WEBVTT - Filmmaker; Actor & Producer Mark Duplass at Bloomberg Screentime

0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:07.000
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:10.040
<v Speaker 2>Well, let's get to someone who's definitely a triple threat.

0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:12.840
<v Speaker 2>We're talking about Mark Duplas, who is award winning actor,

0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:18.120
<v Speaker 2>filmmaker producers company Duplas Brothers Productions, joins us here live

0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:18.720
<v Speaker 2>at screen time.

0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:20.320
<v Speaker 3>How are you? I'm great? How are you guys?

0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:20.840
<v Speaker 2>Doing okay?

0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:21.400
<v Speaker 3>Doing okay?

0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:22.880
<v Speaker 2>I'm a big fan of the Morning Show, But.

0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:24.120
<v Speaker 3>Thank you, you do it all.

0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:25.680
<v Speaker 2>Is there one that I'm sure you get this in

0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:28.280
<v Speaker 2>a million times, that you like more than most in

0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.440
<v Speaker 2>terms of doing, producing, directing, or do you love how

0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:32.000
<v Speaker 2>everything kind of helps the other thing.

0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:33.920
<v Speaker 3>I do like the blending of all the things.

0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:35.880
<v Speaker 4>And I come from the independent sector, you know. I

0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:38.600
<v Speaker 4>came into this business making three dollar movies in my

0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:41.120
<v Speaker 4>kitchen with my brother on our parents video camera.

0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:43.880
<v Speaker 3>So I'm no stranger to doing at all.

0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:47.080
<v Speaker 4>But that said, I think that as I've been fortunate

0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:49.519
<v Speaker 4>enough to do both indie projects and also be on

0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:53.000
<v Speaker 4>a show like The Morning Show, which you know, one

0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.800
<v Speaker 4>day's catering on that show is more expensive than most

0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:56.800
<v Speaker 4>of the work I make.

0:00:57.680 --> 0:00:59.440
<v Speaker 3>I like the balance, you know.

0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:01.880
<v Speaker 4>I like hanging lights with my friends and sweating on

0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.600
<v Speaker 4>my indie projects. But then I like when my burrito

0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:06.319
<v Speaker 4>has brought to me in the trailer of the morning

0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:09.400
<v Speaker 4>show and I'm taking care of So these.

0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:11.319
<v Speaker 3>Are the things. Well, someone who likes burrito is.

0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:15.160
<v Speaker 1>It doesn't like a burrito delivery, also a trailer pretty nice. Yeah,

0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:17.960
<v Speaker 1>I'm wondering about if you were getting into the business

0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:20.000
<v Speaker 1>right now and how that would be different. It's like

0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:22.920
<v Speaker 1>you're making movies in your kitchen with your brother, but

0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:25.440
<v Speaker 1>maybe you'd be using an iPhone, you'd be editing it

0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:26.120
<v Speaker 1>using AI.

0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:29.800
<v Speaker 4>I think the headline is the democratization of the technology

0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.120
<v Speaker 4>has made it so wonderful that you can make anything

0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:34.880
<v Speaker 4>you want now so much more cheaply than I had it.

0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:36.640
<v Speaker 4>So you have it a lot better than me on

0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:38.440
<v Speaker 4>that front, but you have it way worse than I

0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:40.240
<v Speaker 4>had it in two thousand and five when I came in.

0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:41.640
<v Speaker 3>Because we talk about that.

0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:45.440
<v Speaker 4>But the distribution channels are not there, right, and so

0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:49.640
<v Speaker 4>we're now experiencing sort of the death of the hyperbolic

0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:50.720
<v Speaker 4>television movement.

0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:51.200
<v Speaker 3>Right.

0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:54.000
<v Speaker 4>And we staffed up and we got all ready for it,

0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.960
<v Speaker 4>and here we are and then it just dried up

0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.639
<v Speaker 4>on us. So now we're going to have to start

0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:04.960
<v Speaker 4>a new road of direct consumer distribution. You know, we're

0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.600
<v Speaker 4>working in so many different models now. We're making television

0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:12.239
<v Speaker 4>series completely independently and taking them out and selling them afterwards,

0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:15.120
<v Speaker 4>because it is the wild West.

0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:17.040
<v Speaker 2>Well, you know, it's funny that you say that, because

0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:18.800
<v Speaker 2>I think about something like YouTube and how much I

0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.440
<v Speaker 2>want YouTube and specific channels and like anybody can put

0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:24.720
<v Speaker 2>anything up there. When you think about distribution, channels or

0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:28.400
<v Speaker 2>what seems to provide the most opportunities for you, especially

0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:30.400
<v Speaker 2>since you say you play a bit more in the

0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:31.240
<v Speaker 2>indie world.

0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:34.040
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, yeah, I mean, look, I'm very very fortunate and

0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.360
<v Speaker 4>that I've been doing this for twenty years, so you know,

0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:38.240
<v Speaker 4>I at least have somewhat of a name that people

0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:41.079
<v Speaker 4>are interested in working with us. But I think YouTube

0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.120
<v Speaker 4>is certainly exciting because you can put it up, it

0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:46.120
<v Speaker 4>can catch fire. But the monetization of that and sustainability

0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:47.840
<v Speaker 4>is really questionable in my opinion.

0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:49.000
<v Speaker 3>But then you have these.

0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.280
<v Speaker 4>Smaller substreamer services like you look at Dropout TV and

0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.760
<v Speaker 4>what they're doing in comedy, and you look at Shutter.

