Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Strictly Business, Varieties podcast featuring conversations
Speaker 1: with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment.
Speaker 1: I'm Todd Spangler with Variety Today. Our guest is Rachel Giazza,
Speaker 1: e VP and Head of US Content at Audible, where
Speaker 1: she oversees all content development, acquisition, and marketing for the
Speaker 1: premium audio storytelling platform. Now. Audible was founded all the
Speaker 1: way back in so it's a first generation dot com. Really,
Speaker 1: it's two decades before the recent podcasting room, when its
Speaker 1: original mission was to redefine audiobooks and audio entertainment. Here
Speaker 1: we are more than twenty years later. Amazon bought Audible
Speaker 1: in two thousand eight, and today Audible hosts more than
Speaker 1: etcetera and seventy five thousand audio programs from audiobook publishers,
Speaker 1: top Hollywood talent, broadcasters, magazine newspaper publishers, and other partners. Rachel,
Speaker 1: Welcome to Strictly Business. Hi, Todd, Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for having me. Uh, it's really wonderful to be here,
Speaker 1: and that was a great overview of the company. Excited
Speaker 1: to go into a little bit more depth on those
Speaker 1: things as well. Yeah, it's a little bit meta here.
Speaker 1: It's a podcast about podcasting. UM. So to kick things off, Rachel,
Speaker 1: tell us about your role at Audibly. You've been with
Speaker 1: the company about three years now. Yep, about three years. Um.
Speaker 1: Time has flown by, but right now I currently oversee
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, the team's responsible for US and global
Speaker 1: content initiatives. A few interesting things to highlight around the
Speaker 1: team's organization that focuses on a trifecta of work that's
Speaker 1: really built to facilitate our ability to connect content to
Speaker 1: the right audiences. So we have a consumer focused content
Speaker 1: team that is really working on understanding cultural trends, our
Speaker 1: customers needs and programming and curating that content to help
Speaker 1: aid in the discovery experience for our customers. They're also
Speaker 1: giving direct feedback in terms of what content we might
Speaker 1: want to be creating and acquiring. Then we have our
Speaker 1: Audible Studios team, which is overseen by one of our
Speaker 1: newest leaders, u Zola Mashariki, and this is a group
Speaker 1: of extremely talented creatives who are responsible for the creation
Speaker 1: of our Audible originals. We also have content marketing as
Speaker 1: you mentioned, and this is a really interesting area of
Speaker 1: distinction for Audible and that we're really passionate about our
Speaker 1: marketing and really creating marketing that is as big as
Speaker 1: the story. So it's uh not infrequent that you'll see
Speaker 1: billboards highlighting our content. But we're also working through doing
Speaker 1: some really unique partnerships that really helped create a deeper
Speaker 1: immersion and connection to our content. So for example, with Sandman,
Speaker 1: which was a big release for us this year, we
Speaker 1: did a partnership with Bing Bang, the tattoo artist, and
Speaker 1: we actually created tattoos around the characters within Sandman and
Speaker 1: then created an environment where customer fans could come and
Speaker 1: get these tattoos by some of the best tattoo artists
Speaker 1: in the world. And we saw that that really helped,
Speaker 1: I think, create new experiences around the content and really
Speaker 1: creates engaging ways to bring fans closer that. Of course,
Speaker 1: we also have you know, the deal and partnership teams
Speaker 1: as well as strategy planning and operations, UM, and we
Speaker 1: all come together collectively to think about that end to
Speaker 1: end experience of how can we find and create amazing
Speaker 1: content and get that to the right audience. Okay, great,
Speaker 1: well thanks for that overview, UM, And you know, to
Speaker 1: start off, your audible is a little bit different from
Speaker 1: the other podcast production studios and networks out there. Right,
Speaker 1: most podcasts are available free ad supported basis when you're
Speaker 1: starting to see subscriptions. But Audible's model for originals and
Speaker 1: other audio content it's geared around it's already geared around subscriptions.
