1 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Strictly Business, Variety's weekly podcast featuring conversations with 2 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm 3 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: Cynthia Lyttleton, co editor in chief of Variety Today. My 4 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: guests are Adam Borston and Matt Crowley, co CEOs of 5 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: Studio seventy one. Studio seventy one is a company that 6 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: is part talent agency, part production company, part marketing firm, 7 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: and a distribution specialist. They work with social media creators 8 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: to boost their reach, diversify their platforms, and expand into 9 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: ancillary businesses. Studio seventy one is owned by German media 10 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: heavyweight pro sebon Borston and Crowley are based in Los Angeles. 11 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: Regular listeners to Strictly Business will note that Studio seventy 12 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: one works in similar channels as Jellysmack, a company who's president, 13 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: Sean Atkins was last week's guest. As I have mentioned 14 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,119 Speaker 1: here more than once, I'm really trying to understand how 15 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: the creator economy is evolving into a sustainable content business 16 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: unto itself. Companies like Studio seventy one and Jellysmack are 17 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: the evidence of a true talent marketplace. Emerging from what 18 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: had been a wild West of DIY. Creators Borston and 19 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: Crawley were good enough to walk me through their basic 20 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: business models and answer my questions about where they see 21 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 1: the growth opportunities for this emerging medium. Unfortunately, I failed 22 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: my first job as host, which is to get interview 23 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:41,960 Speaker 1: subjects to identify themselves when there are two of them. 24 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: So after this quick break, the first voice you will 25 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: hear will be Adam Borston. So don't go anywhere. 26 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 2: City National Bank doesn't generalize. They specialize from entertainment and 27 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 2: food and bade rich to real estate and tech. Their 28 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 2: dedicated team of bankers has strategic solutions for all of 29 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 2: your unique industry needs. Work with a team who knows 30 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 2: your industry while getting the scale of their parent company, 31 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 2: RBC City National Bank. See what personal can do for 32 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 2: you at CNB dot com. 33 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: And we're back with insights on the creator economy from 34 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: Studio seventy one co CEOs Adam Borston and Matt Crowley. 35 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: Matt Crawley and Adam Borston, co CEOs of Studio seventy one, 36 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:39,919 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining me today. 37 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 3: Thank you, thanks for having us, Yes, thanks. 38 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 4: For having us. 39 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: Let's start by telling us, telling us the Studio seventy 40 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: one story. What is it that is your primary business 41 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: focus and how do you make money? 42 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 3: Sure? Absolutely so. Studio seventy one is a creator services company, 43 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,119 Speaker 3: which basically means we partner with digital talent and brands 44 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 3: and help them build their business in a variety of ways. 45 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 3: The three key ways that we help creators grow are 46 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 3: via ad sales, so we have a sales team and 47 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 3: we help them sell ads across their different footprint and 48 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 3: know their digital platforms. Production, we have a production space, 49 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 3: we help the creators make more content and support their 50 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 3: existing content pipeline. And then distribution, which basically means, you know, 51 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 3: we have talent that are putting videos up on YouTube, 52 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 3: and we have a whole team of editors that is 53 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 3: essentially taking that content, optimizing it and putting on a 54 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 3: variety of different platforms. So we, yeah, are built that way. 55 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: Tell me how did how did the company come to be? 56 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: How did you put all those sort of component parts together? 57 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you know from the genesis, it started 58 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 4: as a very traditional talent management company that was really 59 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 4: focused on one platform and since Adam and I have 60 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 4: since taken over in the past years, we've truly diversified 61 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 4: across a multitude of different platforms and a multitude of 62 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:06,279 Speaker 4: different audiences. 63 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think when you look at the creator economy, 64 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 3: a lot of you know, sort of a lot of 65 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 3: professionals approach it from a talent management standpoint. Again, sort 66 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 3: of an older model of creator networks like ours was 67 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 3: very much to treat it like a talent management company. 68 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:23,679 Speaker 3: The challenge was there would be a lot of different 69 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 3: clients and there was sort of a limited amount of services, 70 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 3: so there'd be you know, some of these companies said 71 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 3: tens of thousands of clients, and as Matt mentioned, we're 72 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 3: really focused on one platform, let's say YouTube, and a 73 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 3: sort of a set of services for those platforms. We, 74 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 3: on the other hand, approach it more like media business. 75 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 3: We view all of these creators as media businesses. And 76 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:46,799 Speaker 3: you know my background, I came from the publisher space. 77 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 3: I was at BuzzFeed before this, you know, Matt was 78 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 3: at a variety of different studios, and so we partner 79 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 3: with creators and really help them, you know, have that 80 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 3: infrastructure that a media business should have, whether it's sales, production, distribution. 81 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:03,919 Speaker 3: We act as sort of the backbone of their ability 82 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 3: to grow and essentially make more revenue on their platforms. 