Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Quick Takes. Tim Stenovic on Bloomberg Radio. Well, if you
Speaker 1: follow him on social media, you'll see the many facets
Speaker 1: of our next guest. He's an award winning actor in
Speaker 1: the widely popular streaming series Outlander, New York Times bestselling
Speaker 1: author who will be releasing a following up book to
Speaker 1: the Times bestseller clan Lands, Whiskey, Warfare and a Scottish
Speaker 1: Adventure Like no Other. Love. The title the new book
Speaker 1: is The clan Lands Almanac. He is engaging in fun.
Speaker 1: If you watch he and a fellow actor roam around
Speaker 1: Scotland men and kilts. He's got some upcoming movies, a
Speaker 1: Sony film text for you. That's that next year. He's
Speaker 1: also got an award winning whiskey, the Sassanac. I've tasted it.
Speaker 1: It's in the studio. It's really really good. He's also charitable.
Speaker 1: He's my Peak Challenge promotes a healthy lifestyle. They've raised
Speaker 1: millions for the leukemia and lymphoma charity blood Wise. Um,
Speaker 1: and he's here in studio, Sam huan Um. It's so
Speaker 1: nice to have you here with you. Oh, it's so
Speaker 1: nice to finally meet you in person. We did something
Speaker 1: virtually which was a lot of fun. We made a
Speaker 1: cocktail and wasn't very good at it, but I did
Speaker 1: get it. All goes down the same way, doesn't it
Speaker 1: and tastes so great. Job so true. Um, I said
Speaker 1: that we don't have a lot of people in studio.
Speaker 1: Our world is slowly coming back. And you said you
Speaker 1: haven't been in New York in a in a long time.
Speaker 1: How did the pandemic impact your world? Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: I think, well, firstly, it's amazing to be back, and
Speaker 1: it's what great office is you have, But also in
Speaker 1: New York City, it's like it's really a buzzing, it's alive. Um.
Speaker 1: I haven't been in the US really for the past
Speaker 1: you know, two years almost, so um, it's so good
Speaker 1: to be back. But yeah, I mean I think it's
Speaker 1: obviously impacted everyone, but business wise more than anything, it's
Speaker 1: delayed a lot of imports and exports, especially without whiskey.
Speaker 1: Did it complicate things? Oh? Absolutely? Yeah. I mean I
Speaker 1: think you've maybe seen the pictures of, you know, the
Speaker 1: the container ships outside Long Beach. Um, I think it's
Speaker 1: about forty of them out there at the moment um,
Speaker 1: things are just really slow, you know, globally, it's it's
Speaker 1: been tough. You know, we've been challenged with the cork
Speaker 1: for our stoppers in the bottles, you know, trying to
Speaker 1: get access to that right, yeah, exactly, or just even
Speaker 1: getting a container to to transport our whiskey across from
Speaker 1: from the UK. So yeah, it's been challenging. What changes
Speaker 1: did you have to make as a result of these challenges?
Speaker 1: Did you have to raise prices, did you have to
Speaker 1: change material or just be patient? I think that's pretty much. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, people were waiting for our next release. We
Speaker 1: released last year and then this is our biggest release. Um,
Speaker 1: we wanted it to be out in time p obviously
Speaker 1: the holiday season, but um it's finally here. We're actually
Speaker 1: only delayed a couple of weeks, so we're pretty fortunate.
Speaker 1: How much fun are you having with this and it's
Speaker 1: doing and tell us about like taking it around in
Speaker 1: and introducing it to people. Yeah, so I'm really proud.
Speaker 1: Obviously self financed, self realized, you know, we designed everything,
Speaker 1: you know, every every aspect of the finance. You've strapped
Speaker 1: it all. Yeah. Yeah, so we haven't any investors we've
Speaker 1: we've done it all ourselves and um, as I said, yes,
Speaker 1: our second round, we've we want about seven double gold
Speaker 1: medals from various awards. I'm just really proud of it.
Speaker 1: It's my it's my baby. Can you talk about why
Speaker 1: you bootstrapped it and show not to bring on outside investors?