Speaker 1: All the cards sell through. You don't really have an
Speaker 1: advertising model, right, So what does that mean in terms
Speaker 1: of how Audible develops and produces content and acquires content
Speaker 1: differently versus some of the other players out there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's super interesting question, um, And in fact, we do
Speaker 1: have uh an ad supported tier in India, so I'll
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about where you know, we're testing
Speaker 1: different models, but you're absolutely right we approach content differently
Speaker 1: than other services. And I think some of the core
Speaker 1: of this is that there tends to be a polarity
Speaker 1: polarity in audio where something's either an audio book or
Speaker 1: a podcast. But in our case, the distinction for us
Speaker 1: is that we're really thinking about audio as a sector
Speaker 1: and so certainly we have audio books and podcasts, but
Speaker 1: there's so so many things that are in between, and
Speaker 1: things that were super excited about that really explore the
Speaker 1: entire space of audio, and in order to do that right, UM,
Speaker 1: we need to have models that really allow us to
Speaker 1: reach customers in different ways. You know, we have titles
Speaker 1: there are thirty hours long and episodes that are fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1: And so what we have is UM offerings for the
Speaker 1: consumers so that they can really kind of enter into
Speaker 1: our offering and how it makes sense for them. So
Speaker 1: our primary offering is Plus, which is really driven by
Speaker 1: transaction and our credits. UM. This is really the right
Speaker 1: model for somebody who really likes to get those big,
Speaker 1: you know, new bestsellers, somebody who really wanted Sandman when
Speaker 1: it first came out. UM. But we also have a
Speaker 1: PLUS catalog which was launched in August of twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: and this is a elimitate to listening catalog that includes
Speaker 1: exclusive podcasts, audio books, a lot of our originals are
Speaker 1: in there, and that really it aids in discovery and
Speaker 1: allows people to maybe try parts of audio that they
Speaker 1: haven't experienced before, or perhaps somebody new to audio can
Speaker 1: go there and really get a good breath of entertainment.
Speaker 1: So we are kind of reaching audiences in different ways.
Speaker 1: And as I alluded to, UM in India, for example,
Speaker 1: we have a ad supported tier Um, so we're always
Speaker 1: looking at ways to test different models to reach audiences.
Speaker 1: I think, as you opened the conversation today, obviously there's
Speaker 1: a lot of really exciting things happening in the audio space,
Speaker 1: and so for us, it's important that we always continue
Speaker 1: to grow and evolved. As you know, the world around
Speaker 1: us involves, so you can expect us to continue to
Speaker 1: try different things, particularly as it relates to reaching audiences
Speaker 1: with the right content good. So when it comes to
Speaker 1: originals and exclusive acquisitions in a nutshew, what is the
Speaker 1: organizing principle? Right? What? What is it that makes an
Speaker 1: Audible original awesome? So that is another wonderful question. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I think a lot of people still really
Speaker 1: know Audible for being a third party audiobook distribute. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: But the truth is we've actually been creating original content
Speaker 1: since our inception. Our initial move into audiobooks was really
Speaker 1: more as a way of creating meaningful supply of high
Speaker 1: quality storytelling to build out a put for that portfolio
Speaker 1: of content that customers would find valuable. As you mentioned,
Speaker 1: you know, we were doing subscriptions well before that was
Speaker 1: a norm, and so it was really important that we
Speaker 1: had all of these high quality things that people would
Speaker 1: be willing to pay a subscription for. UH and audiobooks
Speaker 1: was just a great way to build that supply. But
Speaker 1: we've also been doing podcasts before they were even called podcasts,
Speaker 1: so we have some early works that we've done with
Speaker 1: the likes of Ricky Jarvais and Robin Williams. Um Our
Speaker 1: current original program really kicked off in with a handful
Speaker 1: of originals, and we've really been rapidly scaling since then.
Speaker 1: I mentioned a little bit about Audible Plus before, but
Speaker 1: with the launch of Audible Plus, it really blew open
Speaker 1: the front door and has allowed us to create a
Speaker 1: space for a lot of innovation in audio and a
Speaker 1: lot of scale in terms of what we can provide
Speaker 1: in original content. You know, Audible has been around for
Speaker 1: a really long time, UM, but one of the things
Speaker 1: that I think is amazing to talk about in terms
Speaker 1: of the throughput of Audible's history is that it's always
Speaker 1: been about high quality, highly produced, strong narrative stories that
Speaker 1: are married with professional performances, and you see that today
Speaker 1: like that is continued throughout our entire twenty six year
Speaker 1: journey and certainly something that we're really focused on moving
Speaker 1: into the future. As well. So you know, the current
Speaker 1: content uh content boom around podcast People are listening to
Speaker 1: this more than over any podcast as a format, as
Speaker 1: an idea. It's been around for a while, but it
Speaker 1: hit this hockey stick, you know, you can maybe trace
Speaker 1: it to Serial right where that really was the zeitgeisty
Speaker 1: moment that kicked people under our drive this, you know.