83 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 4: And essentially just to kind of add on to that is, 84 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 4: you know, my background was more on the television space 85 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 4: and then digital video through Hulu and then coming over 86 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 4: with Studio seventy one. It was chasing eyeballs and time 87 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 4: and attention and in the you know, that's a media vinear. 88 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:25,799 Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's the definition of a media business. 89 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 4: In the traditional linear business, it was more television focused, 90 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 4: and then it kind of focused a little bit more 91 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 4: to digital video, and then this new creator economy kind 92 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 4: of emerged and all the eyeballs started going to different 93 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 4: niche creators and they were capturing more time and attention 94 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 4: from these audiences, and we build upon that across a 95 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 4: variety of platforms. 96 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: How would you say that the core of the talent 97 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: representation core has been It sounds like it's been crucial 98 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: for your for the company to survive and grow because 99 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: there were, you know, a few just a few years ago, 100 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: there were a lot of different creator networks they called 101 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: they were called MSNs, remember just a few years ago, 102 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: and they've all, you know, in various stages kind of 103 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 1: either either unraveled or kind of disbanded. What has allowed 104 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: Studio seventy one to kind of go in the opposite direction, 105 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: which is really aggregating we were just talking about I 106 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: noticed on comScore, you know, in aggregate, have you rank 107 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: Studio seventy one ranks quite high in just overall impressions 108 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: and general Internet activity. And yet I think that with 109 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: all due respect, I don't think people would say, oh, 110 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: that's a Studio seventy one show. So I'm kind of 111 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: curious about talking about at this moment in your growth, 112 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: are you looking to really like enhance the enhance the 113 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: reputation of Studio seventy one or is it still more 114 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:54,840 Speaker 1: like a classic talent agency, Your your clients are your brands. 115 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:56,719 Speaker 3: Right, So I think, first of all, to address your 116 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 3: first question about the MCN space, am sense. 117 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:01,679 Speaker 1: Yeah. 118 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,280 Speaker 3: So we have structured ourselves really to be, you know, 119 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 3: a creator services company that works across many different platforms. 120 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 3: I think the old model was again very focused on YouTube, 121 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 3: with a limited set of services around uploading content to YouTube, 122 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 3: maybe some brand deals and activations here and there. You know, 123 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 3: what really has allowed us to thrive is expanding that 124 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 3: reach and expanding our support across every medium possible. So 125 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 3: we are supporting creators through our podcast division. 126 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 4: We have over one. 127 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 3: Hundred podcasts in our division. We you know, help them 128 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 3: produce shows, distribute sell ads against those shows. We are 129 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 3: taking creator content and putting it on connected TVs and 130 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 3: distributing content that way. So our distribution business has been 131 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 3: huge for us. And then our ad sales business again 132 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 3: is something that is pretty expansive. So we are packaging 133 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 3: up inventory and selling ads across everything from YouTube, to 134 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 3: connected TVs to audio to you know, a lot of different. 135 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 4: Platforms, napchat, a variety of different platforms, and I think, 136 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 4: you know, from a more traditional sense, we are again 137 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 4: seeking these different audiences and these niche audiences across all 138 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 4: of these different platforms. And back to your question around 139 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 4: are we forward facing as a studio seventy one brand know, 140 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 4: the creators are their own brands, and we're selling audiences 141 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 4: across all of these creators regardless of what platform they 142 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 4: they're on. So that might be YouTube, that might be Snap, 143 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 4: that might be a podcast, but we're we have the 144 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 4: ability to target those audiences across all these different creator outlets. 145 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 3: So the key for us has been diversification and I 146 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 3: think that is something that was lacking in the past, 147 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 3: and we really sort of built on that, focused on it, 148 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 3: and have really helped talent grow across different platforms. So 149 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 3: diversification has been incredibly important for us as we support 150 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 3: creators across so many different platforms, and we think that 151 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,319 Speaker 3: that was a component that was lacking in the older 152 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 3: model that was very focused on YouTube. That and we are, 153 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 3: as Matt mentioned, a B to B company. We want 154 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 3: our talent to be very forward facing that we work 155 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 3: with and we want to be behind the scenes supporting 156 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 3: them as that infrastructure that helps them grow. 157 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: How what would you do you have like a core 158 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: base of people that you work closely with or is 159 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: it kind of a more project by project basis in 160 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,559 Speaker 1: terms of in terms of the talent that you actually 161 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: work with. 162 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 3: Yes, so we have a core set of talent. I 163 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 3: would say we try to keep the list intentionally as 164 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 3: small as possible, but it's around a thousand