.920 been seeing is that the access that we have to 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:05.520 those events athletes made fascinating stories. So yes, we are 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.520 creating more content than we've ever done before and that 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:13.319 and again in return, supports the brand. That being said, 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:17.000 we're also standalone media house that has the expectation to 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:20.840 perform and create content at the highest level and for 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:27.160 that will require the best writers, producers, uh and directors, 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.400 production partners, other students that we work with. And so 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:33.439 for us, it is really really important that we kind 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.240 of keep that quality up and in some cases that 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:39.640 not necessarily relates back to the brand. So there we go. 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:41.920 We create feature films. That's where we kind of go 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:45.600 out create serialized content. We're still in print media. We 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.560 have local print media that we're pursuing. Again for us, 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:53.120 localization it's really really important, and so building media capability 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:56.320 in the times of two thousand, two thousand and twenty, 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:58.959 where the world is changing rapidly and how people consume 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:01.800 is really important. So we do have those tool mandates 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:04.680 and we kind of working with them. On the profitability side, 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.400 we have a vast portfolio. We have everything from RepU 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:11.520 records and record music publishing, to red both films all 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:14.440 the way to our magazine and book publishing business. So 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:18.160 we look at all of them individually on a profitability basis. 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:20.640 But the big advantage that we have is we are 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:23.920 a private company, so we have the opportunity to invest, 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:26.040 we can try new things, we can be out there, 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.880 and we take a longer term view on the investment 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.600 as it comes back, including innovation because as we all 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:34.640 know of technology is exploding, so we're trying to see 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.240 how it can harness that both our production but also 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:40.600 in making our athletes being better athletes. Give me an 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:43.440 example that what's the way that you might be innovating 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.240 with athletes using technology. So one of the things we're 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.200 looking at right now is how can we use uh 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:53.640 mind controlled activity around gaming, not just to actually think 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:55.880 about how we make E sports athletes better, but how 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:59.280 can we also kind of improve mental responsiveness for physical 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.720 athletes Because us the games, everything that people do, everything 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:05.400 goes faster, the demands from the athletes are getting harder, 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:07.920 so physical on that, we have made a lot of 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:12.680 progress over the last decades on really improving physical fitness. Um, 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.560 so the idea about improving mental fitness is now also 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:17.920 being seen as a key ingredient, not just for the 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:21.600 sports athletes obviously who have to be extremely alert, but 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:24.559 also for other sports where if you can improve reaction 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.120 time exactly, then you are a much better position to 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:30.679 improve performance. So this is kind of where we're working 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:33.880 with our athletes, and that is something of great interest 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:37.120 to us. That's so interesting. So for instance, you mentioned, 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:40.480 you know, random example here Anthony Davis. You can sit 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:43.040 him down with a game that you will create and 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:46.080 a helmet or some sort of head apparatus in which 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.680 he will control the game without using his hands, and 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:53.800 this will help develop his agility. I mean, that's mind blowing, 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.360 so to speaking, to speak literally, well hopefully not literally, 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.880 not blowing mind but no, but you're right. I mean again, 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.240 everything is just a tool. Everything is just an experiment. 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:05.480 So and you know, and this is not where like finally, 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:07.960 I mean, somebody who's performing a level like like an 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:11.800 Anthony Davis obviously is already at the pinnacle of things. 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:14.880 But what we can see is whether their improvements. And again, 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.120 in some cases, when you see ski races which we 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:20.680 get decided among the top five within five hundreds of 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:23.960 a second, you know that every little bit counts. So 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.240 what we're just doing is trying to find other ways, 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:29.320 as we've done over the years, trying to improve the 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.120 environments in which athletes can perform for them to just 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:34.360 get better. So it's just one experiment. It might it 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:38.200 might not work, But to your point about profitability. As 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:41.280 the company that we are, we have committed ourselves to 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:44.320 give wings two people to get better in what they're 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:47.160 doing and their ideas. And this is just one example 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:49.760 where we think that, hey, maybe that's another piece and 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.000 if it's not, I'm going to try something else. And 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:54.960 that is our commitment back to the athlete community, but 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.280 also to the artist community out there, just to kind 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:00.400 of become better than where they are today, because that's 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:04.720 what they're striving for. Okay, Well, I mean you talked 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:08.080 about the many and I mean many different places Red 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:11.960 Bull is active today in terms of media and platforms. 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.000 Let's talk about a few. I mean, what strikes me 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:17.640 about on the film side is I've seen some of 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:19.440 the things you guys have done in recent years and 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:22.280 that doesn't even seem to have the Red Bull as 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:25.760 prominently branded as you might be, say on television. So 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.400 what's the point. Well, the point is two folds. First 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:32.040 of all, we're really starting with the story in mind. 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:36.040 And and with this story comes, especially these days, a 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:40.880 huge expectation what authenticity is concerned. Um. The audience is 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:44.080 out there, extreme, discriminating and they understand what they see. 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:46.560 So for us, it's important to tell the story first. 