1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Our Way with yours truly paul Anka and my buddy 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:13,120 Speaker 1: Skip Bronson is a production of iHeartRadio. Hi, folks, this 3 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: is Paul Anka. 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 2: And my name is Skip Bronson. We've been friends for 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 2: decades and we've decided to let you in on our 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 2: late night phone calls by starting a new podcast. 7 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: And welcome to Our Way. We'd like you to meet 8 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: some real good friends of ours. 9 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 2: Your leaders in entertainment and. 10 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: Sports, innovators in business and technology, and even a sitting 11 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: president or two. 12 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 2: Join us as we asked the questions they've not been 13 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,480 Speaker 2: asked before, Tell it like it is, and even sing 14 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 2: a song or two. 15 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: This is our podcast and we'll be doing it our way. 16 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,520 Speaker 3: Avatar was a marriage made in heaven. In twenty ten, 17 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 3: Jim Cameron called me over to the old Spruce Goose 18 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 3: where he was using that facility to make it, and 19 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 3: he showed me like seven minutes of Avatar and the 20 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,959 Speaker 3: way it used three D and the way it the 21 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 3: images popped the colors. I actually called my office and 22 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 3: I said, you know, I couldn't have envisioned something looking 23 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 3: this good in our format. 24 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 4: Hello, Hey, hey, Glad I got you. I'm glad I 25 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 4: got me too. 26 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 5: I was trying to find you earlier. I was going 27 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 5: to have, you know, a little problem. But I missed 28 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 5: one day of talking to you. 29 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 4: Well you got to be able to be conditioned to 30 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 4: miss me for one day, darling. But I was sitting 31 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 4: outside the heats unbelievable. 32 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 6: Oh my god. 33 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 4: I finally got a chance to get outside and sit 34 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 4: in the heat. And I'm working on my Broadway place 35 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 4: and just kind of relaxed after that tour and everything. 36 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 6: But your buddy's coming in. Huh. Yeah, Rich Gelfon. 37 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 5: Rich is a good friend, and you know he's the 38 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,519 Speaker 5: CEO of IMAX. He knows so much about the movie industry, 39 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 5: not just the display of movies, but he goes right 40 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 5: to the core where he works with producers right from 41 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:22,680 Speaker 5: the beginning. You know, he's not a guy that just 42 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 5: all of a sudden they hand them in the film 43 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 5: say here it is. 44 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 6: I mean, he's highly involved in fact. 45 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 5: You know, when Oppenheimer won the Academy Award, Chris Nolan, 46 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 5: the director, you know, gave a shout out to Rich, 47 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 5: which was really cool. 48 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 6: You know, they're reading up on him. It's quite the 49 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 6: success story. Yeah. 50 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,399 Speaker 5: Well, you know, this whole thing with Imax is it's immersive. 51 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 5: You're not just watching something on a flat screen. It's 52 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 5: all around you. The sound is all around you, you know, 53 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 5: the video is all around you. And there isn't a 54 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 5: bad seat. So like the Bond films for example, you know, 55 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 5: I mean it's not built for romantic comedies, but you 56 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 5: know action films, it's definitely next level. 57 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 4: Well, the Taylor Swift alone, I mean, yeah, how about 58 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 4: that that eras whoever thought that you could pull that off? 59 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 4: I mean, you know, it was quite amazing. 60 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 6: I'll have to. 61 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 5: Tell you when he told mutual friends of ours that 62 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 5: show remain name was because they were wrong and they 63 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 5: won't want to be called out on it. But yeah, 64 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 5: you said he was going to do Taylor Swift's Errors tour, 65 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,639 Speaker 5: put it in the Imax theater. There were a lot 66 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 5: of people that said, we do you kidding? People aren't 67 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 5: going to want to do. 68 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 4: That, and it was a huge Yeah, well, you know 69 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 4: the movie business. I'm going to quote him when I 70 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 4: talked to him, because it lived with me for a while. 71 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 4: But William Goldman, who was the great writers of all time, 72 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 4: you know, his great line was nobody knows here in 73 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 4: Hollywood line was nobody knows, and you know most of 74 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 4: them don't. They just copy each other. And it's not 75 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 4: even a business anymore in the movie business, like American airlines. 76 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 6: But I have to tell you, you know, we screened 77 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 6: movies at our house. 78 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 5: Yeah, and now, I mean, the percentage of really good 79 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 5: movies that I would feel comfortable recommending to you or 80 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 5: any other friend is so small, because I mean, we'll 81 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 5: watch ten films, feature films that have just come out 82 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,159 Speaker 5: in the theater, and I'm lucky if there are three 83 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 5: out of ten that I could say to you, Hey, 84 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:20,679 Speaker 5: you should really watch this film. 85 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,280 Speaker 6: It's tough, and most of them are just too long. 86 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 5: I mean, I can't tell how many times we watch 87 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 5: a film in our house and the people will say, 88 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 5: I could have cut a half hour out of that, 89 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:32,799 Speaker 5: and it could have been so much better. 90 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 4: I think the only film, because I judge a film 91 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 4: by that I look at it. The only film I 92 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:42,679 Speaker 4: couldn't cut a flame out of Raging Bull. Yeah, of course, 93 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 4: that's a char masterpiece, Raging Bull. You know, when you 94 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 4: look back both of us and say, what was the 95 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:54,160 Speaker 4: greatest film you saw, You're gonna waiver. You know, you're 96 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 4: going to go from Lawrence of Arabia to the Godfather 97 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 4: to you know, that's the beauty. And it'll be interesting 98 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:06,799 Speaker 4: to see what his take is on great films because 99 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 4: when you watch them a second and third and fourth time, well, 100 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 4: you discover something new every time you watch it that 101 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:15,480 Speaker 4: you've missed, and. 102 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 6: You know, the technology is advancing, yeah, so much. 103 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 5: I mean even the very first time I went to 104 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 5: an Imax theater, I thought it was you know, it 105 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 5: was really cool and it was interesting. But now I 106 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 5: saw one of the films in the Imax theater and 107 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 5: it's just next level. I mean it's like, you know, 108 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 5: like everything else with technology, it just grows. And something 109 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 5: that looked amazing, you know ten years ago, today you 110 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:43,600 Speaker 5: would even pay attention to it. But what they've done 111 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 5: because a lot of these films, don't forget they're being 112 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 5: shot with Imax cameras. They're going to be seen in 113 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 5: conventional theaters, but they're really playing to you know, to 114 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,160 Speaker 5: the audience that's going to experience it in an Imax. 115 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,919 Speaker 4: I'm gonna ask them