WEBVTT - Steve Mosko on Transitioning From Studio Life to Startup Mentality at Village Roadshow 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:10.320 Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties, weekly podcast featuring conversations with 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:14.360 industry leaders about the business of entertainment. I'm Cynthia Littleton, 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.919 business editor of Variety Today. My guest in New York 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:21.439 is Steve Moscow, the newly appointed CEO of Village road 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:25.280 Show and the former head of Sony Pictures Television. Village 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:27.920 road Show has its roots in film financing and has 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:31.120 had a long relationship with Warner Brothers. Moscow is on 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:33.839 a mission to build out the company so that it 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.199 can produce its own movies and TV shows for the 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:40.040 first time. Here, Steve speaks candidly about making the shift 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.920 from studio boss to launching a lean and scrappy start 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.800 up operation. He also shares some intriguing examples of what 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:50.320 he learned about the media market place last year before 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.080 he joined Village road Show, when he teamed with producer 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:56.880 Jeff Robinov to raise money for Robinov's studio aid venture. 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:04.280 Steve Moscow, CEO of Village road Show Entertainment Group, thank 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:06.240 you so much for stopping by to talk to us today, 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:09.000 Sintia Littleton. Good to see you. How long have we 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.600 known each other? It is going back to I want 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:15.440 to say years right. I think Bill Clinton was definitely 0:01:15.440 --> 0:01:18.440 in office. I think it was a nappy We got 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:21.440 to know each other. We both had many different bosses 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:24.240 over the years, but here we are correct. It's good 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:25.640 to see you. Yeah, it's good to see you, and 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:28.560 it's a very very exciting move for you. He had 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:31.720 a long run at one of the major studios, leading 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:35.160 Sony Pictures Television at a at a very prosperous time, 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.120 difficult time in the business. Now, it was always good 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.199 to me. Always it was hard, but it was always good. 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:44.959 If you can't have fun in this business and and 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:47.360 sort of enjoy, and you know, every time you walk 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:48.920 on a studio a lot, if you don't have a 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:51.280 little bit of a like a how lucky are we 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:53.120 to be in this business, then you're probably in the 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.200 wrong business. And you've always had that spirit. I feel 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:58.960 felt blessed every day got up in the morning and 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:02.480 gone to work up well in October, starting in October, 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:04.400 getting up in the morning and going to work has 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:08.080 been your new gig as CEO of Village Road Show Entertainment. 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:12.400 Tell us how, tell us how you became recruited to 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.120 a company that has its roots in Australia and is 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:19.360 largely known for film production. Sure, it's actually an interesting story. 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.200 So there was a period of time when I left Sony. 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:24.440 I was looking a lot of different things. When I 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:28.480 was trying to initially looked at buying Tribune and something's 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:32.079 changed in the political landscape, or the CAF for broadcast 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.799 stations went up and just made that a little bit 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.880 more difficult, and some other things came along. But I 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:39.920 was for a while I was out raising money with 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.720 Jeff Robinov, who was a terrific executive and was at 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.280 Warner Brothers, and you know, I was talking to him 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:49.280 about joining Studio eight. And we were out raising money, 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:52.799 uh and making the rounds in New York and had 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:55.400 met with the folks who owned Villa Droo with the 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:59.960 people from Vine and um this is a funny story now, 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.080 by the way, and just just a level set. This 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:04.680 is Vine Alternative Investments and this is one of two 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:09.120 private equity companies that in acquired a majority ownership in 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:13.519 Villa trod Show Vinds the majority owner gotch Okay. Anyway, 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.560 we were going around and seeing KKR and I like 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:19.320 all the big one, big private equity firms and we're 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:23.040 having great meetings, and you know, I mean you typically 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:26.120 you always get even if they're not interested, the meeting 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:28.720 goes great. And I've been through enough meetings in my 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:30.440 life to know what the good ones and bad ones are. 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.920 But the meeting we actually have a Vine was horrible 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.080 and for a lot of different reasons I won't get into, 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:40.440 but it was no one's fault, but they really didn't 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:44.480 invest in startups similar what we were doing. And anyway, 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:47.280 long story short to meeting did not go well. I've 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:48.600 been to a lot of that meetings. Like I said, 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:50.280 for me, it's just just let's get in and out 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:54.920 of here pretty quickly. But I said the gentleman of Vine, 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:56.600 I said, it might be a good idea of you 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:58.040 and I have breakfast because I don't like the end 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:01.480 meetings on a bad note. Right, So we have breakfast 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:05.320 at Shutters in Los Angeles and had a great breakfast 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.440 and couldn't have gone better. And signing the check and 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:10.760 he says to me, go, so what are you doing 