0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.560
<v Speaker 4>You know, they've become the home of horror fans as

0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.560
<v Speaker 4>a subsidiary under ams, you know, and they're doing things

0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:04.000
<v Speaker 4>in a low cost model. So I think the future

0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.440
<v Speaker 4>here is going to be figuring out how to make

0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:10.440
<v Speaker 4>things relatively cheaply, cutting your big producer fees, cutting a

0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:12.840
<v Speaker 4>lot of everybody's fee across the board, and then when

0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:14.680
<v Speaker 4>you're in a position to be on top and power,

0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:18.000
<v Speaker 4>really share that back end with people. And that's how

0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.240
<v Speaker 4>I came up an independent film. We would make movies

0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:23.040
<v Speaker 4>for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Everybody would make

0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.440
<v Speaker 4>one hundred bucks a day. It was creative communism, and

0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:27.440
<v Speaker 4>then you get points. We could take them to Sundance

0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:28.960
<v Speaker 4>and sell them for a couple of million bucks, and

0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:31.840
<v Speaker 4>the sound guy would make fifty thousand dollars and buy

0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:32.200
<v Speaker 4>a home.

0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:33.519
<v Speaker 3>It was a beautiful time.

0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:36.400
<v Speaker 4>It's not quite that easy anymore, but there's something in

0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:37.480
<v Speaker 4>that model that will still work.

0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:39.520
<v Speaker 1>I talked to somebody who lives out here's in the industry,

0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:41.640
<v Speaker 1>has been doing this for thirty years, and he was like,

0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:45.960
<v Speaker 1>I've got award winning casting directors walking dogs on rover

0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:47.119
<v Speaker 1>to make ends meet.

0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:48.520
<v Speaker 3>No, it's real, I did that bad.

0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:50.520
<v Speaker 4>I mean I live in the valley, which is you know,

0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.680
<v Speaker 4>the place where basically below the line union heads were

0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:56.160
<v Speaker 4>able to buy their homes, you know, and that was

0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:58.640
<v Speaker 4>under the sort of unspoken promise that this industry would

0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:02.480
<v Speaker 4>continue to boom. Strikes fires, but not just that, the

0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:04.960
<v Speaker 4>death of the streaming wars, which were unsustainable from them.

0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:06.880
<v Speaker 4>That was just an arms race to see. So Netflix

0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:08.440
<v Speaker 4>one who could chuck somebody out?

0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:08.800
<v Speaker 3>Right?

0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:10.560
<v Speaker 1>Netflix and Apple are the winners.

0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.520
<v Speaker 4>I mean TVD because we could see a merger happen

0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:17.440
<v Speaker 4>in five minutes after this that changes everything, and there

0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.360
<v Speaker 4>are won't I won't go that far, but yes, there

0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:22.080
<v Speaker 4>are certain people that have interests.

0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:23.039
<v Speaker 3>In those mergers and don't have interests.

0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:25.200
<v Speaker 1>So does do you see the industry getting better?

0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:27.600
<v Speaker 4>I think the industry is going to change. Look, I've

0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:29.440
<v Speaker 4>been in this for twenty years. I know people who

0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:31.560
<v Speaker 4>are been in this for much longer than me, and

0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:33.480
<v Speaker 4>we there are times when, oh my god.

0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:34.480
<v Speaker 3>It was the nineteen eighties.

0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:36.680
<v Speaker 4>If you had a movie that had, you know, a

0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.080
<v Speaker 4>gun and blood and some fighting in it, you could

0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:40.919
<v Speaker 4>take it to VHS and you'd make your money and

0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:42.400
<v Speaker 4>it was a killer. In the nineties, it was that

0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.200
<v Speaker 4>for DVDs and the two thousands. The streamers came in

0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:46.680
<v Speaker 4>and I got to make all these cool movies for

0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.840
<v Speaker 4>Netflix and TV. But it's going to change. We don't

0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:51.640
<v Speaker 4>know which way it's going, but we got to be vigilant.

0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:51.760
<v Speaker 1>You know.

0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:53.479
<v Speaker 2>It's We've seen it in the media industry and we

0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:55.599
<v Speaker 2>still like being in it. It's incredible to be thirty

0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:56.960
<v Speaker 2>seconds still having fun.

0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:58.800
<v Speaker 3>You like it, I love it. I don't say I'm

0:04:58.839 --> 0:04:59.680
<v Speaker 3>having fun all the time.

0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:03.080
<v Speaker 4>Bill A deep responsibility for like my brothers and sisters

0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.400
<v Speaker 4>in LA and in New York and everywhere who are

0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:08.160
<v Speaker 4>just getting choked out by this business. So I'm trying

0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:10.080
<v Speaker 4>to find what is that thin lane that I still

0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.760
<v Speaker 4>want to make outlier interesting content but at the right

0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:13.800
<v Speaker 4>price that.

0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:16.240
<v Speaker 3>Makes sense and sustains us. And I don't have all

0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:18.320
<v Speaker 3>the answers for that, So appreciate.

0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:19.920
<v Speaker 2>You joining us. I know you're growing up on a panel.

0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:22.159
<v Speaker 2>Looking forward to hearing that as well. Mark, Thank you

0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:22.520
<v Speaker 2>so much.

0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:23.840
<v Speaker 3>Sureus guys, Yeah, take care.

0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.920
<v Speaker 2>Mark Duplas joining us right here of course on Who

0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:27.800
<v Speaker 2>Burgers this weekend.