creators. And 165 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 3: for that group of talent, really we work with them 166 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 3: in a variety of different ways. For some of them, 167 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 3: we help them just distribute, so take their content from YouTube, 168 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 3: you know, edit it and put it on Facebook and 169 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 3: Snapchat and you know connected TVs. For other talent, we 170 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 3: sell ads and that's our big focus for that, you know, 171 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 3: selling media sales against their you know, content on YouTube, 172 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:56,319 Speaker 3: as well as brand integrations, which is like when talent 173 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 3: you know, shouts out different brands and gives different in 174 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,719 Speaker 3: video promotions. And then for others we help them on 175 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 3: production support. You know, we have a big space in Burbank, 176 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 3: that's our studio space. A lot of cut talent come through. 177 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:09,559 Speaker 1: There, beautiful downtown Burbank. 178 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 3: Yes, of course, we're a lot of digital videos get 179 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 3: produced and we work with a lot of great creators there. 180 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 3: So again it's a wide variety of services that we 181 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 3: work on with different talent, but we do have that 182 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 3: core group that we work with and again our goal 183 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 3: is to really help them grow across every different platform. 184 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: Do you have Is it set up somewhat like a 185 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: traditional studio and that you have content people and ad 186 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: sales people. I mean, do you have a lot of 187 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: this under the studio seventy one roof in terms of 188 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: like distribution help and advertising sales. 189 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, and in fact obviously it's all under one 190 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 4: roof and it depends on really what the creator needs, right, 191 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 4: So as Adam mentioned, we work with creators that already 192 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 4: have an existing audience on one platform and bringing those 193 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 4: audiences to different platforms, and then we insert those teams. 194 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 4: So if we're looking to use distribution as an outlet 195 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 4: to grow an audience, we'll use the We'll go to 196 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:05,079 Speaker 4: the distribution team. If we're looking to gain more revenue 197 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 4: and media sales, we'll go to the media sales team 198 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 4: and look for additional opportunities around their existing channels and 199 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 4: other ways to bring revenue streams in from non traditional means. 200 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 4: So that's a way that all of our teams kind 201 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 4: of cross collaborate to expand upon the creators, you know, 202 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 4: core businesses. 203 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, and to also touch on something you know, when 204 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:28,959 Speaker 3: I came over to Studio seventy one, I had come 205 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:31,080 Speaker 3: from the publisher space, so I was one of the 206 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 3: early employees at BuzzFeed. I was one of their first 207 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 3: LA employees who helped launch their video division and ran 208 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 3: business development and operations for their video division. And when 209 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 3: I was at BuzzFeed, I know, you know, Matt saw 210 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 3: this on the studio side. It was this elaborate operation 211 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 3: with a team of analytics professionals, a team of editors, producers, 212 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 3: you know, people just focus on optimizing the thumbnails and 213 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 3: the art that you click on when you watch videos, 214 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 3: and I remember thinking, wow, that's it's such an incredible 215 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:03,839 Speaker 3: sort of apparatus that's been built. Imagine if that were 216 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,440 Speaker 3: applied to the creator space, where essentially a lot of 217 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 3: talent are building audiences that are just as big as 218 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 3: any publisher, but they're making videos just in their basement. 219 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,479 Speaker 3: So we want us to sort of provide that infrastructure 220 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 3: and a full sort of studio set of you know, 221 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:23,959 Speaker 3: resources across advertising and production and distribution to really help 222 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 3: creators grow and become their own media company. 223 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's exactly a lot of these creators are 224 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 4: media companies in their own, but they come to Studio 225 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 4: seventy one to expand upon their offerings, whether that's through 226 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 4: direct media sales, whether that's through distribution. We have the ability, 227 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 4: the tools, the people, and the resources to actually get 228 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,440 Speaker 4: them to the place where they need to be. Whereas 229 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,839 Speaker 4: they're already a well known brand on their own right. 230 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: And so if a creator comes in and they have, 231 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 1: you know, they're established someone, they have a YouTube presence, 232 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,119 Speaker 1: and they're looking to you to bring them into other platforms. 233 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: Would you have a traditional like a creative meeting where 234 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,119 Speaker 1: you would sit down with an editor or a producer 235 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: type I'm just trying to envision in totally because old school, 236 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:10,679 Speaker 1: you know, total old school Hollywood terms sort of how 237 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,079 Speaker 1: that's being applied in your company. 