Speaker 1: Did you not want to the equity? I think so,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, firstly, it is a small, limited
Speaker 1: batch release. You know, it's it's hard to get our
Speaker 1: hands on enough of the products, so we didn't need
Speaker 1: finance at the first. But then also, um, you know,
Speaker 1: just to retain to retain the rights, to retain the
Speaker 1: majority share or control of it. And as I said,
Speaker 1: it is a passion project, so I really didn't want
Speaker 1: to give anything away. There may be a time when
Speaker 1: we do look at find people k looking at the door.
Speaker 1: We we yes, we have, We've definitely had conversations and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, there will be a point where we want
Speaker 1: to really upscale and and and increase. And I think
Speaker 1: at that point investment would really help us because it's
Speaker 1: interesting in the marketplace. Uh you know, it's a crowded marketplace.
Speaker 1: But when you can create a brand, um that somehow
Speaker 1: has some interesting distinction to it, and I think this
Speaker 1: one is safe to say it does also taste good. Um,
Speaker 1: you can really move ahead. What's the been the response
Speaker 1: that you're hearing and as you because you're meeting with
Speaker 1: people in New York and elsewhere. Yeah, well, so we
Speaker 1: were now available in I mean, I think about forty states.
Speaker 1: We're working on the rest of them, and we're working
Speaker 1: on Canada as well and Europe. Um. It's it's a
Speaker 1: whiskey that I wanted people to be accessible. Um. You
Speaker 1: know a lot of people don't haven't tried whiskey, or
Speaker 1: don't know much about Scotch whiskey. This is a blend.
Speaker 1: There wasn't really a premium blend out there that I
Speaker 1: felt was comparable to like the Asian blends out there,
Speaker 1: which are really phenomenal. Um, So we wanted to create
Speaker 1: something like that modern but also you know, with a
Speaker 1: nod to our heritage. So we've got some great moret
Speaker 1: whisky in here. Um. And yeah, I think people's reaction
Speaker 1: has been really really positive. Sam human still with us,
Speaker 1: of course of Outlander fame, and we're going to continue
Speaker 1: a conversation in just a moment. But we did want
Speaker 1: to talk to you a little bit about what's it
Speaker 1: like on the set, because it looks like you guys
Speaker 1: have just an incredible group of people. It is. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we've been obviously on the show now almost I think
Speaker 1: about eight years where in our sixth season is about
Speaker 1: to come out, um, and it really it's where this
Speaker 1: sort of real core ensemble of our terms and um,
Speaker 1: it's it's been good. I mean this was the hardest
Speaker 1: year definitely, you know, with with obviously COVID situation, but
Speaker 1: also we were shooting in winter. Um it was tough.
Speaker 1: I mean it was it was really difficult. But um,
Speaker 1: a really strong season and I think that's what brings you,
Speaker 1: gets you through something like that. You know, your your
Speaker 1: sort of friendship and your bonds and with the crew
Speaker 1: as well. You know, it's like one big family. What
Speaker 1: are the COVID protocols and how is it different this
Speaker 1: season then it was in previous seasons before we were
Speaker 1: talking about COVID each and every day. Yeah, you know
Speaker 1: we So I worked on a movie as well during COVID,
Speaker 1: UM movie called Text for You. Um. Also, Men and
Speaker 1: Kilts shows were one of the first shows to shoot
Speaker 1: in the UK with the COVID protocols. Um for outlined
Speaker 1: it was difficult, different and difficult because it's such a
Speaker 1: big show, you know, we have so many extras were
Speaker 1: out out in Scotland, so it did delay us by
Speaker 1: a number of months. But um, the protocols, you know,
Speaker 1: everyone was tested every day. We actually had a testing
Speaker 1: center in the production offices which was amazing. They could
Speaker 1: do aud test, so you get tested every morning. We
Speaker 1: had bubbles. M you did have bubbles, right, this is
Speaker 1: what we heard from when we were talking. A stuff
Speaker 1: came back so basically different. Uh, depending on sort of
Speaker 1: your your level of what your function is in on set,
Speaker 1: you would then be allocated a certain bubble. What I
Speaker 1: really want to know when you drink whiskey on on
Speaker 1: the set, are you drinking real whiskey? Um? Absolutely, of
Speaker 1: course all the time. Wait a minute, you and I
Speaker 1: were talking, we were talking around the table here, um
Speaker 1: about your brand, ASSASSINAC. So is there more to come?
