1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:13,000
Speaker 1: M Welcome to strictly Business Varieties, weekly podcasts featuring conversations

2
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,280
Speaker 1: with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment.

3
00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:21,400
Speaker 1: I'm Cynthia Littleton, co editor in chief of Variety. Today,

4
00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,600
Speaker 1: my guests are a big departure from this podcast usual

5
00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,920
Speaker 1: format of one on one conversations focused on how the

6
00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:32,440
Speaker 1: global content industry is changing right underneath our feet today.

7
00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:36,080
Speaker 1: My guests are a random sampling of young America teens

8
00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,479
Speaker 1: and young twentysomethings who gathered in Anaheim, California, in June

9
00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,400
Speaker 1: for four days of vid Con. VidCon is a convention

10
00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,239
Speaker 1: that brings fans together with Internet personalities. At first it

11
00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:54,240
Speaker 1: was all YouTubers, but nowadays it includes buzzy stars from TikTok, Instagram, Twitch,

12
00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,600
Speaker 1: and more. It's a bit like walking through a social

13
00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,800
Speaker 1: media feed come to life. There were lumps of people

14
00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:05,000
Speaker 1: in various corners of the Anaheim Convention Center obsessing over

15
00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:09,200
Speaker 1: names and franchises and platforms I had barely heard of.

16
00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,680
Speaker 1: I had a hunch going in that these would probably

17
00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,160
Speaker 1: be the most important conversations I have all year in

18
00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,399
Speaker 1: terms of getting insights into where entertainment is headed. I

19
00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,280
Speaker 1: was not disappointed. It's a given that this generation and

20
00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,640
Speaker 1: even their older siblings no longer watch old fashioned TV.

21
00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,880
Speaker 1: I wanted to hear directly from some of the most

22
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,080
Speaker 1: rapid consumers of this emerging form of content that fuels

23
00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,959
Speaker 1: the YouTube social media machine. I wanted to learn more

24
00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:43,600
Speaker 1: about how TikTok at all have supplanted TV viewing for

25
00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,920
Speaker 1: the generation that has never known a world without smartphones.

26
00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,800
Speaker 1: Do they watch in primetime hours, how do they discover

27
00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:55,320
Speaker 1: new personalities? How do they navigate their social feeds? I

28
00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:59,040
Speaker 1: ventured into vidcom as a journalist, but before long I

29
00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,400
Speaker 1: started to feel like Margaret Mead as I realized the

30
00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,640
Speaker 1: depth of all that I do not know about this world.

31
00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:10,880
Speaker 1: I spoke with ten randomly chosen small clusters of vidcan attendees.

32
00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,520
Speaker 1: It's not a scientific sample by any means, but it

33
00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:20,520
Speaker 1: is nevertheless enlightening. Each group was devoted to their own, custom, tailored,

34
00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:25,320
Speaker 1: esoteric slice of fandom. One thing that Hollywood really needs

35
00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,600
Speaker 1: to know that was consistent across each of the groups

36
00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,359
Speaker 1: that I spoke with. Most of what they stand deeply

37
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,720
Speaker 1: is produced and monetized utterly outside of the mainstream entertainment

38
00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,680
Speaker 1: giants that dominate traditional TV and film. This is a

39
00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,519
Speaker 1: world of fans who actively support the creators, and yes,

40
00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:49,519
Speaker 1: that is what they are broadly called creators through merchandise

41
00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,960
Speaker 1: and direct subscription sales. Of course, the people I spoke

42
00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,679
Speaker 1: with on June are by definition the kind of hardcore

43
00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,960
Speaker 1: enthusiasts who will spend real money to attend an event

44
00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:04,760
Speaker 1: like Vidcom. But these are the people who are increasingly

45
00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,760
Speaker 1: driving the entertainment economy. These are the built in fans

46
00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,960
Speaker 1: who reliably show up for franchises they love. They lined

47
00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,239
Speaker 1: up outdoors by the hundreds in eighty five degree Anaheim

48
00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:20,520
Speaker 1: heat for a handshake and photo op with their heroes.