238 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 3: Absolutely, yes. So we have a Creator Partnerships team. So 239 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 3: when a talent wants to work with us and sort 240 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 3: of signs up for our services, they meet with a 241 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 3: Creator Partnerships manager who essentially assesses their business and figures out, 242 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 3: you know, where can we help you grow? Because you're 243 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 3: absolutely right, a lot of times they already are doing 244 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 3: one thing extremely well. They're already let's say, putting videos 245 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 3: up on Snapchat or Facebook and optimizing videos and know 246 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:41,079 Speaker 3: those platforms really well. So you know, the Creator Partnership 247 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 3: manager will try to figure out what can we provide 248 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 3: that's a real value for you, and a lot of 249 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 3: cases it's just ad sales. You know. We have a 250 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:49,960 Speaker 3: team of sellers based out of the World Trade Center 251 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 3: building in New York City who essentially have direct connections 252 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 3: with the big media buyers and we can help funnel 253 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 3: a lot of advertising in a very targeted way to videos. 254 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 3: So that's a big you know, a service that we 255 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 3: provide some. 256 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: Way beyond the programmatic you know, the bingo card of 257 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,880 Speaker 1: what you know what you get on any given day. 258 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 3: Absolutely, and then other times it might be production. So 259 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 3: let's say they're making X number of videos a week 260 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 3: or a month, we can say, hey, we can partner 261 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 3: with you, invest in your business from a production standpoint 262 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 3: and help you make more content. So, yes, there is 263 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 3: always an initial meeting where we assess where can we 264 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 3: really provide a lot of additional value and essentially be 265 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 3: a set of resources for you that you wouldn't already 266 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 3: be doing yourself. 267 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: And do you do? How do How does Studio seventy 268 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: one make money? Is it a revenue share it is? 269 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: Is it a standard client fee? How does it? How 270 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: does it work? 271 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 3: Yeah? 272 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 4: I think it's you know, more of a case by 273 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 4: case scenario based on what the creator is looking for, right, 274 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 4: So I think it is a little bit of a 275 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 4: wall crawl run. We don't try to do everything with 276 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 4: everybody all at once. But it back to Adam's point. 277 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 4: If it is something or they're looking for media sales, 278 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 4: they'll come to us from a media sales standpoint. There 279 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 4: will be some traditional like repe share agreement with the 280 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 4: particular creator, or there's a production services where there's you know, 281 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 4: a certain fee that's discussed beforehand before we're we actually 282 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 4: go down that route. So it really is a case 283 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 4: by case scenario based on the services that we provide 284 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 4: to the various creators that we work with. 285 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: I'd love for you to talk about sort of some 286 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: of the levels that people work at and how just 287 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: you know, what the paths to people really you know, 288 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: monetizing their own di y content or or you know, 289 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 1: their own self produced content. 290 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's obviously the most important question for creators. 291 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 3: You know, this is a business, this is something where 292 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 3: they have a dedicated fan base, but they obviously want 293 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 3: to make money and figure out a way to grow 294 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 3: their revenue streams. So for us, I think two things 295 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 3: that we're seeing a lot that are very important for 296 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 3: talent and this is something we always stress is interactivity. 297 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 3: How are you interacting with your audience and helping to 298 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:09,440 Speaker 3: gain more sort of devoted and engaged fan bases through 299 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 3: sort of the way that you're reaching out to them 300 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 3: that you're producing content. And then recency constantly being involved 301 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 3: with the zeitgeist producing more content. I think gone are 302 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 3: the days where creators would just make one piece of 303 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 3: content and upload it to YouTube a week. Now in 304 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 3: these days, a lot of creators are creating videos daily 305 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 3: or sometimes several times a day, So we are really 306 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 3: seeing that cadence of uploading is very important. So again, 307 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 3: these are these sort of like areas where we try 308 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 3: to partner with talent and help them grow how they're 309 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:42,880 Speaker 3: monetizing their content. 310 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:45,600 Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think in terms of the interactivity, it's 311 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 4: them interacting with their fan base and then the fan 312 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 4: base also interacting with their creators and also their friends. 313 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: For so long that the real end game, the payday 314 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: was a TV show, a movie, option, a book. Are 315 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: you finding though, that there are people sort of a 316 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:06,159 Speaker 1: variation of my last question, but are there people that 317 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:10,439 Speaker 1: are really like they are devoted to the social media world. 318 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: There their focus is not going into you know, getting 319 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: into mainstream media through like through through generating buzz on 320 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: social but then I really want to be a TV 321 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: star or movie star. Are you finding that there are 322 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:27,120 Speaker 1: people that like this is becoming its own true medium. 323 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, It's it's a very good question. There's in the past, 324 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 3: there's sort of this concept that social media or the 325 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 3: you know, digitally released content was a sort of base 326 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 3: level to build a fan base and then you would 327 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:43,400 Speaker 3: sort of graduate from that onto television or film or 328 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:46,159 Speaker 3: some other form of entertainment. You know, the creators that 329 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 3: we work with, this is their passion, this is the 330 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 3: way that they communicate with their fans, and so it's 331 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 3: not so much as moving on to a different medium entirely. 