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.720 this weekend? I said, well, I'm actually giving the commencement 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:15.680 in my alma monitor in a couple of weeks. So 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:20.120 at University of Delaware, so I'm finalizing the speech and 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:22.200 he said, you're kidding me, Like I went to Delaware 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:26.280 so on What that led to was this great another 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.240 hour conversation about a lot of things we shared in 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:31.200 common with the University of Delaware, what have you? And 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:34.800 I said, look, if we're considering some things at Village 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:36.600 road Show and if you're interested, I'd love to talk 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:39.080 to you. For a lot of different reasons, it didn't 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:42.120 work out with Studio Aid, so I called the folks 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:45.600 at at vying about Village Road Show and and here 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:49.880 we are, so it would say it was the right decision. 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.719 And it's been amazing. It's only been a few months, 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:56.440 but we're hanging on this great track and I just 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:59.320 think it's you know, it's been a it's a great 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:01.640 time to be in entertainment business. And I know that 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:04.680 seems contrary to a lot of things you're here these 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:09.400 days because there's all these big shifts which we will 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:11.880 look back in his a few years ago, Wow, like 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:15.240 that was historical moment. We have Disney and Fox getting together, 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:16.840 some of the things going on with A T and 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:22.120 T and Warners, and there's just a lot of seismatic shifts. Uh, 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:27.239 but within that for someone like ourselves, it's great opportunity. 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:30.440 You can almost feel the winds of change literally literally 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.600 blowing your hair. Let me ask you before I want 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:35.240 to talk about strategy at Villa road Show, but what 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:38.559 did you learn from that process of you were you were? 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:40.680 You were working with Jeff robin offro has a film 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:44.280 production venture that's based at Sony called Studio eight, And 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.640 what did you learn in that process of making the 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:48.880 round the money rounds of trying to raise money? What 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:52.320 did you learn about what what the market is interested in, 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:56.720 where investors focus is. Because I would imagine that would 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:58.920 have been a very instructive process for somebody who was 0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:03.000 about to take right the job that you have now. Well, 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:06.840 a couple of things. One is, I think and rightly so. 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.600 Jeff and I were banking on the fact that we 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:13.840 had great reputations in our respective fields, and I think 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:16.240 people also respect the fact we were two very different 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:21.160 personalities that match together very well. Um. But now that 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:23.600 I'm involved with Village Roacho, I do see that one 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.560 of the things that's very important is having access to 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:30.479 I P Because like I said, I think it's Studio eight. 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.880 It would have been a trickier road for us, um 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.440 for the television piece at least um not having i 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:39.800 P to start with. And we can talk a little 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.080 bit about Village, but you know, there's access to i 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:46.280 P at Village Road Show, which is absolutely giving us 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:49.000 a jump start in building our businesses, both on the 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:52.240 film and TV side. So what you learned is if 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:54.120 you're going to go out and raise money for any 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:57.919 kind of studio or production business, it's extremely helpful to 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:00.919 own or have access to IP. You kind of have 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:07.240 to bring something other than I worked for twenty five 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:09.840 years and Sony I worked so many years. Warners not 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:12.760 by the way, not that that's not important, believe me. 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:14.400 I mean because I don't. I think we got through 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:18.520 the door and we actually we're able to raise the money. 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:22.040 It was so it wasn't you know, it was impossible, 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:25.800 But in terms of building the business only going forward basis, 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.480 it's it's pretty Uh, it helps have I PICK. Yeah, 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.560 So you like your chances at Villa. I love our chances, 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:36.760 very excited. So the company was has been historically known 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:41.600 for films. Did you know why there was a was 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:44.200 there a sense of films as our mission? And we 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:46.760 don't we we just don't know how to do TV 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.080 or was it was it even a more conscious decision, 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:52.240 We're just not going to be in that market until obviously, 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:54.920 in this day and age, you can't be a content 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:58.600 producer without being in some kind of TV or digital content. Well, 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:01.640 here's the good news of the Drow show is an 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.360 amazing brand and what I've learned in might travel so 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:07.920 far is that it has great I mean you mentioned 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:11.040 Villa Droo. People have a great feeling towards it, certainly 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:15.400 in the industry at consumers too because people I've mentioned 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.320 that nothing to do with the business, Remember Villa Droho. 