about AI because we all know 116 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,480 Speaker 4: it's changing everything. I'm just gonna ask him about AI 117 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 4: and see what his take is. 118 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 6: Yeah, you're gonna like him. 119 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 5: He's a good friend, and he's funny, and he's fun 120 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 5: and he's smart and works hard. You know, he's one 121 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,039 Speaker 5: of the darlings of CNBC. They love having him on 122 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 5: the squawk Box early in the morning on CNBC. That's 123 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 5: something you would never see, of course, unless you recorded it, 124 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 5: because it's not at a. 125 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,840 Speaker 4: Time that thanks, you'd be surprised what I watch him 126 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 4: when I get up, you're just rolling over it. 127 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: Then no, no, no, no no. 128 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 4: If I'm rolling over with somebody with me, no no, 129 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:35,280 Speaker 4: I get up. 130 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 6: You know, I do my homework and my. 131 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 4: Reading, but I get all my creating stuff done till 132 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 4: But you know, a lot of my friends I talked 133 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 4: to them at two three in the morning. Damn this thing. 134 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 4: I talked to sleep when two in the morning. I 135 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 4: talked to the Kimmel's two in the morning. I mean, 136 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 4: there's a lot of people, whether they admit it or not, 137 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 4: they don't go to sleep till two or three in 138 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 4: the morning, and they sleep till eleven because they have 139 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 4: the luxury to do so interesting. 140 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 6: But I talk myself into that one. 141 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean my wife, you know, working at Saturday 142 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 5: Night Life that's a nocturnal environment. You know they start writing, 143 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 5: the writers going in at like eight o'clock at night 144 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 5: and two in the morning. You know, they're sitting around 145 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 5: eat Chinese food, Chinese food at two in the morning 146 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 5: and comparing ideas and notes and whatever. And very often 147 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 5: we'll go to you know, sun up and still be 148 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 5: working there. So that's that's gets ingreened heat. He still 149 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 5: sort of lives actually a New York Times. You know, 150 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 5: we've been out in LA for twenty five years, so 151 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 5: we'll have rich On. 152 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 6: Yeah. 153 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 5: I can't wait till you meet him in person too. 154 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 5: It spends time out here from now and then. He's 155 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 5: the kind of guy you would really enjoy. Yeah, I'll 156 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 5: do that. Okay, take care all sleep while you're deciding 157 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 5: who you're going to talk to it to in the morning, 158 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:48,320 Speaker 5: I'm going to bed. 159 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 4: Well, I was thinking about you, but I guess that's 160 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 4: not gonna happen. 161 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 6: I'll talk to them wrong. Take care of it all right, by. 162 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 2: Thanks for doing this, I said. This is fun for 163 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 2: me because whenever we do one of these in Paul 164 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 2: or I have one of our friends. It just makes 165 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 2: it special for Paul, every special for me and having 166 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 2: you as a friend and being on a is great. 167 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 2: I'm happy to do it. But I was just going 168 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 2: to ask you know. I know that when you joined 169 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 2: Imax in nineteen ninety four, there were one hundred and 170 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 2: ten theaters in nineteen countries, and now you've got eighteen 171 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 2: hundred in almost ninety countries, and I just thought maybe 172 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 2: you would talk about how you first got involved with 173 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 2: Imax and then this evolution that's taken place. 174 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:40,200 Speaker 3: So I bought Imax as part of an LBO group 175 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 3: that I put together in nineteen ninety four. The story 176 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 3: skip is that I screwed up. I had a plan, 177 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 3: which is, well, IMAX does really well and institutions and 178 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 3: the movies do really well, so we'll just put it 179 00:08:55,000 --> 00:09:00,320 Speaker 3: in commercial multiplexes and we'll grow it, and what an 180 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,199 Speaker 3: easy way to make money and grow the business. Well, 181 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 3: it turned out it was really a chicken and egg issue. 182 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:11,680 Speaker 3: So you couldn't put Imax theaters in commercial multiplexes because 183 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:16,840 Speaker 3: they played documentary movies Bears, Wales and Seals. And you 184 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 3: couldn't make commercial movies because they were in institutions. So 185 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 3: you know, people weren't going to go see Air Force 186 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 3: one at the Natural Museum in New York. So the 187 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:34,679 Speaker 3: thing we really misunderstood was how hard it was going 188 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 3: to be to grow the network. And the other reason 189 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 3: it was going to be really difficult was because it 190 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 3: was a film world, it wasn't a digital world. And 191 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:48,559 Speaker 3: one print of one Imax movie cost thirty thousand, forty 192 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 3: thousand dollars at one theater, and one theater because they 193 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 3: were in institutions, not in multiplexes, cost three or four 194 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 3: maybe more maybe five million to build. So the economic 195 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 3: model to really blow it out was severely flawed. And 196 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 3: we see, you know, oh gee, we just spent one 197 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,959 Speaker 3: hundred million dollars buying this thing. You know, what were 198 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 3: you thinking? So we set out over a number of 199 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 3: years to re engineer the model. So we figured out 200 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 3: a way to make a lower cost theater and put 201 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 3: it in a commercial setting in multiplex as a lever 202 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,959 Speaker 3: off the infrastructure of the multiplex, and then we use 203 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 3: technology over time to figure out how to go from 204 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 3: analog to digital. So, just to give you in the 205 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 3: same set of facts, one print in one theater now 206 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 3: cost fifty dollars down from thirty to forty thousand, and 207 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 3: putting an IMAX theater in a multiplex now costs I 208 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 3: don't know. We do join ventures, so maybe it costs nothing. 209 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,079 Speaker 3: We may partner with somebody to do it. So we 210 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 3: developed a model that was much more workable, and it 211 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 3: kind of chugged along and did okay. The first breakthrough 212 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 3: on the film side was Roy Disney did a film 213 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 3: called Fantasia two thousand in the year two thousand and 214 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,760 Speaker 3: Disney released it only in Imax and it was a 215 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 3: huge success, and that spurred a lot of the commercial 216 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 3: exhibitors to build more theaters, and the more theaters created 217 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,840 Speaker 3: more demand for movies or others along the way. But 218 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 3: the biggest next one was in twenty ten, Jim Cameron 219 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 3: did Avatar one and at that time we had about 220 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 3: two hundred theaters in the world, and on those two 221 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:43,520 Speaker 3: hundred theaters, Imax did two hundred and fifty million dollars, 222 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 3: so we did over ten percent of the global box 223 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:51,959 Speaker 3: office in like a handful of theaters. So that really 224 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 3: accelerated the growth. Every exhibitor kind of started to look 225 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 3: at it and said, those numbers, I've never seen numbers 226 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 3: like that. We got to get Imax, and then a 227 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 3: lot of the studios said, you know, oh, my god, 228 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 3: those results are incredible. We got to get more imaxes, 229 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 3: so that supercharged our growth and led to where we 230 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 3: are today. In addition to the seventeen hundred plus, we've 231 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 3: got another four hundred and fifty and backlog, which means 232 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 3: they're signed and they're about to roll out. 233 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,439 Speaker 2: It's quite a growth pattern, quite a growth spurt. Paul, 234 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 2: of course, being a music icon, he'd be interested to 235 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 2: hear about what happened when you decided to make a 236 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 2: deal with Taylor Swift to Twitter aristour on IMAX. A 237 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 2: lot of people, even friends of ours, thought you were 238 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 2: nuts when you did that. You know, who's going to 239 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 2: go to a mood theater to watch a film of 240 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 2: Taylor Swift performing. But Paul, especially he and I were 241 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 2: talking about this before, is particularly intrigued by what you 242 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:49,079 Speaker 2: did there. 