Speaker 1: Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties, weekly podcast featuring conversations with
Speaker 1: industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm
Speaker 1: Cynthia Lyttleton, co editor in chief of Variety. Today. My
Speaker 1: guest is Taylor K. Shaw. Shaw is the newly hired
Speaker 1: senior Outreach Lead for Film at Kickstarter. She's also an
Speaker 1: independent producer and an entrepreneur who leads BWA Studios. Shaw's
Speaker 1: hire is a sign that Kickstarter wants to elevate the
Speaker 1: activity that is generated on the platform by professional filmmakers.
Speaker 1: Kickstarter is not only a place to generate money for projects,
Speaker 1: it can also be an engine of engaging with fans
Speaker 1: and keeping them connected to projects and franchises. Shaw is
Speaker 1: in the midst of a festival tour to talk to
Speaker 1: industry insiders about how Kickstarter can bring them production funding
Speaker 1: and more. But don't call it a donation. Shaw explains
Speaker 1: why in the conversation that is coming right up after
Speaker 1: this break and we're back with my conversation with Taylor
Speaker 1: Ka Shaw, Senior Outreach Lead for Film for Kickstarter. Taylor
Speaker 1: Ka Shaw, newly appointed head of Film for Kickstarter. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for joining me on this slightly rainy
Speaker 1: day in New York.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me and very very much so
Speaker 2: looking forward to our conversation.
Speaker 1: Tell me about what's your mandate coming in and what
Speaker 1: was it about this job that attracted you to coming
Speaker 1: to Kickstarter.
Speaker 2: The mandate coming in is to bring awareness two filmmakers
Speaker 2: who are established, who have that built in audience, to
Speaker 2: bring awareness that Kickstarter has a long standing legacy of
Speaker 2: supporting prolific talent and really helping them fund and launch
Speaker 2: their careers, like the likes of Anisa Ray or Phoebe Wallerbridge.
Speaker 2: And so it really brought me here is the alignment
Speaker 2: between my passion for building strong infrastructure for artists to
Speaker 2: thrive and really seeing the need in this moment for
Speaker 2: all artists, all filmmakers, whether you're emerging or established, the
Speaker 2: need to be creatively independent.
Speaker 1: You go right to the heart of it is that
Speaker 1: there is a sense that Kickstarter is for the person
Speaker 1: that has been writing a script in their basement and
Speaker 1: making super eight films and now has a great idea
Speaker 1: and really wants to get out there, not for an
Speaker 1: established showrunner an established screenwriter. But you're just telling me
Speaker 1: that that is wrong.
Speaker 2: Yes, the most recent example is with The Apprentice you know,
Speaker 2: which now has two Oscar nominations, and they had a
Speaker 2: lot of success at con they and Tell You Ride,
Speaker 2: and they still had a lot of difficulty with getting
Speaker 2: distribution for the film, and so they turned to Kickstarter
Speaker 2: to really prove that the audience, the community, folks want
Speaker 2: to see this film and it means something to folks.
Speaker 2: And they did prove that, raising one hundred thousand and
Speaker 2: just twelve hours and then overall four hundred thousand for
Speaker 2: the marketing of the film.
Speaker 1: Let me let's take let's use that as an example,
Speaker 1: because obviously that was a very controversial film some both
Speaker 1: financial considerations and unavoidably political conversations. Variety covered a lot
Speaker 1: about The Apprentice, so we're very definitely, very well aware.
Speaker 1: So when the first of all, how do you know,
Speaker 1: and this might have predated your joining Kickstarter, but did
Speaker 1: somebody at Kickstarter reach out to people involved with the
Speaker 1: film and say, hey, we might be able to help
Speaker 1: or did they was that organic? Did they immediately go
Speaker 1: to Kickstarter when they realized they were going to need
Speaker 1: some help in bringing in some money pretty quickly.
Speaker 2: So they came to Kickstarter, which I think is really
Speaker 2: special because that only happens if you are aware of
Speaker 2: the power of the platform and what is possible when
Speaker 2: you allow for your community to participate and uplift your work.