332 00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:00,399 Speaker 3: It's more diversifying onto more platforms. So diversification is what 333 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 3: we've seen is essentially the fastest way for creators to 334 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,640 Speaker 3: make more money. So if you are creating videos for YouTube, 335 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 3: you know, we would recommend that you figure out a 336 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 3: way to build a business on Instagram and on Facebook 337 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 3: and potentially on connected TVs, and we partner with talent 338 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:17,959 Speaker 3: and help them sort of do that. So again, it 339 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,120 Speaker 3: is not so much as changing the medium so much 340 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 3: as building out your digital business and to be a 341 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 3: little bit more robust and hopefully a little more resilient 342 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 3: to ups and downs in the market. 343 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,439 Speaker 1: When you say connected TV's, are you're talking about like 344 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:32,360 Speaker 1: creating your own fast channel kind of thing. 345 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:35,960 Speaker 3: That's exactly right. So we've created creator apps that live 346 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 3: on Roku that live on Amazon Fire for I don't 347 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 3: know seventy plus creators, and a lot of them are 348 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,120 Speaker 3: seeing great traction where essentially their audience used to watch 349 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 3: them just on YouTube or on mobile, and now they're 350 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:50,880 Speaker 3: really watching it as though we're a TV program, sort 351 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 3: of in that lean back experience, and we have a 352 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,159 Speaker 3: whole team just focused on this area and essentially crafting 353 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,199 Speaker 3: the way that the content looks and feels, so it 354 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 3: really resembles a television show with ad. 355 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 4: Breaks and all of that. 356 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,639 Speaker 1: Don't even think about scrolling up. We'll be right back 357 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: after this short break. 358 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 2: City National Bank doesn't generalize. They specialize from entertainment and 359 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 2: food and beverage to real estate and tech. Their dedicated 360 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 2: team of bankers has strategic solutions for all of your 361 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,479 Speaker 2: unique industry needs. Work with a team who knows your 362 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 2: industry while getting the scale of their parent company, RBC 363 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 2: City National Bank. See what personal can do for you 364 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 2: at CNB dot com. 365 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:48,440 Speaker 1: And we're back with more from Studio seventy one co 366 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:53,439 Speaker 1: CEOs Adam Borston and Matt Crowley. Can you give me 367 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 1: some examples of creators that are successful in their niches 368 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,199 Speaker 1: but not at all the stereotype of what people well 369 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,880 Speaker 1: think think a social media creator is Yeah. 370 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:06,679 Speaker 3: Absolutely. I think entrepreneurialism is something that's a word that 371 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:09,480 Speaker 3: sort of gets thrown around a lot. You know, these 372 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 3: creators really started a business as a startup, but you know, 373 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 3: there is a side to them that is very creative 374 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 3: and a lot of them have a side to them 375 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 3: this is extremely entrepreneurial. We've seen a lot of great 376 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 3: transitions where you know, a talent has started just making 377 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:27,639 Speaker 3: very simple, you know, beauty videos that go just on YouTube, uh, 378 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:31,400 Speaker 3: and then they are able to expand into starting a podcast, 379 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,160 Speaker 3: to starting you know, to get involved in their own 380 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 3: line of beauty products, starting to figure out, you know, 381 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 3: which are the brands that they work well with, which 382 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 3: you know, what are their audience really looking to see, 383 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 3: and how can they communicate better with their audience. So 384 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,120 Speaker 3: they are very much optimizing their business and it's an 385 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 3: extremely like sophisticated way that I think is surprising to some. 386 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 3: But as far as some great examples, you know, we 387 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,919 Speaker 3: have gamers. We have a we have a gaming channel 388 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 3: that we work very closely with called f g t V. 389 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 3: It's a fan gaming channel and it really was a 390 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 3: man making videos with his son and playing games. It's 391 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,920 Speaker 3: extremely entertaining and f GTV has been able to sort 392 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 3: of transition the business to become something that's much bigger 393 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 3: and really just a just an empire. It started to 394 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:21,879 Speaker 3: launch their own fast channels, their own apps on connected TVs, 395 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 3: which is something that we help them with. They've definitely 396 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,160 Speaker 3: expanded into the sort of graphic novel space. I think 397 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,960 Speaker 3: they're doing their own uh, you know stories there. We 398 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 3: made an announcement recently that we're developing an animated series 399 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,400 Speaker 3: that we take out and that's going to be something 400 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:41,639 Speaker 3: very exciting. So definitely that you know, f GTV is 401 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 3: a great example of something that started just with you know, 402 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 3: video game commentary and has now become something that's a 403 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 3: really fantastic business and incredibly entertaining property. 404 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: How is the world of Madison Avenue responding to this 405 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:55,240 Speaker 1: sort of uprising of talent. 