243 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 3: So to be clear, we were a part of it, 244 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 3: but the lead was done by AMC Theaters and Taylor 245 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:01,320 Speaker 3: was going to studios and looking for ways to do 246 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 3: the Erros tour, and as studios being studios, you know, 247 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 3: looked at it and said, okay, we'll take you know, 248 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 3: fifty percent of the action roughly, and we'll give fifty 249 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 3: percent of the action to the exhibitor and they could 250 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 3: sell concessions. So AMC went to the Swift family and 251 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 3: you probably know they're a close knit group and they 252 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:27,760 Speaker 3: don't use outside advisors, and said, well, what if the 253 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 3: exhibitors release it and we cut the studios out of 254 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,079 Speaker 3: their fifty percent. And it was a new model that 255 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 3: no one had really looked at before. And the person 256 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 3: at AMC Wallly was negotiating with the Swift family called 257 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 3: up me and others and said, would you be in 258 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 3: if you were part of the team that we were 259 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 3: kind of self distributing. So the economics for Taylor Swift 260 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 3: were unlike any economics anyone seen in a movie like that, 261 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 3: and it a lot of traction and became an incredible success, 262 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 3: and Paul, you would find this interesting. We proposed later, 263 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 3: you know, why not release it in China, and you know, 264 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 3: we have a very big presence in China, and the 265 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 3: Swift family kind of at first restrained and said, you know, 266 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 3: who's going to go to a Taylor Swift concert in China? 267 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 3: And we worked I think it was with Ali Baba, 268 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 3: and we helped get the government approvals and we got 269 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 3: it into China and it actually did, you know, much 270 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 3: better than we ever would have thought. And you know 271 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 3: that result in China has led us to where now 272 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 3: we're considering doing a lot of other music things in China. 273 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 3: And since you're interested in music obviously specifically, you know 274 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 3: this year we've done a Queen We took an old 275 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 3: Queen concert forty years old, and we repurposed it and 276 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 3: we released it United States and a few other countries, 277 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,120 Speaker 3: and we did five million dollars in one weekend a 278 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 3: forty year old concert. Disney Plus released The Beach Boys, 279 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 3: a documentary and it was premiered in Imax before that. 280 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 3: So Taylor, Swift and Beyonce, I think we're more than 281 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 3: just the concerts themselves, but I think they opened a 282 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 3: whole new area of business for us and Paul, whenever 283 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 3: you're ready, we're ready to go. 284 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: Richard. The old great quote of a great writer, William Goldman, 285 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: about Hollywood nobody knows anything. Was it hard to break 286 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: into the system of studios, directors, theaters that have been 287 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: evolving for years? How'd you persuade Hollywood to adapt to 288 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: your model? 289 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 3: Fantastic question. And the answer to the conclusion that I'll 290 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 3: back up is we couldn't, so we changed our model 291 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 3: to plug into the Hollywood model. And it's part of 292 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 3: the the answer the first question Skip asked me so 293 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 3: related to that. My partner at the time went up 294 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 3: to Steven Spielberg and said, would you make a movie 295 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 3: for Imax? And it's probably twenty or twenty five years ago, 296 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 3: and Spielberg said, when you get up to one thousand screens, 297 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 3: you'll give me a phone call. And you know, by 298 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 3: the way, at the time, we laughed, thinking there was 299 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 3: no way we'd ever get to a thousand screens, that 300 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 3: that was not really possible, but we made it just 301 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 3: much more plug and play. So directors weren't going to 302 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 3: film everything with Imax cameras, which you had to do 303 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 3: at that time, so we figured out a way to 304 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 3: convert thirty five millimeter images into Imax cameras. So instead 305 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 3: of having to make one hundred or more million dollar movie, 306 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 3: we could take a Hollywood movie you'll like Avatar or 307 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 3: our first Hollywood movies were really the Matrix ones at 308 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 3: that time, and for not a lot of money converted 309 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 3: into Imax. And again on the theater side, instead of 310 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:00,720 Speaker 3: saying you got to build a separate building and you've 311 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 3: got to hire a separate staff. We figured out how 312 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:07,680 Speaker 3: to fit into the multiplex. Unfortunately I hadn't read that 313 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 3: quote at that time, so I wasted a lot of 314 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 3: time trying to convince them to get into the Imax business. 315 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 3: And it really was a lot of feudal years because 316 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,679 Speaker 3: that just was never going to happen. So once we 317 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,960 Speaker 3: figured out we had to change our model to get 318 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 3: into their business, that was really the breakthrough point for us. 319 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,600 Speaker 3: Can you talk about your involvement in Oppenheimer? 320 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 2: I can't tell you that. When Chris Nolan got the 321 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 2: Academy Award and he gave you a shout out. I mean, 322 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 2: Edie and I were at home watching the Academy Awards, 323 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,399 Speaker 2: it was like unbelievable drew your name into his acceptance speech. 