49
00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,960
Speaker 1: As you'll hear, it's important at this juncture for Hollywood

50
00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:29,520
Speaker 1: to understand that this rising consumer cohort expects to have

51
00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,400
Speaker 1: a very different kind of relationship with the creators they

52
00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,320
Speaker 1: embrace and Hollywood has known in the past. I was

53
00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,400
Speaker 1: blown away by what I learned by going directly to

54
00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,520
Speaker 1: the source. I hope you'll find it illuminating to hear

55
00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,720
Speaker 1: directly from the next generation of consumers. Here's a sample

56
00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,240
Speaker 1: from Jamie, an eighteen year old from the Minneapolis area.

57
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,480
Speaker 1: She explained the difference between spending time on TikTok and

58
00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,120
Speaker 1: watching a TV show that she loves. With TV, know,

59
00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,720
Speaker 1: you turn on a show and you like it, and

60
00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:04,680
Speaker 1: maybe by the end of that they like you find

61
00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:08,560
Speaker 1: yourself falling asleep. With TikTok, it's definitely different because you

62
00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,360
Speaker 1: just you scroll and scroll and scroll. The next thing

63
00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:13,800
Speaker 1: you know, it's like three am and you're still up

64
00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,880
Speaker 1: watching TikTok. More Pearls of Wisdom from vid Con are

65
00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:28,560
Speaker 1: coming up right after this break, and we're back with

66
00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:33,760
Speaker 1: strictly business on the ground at vid Can. The first

67
00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,599
Speaker 1: thing I realized while scrolling around is that with the

68
00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:41,400
Speaker 1: vid Con demo, everybody's a creator. That's important to understanding

69
00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,640
Speaker 1: the ethos. There were a number of events and panels

70
00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,400
Speaker 1: that featured personalities gushing about how one minute they were

71
00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,279
Speaker 1: a super fan and the next minute they're gaining followers

72
00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,719
Speaker 1: on their own. Naturally, it didn't take long before I

73
00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,680
Speaker 1: ran into a creator. Dave, a twenty two year old

74
00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,440
Speaker 1: gamer who goes by Critzy on Twitch and other platforms.

75
00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:08,919
Speaker 1: That's k r t z Why Why. As of June,

76
00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:13,000
Speaker 1: he has about a hundred and one thousand followers on Twitch.

77
00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:15,719
Speaker 1: I asked him point blank how he makes a living.

78
00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,120
Speaker 1: Um My, My money's kind of comes from a lot

79
00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,120
Speaker 1: of sources, but one of the main things is, UM,

80
00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,800
Speaker 1: I got signed to a gaming organization called space Station

81
00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,720
Speaker 1: and we're in the Jersey now, and uh, basically I

82
00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,440
Speaker 1: repped their organ like we're in a Jersey. I had

83
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:31,440
Speaker 1: that in my bio and stuff, and they pay me

84
00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,480
Speaker 1: a salary, you know, to like promote them because they

85
00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,239
Speaker 1: also do gaming events and tournaments and they sell clothes.

86
00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,400
Speaker 1: So I kind of am just like a big billboard

87
00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:41,240
Speaker 1: for them and they pay me and then the rest

88
00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:43,480
Speaker 1: is kind of through Twitch merch sales stuff like that.

89
00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:45,760
Speaker 1: But let me ask you, how did you get to

90
00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:47,760
Speaker 1: that point? What what allowed you to get to the

91
00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,360
Speaker 1: point that somebody wanted to pay you to wear their teacher. Um.

92
00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,520
Speaker 1: I just was really passionate about gaming, and I guess

93
00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:56,240
Speaker 1: I was pretty good at it, so people wanted to

94
00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,599
Speaker 1: watch and um once I got a decent following, then

95
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,200
Speaker 1: kind of when I got on people's radars like space Station,

96
00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,640
Speaker 1: I asked a number of viscomgoers about what it is

97
00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:09,800
Speaker 1: that makes them respond to certain creators. Me. I have

98
00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:14,040
Speaker 1: fundamentally don't understand the appeal of watching other people play

99
00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:18,400
Speaker 1: video games, like Minecraft online, but millions of people do.