406 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,639 Speaker 4: Yeah, from a from an advertiser and an agency perspective, 407 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 4: they very much are supporting the creator economy in a 408 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 4: multitude of ways. And it's kind of goes back to 409 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 4: what we were discussing earlier, which is they're trying to 410 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 4: chase eyeballs. That's audiences, time and attention. So I think 411 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 4: it was last night where where the v m as 412 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 4: and you know, the v m as on MTV of 413 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 4: the old days would garner huge, huge audiences, but those 414 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 4: the same amount of eyeballs are you know doubled within 415 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 4: you know, two videos or one video of certain creator channels. 416 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 4: So I really do think that brands are following those 417 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 4: trends and following you know, the more brand saved content 418 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,920 Speaker 4: content creators across all social platforms and saying there's more 419 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 4: reach that I can get through buying you know, traditional 420 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:53,680 Speaker 4: creator outlets than some you know, linear television channel or 421 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,680 Speaker 4: even Temple because their audience is a little bit more 422 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 4: niche and it's more specific to their brands. 423 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 3: I also think that data that brands are getting back 424 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,720 Speaker 3: and media buyers are getting back is pretty you know, 425 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,160 Speaker 3: far surpasses uh when you can get in other mediums. 426 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 3: So certainly part of what we do when we facilitate 427 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 3: advertising is provide very detailed reports to help create you know, 428 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,680 Speaker 3: advertisers and brands understand who were they able to reach, 429 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 3: you know, under what circumstances, what were the demographics, you know, 430 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 3: what were the different audience segments and what did they 431 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,119 Speaker 3: look like? And it's something that's pretty amazing that across 432 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 3: digital platforms you can really put that together and have 433 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 3: a really clear understanding of your ROI for advertising. 434 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 1: It's been, it's been, you know, it's been fascinating for 435 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,359 Speaker 1: me to watch the sort of the TikTok effect of 436 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,639 Speaker 1: having both the industry and advertisers be willing to you know, 437 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: normally the industry does not part with its content, but 438 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,440 Speaker 1: realizing that giving you know, allowing people to use a 439 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 1: few seconds of a trailer or or the TikTok challenging people, 440 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: you know, come up with your most creative ad for 441 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:56,760 Speaker 1: Tide or whatever. It might be like that, there's a 442 00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: letting go process, but but in return getting so much 443 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,359 Speaker 1: either goodwill or creative that like creative beyond you could. 444 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,320 Speaker 1: Can you talk about the TikTok effect on your business? 445 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:10,080 Speaker 1: Has it been? Has it been profound in terms of 446 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 1: that platform opening up possibilities? Yes? 447 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 3: Absolutely, I mean that is really something where we're seeing 448 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,119 Speaker 3: that recency effect take place. A lot of creators are 449 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 3: producing more content for that platform, and the you know, 450 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 3: TikTok as a platform allows for a lot of sort 451 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 3: of this duet feature where you can, you know, collaborate 452 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 3: with other creators, you can have fans submit videos that 453 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 3: you can then react to. So we've seen it sort 454 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 3: of open up a whole new level of engagement with 455 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:40,919 Speaker 3: your audience from a brand standpoint, and that's something that 456 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,920 Speaker 3: you brought up. We're seeing a lot of brands utilizing 457 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,399 Speaker 3: TikTok in a really interesting way. I mean, a brand 458 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,479 Speaker 3: like Chipotle is having you know, different creators, you know, 459 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 3: submit hacks that they use when it comes to their 460 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 3: menu or different menus ideas. And in one case, I 461 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,720 Speaker 3: think recently, it was a TikTok creator that had made 462 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 3: suggestions or sort of shared some of the hacks that 463 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 3: they use when they go to Chipotle, and then Chippotle 464 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,320 Speaker 3: incorporated that into their menu and actually, now you can 465 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:10,440 Speaker 3: go buy this this amalgamation of Chipotle items that the 466 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 3: creator put together. So I think a lot of brands 467 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 3: are highly engaged on this and it's you know, it's 468 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 3: really yielding a lot of dividends. 469 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:21,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think it's also a shift where brands 470 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,040 Speaker 4: are becoming influencers themselves and they're actually taking that. Chipotle 471 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,399 Speaker 4: is a great example. Duelingo is another great example. Of 472 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 4: you know, a brand that's going out and creating editorial 473 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,880 Speaker 4: content with their mascot in such a way that's engaging 474 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,639 Speaker 4: to their fan base, and it's it's it's you know, 475 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 4: TikTok videos that is more short form and is highly 476 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:46,879 Speaker 4: engaged for the audience. So it's this new kind of 477 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 4: feeling of brands are also trying to emulate influencers and 478 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 4: using platforms like TikTok and Instagram become influencers themselves. 479 00:25:56,359 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: The TikTok has been it really is, even even among 480 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,080 Speaker 1: the social platforms. It feels like a leap and a 481 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 1: leap into kind of a medium onto itself, a short 482 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,800 Speaker 1: attention span medium, but a medium. But it is actually 483 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 1: as they say, you know, it's it's it's harder to 484 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:15,679 Speaker 1: write a short story than a long story, like it 485 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,960 Speaker 1: forces you to distill the essence of what you're talking about. 486 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 1: It's it's fascinating, it's overwhelming, but it's also fascinating. 