324 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 2: But how did you first get involved in Openhimer, which was, 325 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 2: by any standard, I think the greatest movie of the year, 326 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 2: maybe the greatest movie of a lot of years. But 327 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:56,239 Speaker 2: how did you get involved in that? 328 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 3: So we've worked with Chris for twenty years, and Emma, 329 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 3: we did all the Dark Knight that trilogy, and we 330 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:09,159 Speaker 3: did Dunkirk, and we did Interstellar and we did you know, 331 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:15,440 Speaker 3: pretty much every big movie he's involved with. Chris is meticulous, demanding, 332 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:20,199 Speaker 3: a genius, and his partners really have to rise to 333 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 3: his level, whether it's talent or technology or whatever his 334 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 3: partner's role is. And we became, you know, very close 335 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:32,000 Speaker 3: as a group, almost you know, seamless in the way 336 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 3: we work together. And then about eighteen months or two 337 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 3: years before the movie came out, I think I was 338 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,919 Speaker 3: at Chris's house. He told me about his plans for 339 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:46,920 Speaker 3: the movie and filming it in Imax, and I said, gee, 340 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 3: I'd like to learn more about it. So he said, 341 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 3: here's this book to order, American Prometheus. And he said, 342 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 3: you know, read this book and then come back and 343 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 3: talk to me. So I didn't know when I said 344 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,119 Speaker 3: sure that the book was like six hundred pages with 345 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 3: eight hundred footnotes. So I spent my summer reading that book. 346 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 3: The book was fantastic, it was amazing. And went back 347 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,239 Speaker 3: and discussed the story and discussed, you know, how he 348 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 3: was going to shoot it and how we could be helpful. 349 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 3: And you know, he's always incredibly innovative. So in Tenant, 350 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:27,040 Speaker 3: for example, he used the camera backwards to capture certain scenes, 351 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 3: and in Oppenheimer, he was going to use big black 352 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:35,399 Speaker 3: and white sequences to capture images, which, if you remember, Skip, 353 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 3: that's a lot of the trajectory of the movie. So 354 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 3: there was no such thing as black and white Imax 355 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 3: film stock. So with Nolan and his team and with 356 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 3: Kodak and our team, we proceeded to try and figure 357 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 3: out how to invent that, and once it was invented, 358 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 3: you know, how to use it, how to develop it. 359 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 3: Chris shot a lot of the movie with Imax cameras, 360 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 3: ones that we had, you know, invented and keep maintaining 361 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 3: and keep working with him and his team on different 362 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:14,639 Speaker 3: lenses and different parts. You know, a team from Imax, 363 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:19,440 Speaker 3: David and Patricia Keely, who run our quality control, were 364 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 3: embedded in the production while he was shooting it for 365 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 3: a long time. And then we're also involved in the 366 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 3: post production of it. We were involved in the dating 367 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 3: of it, and you might remember Skip that it was 368 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 3: dated very close to Mission Impossible seven and Tom Cruise 369 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 3: wasn't very happy that he was losing the Imax network 370 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 3: to Chris's movie, and we were a lot under a 371 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 3: lot of pressure, not only from Tom and Paramount, but 372 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 3: from a lot of exhibitors in the world kind of 373 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 3: our partners saying, how could you possibly pull mission off 374 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 3: the screen? You know Froppenheimer, And again, having worked with 375 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,439 Speaker 3: the Nolans for such a long period of time, you know, 376 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,920 Speaker 3: we had all the faith in the world that Oppenheimer 377 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,159 Speaker 3: was going to be a lot more than a docudrama 378 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,360 Speaker 3: about a physicist, and as you know, it was, so 379 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 3: we steadfastly supported the film and Chris and Emma we 380 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 3: wouldn't get muscled out of it. We always have loyalty 381 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:24,399 Speaker 3: to our filmmakers, but we certainly have particularly loyalty to 382 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,400 Speaker 3: them and took a lot of heat for it. So 383 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 3: I think we get involved very early. So I think, 384 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 3: you know, the shout out had to do with a 385 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 3: lot of loyalty over a long period of time and 386 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 3: not a lot of collaboration, which helped the film and 387 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 3: definitely raised our game. 388 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: Sure, what factors do you attribute to people going back 389 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:07,880 Speaker 1: to theaters? 390 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:11,359 Speaker 3: You know, maybe Paul not being a little glib, but 391 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 3: I think they never wanted to leave the theaters, and 392 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,359 Speaker 3: I never believed that they were going to leave. I 393 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 3: think when the pandemic happened, people didn't go to theaters, 394 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 3: but they couldn't leave their homes. And I think the 395 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 3: streaming industry and Wall Street really hopped on that narrative. 396 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 3: And what they said was people are never going to 397 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:34,240 Speaker 3: go back to movies. And you had, you know, certain 398 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 3: studios at that time, the most well known was Warners, 399 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:41,880 Speaker 3: which you know, said the narrative, why don't we give 400 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 3: you the content on streaming so you don't have to 401 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:47,400 Speaker 3: go to theaters? And you know, I think a lot 402 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 3: of the streaming services, including Netflix, really benefited from the 403 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,159 Speaker 3: narrative that people were never going to go back to 404 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,240 Speaker 3: the movies and they were always going to watch on streaming. 405 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 3: And I think there was a lot of self interest. 406 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 3: And by the way, it really pissed me off because 407 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 3: you know, movies have been around for one hundred years 408 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 3: and people forgot to say they weren't going because they 409 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 3: were locked in their homes. Now, you know, the narrative was, 410 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 3: you know, why go to a movie when you could 411 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 3: see it in your home. But there's also a narrative, 412 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:22,679 Speaker 3: why go to a restaurant when you have a kitchen 413 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 3: in your home? Because it's an entirely different experience. It's 414 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:30,159 Speaker 3: a communal experience. I mean, why see Paul Anka in 415 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 3: concert if you can put a record on and listen 416 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,080 Speaker 3: to it, because it's just a totally different thing. It's 417 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 3: a social experience, and I think self interested people really 418 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:47,120 Speaker 3: leaned into a narrative that was never true. And when 419 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 3: you know, the pandemic lifted and when there was content available, 420 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 3: people went back to the movies because they liked movies, 421 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 3: and they didn't start watching on their television shows. And 422 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,439 Speaker 3: I also think the way that movies are released is 423 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 3: very different than streaming. So, you know, streaming, the creative 424 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 3: process is different, the standards are different, the actors are different. 425 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 3: They're just not the same animal. And I think during 426 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:20,119 Speaker 3: a period when people had no choice, they watched them 427 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,119 Speaker 3: in their living room. The other thing was the sequence 428 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,640 Speaker 3: of watching. So we just saw actually a really good 429 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 3: streaming movie starring Glenn Powell, Hitman, and you know, my 430 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 3: wife turned to me and she said, you know, God, 431 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 3: we should have watched that in a movie theater, because 432 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,199 Speaker 3: you know, we stopped when we had to go to 433 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,800 Speaker 3: the bathroom. We stopped. We wanted to get a glass 434 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 3: of water. We watched half of it one day and 435 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 3: we watched half of it another day. We still really 436 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,800 Speaker 3: enjoyed it, but it wasn't like watching it in a 437 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 3: movie theater. It wasn't nearly as satisfying. And I still 438 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,399 Speaker 3: think there's a little bit of a tail on it 439 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,680 Speaker 3: because of the strike last year. So there's less content 440 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 3: right now than quote unquote normal. But I think as 441 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 3: the world returns to normal, the level of movie going 442 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,439 Speaker 3: will return to normal. Now I need to remind you 443 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 3: guys that IMAX is a lot different than a movie theater, 444 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 3: and because it creates such a special experience and such 445 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 3: a premium experience. And you know, we don't just play movies. 