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:22.800 I saw that there production you know, their logo before 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:25.480 the matrix, and I saw it before I analyzed this, 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:28.320 and I saw, you know, for Mad Max. So all 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.360 the movies that they invested in, um no, I think 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:35.720 it was the strategy of the prior ownership the Australian 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:39.280 company that their job was to finance films for Warner 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:43.200 Brothers and by the way, did a very successful job 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:48.000 over decades building this library with Warner Brothers of some 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:53.640 pretty amazing films which we obviously go on or have financed. 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:57.800 So that's what they did and that's what they were 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:01.080 good at and I'm very grateful that they built that. 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:05.600 So I think when Vine came in, UM, I think 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:07.760 they looked at the business and said, well, you know, 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.960 if we're gonna grow the company, we need to get 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:15.360 into production. So um that's where I come in, and 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:20.600 I think they recognized that a while ago. Unfortunately, UM, 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:22.440 we hit it off and I was the right person 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:25.480 to be to run the company. So essentially, we're gonna 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:27.439 here's what the company's gonna look like going forward. It's 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:31.040 and it's four major tempoles. One is we're going to 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:34.520 continue to do film financing and we're currently doing the 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:36.080 same thing with one of brothers. We've done it for 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.920 decades and and uh, that's gonna be an important part 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:44.120 of our business. We're also, i'd say tempole two is 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.480 we're going to develop our own movies two to four 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:53.600 year um, primarily for streaming services, but not not. If 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:55.560 we find a film we like that we like to 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:58.680 release theatrically, will consider that as well. But two to 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:02.520 four films per year, uh probably be what we'll do there. 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:06.360 We're gonna build a television business, not unlike what I 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.000 did at Sony. Just say a smaller version of it, 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:13.640 but will be in comedy and drama all platforms. Early days, 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:17.560 we'll be looking mostly at streaming services um to deliver 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:23.000 the content. It's much more predictable from a financial standpoint. UM, 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.040 So we'll do that, and then we're gonna be in 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:29.240 the production services business. Uh. So we will be producing 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:33.320 our own content, but we'll also be worked for hire 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:36.360 for others who need to help, uh to produce their 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:38.719 own shows. But what I found there's are a lot 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.600 of people that have great ideas sell them to cable 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:46.000 networks or streaming platforms, but don't know how to produce them. 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.240 So we will offer that service up to those who 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:51.280 need it. So you're really in the process right now. 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:54.679 You're you're beefing up and building all this infrastr You're 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:57.680 based in Los Angeles, right, so we have our offices 0:10:57.679 --> 0:10:59.600 are in Century City. We also have an office on 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:02.600 the ward of those a lot. What's really interesting is 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:04.880 and I feel very grateful that this happened. Although at 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.400 the time, UM, it was hard and you were you 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:11.320 were actually remember this, uh, when Howard Stranger put me 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:16.520 in charge of Sony's television business. Yeah, it was Look, 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:18.960 it was really hard, and I think a lot of 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.839 people didn't believe we could actually build it at that 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:25.840 time from where we were and it wasn't doing very 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:27.640 well at all. And you remember that there was a 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.760 network division and the one that iran which was cable 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:35.000 and syndication. And over the years we built a pretty 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:37.760 good company and we did a brick by brick and 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:41.280 very smart about how we you know, jumped into it 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:44.800 at the time. We got the basic cable first and 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.200 then worked our way in the broadcast network and we're 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:52.440 all genres what have you? That experience of building a 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:56.840 company rebuilding for that, but it was it was it 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:59.840 was rebuilding, but it was also building however you want 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:04.560 to phrase it. But that experience was very, very valuable 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.920 to what I'm doing today because the good part of 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:10.120 it is, you know, back then when I when I 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.960 took over Sony's business, we laid off about a third 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.480 of the workforce, which was very painful and not not 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:20.320 a good situation. But in order to build a business 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:21.920 coming forward to had be done, I think we did 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.320 the right way as good as you can do it. 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:29.160 Um this we're kind of starting from ground zero. I mean, 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.040 they've never had been the production business. So it's a 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:36.680 much more productive. Um it's a happier way of doing, 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.400 a nicer way because we're building it. We weren't. We 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:43.160 didn't have to clean up anything, and um, it's it's 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:46.360 very exciting. And there was a good core group of 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:50.560 people there, um and finance and legal and Bruce Berman 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.280 has been there for a while, came from Waters has 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:56.480 overseeing the future division. Right, so we have a great 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:00.920 core group. Now we're hiring out our team and so yeah, 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:04.360 but that experience back then was was very helpful, just 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:06.800 in terms of like how you position a new company 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:09.439 like this, how you approach the market. You don't want 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.160 to overpromise, but at the same time you want to 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.640 communicate to people what exactly what you're doing, UM, what 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:19.160 your focus is. So I'm glad and I and I 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:20.840 and there's a part of me it thinks like all 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:23.000 the things I've done in my career, both working on 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:26.760 the broadcast side and studio, had actually prepared me for 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:29.360 this moment, which is, like I said, we think a 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:32.040 great opportunity. Um it sounds like for all of this, 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:36.160 you've gotten a real commitment for some serious resources Vine 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:39.079 to put into the because obviously you can't hire people. 