Speaker 2: So they took advantage of an opportunity to utilize our platform,
Speaker 2: and that's one that every if you just look a
Speaker 2: little bit more into our history, and I hope to
Speaker 2: share that more here with you today. But if you
Speaker 2: look into it, you can make a campaign and really
Speaker 2: reach out to those who care about your work, and
Speaker 2: it can sing, and so they take it upon themselves
Speaker 2: to take their power back and start a grassroots movement.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you the question that I've always had
Speaker 1: with around crowdsourcing and these types of platforms. If the
Speaker 1: people that are contributing to these funds, if the people
Speaker 1: are doing it in fact to get a return on investment,
Speaker 1: how do you track that, especially over the life cycle
Speaker 1: of something like a film.
Speaker 2: What is fabulous about Kickstarter is that our backers, the
Speaker 2: backer community, they're not looking for a return on investment.
Speaker 2: They are really looking to be a part of films,
Speaker 2: creative projects that mean something to them. A great example
Speaker 2: was with hair Love. You know that Oscar winning short
Speaker 2: that went on to be a mac series for hair Love.
Speaker 2: When that wind happened on you know, social media, everyone
Speaker 2: who backed the Kickstarter campaign was like, I was a
Speaker 2: part of this film, like you know, we want an oscar.
Speaker 2: And so that is what the backer community at Kickstarter
Speaker 2: is looking for. There is actually no equity exchange. What
Speaker 2: they receive is rewards. Those rewards are ways for them
Speaker 2: to be calm or receive something that allows for them
Speaker 2: to be more deeply engaged in in the process, in
Speaker 2: life cycle of the other projects.
Speaker 1: It is. It is interesting and it's an it's an
Speaker 1: interesting evolution in fandom that this kind of access and
Speaker 1: this kind of opportunity to be part of something. Thinking
Speaker 1: like a lawyer, like, are there are there any unexpected
Speaker 1: downsides that the company has had to deal with? Are
Speaker 1: there people that come back and then claim some kind
Speaker 1: of authorship because they you know, I guess I'm asking
Speaker 1: the Devil's advocate question in terms of in terms of
Speaker 1: any kind of like rights or authorship or just claims
Speaker 1: after the fact.
Speaker 2: You know, from the very beginning to backers and two artists,
Speaker 2: the real draw for artists is knowing that their IP
Speaker 2: is their IP and we allow for full creative control
Speaker 2: when that is not the norm. Creative ownership is not
Speaker 2: the you know norm in the traditional funding, the traditional
Speaker 2: studio model, definitely not. Yes, So our backers know that
Speaker 2: from the beginning of supporting a project, and that's very
Speaker 2: clearly laid out for everyone. The true I you know,
Speaker 2: with the filmmakers I speak to, I really when they
Speaker 2: express this sentiment that's concerned about, you know, how exactly
Speaker 2: does this work. I've only you know, hit the pavement
Speaker 2: the streets of LA trying to make it in the
Speaker 2: traditional way. What I say is everyone is not an artist.
Speaker 2: Everyone is not a filmmaker. So everyone doesn't have that
Speaker 2: unique ability to tell a story that resonates and that
Speaker 2: really helps us see each other as human beings. Everyone
Speaker 2: doesn't have that skill, and so you are offering to
Speaker 2: people the opportunity to participate and to say that I
Speaker 2: have furthered this creative project that deeply means something to me,
Speaker 2: that I see the power and potential of this particular
Speaker 2: artist as well. So the exchange that's there is you know,
Speaker 2: of course, the rewards piece, but it's really this opportunity
Speaker 2: to be a part of something greater for the backer
Speaker 2: and for the filmmaker the opportunities to continue to build
Speaker 2: time and time again with that dedicated global community that
Speaker 2: we have a Kickstarter.
Speaker 1: It's incredible that the amount of boundaries, the boundaries that
Speaker 1: can sort of be erased by this ability. Let me
Speaker 1: ask you, how is it.
Speaker 2: How is this money.
Speaker 1: Treated on a tax basis for a filmmaker? Is it
Speaker 1: considered a donation?
Speaker 2: So folks do have to pay their taxes and so
Speaker 2: you know through the platform, when you know, once you
Speaker 2: receive whatever you know, funding you've been able to raise,
Speaker 2: you do you do then have to pay your taxes.
Speaker 2: So that's something that filmmakers should account for. But there's
Speaker 2: there's no surprise there.