446 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 3: We play documentaries, we play music, we play sports events, 447 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 3: a lot of different things. And I think as the 448 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:38,199 Speaker 3: pandemic has ended, people really want to get out of 449 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 3: their homes and they really want to see things in premium. 450 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,160 Speaker 3: So concerts is a great example. You know, the businesses 451 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,639 Speaker 3: come back in a really big way, and sports people 452 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 3: want to see them in a very premium way, and 453 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,120 Speaker 3: they're paying more and coming back more. And I think 454 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,639 Speaker 3: as we get to twenty five and twenty six and 455 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:03,240 Speaker 3: look at what the content is going forward, more and 456 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 3: more people are going to come back. And for IMAX, 457 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 3: our twenty nineteen was our best year ever. And the 458 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,240 Speaker 3: best year for the movie business, and in twenty twenty 459 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:17,400 Speaker 3: three our box office was very similar because I think 460 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:22,080 Speaker 3: for special things that want to be cultural events, people 461 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 3: want to go see them out of their home. They 462 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 3: want to see them with their friends, and they want 463 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,199 Speaker 3: to cheer with everyone else sitting next to them. So 464 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 3: you know, I think they're not only going to come back, 465 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 3: but be better than ever on a global scale. 466 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 2: So our resident movie expert is our producer Jordan, who 467 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:44,200 Speaker 2: has been witness from day one. He was really excited 468 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:45,639 Speaker 2: that he was going to get to see you and 469 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 2: listen to you. So, Jordan, did you have a question 470 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 2: for Rich? 471 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 7: Yeah, I am so thrilled to talk to you. I'm 472 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 7: a former film student and I graduated NYU around the 473 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,680 Speaker 7: time Avatar was in theaters, and it was so thrilling 474 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:00,399 Speaker 7: to watch this metamorphosis in how we see movie. I 475 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,399 Speaker 7: remember I had a professor to describe it as you know, 476 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:06,560 Speaker 7: almost like being around when we first got talkies in movies, 477 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 7: which I think isn't far off. Christopher Nolan has arguably 478 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 7: been the highest profile champion for the IMAX film format 479 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 7: in recent years. Who do you see are the new 480 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 7: directors who are taking up that mantle. 481 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 3: Earlier this year we released Dune, which was shot in 482 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:27,600 Speaker 3: Imax by Denis Villeneu, and again the results were spectacular. 483 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:31,200 Speaker 3: On only eight tens of one percent of the world screens, 484 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 3: we did twenty percent of the Dune box office, and 485 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:39,920 Speaker 3: it was kind of like appointment viewing, meaning a lot 486 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:43,200 Speaker 3: of movies they do these big numbers on opening weekend 487 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 3: and then they trail off over a period of time, 488 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 3: But for Dune in Imax, it continued to sell out 489 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 3: for weeks and months, so he's certainly a big proponent. 490 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:01,040 Speaker 3: Krie Fuganaka shot one of the Bond movies with Imax cameras, 491 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 3: and you know, he said to me, once you've frowned 492 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,160 Speaker 3: first class, you don't like going back to the coach 493 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 3: section anymore. JJ Abrams is working on a project right 494 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 3: now in Imax. Marvel is working on two or three 495 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,560 Speaker 3: movies shot in Imax. Paul Thomas Anderson you must be 496 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:24,680 Speaker 3: a fan giving you a love for film, is doing 497 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:28,880 Speaker 3: a movie next year starring Leonardo DiCaprio that he's shooting 498 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:33,640 Speaker 3: in Imax. Ryan Coogler, who did Black Panther, is now 499 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 3: shooting a film with Imax. Film cameras. Warner Brothers and 500 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 3: James Gunn are doing the Next Superman with Imax cameras. 501 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:46,960 Speaker 3: Chuck Roven is doing the movie Mercy with Imax cameras. 502 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:51,800 Speaker 3: Chris mcquarie is filming the Next Mission Impossible. Eighth. So, 503 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 3: the success of Oppenheimer and Dune at the box office 504 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 3: combined with the way filmmakers love the way it looks 505 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 3: and they love the experience, the sound, the big screen, 506 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 3: the resolution, the brightness, how black the blacks are. All 507 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 3: of that, you know, make people really want to get 508 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:17,280 Speaker 3: further involved in IMAX, and I think it becomes self fulfilling, 509 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,400 Speaker 3: where you know, the more movies that are shot that 510 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 3: way and shown that way, the more people are going 511 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 3: to be exposed to them, and the more that happens, 512 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:27,760 Speaker 3: the more they're going to want to do it. And 513 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 3: bigger box office means studios want to get on board. 514 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 3: And I'd say right now there are probably more filmmakers 515 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 3: who want to shoot in imax than there are available slots. 516 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,680 Speaker 1: Richard, is there a dream project that you've been trying 517 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 1: to get off the ground personally? 518 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 3: There are a lot of them. I mean, Avatar was 519 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 3: a marriage made in heaven when I was in twenty ten, 520 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 3: which is fourteen years ago. Jim Cameron called me over 521 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 3: to the old Spruce Goose in la where he was 522 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 3: using that facility to make it, and he pulled out 523 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 3: like one of those projectors you have in your house 524 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 3: to look at movies of your kids, and he put 525 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 3: up a little kind of like a home style projector, 526 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 3: and he showed me like seven minutes of Avatar, and 527 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,360 Speaker 3: the way it used three D and the way it 528 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:23,479 Speaker 3: the images popped, the color is the whole thing. I 529 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,080 Speaker 3: actually called my office and I said, you know, I 530 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 3: couldn't have envisioned it something looking this good in our format, 531 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 3: and it really did so. And by the way, the 532 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,240 Speaker 3: second Avatar did over two billion dollars and also did 533 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,520 Speaker 3: two hundred and fifty million dollars in imax. You know, 534 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 3: Paull experiential things for me. So we just did the 535 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 3: NBA Finals and we released them in Hong Kong and 536 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 3: Taiwan at seven thirty in the morning, and they looked 537 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:58,959 Speaker 3: so amazing. In imax. We like to use the words 538 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 3: awe inspiring, so I think of awe inspiring experiences. Some 539 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 3: of my favorites. We did the Rolling Stones at Wembley 540 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 3: filmed it in Imax, and when it first came out, 541 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 3: people were standing on their chairs with lighters lit because 542 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 3: it was like you were very much there. One of 543 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 3: my favorites is we took Imax cameras to the top 544 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,720 Speaker 3: of Mount Everest and at the time that John Krakauer 545 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 3: wrote the book about the tragedy there, and you know, 546 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 3: when you go into an Imax theater and you see that, 547 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,920 Speaker 3: it's incredible. I can't answer it by saying there's one. 548 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 3: But we do use like awe inspiring as kind of 549 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 3: the test run of which we decide whether we want 550 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,680 Speaker 3: to do something or not. And literally today I was 551 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,440 Speaker 3: meeting with my head of documentaries and my first question 552 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,640 Speaker 3: to him when he pitches ideas, I said, is it 553 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,800 Speaker 3: an Imax experience? And that's kind of our standard because 554 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 3: I have no interest in doing my dinner with Andre 555 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:02,880 Speaker 3: or doing sideways. You know the Paul Giamatti movie where 556 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:07,040 Speaker 3: two people drank wine on a sidewalk. Iman I passed. 