100
00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,920
Speaker 1: The kind folks who stopped to talk to me were

101
00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,560
Speaker 1: tour guides into a new form of entertainment. I did

102
00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:30,200
Speaker 1: some interviews against the backdrop of squeals for Star Minecraft

103
00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,120
Speaker 1: player Wilbur Soot, a snarky young brit who has four

104
00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:45,560
Speaker 1: point five million followers on Twitch A samples at all.

105
00:06:46,480 --> 00:07:03,760
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say any crazy guys, bions, fiers, what Wander

106
00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:19,080
Speaker 1: said me find myself why. Here are some observations about

107
00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,240
Speaker 1: the nature of internet fandom from Casper, a thirteen year

108
00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:27,200
Speaker 1: old from Los Angeles, and an almost seventeen year old

109
00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:32,240
Speaker 1: from Sherman Oaks, who identified themselves as Poppy System, but

110
00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:36,080
Speaker 1: I go by Pam Star. Those two are followed by Heather,

111
00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,120
Speaker 1: a nineteen year old from Central Oregon. There are a

112
00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:41,320
Speaker 1: few that I've been watching since I was really little,

113
00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,920
Speaker 1: like um Dante Damn is the biggest one that has

114
00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:48,760
Speaker 1: been like a big part of me, like growing up,

115
00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,120
Speaker 1: and I don't know, it's always been sort of It's

116
00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,880
Speaker 1: nice to watch people just having fun, and especially if

117
00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,920
Speaker 1: you're going through a rough time, it's good to have something, yeah,

118
00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,400
Speaker 1: something to distract you or put your mind into a

119
00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,960
Speaker 1: happier place. It's really really amazing to see that there's

120
00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,560
Speaker 1: a whole community. Sometimes you can feel so lone and

121
00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:16,040
Speaker 1: so different and completely like nowhere because of Minecraft. You

122
00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:21,040
Speaker 1: start out nobody else, just you. But on YouTube it

123
00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,040
Speaker 1: kind of for me especially, it opened up a way

124
00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,800
Speaker 1: to connect with other people and see what they're doing

125
00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:32,079
Speaker 1: and giving the inspiration and basically telling you to keep

126
00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:35,200
Speaker 1: going when times get rough. Because I really look for

127
00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,960
Speaker 1: somebody who's really kind to their fans, somebody who try

128
00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,480
Speaker 1: to send body just more of a hind person because

129
00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,320
Speaker 1: I see a lot of people being really roof um

130
00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:51,760
Speaker 1: in media nowadays, but um, also somebody that's humorous. I

131
00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:55,760
Speaker 1: really like somebody who doesn't take themselves too seriously. I

132
00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,360
Speaker 1: ask people to contrast the experience of watching TV with

133
00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:03,760
Speaker 1: following creator on social media. I was pleasantly surprised at

134
00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,160
Speaker 1: how many of them took the question seriously. Here are

135
00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:11,319
Speaker 1: responses from Brin, a nineteen year old from southern California,

136
00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,959
Speaker 1: and Daniel, a sixteen year old from Central Oregon. Why

137
00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:19,120
Speaker 1: would you compare the experience of loving a creator following

138
00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:23,000
Speaker 1: a creator versus a TV show that you might have loved.

139
00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,600
Speaker 1: How is the experience the same, and how is it different.

140
00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:27,960
Speaker 1: I feel like it's very much the same, like how

141
00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:30,480
Speaker 1: you do. I don't know, like absorbed that kind of

142
00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:33,480
Speaker 1: like content and stuff. But I think it's different Whereas

143
00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,880
Speaker 1: like you're watching these like creators like put their own

144
00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,200
Speaker 1: personality and their own person like that they want to

145
00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,840
Speaker 1: be to portray themselves as Whereas if you're watching a

146
00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,439
Speaker 1: TV show, then you would be like watching and an

147
00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,400
Speaker 1: actor a character like someone else. So I think it's

148
00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,440
Speaker 1: like easier to fall in love with like who that

149
00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,880
Speaker 1: person actually is and just like what they have to

150
00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,680
Speaker 1: bring to the world. I think that's really cool. I

151
00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,760
Speaker 1: really like that I can see the actual person and

152
00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:04,800
Speaker 1: what who they are as a person instead of a

153
00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:07,680
Speaker 1: character that's written by someone else that they have to

154
00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:11,800
Speaker 1: act out. The strong sense of community that successful creators

155
00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:16,000
Speaker 1: foster around their fan bases is crucial to understanding their appeal.