Speaker 1: So we're seeing just a ton of new podcasts initiatives,
Speaker 1: investments from Spotify and Apple and others. I mean, is
Speaker 1: that is that a rising tide that has lifted your
Speaker 1: your about? Yeah? I often refer to the audio renaissance
Speaker 1: that we're in um and certainly it's been really great
Speaker 1: in a couple of different ways. Certainly for customers who
Speaker 1: I think there's just a more of a conversation around audio,
Speaker 1: more people trying it every single day. It's also been
Speaker 1: really great for creators who are now connecting to the
Speaker 1: format and really understanding, you know, what the format can
Speaker 1: be and how that format can really aid in their
Speaker 1: creative process. For us, it's really cemented our vision for
Speaker 1: the last twenty six years, and it's allowed us to
Speaker 1: continue to create new things. But we're still in a
Speaker 1: space where it's just the beginning, and there's a lot
Speaker 1: of room for innovation. There's a lot of room for
Speaker 1: continued experimentation from what we're creating an audio, but also
Speaker 1: how customers are able to access and experience audio. So
Speaker 1: for me, this is just the beginning, even though we've
Speaker 1: already been doing it for for such a long time.
Speaker 1: There's just so many new ways that it's just getting
Speaker 1: more and more exciting. So, backing up to something you
Speaker 1: said earlier, you do have an AD supported tier in India,
Speaker 1: Um are you looking to to breaden that out into
Speaker 1: the US or other markets? We're certainly looking at ways
Speaker 1: to continue to bring new customers to audio and open
Speaker 1: the funnel. One of the things I've been thinking about,
Speaker 1: just in reflection for this conversation and others, is a
Speaker 1: little bit about my history and background. So I've been
Speaker 1: working in media for a long time, uh, and a
Speaker 1: lot of my earlier time and media I was really
Speaker 1: working on helping bring people to consume content that they've
Speaker 1: already consumed in less friction ways. So for example, at Yahoo,
Speaker 1: it was about moving people from print to digital. At Viacom,
Speaker 1: it was about moving people from linear to O T T.
Speaker 1: Spotify was really about moving people from downloads to streaming.
Speaker 1: One of the things I think is really interesting in
Speaker 1: the case of Audible, in the case of audio and
Speaker 1: where we're creating, is that we're creating a new medium,
Speaker 1: and there's so many people that have this opportunity to
Speaker 1: explore the space and new ways. So of course we
Speaker 1: have such an amazing breath of customers who have been
Speaker 1: audiobook listeners for so much time and people who have
Speaker 1: been listening to podcasts for a lot of time, but
Speaker 1: we're really able to introduce new things to them. A
Speaker 1: good example of this um is one of our projects,
Speaker 1: The Coldest Case by James Patterson. This is a performance
Speaker 1: that was led by Aaron Paul and brought him back
Speaker 1: together with his Breaking Bad co star Kristin Ritter. It
Speaker 1: was also a thirty person ensemble cast, and this is
Speaker 1: new to a lot of our listeners who maybe are
Speaker 1: listening to more traditional single narration audio books, and we
Speaker 1: saw them really engage in this. We also saw them
Speaker 1: expand kind of their awareness of what the audio format
Speaker 1: can be, and I think that's just beginning and there's
Speaker 1: so much space for that, both from incorporating people who
Speaker 1: have maybe seen themselves more as podcasters and more as
Speaker 1: audio book listeners. There's a lot of convergence in between
Speaker 1: those things. Yeah, interesting point. Now, you mentioned Aaron Paul, Um,
Speaker 1: you mentioned Neil Gaiman and The and the Sandman. Uh,
Speaker 1: You've got two seasons out now, and I guess there's
Speaker 1: a third one in the words yes, yes, coming out. Okay, um,
Speaker 1: stay tuned, UM. But it does seem, you know, just
Speaker 1: looking at your slate, you've got a lot of high
Speaker 1: profile personalities in the mix, and you've um in the
Speaker 1: last over the last year, you've been really ramping up deals,
Speaker 1: exclusive deals with Hollywood talent. One of the most recent
Speaker 1: ones you've done a deal with Carrie Washington and her
Speaker 1: uh Simpson Street Production Company for three scripted originals. Maybe
Speaker 1: just tell us what's what's behind this strategy? I mean,
Speaker 1: is it you're looking for name brand folks from the
Speaker 1: traditional entertainment world to find new audiences inaudible, or maybe
Speaker 1: you can just walk us through the thinking on this. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what we've really been focused on and what we care
Speaker 1: the most about is great talent, great talent that has
Speaker 1: extraordinary storytelling. We have been to your point, doing deals
Speaker 1: of the last couple of years with high profile, high
Speaker 1: impact talent like Carrie Washington or Laura Dern or Kenya Barris,
Speaker 1: but we work with the vast audience of talent, So
Speaker 1: we're working with renowned authors, award writing actors, as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: household celebrities, but we're equally focused on emerging talent who
Speaker 1: are on the custom breaking out. We have what we
Speaker 1: liken to a department that's really focused on who are
Speaker 1: the people who are telling things that need to be
Speaker 1: heard and how do we help elevate those voices. So
Speaker 1: we're really home to differentiated content across all types of categories,
Speaker 1: voices and backgrounds, and that it is something that really
Speaker 1: excites us and also again hits that throughput of something
Speaker 1: that we've really been focused on for many, many years.