Speaker 1: Right that you cannot outrun the I R s And
Speaker 1: it is that time of year.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, there's robust resources across our platform on
Speaker 2: and we've increasingly just or recently rolled out products that
Speaker 2: will continue to support filmmakers and make this entire process
Speaker 2: less intimidating to filmmakers. But with these new products and
Speaker 2: the resources that we've had available online previously, folks can
Speaker 2: learn how to you know, manage your campaign from pre
Speaker 2: launch all the way through the entire process, how to
Speaker 2: really engage or backer community and how to fulfill those
Speaker 2: rewards and yes, also how to manage taxes. All of
Speaker 2: those resources are available on our platform.
Speaker 1: It's interesting. And so as you start this, as you
Speaker 1: start your job, you just recently joined the company at
Speaker 1: the I believe it that toward the end of last year,
Speaker 1: as you start this, where are you going to kind
Speaker 1: of spread the word and sort of what is your
Speaker 1: message directly to filmmakers once again, like why should they
Speaker 1: come to Kickstarter.
Speaker 2: And these times especially it's greenlight yourself, greenlight yourself. That's
Speaker 2: the opportunity here in working with our platform, working with
Speaker 2: us and again we have this legacy of supporting artists
Speaker 2: that I believe to be truly prolific. And that's what
Speaker 2: has attracted me to wanting to be a part of
Speaker 2: this mission that is very altruistic. You know, here at Kickstarter,
Speaker 2: there's a couple of examples from the Veronica Mars movie
Speaker 2: all the way to following the career and trajectory of
Speaker 2: folks like Ania da Costa, who had Little Woods, you know,
Speaker 2: on our platform and that went on to streaming at Hulu,
Speaker 2: and then she directed the classic kind of horror film
Speaker 2: Candy Man, and then onto a Marvel.
Speaker 1: Movie, the biggest of the big studio pictures.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the biggest of the big you know, everybody's dream.
Speaker 2: But she didn't let. The folks who utilize and work with,
Speaker 2: you know, our platform, they don't let. They don't wait
Speaker 2: around for somebody to say yes to them. They green
Speaker 2: light themselves. And so coming into this role in this
Speaker 2: new year, what's going to be really big for us
Speaker 2: is engaging creators, Engaging filmmakers with built in audiences, those
Speaker 2: fan bases across genre, animation, horror, thriller, comedy. That's going
Speaker 2: to be really huge for us. Along with supporting short films,
Speaker 2: we have our long standing program Long Story Short every
Speaker 2: March that you know that that we launch to support
Speaker 2: and further short films because that is where we see,
Speaker 2: of course a lot of the next generation of filmmakers
Speaker 2: being active. So we'll always support the next generation. And
Speaker 2: also we are really wanting established artists to know like
Speaker 2: it is very possible for you to thrive and working
Speaker 2: with our platform, you have.
Speaker 1: Like a March madness of short films.
Speaker 2: It sounds like exactly, that's exactly what it is.
Speaker 1: That's do you are? They promoted it all on the
Speaker 1: Kickstarter platform, how had it.
Speaker 2: Yes, we balked to you by yes, yes, exactly. We
Speaker 2: go hard for our short program across our platform, across
Speaker 2: our social and those long story short creators that emphasis,
Speaker 2: they found a lot of success. I mean, one of
Speaker 2: them is going to be at south By Southwest presenting
Speaker 2: her film this year. So it's a really strong program
Speaker 2: where we've seen folks go on to Sundance, to south
Speaker 2: By and other festivals.
Speaker 1: With so much production happening outside the US, in particular,
Speaker 1: there's such an appetite for co productions within that there's
Speaker 1: all kinds of different ways to piece together financing, and
Speaker 1: an environment where people are piecing together financing, there's going
Speaker 1: to be more appetite and more openness to different, you know,
Speaker 1: all different forms of bringing in the dollars or euros
Speaker 1: or whatever the you know, whatever the currency.
Speaker 2: May be exactly. And what we have seen is that
Speaker 2: folks do go both the traditional funding models and also
Speaker 2: utilize Kickstarter. We do seamlessly integrate into the overall creative process.
Speaker 2: If you're making a feature film and you need funds
Speaker 2: for post it like the marketing campaign you know, example
Speaker 2: of The Apprentice, or if you want to raise fully
Speaker 2: for your feature or even series like folks do that
Speaker 2: on our platform and they have found a lot of success.
Speaker 1: Where I should know this. Where is Kickstarter based? Give
Speaker 1: me a sense of the scope of the organization that runs.
Speaker 2: So the company started in New York and now it's
Speaker 2: fully remote, fully remote, and you know a lot there's
Speaker 2: still a lot of us based here in New York.