156
00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,640
Speaker 1: It's heartening to see that young people who seem to

157
00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:23,880
Speaker 1: spend so much time online do greatly value opportunities to

158
00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,360
Speaker 1: meet their heroes and connect with like minded fans I

159
00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:32,320
Speaker 1: r L. The dynamic here is explained by Khalia, a

160
00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:36,120
Speaker 1: nineteen year old from Colorado who came in full causeplay

161
00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:40,080
Speaker 1: as Twitch streamer Tubo, and that included a touch of

162
00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:44,440
Speaker 1: prosthetic makeup on her cheek to indicate a gash. I

163
00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,880
Speaker 1: think once you get invested in it, you're like, I

164
00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:52,439
Speaker 1: don't know, it becomes like just a really big community

165
00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:54,440
Speaker 1: because then you find other people through it, like other

166
00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:56,800
Speaker 1: people that watch the same stuff, and then you find

167
00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:59,840
Speaker 1: like your best friends, and then I don't know, yeah,

168
00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:01,600
Speaker 1: and then you want to meet the people that made

169
00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:03,760
Speaker 1: this stuff because they made you happy. So you're like,

170
00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:06,360
Speaker 1: let me tell you that you made me happy. So

171
00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:11,120
Speaker 1: for the artist, all of this affection also drives merchandise sales,

172
00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:15,640
Speaker 1: but creators have to earn those dollars, as explained here

173
00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:20,000
Speaker 1: by Heather, followed by Jamie, followed by nineteen year old

174
00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,000
Speaker 1: Andrew from Las Vegas. I think it also depends on

175
00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,840
Speaker 1: the person how much I want to support that person. Uh.

176
00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:28,599
Speaker 1: Some people all support their music, but I don't necessarily

177
00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:30,640
Speaker 1: support them as a person. So I'm not going to

178
00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,160
Speaker 1: go out and buy like their merch or their fragrances

179
00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,400
Speaker 1: or clothing line. Um, But for the people I really enjoyed,

180
00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,320
Speaker 1: I recently spent like over a hundred dollars on merch

181
00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,160
Speaker 1: with for one of my favorite creators. And you know,

182
00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:46,000
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, like it's worth it,

183
00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,080
Speaker 1: because like aren't you're not only like supporting your favorite creator,

184
00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:50,640
Speaker 1: but like now you've got like a cool T shirt

185
00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,520
Speaker 1: you can wear, because like that's a whole second form

186
00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:57,720
Speaker 1: of income for them. So this helps them create more content,

187
00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:01,880
Speaker 1: upgrade their setups. Um, in turn, we get better videos

188
00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:08,640
Speaker 1: of return. Don't even think about swiping away. Will be

189
00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:19,280
Speaker 1: right back with more strictly business after this break, And

190
00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:23,160
Speaker 1: we're back with more strictly business live on the ground

191
00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:29,280
Speaker 1: at vid Kom. Another question I asked everyone, how do

192
00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:33,880
Speaker 1: you discover new creators? It's all about that algorithm, as

193
00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:38,760
Speaker 1: explained by twenty two year old creator Dave, followed by Emma,

194
00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:42,760
Speaker 1: an eighteen year old from the Minneapolis area, followed by

195
00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,880
Speaker 1: Dave's friend Candy, who is also twenty two. Um, well,

196
00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:49,760
Speaker 1: I think nowadays like social media is just like you know,

197
00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:53,480
Speaker 1: a very glorified what word of mouth, So it's I

198
00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,440
Speaker 1: find things just through other people sharing things. And that's

199
00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:58,520
Speaker 1: what I really like about the Internet is, uh, it's

200
00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,920
Speaker 1: a lot of cooling entertainment comes up, like in a