Speaker 1: Certainly for me we're in this role, it's it's exciting
Speaker 1: because I'm working with talent that really does hit all
Speaker 1: of these different groups. And when you unleash that type
Speaker 1: of talent into innovation, it's incredible to start to see
Speaker 1: how it evolves and how each person brings their own
Speaker 1: part to the program, And that to me is part
Speaker 1: of this puzzle that makes so much sense and makes
Speaker 1: it such an interesting space at the moment. Now, you
Speaker 1: mentioned a couple of names, but let me just wrap
Speaker 1: off the list of folks you're working with Elizabeth Banks
Speaker 1: Yo Yo Maa, Lena Wade, Queen Latifa. You mentioned Laura
Speaker 1: During and Kenya Barriss O'Brien with Team Cocoa, Steph Curry,
Speaker 1: Charlemagne and God Kevin Hart, uh Spring Held Company, which
Speaker 1: is Lebron James Media Firm, And it's uh, it's just
Speaker 1: kind of a who's who in a way against my
Speaker 1: question here is what is your pitch to these folks
Speaker 1: when um you go to them, what what is Audible offering? Um?
Speaker 1: You know, to try to persuade them to come to
Speaker 1: do an original production with the Audible as opposed to
Speaker 1: some other platform or competitor. Well, as you know, creativities
Speaker 1: very personal and it really does come from the source.
Speaker 1: So our underlying goal for any of the creators we
Speaker 1: are working with is to empower them and support them
Speaker 1: and encourage them to take risks push boundaries of what
Speaker 1: storytelling can be. So many creators have so much opportunity.
Speaker 1: There's certainly things they are well known for, but there's
Speaker 1: also areas of passion and things that they're working through
Speaker 1: and the goal is really to create The goal is
Speaker 1: to create this environment where they feel that support and
Speaker 1: they have that ability. We are working on extrable shame,
Speaker 1: long term relationships that really create an environment of creativity, flexibility,
Speaker 1: and the focus on creating something really special. I think
Speaker 1: the exciting thing for them is that this is a
Speaker 1: place where there's a lot of opportunity. You know, we
Speaker 1: don't have to hit certain numerical benchmarks, we don't have
Speaker 1: to create to a format, we don't have to worry
Speaker 1: about the expense of creating a set and creating the
Speaker 1: world and making that true to the story. It really
Speaker 1: opens up a tremendous amount of creative freedom. M Um,
Speaker 1: I mean, are you competing on the level of uh,
Speaker 1: you know, economics. In other words, are you do you
Speaker 1: have a different um financial proposition for talent as opposed
Speaker 1: to uh some of your competitors. Maybe, I mean, are
Speaker 1: you offering more profit sharing or revenue sharing UM or
Speaker 1: is it that creative canvas that's that's the main draw
Speaker 1: I don't think it would ever just be one thing.
Speaker 1: Everybody has, you know, they're different focus points in their
Speaker 1: different needs, and I think we are bespoke and so
Speaker 1: part of it is really being able to meet creators
Speaker 1: where they are to help facilitate the needs that that
Speaker 1: particular creator has. So the conversation starts with, hey, what
Speaker 1: is your vision for what you can do in an
Speaker 1: audio only environment? Exactly? And then we also work with
Speaker 1: creators for such a long period of time that allows
Speaker 1: us to evolve together. Broadway Video is a perfect example
Speaker 1: of this. As you know, we've been doing a lot
Speaker 1: of interesting things in the comedy space in particular, and
Speaker 1: they've been a partner of ours for quite some time.