Speaker 1: You expand this? Yeah, you put me on the spot. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well you know, well absolutely, you know our tagline is
Speaker 1: unique Spirits. Uh, so we are looking, you know, around
Speaker 1: the world for you know, unique opportunities and um, really
Speaker 1: just shining the spotlight on you know, great producers and
Speaker 1: collaborating with other people. So um. But you know, obviously
Speaker 1: the whiskey is are is our main party. It's our
Speaker 1: first spirit and we really want to establish that and
Speaker 1: then let that grow as well. Are you going what else? What?
Speaker 1: I'm just wondering what one last one on the on
Speaker 1: the spirit in the spirits the industry right now? Oh,
Speaker 1: I mean there's just you know, I mean the explosion
Speaker 1: of tequila obviously is really interesting. I've spent a lot
Speaker 1: of time over in in actually in Tequila Town, which
Speaker 1: is a really fun place. Um. But you know, even
Speaker 1: look in the UK, I mean, Gin is really big.
Speaker 1: It's it's kind of almost overpopulated now. Um. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm really interested in just like these small producers. I mean,
Speaker 1: Mescal is just fascinating, you know, and it's hard to
Speaker 1: for them to upscale. So um, I'd love to go
Speaker 1: to well Hacker and spend a bit of time there. Um,
Speaker 1: how long do you think you might hold on to
Speaker 1: the brand before maybe something you know, we talked about
Speaker 1: people being interested and we know, um, certainly some of
Speaker 1: the bigger brands are always looking for um, new players,
Speaker 1: new entries. Do you think that the the end game
Speaker 1: is that ultimately becomes part of somebody's portfolio. Um. I,
Speaker 1: to be honest, I don't know. It's something and it's
Speaker 1: obviously very close to my heart. It's quite poured so
Speaker 1: much to myself into this, so I want to retain it. Um.
Speaker 1: But who knows in the future where that could go.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about some of the other projects that
Speaker 1: you're working on. UM. What is it like to either
Speaker 1: have a director reach out to your producer? Is it
Speaker 1: virtual still or is things getting back to normal? Yeah?
Speaker 1: It is, Uh, it is still kind of virtual. UM.
Speaker 1: I just shot a TV show in the UK called
Speaker 1: Suspect and that was old predominantly. You know. The reto
Speaker 1: was done by our you know via zoom goals. UM,
Speaker 1: which is it is quite challenging, but it's great. You know,
Speaker 1: we're getting we're getting back on the feet that the
Speaker 1: movie TV industry is really really flourishing at the moment,
Speaker 1: is really busy. It is really busy. We're seeing certainly
Speaker 1: in and around New York too. I mean, is it
Speaker 1: the best time to be a creative right now? You
Speaker 1: not only have streaming services just duking it out for
Speaker 1: content for talent, but you also have established companies looking
Speaker 1: to get into streaming by creating more content. I mean,
Speaker 1: we are so hungry for content. Yeah, we are, and
Speaker 1: I think myself, I'm already pitching something at the moment,
Speaker 1: and it has been mostly to streamers because that's that's
Speaker 1: where who have the money and who were making things.
Speaker 1: But I mean it's also good to see that the
Speaker 1: movie industry and people going back to the movies, you know,
Speaker 1: and Bond recently. It was fantastic and I mean like
Speaker 1: in the theater, just that shared experience which I think
Speaker 1: was something which we all miss as well. And I
Speaker 1: think hopefully, you know, also it will also have a
Speaker 1: life and we'll get people back back into the movie theaters. So, um, Atlanta,
Speaker 1: what can we expect in the season. Yeah, it's back,
Speaker 1: um early next to the long dry spell it has,
Speaker 1: it has, it's a it's a different season. It's only
Speaker 1: eight episodes, however, the episodes are longer. The first episode
Speaker 1: of things an hour and a half. Um, it's a
Speaker 1: dare I say, it's Atlanta. So it's quite a dark season.
Speaker 1: There's a lot going on. Um, but I'm really I'm
Speaker 1: really excited the first episode especially, it's it's pretty strong.