557 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:09,479 Speaker 3: Not that it's not a good movie, but it's just 558 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,160 Speaker 3: not an Imax movie. So it's got to be something 559 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:15,640 Speaker 3: that really clicks. You could experience it and we could 560 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:17,959 Speaker 3: take you somewhere, so you know, I don't know if 561 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 3: you've got a chance to see them, but we made 562 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 3: I think it's seven or eight movies from space. We 563 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 3: put our cameras in the Space Shuttle. We put our 564 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:30,720 Speaker 3: cameras in the International Space Station, and a lot of 565 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 3: the astronauts became astronauts because they saw those movies. It 566 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:39,840 Speaker 3: was transporting. It made them feel like they were there. 567 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,040 Speaker 3: You know, that's a list of the kinds of experiences 568 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 3: that we like doing. 569 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 1: You know, Richard, I lived in England and I was 570 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: there in the early sixties when the British kind of 571 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 1: caught onto what we were doing and did it better. 572 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:57,480 Speaker 1: And a young kid wound up in a club around 573 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 1: this corner from my hotel. His name was Jimmy Hendrix, 574 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:05,760 Speaker 1: and he changed everything. And you've got a picture behind 575 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:10,720 Speaker 1: you of Mick Jagger and Jimmy Hendrix. What's the significance 576 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:11,400 Speaker 1: of that for you? 577 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 3: Well, I went to Electric Ladies Studios, which is, as 578 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,680 Speaker 3: you know, in New York, the place that he used 579 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:21,800 Speaker 3: to record. And I love music, and there was a 580 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:25,000 Speaker 3: group of people there that where we were. They were 581 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:29,760 Speaker 3: building a special theater in Canada, and they were talking 582 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 3: to us about doing Imax, and they invited me there 583 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 3: so I could capture the spirit of Hendrix and having 584 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,360 Speaker 3: done actually we did two movies with Mick Jagger. We 585 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,520 Speaker 3: did another one with Martin Scorsese as well as the 586 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:48,120 Speaker 3: one we did at Wembley Stadium, and as I said, 587 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 3: really some of my favorite stuff done. And one of 588 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 3: the people there was an expert photographer and he had 589 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:59,440 Speaker 3: this picture and I asked him if I could have it, 590 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 3: as I thought it really symbolized some of our aspirations 591 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 3: in terms of brilliant image quality, sound, transporting people. Certainly 592 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:16,600 Speaker 3: both the Stones and Jimmy transported people to different places, 593 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:19,680 Speaker 3: so it was symbolic for me. You can't see my 594 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,760 Speaker 3: other wall, Paul, but there I have an old black 595 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 3: and white photo of Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer, the 596 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:31,319 Speaker 3: real ones in like an intense meeting about probably the 597 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:35,480 Speaker 3: future of science. So that just opposes itself. And then 598 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:37,800 Speaker 3: I should tell you about a small one you can't 599 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,640 Speaker 3: see right behind me, which is of John Lennon and 600 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 3: Yoko Ono with a woman named Tony Myers. And Tony 601 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:49,880 Speaker 3: Myers is a former colleague of mine who unfortunately passed away, 602 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 3: and she filmed those space movies, and she filmed the 603 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:58,719 Speaker 3: Stones movie. So those are my three photos and why 604 00:34:58,760 --> 00:34:59,760 Speaker 3: they all inter relate. 605 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:01,440 Speaker 1: I'm glad you love music. 606 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:05,479 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, not to give him a plug because 607 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:07,560 Speaker 2: he doesn't need it. But I first saw Paul in 608 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,319 Speaker 2: concert forty years ago, and I went again recently when 609 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:14,440 Speaker 2: he performed here in LA. It's better than it was 610 00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 2: forty years ago. 611 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:16,120 Speaker 6: Show. 612 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,840 Speaker 2: It's just it's off the hook. It's so good. It 613 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 2: would look great in imax. The sound. I mean, it's 614 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:22,640 Speaker 2: all about the music, of course. 615 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 3: So Paul, we have the ability to do live concerts. 616 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 3: In the last few years, we wired about two hundred 617 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:33,200 Speaker 3: and fifty theaters around the world, mostly in New York 618 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:36,279 Speaker 3: and mostly in the United States. Sorry, I'm confusing New 619 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,560 Speaker 3: York and the United States. I know you guys are 620 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:43,360 Speaker 3: in LA. I apologize, But we've experimented with a bunch 621 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:48,400 Speaker 3: of live concerts. People were going crazy because, as you know, 622 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:51,440 Speaker 3: at a concert today, it's a lot of big, you know, 623 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,280 Speaker 3: lit up led screens and other screens. You can't see 624 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:59,200 Speaker 3: that well. Obviously, we have great seats, you can We're 625 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 3: a better auditory. But when people saw it in imax, 626 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:06,000 Speaker 3: they kind of flipped out. We did a Brandy Carlisle 627 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 3: event which was I'm very successful live. We did Andre 628 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:13,600 Speaker 3: three thousand. So when you're ready to talk about it, Paul, 629 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:15,240 Speaker 3: we could see if it works. 630 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:17,800 Speaker 1: Oh, come at you skip an eye together? 631 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:19,600 Speaker 3: Is skip putting up the money? 632 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 1: You know he isn't listen. You know we're at the age. 633 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:28,640 Speaker 1: We're at the ages now, Richard, where we only signed 634 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:29,600 Speaker 1: the back of checks. 635 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:31,880 Speaker 2: We don't sign the front of checks. We signed the 636 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:51,279 Speaker 2: backup checks. So rich How's going to ask you a 637 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:53,799 Speaker 2: sort of a funny question. But when you walk into an 638 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:57,680 Speaker 2: empty IMAX theater, where would you sit? What's the ideal 639 00:36:57,760 --> 00:36:59,680 Speaker 2: spot if you had to sit in one spot in 640 00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:00,200 Speaker 2: the field. 641 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:04,840 Speaker 3: Probably three rows from the back, skip in the middle, 642 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:08,839 Speaker 3: But it depends on the theater. By the way, this 643 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:11,600 Speaker 3: is off point, but you'll find it interesting. One of 644 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,120 Speaker 3: the best IMAX experience I've ever had is we did 645 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:18,239 Speaker 3: a three D movie from Space and we showed it 646 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:22,320 Speaker 3: in one of our theaters in Shanghai to a bunch 647 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,759 Speaker 3: of kids. And obviously they'd never been to space, they'd 648 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 3: never seen three D. And to watch those kids kind 649 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:32,440 Speaker 3: of freak out and reach for the floating things and 650 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:38,000 Speaker 3: you know, laugh and go crazy was an amazingly inspiring experience. 