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.840 There are stories that are environments, that events where branded 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:54.000 environment absolutely makes sense. But if we tell an emotional story, 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:57.120 if we tell, for example, Rebecca Russia's story in The 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:01.000 Black Road last year, uh, a great great film won 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:05.320 an Emmy. Uh, it's an amazing story about commitment, it's 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.120 about endurance, it's about closure. I mean, there's so many 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:10.600 emotions in there. You have to allow stories like that 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:14.359 to breathe. And if there is a place for a brand, fantastic. 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:17.040 If not, we would like to put this story first. 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.600 What it doesn't return for us is that we get 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:23.440 credibility back also in the marketplace for creating credible stories. 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:25.880 And again by coming back to what it is we do. 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:30.680 We are not in the business of creating branded commercials. Yes, 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:35.840 we're branded product environment that we're operating, but we're first 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:38.560 and foremost like to tell our stories and if those 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:41.840 stories should be told, well, you need really really good 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:44.520 people to do that. And so for us, we really 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.720 kind of balance out when there's a place for the 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.840 brand to be involved and then where's a place where 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:53.480 maybe we just tell a story and let that story breathe. 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:58.000 And I think we've done a good balanced job and 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.440 trying to kind of move that forward. But we're looking 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.880 again further forward where we think that as a standalone 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:06.560 media house, we do have the opportunity now with the 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:09.280 credibility that we built in the marketplace, to actually also 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:11.680 take the next steps. So what might be the next 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:14.199 step in the film space for Red Bull? So the 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:16.080 next step would be, first of all, to do more 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.480 and what we've been doing, we've been extremely selective and 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:20.840 limited in the releases we've been doing. I think we 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:23.200 have the opportunity to tell more stories and be out 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:28.879 there not just on uh documentary features, but also serialized content. 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:31.119 And the other thing we're now looking at is actually 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.440 to get into a scripted feature development. What would that 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.920 look like? What? What? What? What? What exemplifies a Red 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:41.720 Bull scripted movie? Um, that's a really good question because 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:44.000 that's where in the development for right now but um, 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.360 you know, for us, anything that's aspirational. I mean if 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:48.199 you watch if you watch a film and it just 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:50.760 kind of makes your you know, it lifts your heart, 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.160 if lives your spirits. If it's just something about where 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:56.880 somebody overcomes something or achieve something that um, you wouldn't 0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:00.119 really think about them maybe achieving. At the outset. There 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.800 have plenty of positive stories out there, and and we 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.960 live for those positive stories. We live with someone who's 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:08.920 out there, has an idea, goes for it and then 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:12.000 achieves that that goal. So I think there are stories 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:15.439 that we can get ourselves behind that are extremely in 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:18.280 the spirit of what we believe is red bull um 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:20.360 and fits to what we do. And if we can 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.800 tell those stories in a scripted environment, I think sometimes 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:26.200 that's a lot more impactful than our documentary side. So 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:28.359 so that is something we would like to kind of explore. 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:30.960 So currently we have a few things in development and 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:32.879 maybe in a year or so we can talk about 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:35.040 some of them being in production. And I want to 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:37.520 pry about specific titles. I'm just curious how you're going 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:42.160 about this. Are you now at festivals looking to buy acquisition? 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:44.959 Is is always an opportunity but I think ideally with 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:48.040 some of the ideas we have, finding co production partners, 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.800 finding studios who might kind of share our passion for 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:53.800 really really good stories, and then having that opportunity to 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:57.879 partner up and co produce, I think would be also 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:00.240 a pass with that would go down. I gotta mine 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:02.840 when you first said this, the first thought I had 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:06.480 was comparing read what red Bull might do to say 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:10.120 what Lego does or what Angry Birds does do like 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:14.160 an animated character that's a red bull or something with wings? 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:16.639 I mean, are you thinking anything like that or a 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:20.280 like off the reservation? I'm not sure that animated animation 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.199 would be the first step of what we're doing. I 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:24.200 think there are some real people out there who have 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:29.880 really provided inspiration and to the world and what's left done, 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:31.280 And I think if we kind of picked some of 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:34.240 those stories and tell those stories, I think that would 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:36.399 be the first step, right, But you know, you never know. 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.280 Animation has had a really good run over the last 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.520 few years. But I think we're gonna stay staying the 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:45.800 staying on the un the scripted side without animation first. 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:48.360 And does this tell us anything in terms of your 0:19:48.359 --> 0:19:52.720 commitment to unscripted documentaries, I assume that's still very much 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:56.359 in play. Yes, absolutely, and h I'm always excited about 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.240 the documentary we do. I mean these documentaries have proven 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:02.280 not just ourselves because you know, obviously we love the 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:04.439 stories that we tell, that's what we do them. But 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:06.159 also I think if we're looking out to kind of 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:08.280 how the audience are responding and how the industry is 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:10.560 responding to it as well. So if we look at 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:13.560 the movie that we've had recently at the p g 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:17.520 A Awards nomination with The Dawn Wall has been a 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:20.000 tremendous success for us. I think it tells an extremely 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.359 inspiring story. Um. So for us to stay committed to 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:25.960 those kind of stories, absolutely, and we just want to 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:29.640 tell more stories. Um Also, as I mentioned, you know, serialized, 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:32.000 it's just a lot of opportunities tell stories that just 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:33.680 take a little bit more time that maybe kind of 0:20:33.720 --> 0:20:37.200 explode the frame of of our and a half to 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:40.920 our feature. So for us, any kind of stories really 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:44.119 remain at the core of what we do. I guess 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:46.560 we should all be raising ourselves for a red Bull 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:50.080