Speaker 1: It's one of the interesting things I think that you
Speaker 1: guys did, And we've had a lot of conversations about
Speaker 1: how you all come together really portray reality, like you
Speaker 1: don't hide some of the difficult things that go on,
Speaker 1: whether it's in a relay ship or just certainly the
Speaker 1: history that was out there. And and that's pretty impressive
Speaker 1: in terms of showing it and not kind of sugarcoating things. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it comes down to Diana Gablon's books. You know,
Speaker 1: I think they're you know, they can be pretty gritty
Speaker 1: in places. Um, so that's part of it. But I
Speaker 1: think also the show has tried not to shy away
Speaker 1: from certain subjects and it can put us in a
Speaker 1: sticky situation. But I think we're you know, we really
Speaker 1: do go into, you know, trying to portray whether it's
Speaker 1: a victim of trauma or culture. For instance, the Native Americans,
Speaker 1: which we have play a large part in in our season.
Speaker 1: This season plays into so much kind of the world
Speaker 1: at large. If you think about the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: whether it's the pandemic or whether it's George Floyd like
Speaker 1: things that have been in our society for such a
Speaker 1: long time, but you guys really kind of deal with
Speaker 1: that intiguing. Yeah, but it was also showing America in
Speaker 1: its infancy, which is really interesting. I didn't know a
Speaker 1: lot of this, you know, how this will happened and
Speaker 1: you know the British influence and um, it's it's fascinating.
Speaker 1: So it's it's just interesting that we're shooting, you know,
Speaker 1: for in Scotland for America, which is kind of crazy.
Speaker 1: It is pretty cool. So, UM, my peak challenge. Talk
Speaker 1: to us about that because you do a lot unsocial
Speaker 1: about that and you really encourage people to challenge themselves
Speaker 1: in a lot of different ways. And it could be
Speaker 1: physical or fitness, or it could be playing the guitar,
Speaker 1: gardening or whatever. Right, yeah, I'm still going to play
Speaker 1: the guitar myself. Get it any better? But no, it is.
Speaker 1: It's basically an online fitness program, but whilst helping yourself,
Speaker 1: you're also helping out this fift of all the profits
Speaker 1: go to charity. We raised just under six million dollars
Speaker 1: now for our chosen charities. Um. And it's just to
Speaker 1: be honest, it's it's our peakers as we call them, Um.
Speaker 1: They are so inspiring. They they have lost weight, they've
Speaker 1: made friends, they've found confidence, they found mobility. Um, they
Speaker 1: share you know, their their their challenges and and it
Speaker 1: really is an amazing sort of support network that we have.
Speaker 1: Hey help us understand how you think about compartmentalizing different
Speaker 1: parts of your life and just from a productivity perspective,
Speaker 1: when Carol was during your intro, you know, it was
Speaker 1: like the longest like you know, with a lot of
Speaker 1: because you've done a lot of stuff, and you do
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff, and you do a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff at the same time. How do you compartmentalize it?
Speaker 1: What do you work on when? How do you keep productive?
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know how it happens, but
Speaker 1: I mean i'm I think I'm like that. I think
Speaker 1: I just wanted to. I can't really sit still, Like
Speaker 1: if I have time off, I do like to to
Speaker 1: challenge myself. And UM, I have a brilliant business partner.
Speaker 1: I think that's pretty much with a great team. You know,
Speaker 1: we have an office in Los Angeles and UM, I
Speaker 1: think we have about seven members of stuff now and
Speaker 1: we're still expanding. So UM it's that's important. A good team.
Speaker 1: How many times do you say no to things that?
Speaker 1: And I do wonder if, like you, you know Atlander
Speaker 1: Assassinak Whiskey, like there's this wonderful kind of continuity in
Speaker 1: terms of things. Um, do you think about that when
Speaker 1: you're choosing what you want to work on? Yeah? Absolutely,
Speaker 1: I think it's important to say no, and I'm not
Speaker 1: very good at it. Um, it's all stay together no,
Speaker 1: but it's uh, it is. It's just as important as
Speaker 1: things that you say yes to of course, so m yeah,
Speaker 1: there's there's also a lot of community is not only
Speaker 1: in the business side, but also career wise as well.
Speaker 1: You know, I only have a short space of time
Speaker 1: when I'm not working on Outlanders, so the projects I
Speaker 1: choose have to be have to be the right ones.
Speaker 1: All right, We're gonna have to leave it there, unfortunately.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me a real pleasure
Speaker 1: and we see you guys. Yeah, great to see you,
Speaker 1: and we look forward to hearing more and following you
Speaker 1: in the future.