651 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:40,760 Speaker 3: And you know, I guess it is part of your question. 652 00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:44,080 Speaker 3: It didn't matter where they sat, you know, every seat 653 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:47,040 Speaker 3: was better than they could experience a lot of things 654 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,360 Speaker 3: in life. But you know, as I said in the 655 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:50,160 Speaker 3: beginning towards the. 656 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:53,520 Speaker 2: Back, you have your private theater here in LA and 657 00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:56,239 Speaker 2: you arranged for Ead and I and some friends to 658 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,239 Speaker 2: go and see a James Bond movie there. And I 659 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:01,799 Speaker 2: was surprised. Actually three or four of the people had 660 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:05,080 Speaker 2: never been in an imax. They were like, you know, 661 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,040 Speaker 2: you've referred to these kids, they've never seen anything like 662 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:10,799 Speaker 2: it before. The reaction was amazing. But I was going 663 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:14,960 Speaker 2: to say to you, Oppenheimer is such a special movie. 664 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:18,920 Speaker 2: It's such an incredible film at a time when you know, 665 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,719 Speaker 2: we have a screening room at our house and to 666 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 2: find a good movie to watch is very challenging these days. 667 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:29,200 Speaker 2: I mean, we'll get six different films over six weeks, 668 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:32,719 Speaker 2: and frankly, five of them aren't really worth watching. But 669 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:36,920 Speaker 2: Oppenheimer was such an special experience. I found that it 670 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:39,000 Speaker 2: was better the second time I saw it. 671 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:42,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, most great movies, you can watch them three or 672 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,120 Speaker 1: four times and pick up on things that you never 673 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:46,200 Speaker 1: picked up initially. 674 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,440 Speaker 3: Well, one of the things about IMAX also is it 675 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:53,240 Speaker 3: such a large experience. Your eye could shop the screen. 676 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:57,400 Speaker 3: So you know, usually in us at home or in 677 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:00,800 Speaker 3: a smaller auditorium, you know, you're I goes with the 678 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,840 Speaker 3: director sent you, so that's what you see. But in 679 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:08,080 Speaker 3: an IMAX, your eye looks all around. And I saw 680 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:13,520 Speaker 3: Oppenheimer three times in Imax, and I was amazed the 681 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:16,040 Speaker 3: third time at how much I had picked up. You 682 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,560 Speaker 3: know that I couldn't pick up and skip. I've tried 683 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:23,120 Speaker 3: telling you many times to throw out that screening room 684 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:26,200 Speaker 3: and go to Imax theaters because it's just not as good. 685 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:28,480 Speaker 3: That's why you don't like the movies as much. 686 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:32,319 Speaker 2: Well, the content of some of the movies lately is 687 00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:35,640 Speaker 2: just not really up to par. But do me favorite, 688 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:37,920 Speaker 2: because we don't have a lot of time left, just 689 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:41,719 Speaker 2: explain a typical day for rich Galfond, Like what time 690 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:43,719 Speaker 2: you get up, what do you do first, where do 691 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:46,160 Speaker 2: you go first, where do you spend most of your day, 692 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:48,759 Speaker 2: When do you finish your day? Just give us a 693 00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:49,560 Speaker 2: sense of what it's like. 694 00:39:50,239 --> 00:39:53,040 Speaker 3: Sure, I get up around six thirty in the morning, 695 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,759 Speaker 3: I go to my gym and I work out for 696 00:39:55,840 --> 00:40:00,239 Speaker 3: about forty five minutes, watching the business news shows, and 697 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:05,239 Speaker 3: read both my emails and kind of the newspapers for 698 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:08,799 Speaker 3: a couple hours. I leave for the office around nine. 699 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:12,480 Speaker 3: And then you know, when I get to the office, 700 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:16,080 Speaker 3: I'm a walker by management style. I'm skips So I 701 00:40:16,239 --> 00:40:19,960 Speaker 3: like walking around and seeing my reports and finding out 702 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:22,640 Speaker 3: what's going on because I find, you know, you get 703 00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 3: the best ideas from interacting with your colleagues. And then 704 00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:30,080 Speaker 3: I'd say probably about a third of the day is 705 00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:33,719 Speaker 3: spent on phone calls or meetings with my colleagues. And 706 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:37,000 Speaker 3: you know, there's people who run like our theater business, 707 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:41,120 Speaker 3: parts of our film business. Since we're so global and 708 00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:44,360 Speaker 3: have such a big footprint around the world, I'll almost 709 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:47,000 Speaker 3: every day talk to someone part of my team in 710 00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:50,120 Speaker 3: London or part of our team in China, and you 711 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:53,480 Speaker 3: know about what's coming up, what the problems are there 712 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:56,560 Speaker 3: where we go. Then probably a third of the time 713 00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:02,880 Speaker 3: is externally focused on a combination of investor issues, public 714 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:07,880 Speaker 3: relations issues, filmmaker issues. And lately I've been spending a 715 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:11,040 Speaker 3: lot more of my time on content. So what's in 716 00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:14,200 Speaker 3: the pipeline, what are the ideas, what are the budgets? 717 00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:17,960 Speaker 3: And then probably the rest of the time is combined 718 00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:21,680 Speaker 3: with thinking about strategy and what we should be doing. 719 00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:23,920 Speaker 3: I mean, if I think, if you're good CEO, you 720 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,240 Speaker 3: always think about strategy in terms of the little issues 721 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:30,000 Speaker 3: and how they relate to the bigger issues. But I 722 00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:34,440 Speaker 3: do think, especially in the entertainment business now, and you 723 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:36,719 Speaker 3: know we've hit on a little of this, but you know, 724 00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:40,399 Speaker 3: how do you compete with streaming? How do you make 725 00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:43,000 Speaker 3: sure you're global? You know, how do you deal with 726 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:47,200 Speaker 3: the issues facing the disneys and the warners and the paramounts, 727 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:52,000 Speaker 3: you know, And then probably spend another brief period of 728 00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:55,640 Speaker 3: time with our mutual friend Alan Grubman, who tries to 729 00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:58,400 Speaker 3: tell me how to do my job better than I do. 730 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:03,640 Speaker 1: Dear Allen, Hey, Richard, I want to ask you a 731 00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:08,520 Speaker 1: question that AI is obviously changing the world and continue 732 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,600 Speaker 1: it's probably in the second inning. The music business is 733 00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:15,279 Speaker 1: already feeling it. What's your take on AI and the 734 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:16,040 Speaker 1: film business? 