201
00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:06,000
Speaker 1: non corporate setting where it's very organic and genuinely entertaining,

202
00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,920
Speaker 1: where I think an older media you had to you know,

203
00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:11,800
Speaker 1: be big in corporate and have advertising money. So yeah,

204
00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,800
Speaker 1: I find everything through social media and just hearing what

205
00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,360
Speaker 1: people are talking about. I think you just see like

206
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,960
Speaker 1: one video or like one compilation of them, and you

207
00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,720
Speaker 1: just you find them. They're like their profiles, and you

208
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,560
Speaker 1: go from there and like a like a domino effect

209
00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:30,719
Speaker 1: kind of you see one thing, you go to more

210
00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,760
Speaker 1: and more and more. Yeah, then you end up here.

211
00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,640
Speaker 1: I also find a lot of people through word of mouth,

212
00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:38,880
Speaker 1: like online, I'll get friends at dm me about like, oh,

213
00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,240
Speaker 1: look at this person's stream. They're so cool with this video.

214
00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:43,520
Speaker 1: It's blowing up right now, and stuff like that. And

215
00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,760
Speaker 1: also just like randomly deep diving because like the algorithm

216
00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,360
Speaker 1: for like YouTube ands, which both are very in a

217
00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,120
Speaker 1: way able to push out new things and new content

218
00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:57,520
Speaker 1: for people. The vidcom experience was stocked with branding and

219
00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:03,200
Speaker 1: messaging from next generation media company these like Amazon, Prime Video, Spotify,

220
00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,880
Speaker 1: and TikTok, and there was a notable presence of digital

221
00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,000
Speaker 1: tech and VFX firms that cater to the d I

222
00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,160
Speaker 1: Y spirit of social media creators. And the tools they

223
00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,480
Speaker 1: need to create their content. As all of this was

224
00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:20,480
Speaker 1: happening in Anaheim, California, I couldn't help but think about

225
00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,640
Speaker 1: all of this activity unfolding in the shadow of the

226
00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:28,920
Speaker 1: cathedral built to savvy media franchise management Disneyland, and I

227
00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,440
Speaker 1: couldn't help but be struck by the relative absence of

228
00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,400
Speaker 1: mainstream media companies connected to the properties making the biggest

229
00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,560
Speaker 1: noise at the show. With this in mind, I asked

230
00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:42,240
Speaker 1: attendees for their perceptions of what I described as old

231
00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:48,280
Speaker 1: fashioned TV. The range of responses was interesting and hardly uniform.

232
00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:52,200
Speaker 1: Big media listen up, and that includes Paramount Global, which

233
00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:57,520
Speaker 1: owns vitkom. Here we'll hear from Dave, followed by Khalia,

234
00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:03,200
Speaker 1: followed by Casper, follow by Casper's friend Poppy or Pam,

235
00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,120
Speaker 1: and I must add that they were decked out in

236
00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:11,240
Speaker 1: cosplay as Dreamslayer from Hermit Craft. As it was explained

237
00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:15,600
Speaker 1: to me, um well, I definitely watched movies. Yeah, yeah, well,

238
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:17,680
Speaker 1: I watched movies and stuff, but even growing up, I

239
00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,520
Speaker 1: wasn't big into like cable. I was on YouTube growing up.

240
00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:22,640
Speaker 1: Like That's why I be a Game of Creators, Because

241
00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,800
Speaker 1: I grew up watching Creators because I don't know there

242
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:27,760
Speaker 1: you know, I was a gamer and that wasn't like

243
00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:29,920
Speaker 1: really big in school. So I love watching these like

244
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,160
Speaker 1: super popular cool guys playing games just like me. And um,

245
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:35,000
Speaker 1: so yeah, I know I kind of I only only

246
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,400
Speaker 1: watched movies and I don't really watch TV. My favorite

247
00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:41,040
Speaker 1: stuff to watch right now is Criminal Minds. I've watched

248
00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,400
Speaker 1: all fifteen seasons. I'm watching them all again, like there's

249
00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:46,720
Speaker 1: and then like you know, obviously on Netflix, you five