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:42.640 We have enough. Yeah, we're just fine. I want to 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:46.360 build a lean, mean company. I don't the mistakes some 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:48.880 people make when they do these types of startups, as 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.520 they just get a little too far ahead of themselves 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.120 in terms of hiring too many people. You know. So 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.400 we're gonna have a what we're gonna do, which I 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.880 think is fascinating, which I wish it was. It would 0:13:59.920 --> 0:14:01.760 be difficult to do with Sony just because of the 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:05.360 way it was structured. But um, we're gonna build. I 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:07.280 would call the studio the future in terms of how 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:11.319 we view development. So you know, as I mentioned Bruce 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:15.880 overseas the feature team, UM, Jillian Applebaum who works for him, 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:21.160 her lanes primarily for features. UM. But if she as 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:23.520 she developing a project, if it turns out it goes 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:28.200 from being a movie to a television I would say, 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:31.600 a long form television series, still she'll stick with it. 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:35.040 On the same token, one of our our VP of 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:39.480 development on TV, Adam Dunlap, if he's developing a TV 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:43.920 show and wait a minute, turns into a movie, he'll 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:45.880 stick with as well. So what we're trying to do 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:50.560 is create a development situation where people kind of have 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.680 their lane, but they can also crossover depending upon where 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.040 the development goes. Because in the end, what you want 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:57.600 to be able to do is tell a story the 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:01.760 right way, delivered on the right plat form in order 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:04.040 to make the most money and haven't be seen by 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:06.680 as many people as possible. So we're kind of taking 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.760 an approach which I think some of the platforms actually 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.640 take in terms of crossing over. But I will tell 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:17.440 you in terms as we recruit people talk about the company, 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.400 that's more than one of the more exciting parts of it, 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:23.520 which is, you know, not being a siloed, old school 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.920 development type studio. You don't have a lot of trip 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:29.920 wars because you're you're just bringing in the people. It's 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:33.800 funny because Shannon Perry, who's doing unscripted for Uce, actually 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.280 has a relationship with a company has a lot of 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:41.880 ideas for scripted both TV and film, and so she's 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:45.360 working closely with our with Jillian and Adam and you know, 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:49.760 everybody's working collaboratively, and it's it's a nice it's nice 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.280 to watch as I think from the type of company 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:54.000 we are, it's the most effective way to do things. 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:56.320 But and again just to reinforce like this, this is 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:58.800 a new level of activity for the company that has 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:03.520 been completely Yes in the finance side were so when 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:07.040 I came in. Uh, it was funny because when we 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:09.880 made the change, I wanted to meet with the team 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:14.960 in person and uh, you know, having come from a company, 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:18.880 when you you make those transitional announcements, it's lots of people, 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:20.680 we said in the conference and I think it was 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:24.640 nine people and you know there we have some people 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.720 in Australia. Is still there were in finance. UM, we're 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:30.040 building out the rest of our team. So it's I 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:32.480 love at this point in my life. It's like I said, 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:36.440 I've never felt more energized or more interested in the business. 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:40.640 And sometimes we here in the bigger companies you tend 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:42.960 to have you know, it's it's there's a lot, a 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:47.080 lot of moving pieces and in this it's just it's 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.360 just it's a startup in some respects. It's a startup 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:55.120 with I P with the real business behind it. UM. 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.920 So the startup portion of it's really on the original production. 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.360 So it's used to come into it. It's nice to 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:03.280 come in when you think of a startup that you 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.280 think like Okay, you have nobody. We we had a 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:09.320 core team of people there that we're running the business. 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:13.040 Now we're kind of bolting on this original production feature 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:15.600 and TV. But in terms of the i P, is 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.119 that what is the source of that is that older 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:23.160 films or no. So, um, we'll see how it works 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:25.679 out with some of the water product that's that's in 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:30.439 the library. But mine actually owns several libraries, one of 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.800 which is the Rights Your Library, so we have the 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:37.480 ability to make agreements with them to access that i P. 