Speaker 2: I Hill from Brooklyn. But yeah, we are a global
Speaker 2: company with the global reach and over twenty million repeat
Speaker 2: backers on the platform, and those folks are from all
Speaker 2: over the world, and so we are very engaged in
Speaker 2: how we can be really engaging those backers across our
Speaker 2: platform to the film category.
Speaker 1: And this just question occurred to me. You have people
Speaker 1: that donate in various currencies, correct, Yes, Yes, that in
Speaker 1: and of itself itself must be a management.
Speaker 2: Yes, and we're really great at it. We're really great
Speaker 2: at it. And I also would like to just like
Speaker 2: reframe the language of donation because I think, particularly for filmmakers,
Speaker 2: it is important for everyone to note the exchange, the
Speaker 2: relationship that we're fostering on the platform and how they're
Speaker 2: able to really build the trust with their backer community,
Speaker 2: their audience time and time again by utilizing our platform.
Speaker 2: It's really important. It's a difference, but I think it,
Speaker 2: you know, my one on one conversations kind of hitting
Speaker 2: the ground running at Sundance and soon to be at
Speaker 2: south By. It's really important for the industry to recognize.
Speaker 1: That, don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
Speaker 1: from Taylor case Jaw right after this break, and we're
Speaker 1: back with more from Kickstarter executive Taylor case Shaw. Do
Speaker 1: you offer any kind of a tiered access if you
Speaker 1: if you pay more for a certain level of access,
Speaker 1: do you get in a certain level of support? Is
Speaker 1: that part of one of the things that you're talking
Speaker 1: to people about.
Speaker 2: Yes, Tiered access or tiered rewards is a huge piece
Speaker 2: of the draw for both the artists that utilize the
Speaker 2: platform and backers. And so you know, you can offer
Speaker 2: everything from a pen that is, uh, people go crazy,
Speaker 2: people go crazy for the pens all the way to
Speaker 2: you know, a director's workshop all the way to like
Speaker 2: a producer credit, and so that is really important to
Speaker 2: the backer community. I think, especially for film is how
Speaker 2: can they be able to say like, hey, I was
Speaker 2: a part of this very special project that is now
Speaker 2: you know, doing a large festival run and has like
Speaker 2: meaningful distribution.
Speaker 1: Do you I know as an industry professional that you
Speaker 1: know that this there's a lot of adjudication that goes
Speaker 1: on with the guilds and different organizations around credits. Is
Speaker 1: that is that something that you've had to navigate in
Speaker 1: terms of in terms of if the if the artist
Speaker 1: wants to do that kind of credit, there's got to
Speaker 1: be ways to do it. But then there's also like
Speaker 1: people lay people would be surprised if the amount of
Speaker 1: energy that goes into adjudicating credits for obvious reasons. These
Speaker 1: are from the heart and soul of people that you
Speaker 1: know put everything into it. But that general issue, I'm
Speaker 1: sure you've had to deal.
Speaker 2: With absolutely, and you can't always give those out and
Speaker 2: so every filmmaker you know doesn't. But there are a
Speaker 2: tons of rewards that it is possible to give your
Speaker 2: back up community that makes them feel engaged in the project.
Speaker 2: So so yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's very it's very interesting. Let me ask you
Speaker 1: about your background. Before you know, you were a recent
Speaker 1: person to have joined Kickstarter. Before that, you were part
Speaker 1: of a company. You helped launch a company called Black
Speaker 1: Women Anime that you did a lot of very interesting
Speaker 1: You did brand work, you did some short films, some
Speaker 1: interstitial work for companies like A and E Networks, Hulu, HBO, Netflix,
Speaker 1: just some little little companies out there. Talk about how
Speaker 1: that experience of launching a company, being being in the
Speaker 1: business of selling content and making content, how that has
Speaker 1: helped prepare you for the job they have now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm still operating BWA Studios, So.
Speaker 1: That hasn't that that's not on the side right now,
Speaker 1: that is still an active Yeah.