487 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,679 Speaker 3: Now absolutely, we've actually seen some ability for creators to 488 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:31,160 Speaker 3: migrate an audience from TikTok to more longer formats. We've 489 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:34,400 Speaker 3: released several podcasts in our network which started out as 490 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 3: sort of TikTok handles making very short videos and then 491 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 3: became a much bigger show. And what you do when 492 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 3: you see that migration is it sort of selects for 493 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 3: those highly engaged fans who are going to have, you know, 494 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,119 Speaker 3: that interest to see much longer programming. And so you 495 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 3: start putting together this fan base for your podcast of 496 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 3: you know, super loyal you know, and and eager fans 497 00:26:57,520 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 3: that want to just see more and more. And that's 498 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,920 Speaker 3: very active for brands. So again, starting with TikTok, which 499 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:08,120 Speaker 3: sort of is this very broad reaching platform, does allow 500 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 3: you to sort of move audience to other platforms and 501 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,680 Speaker 3: again create a really interesting business model. 502 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,119 Speaker 1: When you're selling ads on behalf of a creator, do 503 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 1: you do your teams find do you do a are 504 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 1: you able to do a package? I'm packaging ads across 505 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: a podcast, across Instagram, across TikTok for this for this 506 00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: talent or do you do they tend to do, you know, 507 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:34,680 Speaker 1: platform by platform deals. I'm curious about how flexible advertising 508 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: has become around social media creators that work in many 509 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:38,600 Speaker 1: different pawns. 510 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,560 Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a great question. Actually, that's exactly how we 511 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,639 Speaker 4: position ourselves from a sales perspective, which is If you 512 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 4: want to buy Facebook, you go to Facebook the platform. 513 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 4: If you want to buy YouTube, you go to YouTube 514 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,919 Speaker 4: the platform. If you want to buy an audience around 515 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,960 Speaker 4: a specific creator, you go to Studio seventy one, Because 516 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,040 Speaker 4: Studio seventy one can sell you exactly what you were 517 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 4: just asking. Can I buy the podcast? Can I buy 518 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 4: the Instagram? Can I buy TikTok? Can I buy YouTube? 519 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 4: The answer is yes, and we do package that together 520 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 4: and we've seen it with great success. We've had a 521 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 4: variety of different advertisers come to us and say, hey, 522 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 4: I want to work with so and so auto creator 523 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 4: like a Donut media like and the brand being Valveline, 524 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:23,280 Speaker 4: and they've purchased a three sixty program around not only 525 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 4: the creators you know, core YouTube channels, but also audience 526 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:32,840 Speaker 4: extensions across a various different social media outlets and their podcasts, 527 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:37,480 Speaker 4: so and then reach extensions beyond just the Donut brand 528 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:42,040 Speaker 4: into other automotive enthusiast brands. So we've done that with 529 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,800 Speaker 4: great success, and that's actually how we position ourselves. Whereas 530 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 4: Studio seventy one is kind of the backdrop to access 531 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 4: the voices across all these different platforms rather than going 532 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 4: platform by platform specific. 533 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: Campaigns and the amount of the after you know, after 534 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,800 Speaker 1: sale info that you and deliver to that advertiser must 535 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,120 Speaker 1: be just incredible. And I'm guessing that some of your 536 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,440 Speaker 1: analytics are also kind of part of the whole package. 537 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 3: Absolutely, and in fact, with regard just to podcasts, you know, 538 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 3: podcasting does have limitations when it comes to the analytics. 539 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 4: That you get back. 540 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 3: We release over half of our podcast I think now 541 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 3: it's maybe even more than that, both in audio and 542 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 3: video formats, precisely because it does you know, on the 543 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,840 Speaker 3: video side, it's obviously more engaging for fans, but from 544 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 3: a brand standpoint, you can get a lot of interesting 545 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:33,480 Speaker 3: data back about how you know, advertisements are affecting audiences 546 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,040 Speaker 3: and reaching audiences on the video side as well as 547 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:36,880 Speaker 3: the audio side. 548 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 4: And we're constantly optimizing. We're constantly working with different brands 549 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 4: and seeing what works best for that particular brand based 550 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 4: on what their KPIs are. So if they're currently buying 551 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,800 Speaker 4: across all mediums and Instagram's doing the best, will optimize 552 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 4: more their media spend towards the Instagram versus a YouTube 553 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,840 Speaker 4: or you know, facebooks and something like that. 554 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,720 Speaker 1: This is a very bespoke business, and that sounds to 555 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: me like you need a lot of humans. Like this 556 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: is still you know, I think I think there's a 557 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: lot of people that have this idea that in social 558 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,480 Speaker 1: media that all this all is done by some form 559 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 1: of giantic digital auction. But it sounds to me like 560 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 1: you've got human beings putting together packages on behalf of 561 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 1: your behalf of your folks. 