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.840 So things like Star Search and Nash Bridges and Lifestyles 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:44.760 which and famous there's a lot of really you know, 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:48.880 the Great Santini. There's some really interesting i P in there, 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:52.760 which you know, we're getting a lot of interest in 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:56.560 and uh so that part's exciting and what we don't 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:00.159 want to become is a company that's just folks Is 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:05.280 on Remax. But at the same time, UM, we think 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:08.360 we can take some of this branded i P and 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:10.040 use it as the way to kind of get a 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:12.520 get ball rolling and get get out the door with 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:15.800 some ideas and uh we'll go from there. But we're 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.840 going to develop original i P as well. But there's 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:21.320 some really great stuff in these libraries. We're gonna exploit 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:24.440 knowing you and your sales prowess. If Lifestyles are the 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.760 Rich and Famous isn't back on the air by next year, 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.399 I'll be disappointed. I'm hoping it is. We We've got 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:31.760 a lot of really good Uh you'll hear a couple 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:33.520 of things coming up in near future with some of 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:36.120 the I p but it's it's exciting. Do you think 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:41.000 does Vine have an appetite for for additional acquisitions. I'd 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:45.560 say it this way, Um, I think that there's plenty 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:48.080 of opportunity with all the things going on in the 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:51.320 world in terms of these companies coming together. You know, 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:55.000 there could be some things that naturally fall out that 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:58.680 our core to these new merged companies. So I would 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:00.880 say it this way that you know, it's something I'm 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:03.639 curious about and interested to keep my eye on building 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.280 the company outside of what you currently see. So as 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:09.879 much as we want to, you know, create original content 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.800 both in future and TV side, Um, I think it's 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:14.880 gonna be important to we look different ways to grow 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:20.159 the company. Yeah, um interesting. Obviously streaming is important. I 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:22.880 mean it's that they're huge buyers of programming. But I've 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:25.080 had a lot of producers talk to me about one 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:27.280 of the one of the sort of game changing things 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.280 about streaming is the way that shows or finance and 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:33.160 the way they're paid for. And typically content is paid 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:36.240 for on a cost plus model, which basically means paying 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:39.920 the license fee plus whatever you negotiate, you know, ten 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:43.679 twenties on a high end, thirty percent margin, and that 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:47.080 money comes much sooner to the producer than under the 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:50.679 old syndication model. Does that fundamentally does that shift in 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:54.520 this market? Does that fundamentally make it easier, less um 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:59.040 less costly than a for a producer to to for 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:01.840 a production company Villa Drow show to enter the market 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:04.760 as opposed to having to in the old model, having 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:06.960 to be able to deficit finance you know, four or 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:10.960 five seasons of a show if you're lucky to before 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:15.680 you get to that profitability. I think a couple of things. 0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:18.679 One is, uh, it's I think this new model is 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:21.399 allowing us to get into the business because there's been 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:24.359 several people, big names, who have tried to get into 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:28.040 television business and didn't really understand how it worked. So 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:31.919 they thought, wow, I've got making twenty pilots and we 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:36.000 got five picked up and it's fantastic. Well, the math 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:39.120 on that's not great. You've lost a lot of money 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:41.359 on the fifteen that didn't get picked up. And if 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:43.080 I that did get picked up, you're not You weren't 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:44.760 going to make any money until four or five years 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:47.440 down the road, and then that's over a period of time. 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:53.440 So it's easier now in some ways if you're our 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:56.200 type of company to come into a business where there's 0:20:56.200 --> 0:21:00.119 predictable returns on your investment. Now some people would are you, 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:03.200 I know, but you missed a huge upside. The flip 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:04.680 side of that is if you look at the failure 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:07.520 rate on some of these network shows in terms of 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:11.320 going from the success ray I should say, from script 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:15.960 to syndication hit. You know, it's like it's like kids 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:18.439 who go to college to play basketball but think you're 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:20.439 gonna go the NBA. Of course, you know, there are 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:22.560 people go the NBA, but there are a lot of 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:25.040 kids who are sitting at home not playing in the NBA. 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:29.720 So look, it's a predictable business. I mean, there are 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:33.720 predictable earnings attached to these streaming deals. Uh, for a 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:37.280 big studio that's doing those kinds of deals. It's not great. 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:41.480 That's what you're living off because you've built this huge infrastructure, 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:47.320 global infrastructure, lots of people, lots of expensive real estate 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:50.479