Speaker 2: Still operating it. And also when this opportunity opened up,
Speaker 2: I couldn't say no. Is really like a yes, yes
Speaker 2: yes for me because I'm deeply committed to building and
Speaker 2: structure for for artists to thrive. And that's because I
Speaker 2: am an artist myself, and I know just how hard
Speaker 2: it is to get exciting, adventurous work made in this
Speaker 2: traditional system. I've had for slip deals, I've had agents,
Speaker 2: you know, I've done and I've tried to poke that
Speaker 2: bear so many times. And the animation company is independent
Speaker 2: and I originally started it because I was looking to
Speaker 2: make an animated series about millennials who are too woke
Speaker 2: to get real jobs. Yes, so they've come up with
Speaker 2: all these crazy side hustles to get money for their art,
Speaker 2: and they just so happened to be black women, you know,
Speaker 2: women of color, and it was just so difficult to
Speaker 2: find you know, black female animators that could work on
Speaker 2: the on the project with me, and so then a
Speaker 2: studio formed, and so just and through that entire process
Speaker 2: of creating dependently working inside and outside of the studio system.
Speaker 2: My heart is with filmmakers and I this is this
Speaker 2: is a meaningful part of my journeys to be able
Speaker 2: to be a part of Kickstarter and help grow this
Speaker 2: legacy in future.
Speaker 1: Have you to date in running Black Women Anime b
Speaker 1: w A studios? Have you used Kickstarter or any kind
Speaker 1: of crowdsourced funding.
Speaker 2: We haven't yet. I have really hit the pavement getting
Speaker 2: all kinds of funding, but we haven't yet. But it's
Speaker 2: great about Kickstarter is that everyone is encouraged to be creative.
Speaker 2: And we do have folks at Kickstarter who've run campaigns
Speaker 2: and so you never know, you really never know. I
Speaker 2: am both focused on supporting all of the filmmakers that
Speaker 2: come to us on our platform, and I also committed
Speaker 2: to creating because I think it's simp ordant to create
Speaker 2: and have that information and then be able to impart
Speaker 2: that onto the experiences that we have with filmmakers. So
Speaker 2: who knows, TBD, I still need to make that show
Speaker 2: because again that's and that just tells you how hard
Speaker 2: it is. I mean it's been almost a decade. That
Speaker 2: shows you how hard it is to get your your
Speaker 2: work made. So so yeah, I am so pro a
Speaker 2: potential campaign in the future.
Speaker 1: Let's step back again. What was it that led you
Speaker 1: You have both a business brain and a creative brain,
Speaker 1: which is a rare combination. What was it that led
Speaker 1: you to the you know, the work of being an animator,
Speaker 1: the work of being creative, and has led you to
Speaker 1: to you know, what you've done so far.
Speaker 2: Yes, I have a journalism degree, and I'll spare you
Speaker 2: all of the details about how I landed in television
Speaker 2: and film. But I started to work on different TV
Speaker 2: shows and and film sets and then later doing producing
Speaker 2: for Viceland, Vice Media's TV channel, and so within all
Speaker 2: of that, there was just so much content that I
Speaker 2: wasn't seeing that I felt, you know, could be out there,
Speaker 2: and so I was always pitching fresh ideas that you know,
Speaker 2: what about this, what about this filmmaker, what about this creator?
Speaker 2: And so that has been the foundation of my career,
Speaker 2: kind of seeing the gaps and wanting to in a
Speaker 2: meaningful and genuine way provide an opportunity for for artists
Speaker 2: to get their things made, to get their their films made.
Speaker 2: And so that, you know, my my creative journey and
Speaker 2: my business journey have always been very closely linked because yeah,
Speaker 2: I think just it's really important. And again I'm attracted
Speaker 2: to Kickstarter because of that altruism of we want to
Speaker 2: see you create no matter what. And that's that's the foundation.
Speaker 1: Of my as a business owner and at b w A.
Speaker 1: What what is the stuff that you that you like
Speaker 1: doing the most? Is it the is it the creative development?
Speaker 1: Is it the marketing? Is it the get you know?
Speaker 1: Is it? Is it the pitching?
Speaker 2: I think about this a lot. I think about it
Speaker 2: a lot because in our world we really try to
Speaker 2: put it, We try to put folks in a box.
Speaker 2: And like you said, it is a it is a
Speaker 2: rare combination to you know, love building business and you know,
Speaker 2: be be okay at it and also uh creating and
Speaker 2: being an artist. And so I love having the opportunity
Speaker 2: to inspire, and I believe for me that comes from
Speaker 2: both business and art. So my brain goes to scaling
Speaker 2: quite often. And also I'm in as as a New
Speaker 2: Yorker who I'm just so inspired by life. So whenever
Speaker 2: inspiration for me, it sparks equally on both sides when
Speaker 2: it comes to business and when it comes to when
Speaker 2: it comes to art. So again, this was like a
Speaker 2: divine timing for me, this this role here with Kickstarter
Speaker 2: opening up, because I'm constantly in creative conversation with amazing
Speaker 2: filmmakers who are going to make their work no matter what.