Speaker 1: And in the early days they were really interested in
Speaker 1: working in audio, but they didn't necessarily have all of
Speaker 1: the audio production expertise and all of those things. So
Speaker 1: for that partnership we were able to work with them,
Speaker 1: help them with the development process and transitioning to audio,
Speaker 1: help with production, and over time they've evolved to a
Speaker 1: point where they are creating amazing audio, they have their
Speaker 1: own in house team, and in fact they're now working
Speaker 1: with us and producing some of our content. So, for example,
Speaker 1: they produced The Coldest Case, which has allowed them to
Speaker 1: do what they do best, obviously comedy, but also expand
Speaker 1: their interest points get them working in other spaces that
Speaker 1: are interesting to them. No one really works within the
Speaker 1: confines of a box, and so it's about opening up
Speaker 1: that box and meeting creators where they are. And certain
Speaker 1: things are going to be more important to various creators,
Speaker 1: and it's that flexibility to meet them where they are
Speaker 1: and that partnership to allow us to grow together and
Speaker 1: that trust within each other. That's the most meaningful part
Speaker 1: creativity needs to have that, you know, that support in
Speaker 1: that freedom. Yeah, you mentioned Broadway. Video of one of
Speaker 1: the fun series that came out on Audible was Hot
Speaker 1: White Ice, this uh sort of lgbt Q plus action
Speaker 1: comedy starring Boone Yang directed by Alan coming Um. You
Speaker 1: all listening on the podcast can look it up. But
Speaker 1: it falls stealing the sperm from a sperm bank confidential
Speaker 1: classified sperm bank of the most uh what high i
Speaker 1: Q people in the world. I don't know. It's a
Speaker 1: It's a really really crazy story and was one of
Speaker 1: our one of our picks for the year last year.
Speaker 1: There was also There's Hit Job with Keithie Palmer and
Speaker 1: Pete David's in um is comedy in particular, you know
Speaker 1: a genre that you've focused on as something that's resonating definitely.
Speaker 1: The scripted spaces exciting and comedy is definitely a point
Speaker 1: of distinction. Our customers love it and it does tend
Speaker 1: to fit to the audio format really really well. And
Speaker 1: maybe this is a sign of the times. You know,
Speaker 1: we've talked about meeting customers needs. Um. People needed to escape, relax,
Speaker 1: maybe change their mood. So we saw that the comedy
Speaker 1: portfolio really met them in a time where that felt
Speaker 1: like a really resonant thing. We also have noticed a
Speaker 1: few things obviously as we've been working in the space,
Speaker 1: which is the cast and the comedy company behind the
Speaker 1: content do play key factors into people selecting the content
Speaker 1: that they're gonna consume. But there's also areas of particular
Speaker 1: interest UM at these these times, family dynamics workplace environmental stuff.
Speaker 1: Obviously with hit Job, that was a really fun take
Speaker 1: on that politics, governmental themes, UM and I guess not
Speaker 1: odd but interestingly enough, people are looking for stuff that
Speaker 1: takes place in the past or the future, not so
Speaker 1: much now. And you mentioned hot White Heist, and I
Speaker 1: think that was such a great title for the moment,
Speaker 1: and we really saw that one pop. You know, I
Speaker 1: mentioned our broad audience. We have so many different people
Speaker 1: connecting in the audio space, but that one really resonated
Speaker 1: with um that eighteen to thirty four year old group
Speaker 1: podcast how can you go wrong? With Bowen Yang and
Speaker 1: Alan Cummins. But it's such a great way and we
Speaker 1: did some really interesting stuff with that one. We have
Speaker 1: a partnership with the Rebeca Festival and we screened that
Speaker 1: at the festival and obviously transitioning to screening audio with
Speaker 1: some fun, and we actually did that by having a
Speaker 1: cast come out and we did a big drag event
Speaker 1: which was an incredible amount of fun and such a
Speaker 1: great way to introduce that title. And it was really
Speaker 1: a fun experience to be there and watch people connect
Speaker 1: and see how that came to life. Now. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: comedy seems to be doing well for you. You also,
Speaker 1: and maybe this is um you know, in more of
Speaker 1: the traditional podcast vain, but you've got a bunch of
Speaker 1: unscripted stuff from from some high profile folks. Elusive Thanks
Speaker 1: has My Body my podcast talking about women's sexuality and
Speaker 1: issues in that Deep Up Chopra. Kevin Hard has this
Speaker 1: saying about the decision overcoming today's BS for tomorrow's sixth US.