735 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:20,719 Speaker 3: That is, you know, the most timely question. Certainly, I've 736 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:24,719 Speaker 3: spent so much more time learning about AI than I 737 00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:28,000 Speaker 3: ever thought I would. In the last six to eight months, 738 00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:31,200 Speaker 3: and I think it's going to happen a lot faster 739 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:34,279 Speaker 3: than everyone thinks, even though they think it's going to 740 00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:37,200 Speaker 3: happen fast. I think it's going to happen faster, and 741 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:40,320 Speaker 3: I think it's going to be more revolutionary then people 742 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:42,880 Speaker 3: think it's kind of going to be like the Internet 743 00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:46,319 Speaker 3: changed the world. I was at a conference with one 744 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:49,839 Speaker 3: of the senior people at Navidio and he said, it's 745 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:53,319 Speaker 3: going to happen ten times faster than you think. And 746 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:56,040 Speaker 3: I think in the movie business, it's going to happen 747 00:42:56,160 --> 00:43:00,560 Speaker 3: in two big buckets. One, the less obvious one is 748 00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:03,520 Speaker 3: going to be to the business of Hollywood. So the 749 00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:07,040 Speaker 3: cost of special effects is going to go down. You're 750 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:10,200 Speaker 3: going to be able to make special effects a lot 751 00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:14,000 Speaker 3: better and a lot cheaper and a lot faster. I 752 00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:16,880 Speaker 3: think your business process is going to change. You're going 753 00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:19,640 Speaker 3: to be able to use a storyboarding for your movies, 754 00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:22,640 Speaker 3: which you know take a long time. You'll be able 755 00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:26,960 Speaker 3: to do them really quickly, much less expensively. And then 756 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:32,239 Speaker 3: I think distribution, so things in post production today like 757 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:35,680 Speaker 3: w your movies into different languages. You're gonna be able 758 00:43:35,719 --> 00:43:41,080 Speaker 3: to use AI to do that. You know, programming show times, 759 00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:44,319 Speaker 3: all kinds of things. And then the other half is 760 00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:47,600 Speaker 3: on the content side that's probably going to be a 761 00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:50,600 Speaker 3: little bit slower, but it's the sexier one and that's 762 00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:53,719 Speaker 3: what people are talking about. I sat next to a 763 00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:58,160 Speaker 3: director recently who is working with one of these companies 764 00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:02,160 Speaker 3: about text to video, and he gave me, like sitting 765 00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:05,520 Speaker 3: at a dinner table, a demonstration of what you could do, 766 00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:09,800 Speaker 3: and it was profound. And I know people are really 767 00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:14,480 Speaker 3: focused on loss of jobs and things like that, but 768 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:18,080 Speaker 3: you know, I believe like other technoques, like when the 769 00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:21,000 Speaker 3: car came around, you know, people were focused on the 770 00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:24,560 Speaker 3: loss of jobs in the horse and buggy business. But 771 00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:28,720 Speaker 3: I think it's going to be the democratization of content. 772 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:31,440 Speaker 3: I think there's going to be so many barriers to 773 00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:36,400 Speaker 3: people other than studios making content and indie people, and 774 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:40,040 Speaker 3: I think it's going to knock down a lot of walls, 775 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:43,480 Speaker 3: and I think it's going to open so much opportunity. 776 00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:46,080 Speaker 3: And by the way, not just on the creative side 777 00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:49,520 Speaker 3: and making movies, but right now you you know, you 778 00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:52,760 Speaker 3: and I can't go in to the special effects business 779 00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:55,680 Speaker 3: because the barriers are too high. But I think with 780 00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:58,600 Speaker 3: AI it's going to you know, open a lot of 781 00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:01,319 Speaker 3: opportunities for a lot of people people, So, you know, 782 00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:04,719 Speaker 3: I think we obviously have to be careful on how 783 00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:07,920 Speaker 3: we roll it out, and at IMAX, we're looking at 784 00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:11,719 Speaker 3: different applications and one of the first places we went 785 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:16,239 Speaker 3: was our legal department to make sure that, you know, 786 00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:22,120 Speaker 3: you don't create something that you can't ultimately control where 787 00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:25,400 Speaker 3: the data goes and what data goes there. But you 788 00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:28,040 Speaker 3: have to be really thoughtful about it. But I think 789 00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:31,960 Speaker 3: if you're thoughtful about it, there are just amazing opportunities. 790 00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:36,440 Speaker 1: So the fear is not AI itself, it's the person 791 00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:37,520 Speaker 1: that's using it. 792 00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:41,160 Speaker 3: It is and that's one Paul that you know, it 793 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:43,840 Speaker 3: even scares me a little. I haven't I don't have 794 00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:46,680 Speaker 3: an answer to that. People a lot smarter than I 795 00:45:46,719 --> 00:45:50,520 Speaker 3: am and people more experienced don't have an answer to that. 796 00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:53,000 Speaker 3: But I think it's a real challenge. I don't think 797 00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:55,799 Speaker 3: it's a, you know, a one year challenge. I think 798 00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:58,400 Speaker 3: it's probably more of a you know, I was going 799 00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:01,440 Speaker 3: to say five years, but maybe three a five year challenge, 800 00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:04,040 Speaker 3: and we definitely have to be in front of that. 801 00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:06,880 Speaker 3: And I think there definitely needs to be some government 802 00:46:07,239 --> 00:46:11,000 Speaker 3: regulation of it to make sure that doesn't happen too quickly, 803 00:46:11,040 --> 00:46:14,280 Speaker 3: and I think that the focus on it is none 804 00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:14,879 Speaker 3: too soon. 805 00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:20,880 Speaker 2: I agree, Jordan, We've got to wrap fairly quickly. But 806 00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:23,000 Speaker 2: did you have another question you want to ask Rich? 807 00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:25,400 Speaker 7: I mean, this is probably an unfair question, but of 808 00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:27,560 Speaker 7: all the projects you have in the pipeline, is there 809 00:46:27,560 --> 00:46:28,879 Speaker 7: one that you're most excited about? 810 00:46:30,239 --> 00:46:33,520 Speaker 3: Well, I'll just talk about one that I'm very excited 811 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:37,759 Speaker 3: about that Apple is doing and we're distributing. But it's 812 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:41,360 Speaker 3: Joe Kazinski who did I'm Top Gun Maverick. He was 813 00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:45,600 Speaker 3: the director. He's doing a movie on Formula One starring 814 00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:49,399 Speaker 3: Brad Pitt, and you see even you're excited about it. 815 00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:52,600 Speaker 3: And I've only seen, you know, a couple minutes of it, 816 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:57,439 Speaker 3: but some of the expertise that came from making Top 817 00:46:57,480 --> 00:47:01,480 Speaker 3: Gun Maverick in Imax and how it was and the 818 00:47:01,600 --> 00:47:04,600 Speaker 3: story to the extent I know about it is exciting. 819 00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:08,279 Speaker 3: And obviously F one has so many fans all over 820 00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:11,239 Speaker 3: the world, and we have this global network and they're 821 00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:15,040 Speaker 3: leaning in I. You know, there are others that you know, 822 00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:19,439 Speaker 3: may have equal box office potential and financial but I'm 823 00:47:19,520 --> 00:47:22,080 Speaker 3: just really excited as a movie fan to see it. 824 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:23,440 Speaker 7: Oh, I can't wait to check that out. 825 00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:24,240 Speaker 1: I'm so excited. 826 00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:26,960 Speaker 2: I know you had a window here that you carved 827 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:29,879 Speaker 2: out for us, which I really appreciate. I know you've 828 00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:32,560 Speaker 2: got it to get on to another meeting, but Paul 829 00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:35,239 Speaker 2: and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to do this. 830 00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:39,000 Speaker 2: You're so knowledgeable about not just the technical aspect of it, 831 00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:41,919 Speaker 2: but even the roots of films and why they work 832 00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:45,280 Speaker 2: and why they don't work. And I just was excited 833 00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:47,799 Speaker 2: about getting you on today, so we really appreciate it. 834 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:51,880 Speaker 3: Well, Thanksgip and thanks Paul very much. Enjoyed doing it. 835 00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:54,680 Speaker 3: And we'll see you at the Imax movie. Skip not 836 00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:55,680 Speaker 3: your screening room. 837 00:47:55,719 --> 00:47:58,200 Speaker 2: Okay, you got it. 838 00:47:58,280 --> 00:48:01,000 Speaker 1: Nice to meet you, Richard, look to sing in future. 839 00:48:01,080 --> 00:48:03,160 Speaker 3: Take care, Nice to take care. 840 00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:04,880 Speaker 2: See you by. 841 00:48:10,440 --> 00:48:13,279 Speaker 1: Our away with Paul, Anka and Skip. Bronson is a 842 00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:15,240 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. 843 00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:20,320 Speaker 2: The show's executive producer is Jordan Runtogg, with supervising producer 844 00:48:20,320 --> 00:48:22,080 Speaker 2: and editor Marcy Depina. 845 00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:26,960 Speaker 1: It was engineered by Todd Carlin and Graham Gibson, mixed 846 00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:29,400 Speaker 1: and mastered by the wonderful Mary Do. 847 00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:32,520 Speaker 2: If you like what you heard, please subscribe and leave 848 00:48:32,600 --> 00:48:33,200 Speaker 2: us a review. 849 00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:40,920 Speaker 1: For more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 850 00:48:41,080 --> 00:49:02,720 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 851 00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:04,680 Speaker 3: Found politic