Speaker 2: That inspires me as an artist and also inspires me
Speaker 2: on the business front because I'm just so driven to
Speaker 2: ensure that they are successful.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure you've a great perch to see a
Speaker 1: lot of different strategies at going at it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so many strategies, And my brain then goes to, like,
Speaker 2: how can we codify all of this? So a lot
Speaker 2: of these, you know, really important and the questions that
Speaker 2: you're asking about the process and the how that folks
Speaker 2: just know, Oh, I'm just I'm gonna run that Kickstarter.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna run the kickstarter campaign. It makes a lot
Speaker 2: of sense.
Speaker 1: What in your experience has made for a really successful
Speaker 1: Kickstarter campaign? What does a filmmaker an artist have to
Speaker 1: bring the table to really resonate, especially if they're not,
Speaker 1: you know, already kind of a boldface name, but they're
Speaker 1: coming up.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So, folks who do have a community and audience,
Speaker 2: a fan base, our platform is really primed for them
Speaker 2: to succeed. Absolutely, and also for emerging talent that is
Speaker 2: trying to get out there. We have, as I shared,
Speaker 2: the twenty million plus backers across our platform. We have
Speaker 2: the resources and tools to tell them how to run
Speaker 2: a very successful campaign and then the infrastructure to support
Speaker 2: them with engaging their community. And so you know, what
Speaker 2: you really need is I think the confidence and the
Speaker 2: drive to do it no matter what for emerging talent,
Speaker 2: and they've seen a ton of success in launching their
Speaker 2: careers on the platform along with established folks. If you
Speaker 2: already have that built in base, you can expect to
Speaker 2: see them show up for you utilizing our platform. A
Speaker 2: really great example is Critical Role. They had a really
Speaker 2: great online presence. They wanted to make an animated film
Speaker 2: and they did the Legend of Ox Machina, which ended
Speaker 2: up making its way to Amazon Prime. They raised eleven
Speaker 2: point three million with eighty eight thousand, almost eighty nine
Speaker 2: thousand backers coming to support them. And so that's a
Speaker 2: real testament to fostering community and audience and then you
Speaker 2: know your our platform is trusted, you're able to bring
Speaker 2: them over to us. Last thing I'll say is for
Speaker 2: emerging talent. You know, we live in this world of
Speaker 2: social media, and you know, everybody, everybody as a million followers.
Speaker 1: And everybody lives every second of their lives on social media.
Speaker 2: It seems yes, and I think the I think folks
Speaker 2: are moving away from that. That's another conversation. But you know,
Speaker 2: really you don't need a million followers. You need one
Speaker 2: thousand people who get your work and want to support
Speaker 2: it and who will back you with that with the
Speaker 2: knowledge of like I supply this person's work is meaningful
Speaker 2: to me. And I think when we break down the numbers,
Speaker 2: it's so intimidating to It can be so intimidating to
Speaker 2: launch any type of campaign of funding, you know, not
Speaker 2: just just crowdfunding. It's really important that artists understand that
Speaker 2: one person at a time, you know, one backroun at
Speaker 2: a time, you can you can do it, and so
Speaker 2: I'm We're excited to continue to engage emerging filmmakers and
Speaker 2: support them on that journey.
Speaker 1: Taylor, you're about to hit the festival, search it all.
Speaker 1: We both know these are very uncertain times for the
Speaker 1: film business. What are you out there looking for? What
Speaker 1: green shoots? What? What are you hoping to find as
Speaker 1: you go around the country and talk to people.
Speaker 2: We'll be at south By Southwest next We're presenting a
Speaker 2: sponsor for their Film and TV Awards, and we're also
Speaker 2: hosting a dinner with the narrative feature filmmakers across the board.
Speaker 2: What we're looking for at Tribeca this year, at other
Speaker 2: you know, festivals and opportunities that we have to meet
Speaker 2: with filmmakers. We are looking for people who are ready
Speaker 2: to go now, and we're also looking to connect with
Speaker 2: industry partners who also want to support independent filmmaking because now,
Speaker 2: now is the time, The opportunity is now, and we
Speaker 2: can't wait for that green light.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. Be sure to leave us a review
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