562 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's it's a robust team. We have 563 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 3: offices in la in New York, in London, in Toronto, 564 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 3: so definitely we have boots on the ground who are 565 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 3: able to help creators at any given moment. I think 566 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 3: the goals that we do want to be that team 567 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 3: that's there to support them if they don't have certain 568 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 3: elements of that team on their own. With that said, though, 569 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 3: you know, we do try to optimize our business and 570 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 3: we find ways to you know, create tools that target 571 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,800 Speaker 3: advertising in different ways to streamline the process. We have 572 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 3: been using AI more in our business to help connect 573 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 3: brands with with talent to help sort of index lots 574 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 3: of videos that are being created, get a sense of 575 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 3: who a talent is, and then pitch that to a 576 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 3: brand in a really sort of streamlined and you know, 577 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 3: easy to digest way, it don't matter if you have 578 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 3: anything else that there. 579 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,440 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's it's one feeds off the other, right, 580 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 4: So obviously there's always going to be a human element 581 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 4: to sales to put together the right packages for the 582 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,920 Speaker 4: right brands. And we also have internal tools, as Adam 583 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:28,240 Speaker 4: kind of mentioned, that go through brand suitability, brand safety 584 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 4: for particular brands and pre vet some of that. And 585 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:35,440 Speaker 4: as we deliver more of these campaigns based on a 586 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 4: particular set of KPIs whatever the brand is really looking 587 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 4: to really lean into or stay away from. From a 588 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:46,520 Speaker 4: brand safety perspective, it educates our system a little bit better. 589 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 4: From a targetability standpoint, it recommends different videos and different 590 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,200 Speaker 4: creators that we can then add to certain brands, and 591 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 4: it also shows us which creators probably aren't performing as 592 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,880 Speaker 4: well from a brand safety and a brand suitable perspective 593 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 4: to remove from those particular campaigns. 594 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 1: Is the brand safety thing has has obviously been huge 595 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,080 Speaker 1: for the biggest of blue chip advertisers. Do you feel 596 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: like that is It's hard to say under control because 597 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:16,920 Speaker 1: it's individual people, But do you feel like you know, 598 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:18,800 Speaker 1: I don't have to tell you a couple of years ago, 599 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,560 Speaker 1: there really was almost a taint on digital advertising, and 600 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 1: boy did the TV did the broadcast net and broadcasting 601 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:26,720 Speaker 1: cable networks try to milk that for all it's worth, 602 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: but it does. It feels like that cloud has moved 603 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: a little bit off of you know, digital advertising. 604 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,560 Speaker 4: I think it's gotten a lot better. Transparently. I came 605 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 4: to Studio seventy one right in the heat of the 606 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:42,960 Speaker 4: ad apocalypse craziness, and that exactly right back to your point. 607 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:44,920 Speaker 1: Was there one thing, Was there one or two things 608 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:45,959 Speaker 1: that catalyzed it? 609 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:48,560 Speaker 4: Well, there there's a variety of different things that kind 610 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:52,239 Speaker 4: of all happens around the same time, and that was 611 00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 4: re uploads of videos with inappropriate content. 612 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,959 Speaker 1: Unfortunate juxtapositions on YouTube I recall now. 613 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,680 Speaker 4: Yeah, And ultimately it really came down to the different 614 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 4: platforms not having safeguards in place. And actually Studio seventy 615 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,880 Speaker 4: one was very forward facing and Adam and I and 616 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:14,600 Speaker 4: our team came out with a brand safety product product 617 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 4: called context to make sure that not only was it 618 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:20,480 Speaker 4: brand safe for the brand, but it was contextually relevant 619 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 4: for that brand to be within a certain creator channel, 620 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:25,880 Speaker 4: but not only the channel. We went as deep as 621 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 4: the video and we were scanning videos both from a 622 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 4: human perspective but also from an AI perspective. And again 623 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:35,200 Speaker 4: that was seven years ago. It's gotten much better from 624 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:40,200 Speaker 4: platform to platform. I will say from being around certain videos, 625 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,280 Speaker 4: I think there's always going to be a little bit 626 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 4: of you know, nervousness for market of oh no, am 627 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:51,080 Speaker 4: I going to be around you know, inappropriate content because 628 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,960 Speaker 4: there is always that fear of you know, someone going 629 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 4: rogue and uploading inappropriate content. Not so much from a 630 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,840 Speaker 4: studio seventy one standpoint, just from a general market standpoint. 631 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 4: But the shift has really been about where is the 632 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:12,640 Speaker 4: content being delivered? Is it on fraudulent websites? Is it 633 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 4: being viewed by human being? Is it running on AutoPlay 634 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:20,640 Speaker 4: below the fold where a human is not actually consuming 635 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,120 Speaker 4: that video? And I think that's been more of a 636 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 4: concern more on the byside for advertisers to make sure 637 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,000 Speaker 4: that if they're running ads in front of content, it's 638 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 4: actually being watched by human being. 639 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:40,560 Speaker 1: On the other side, Thanks for listening. Be sure to 640 00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,760 Speaker 1: leave us a review at Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music. 641 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:47,280 Speaker 1: We love to hear from listeners. Please go to Variety 642 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:50,520 Speaker 1: dot com and sign up for the free weekly Strictly 643 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 1: Business newsletter, and don't forget to tune in next week 644 00:34:54,280 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 1: for another episode of Strictly Business.