250
00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:50,880
Speaker 1: all your favorite shows, like yeah, so I'm invested in

251
00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:53,240
Speaker 1: that as well as you know, all the normal stuff

252
00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:58,360
Speaker 1: that everyone else is into. So yeah, yeah, I definitely

253
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,960
Speaker 1: I watched the the show. I just got like really

254
00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:07,320
Speaker 1: into his Gotham. Um. I finished Shameless I'm doing I'm

255
00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:12,960
Speaker 1: watching The Walking Dead. Um. I I definitely watched that

256
00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:18,240
Speaker 1: actual TV too. All I do too. I lean. I've

257
00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,560
Speaker 1: been leaning away from cable because there's not a lot

258
00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:22,640
Speaker 1: of stuff that I want to watch on cable except

259
00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,720
Speaker 1: for like news. But I've been getting into more of

260
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:30,120
Speaker 1: cartoony stuff like Gravity Falls. This is like my seventh

261
00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:34,480
Speaker 1: year watching it, which is crazy because that's how Casper

262
00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:39,040
Speaker 1: and I met watching Gravity Falls. Um, and like recently,

263
00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,640
Speaker 1: I've gotten into BBC ghosts and stuff like that. I

264
00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:46,960
Speaker 1: don't really go on the TV much anymore, just because

265
00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,200
Speaker 1: I don't really see a point to it. I mean,

266
00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,120
Speaker 1: I guess like a lot more on like I don't

267
00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,640
Speaker 1: know Netflix. I'm not really like cable as much as

268
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:55,920
Speaker 1: when I was like a kid, but like, yeah, more

269
00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,920
Speaker 1: streaming services now, so it's mostly like Netflix too, little

270
00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,240
Speaker 1: stuff like uh, Disney US. If there's one thing I

271
00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,880
Speaker 1: took away from Vidcom, it was that this is an

272
00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:11,199
Speaker 1: entirely different entertainment experience than we have seen before. It

273
00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,240
Speaker 1: can become all consuming in ways that can be unhealthy.

274
00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:19,479
Speaker 1: People acknowledged and Khaliah, who went all in on her cosplay,

275
00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,600
Speaker 1: it was quick to offer a reality check for those

276
00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,800
Speaker 1: who think that everyone will one day make a living

277
00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,399
Speaker 1: as a YouTube star, keeping that separation of, you know,

278
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,720
Speaker 1: your time spent enjoying something and then actually doing things

279
00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,160
Speaker 1: in real life, Like we still got to go to school,

280
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,760
Speaker 1: we still got to have jobs. Sorry that watching the

281
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:42,359
Speaker 1: videos doesn't pay for everything, Yeah, that's important. My trip

282
00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,800
Speaker 1: to Vidcom taught me a lot about how entertainment experiences

283
00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,280
Speaker 1: are changing. It also gave me a real glimpse into

284
00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:53,720
Speaker 1: Generation z Z. As any reporter knows, when you approach

285
00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:57,280
Speaker 1: people cold for person on the street reporting, at least

286
00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,520
Speaker 1: of those people are going to be host if not nasty,

287
00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:06,240
Speaker 1: about the fourth estate. Not this group. With my podcast

288
00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:10,359
Speaker 1: microphone and recorder in hand. Every cluster of attendees I approached,

289
00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,200
Speaker 1: we're downright eager to chat in depth with me about

290
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:18,800
Speaker 1: their media consumption habits. I'm grateful and I really hope

291
00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:22,359
Speaker 1: that these contributors and other bid con attendees will become

292
00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:27,919
Speaker 1: regular consumers of Variety and listeners of Strictly Business. Thanks

293
00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,760
Speaker 1: for listening to what is, for me a very special

294
00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:34,440
Speaker 1: episode of Strictly Business. Please leave us a review at

295
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,560
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts. We love to hear from listeners. Please go

296
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,919
Speaker 1: to Variety dot com and sign up for our free newsletter,

297
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,040
Speaker 1: and as always, don't forget to tune in next week

298
00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:48,720
Speaker 1: for another episode of Strictly Business