Speaker 1: I mean is this UM, you know, kind of filling
Speaker 1: out the lineup with the kinds of things that do
Speaker 1: well in the free podcast world. Yeah, we are definitely
Speaker 1: investing in both scripted and unscripted projects. We are always
Speaker 1: optimizing to respond to our customers needs, trends, things that
Speaker 1: we're seeing. I mentioned, you know, our consumer content team
Speaker 1: that's looking at this stuff, living and breathing it. But
Speaker 1: there's some areas that were currently you really focused on
Speaker 1: in doubling down in UM. You mentioned Elizabeth Banks Well
Speaker 1: beings the area that we're really interested in. It's kind
Speaker 1: of this concept of you but better, and there's so
Speaker 1: many different voices and a myriad of experts that come
Speaker 1: together in a collection that really helped people connect. So,
Speaker 1: for example, in a Sleep that's coming out right now,
Speaker 1: we have a music producer Major who's produced a number
Speaker 1: of really big hits and he's really into the frequency
Speaker 1: of music and how that frequency can really support you
Speaker 1: create better sleep and lower stress by neureal beats, and
Speaker 1: so we have a project called Major Frequency coming out
Speaker 1: that explores that, joins Elizabeth Banks, joins some upcoming projects
Speaker 1: by Mel Robbins, who's an Audible fan favorite, and we
Speaker 1: have deepak Obra who went outside of his own box
Speaker 1: to create Living outside the Box where typically he's been
Speaker 1: focused on mindfulness, but in this project, he really connected
Speaker 1: mindfulness to the body and he worked with experts from
Speaker 1: you know, yoga space and other places to talk about
Speaker 1: how to facilitate those things. So we have a collection
Speaker 1: of content that we're focused on in the well being
Speaker 1: space that brings all of these different elements together and
Speaker 1: really creates a robust area where if you want to meditate,
Speaker 1: we have that for you. If you want some self
Speaker 1: dev we have that for you. We have Kevin Hart
Speaker 1: doing self dev and then we have all of these
Speaker 1: really unique, unique areas in between to explore, yeah, the
Speaker 1: well being stuff and self improvement. I mean maybe that's
Speaker 1: kind of in the pandemic moment as well, right, that's
Speaker 1: people looking to We definitely saw those trends as well. Um,
Speaker 1: so we are able with audio to respond to needs
Speaker 1: and trends quicker than some other formats, and so we
Speaker 1: endeavor to do that as we're thinking about our slates,
Speaker 1: and we have many other focus areas in addition to
Speaker 1: well being. Cinematic storytelling is a big one. I think
Speaker 1: heart racing at of your seat much listen. These tend
Speaker 1: to appeal pretty broadly. They hit a lot of different
Speaker 1: customer groups. Some exciting projects to highlight for the coming
Speaker 1: months and year. We have a project with Travis Beecham
Speaker 1: called Impact Winter, which is post apocto ecliptic vampire thrillers
Speaker 1: set in the United Kingdom and it focuses on the
Speaker 1: storyline of two sisters who were reckoning with this force
Speaker 1: and working to save humanity. It's also coming with an
Speaker 1: amazing production element where it creates this three D audio
Speaker 1: experience and it really makes you feel like you're immersed
Speaker 1: in the story. I was listening as I was walking
Speaker 1: the dog and there were a few times where I
Speaker 1: had to kind of turn around and make sure nobody
Speaker 1: was behind me. Um. It was a really fun way
Speaker 1: to explore. We also have the Miranda Obsession coming. Rachel
Speaker 1: bras in Hand is performing and executive producing and super
Speaker 1: excited about it. It's a drama inspired by the story
Speaker 1: of Hollywood enigma Miranda Grosvenor. And these showcase a little
Speaker 1: bit of the variety in this concept of creating cinema
Speaker 1: cinema storytelling. Yeah, this idea of like movies for Your Years.
Speaker 1: I mean, some people are acting like this is a
Speaker 1: brand new thing. But this goes back to the d
Speaker 1: n a of of of audiobooks, right, I mean, the
Speaker 1: movie for Your Years has been been around for a
Speaker 1: couple of decades, certainly has and you see us well
Speaker 1: into franchises that support that with things like The Sandman
Speaker 1: and um, a lot of fun works we've been doing
Speaker 1: with folks like Andy Weir. There's a lot of space
Speaker 1: there and the appetite from customers is voracious. And I
Speaker 1: was going to ask you, yeah about this sand Man,
Speaker 1: Why did that s and Nate so well? And did
Speaker 1: you have data that showed this was going to be
Speaker 1: This was on the number one spot on the New
Speaker 1: York Times Best Seller Audio Fiction list the summer. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that was for the second installment as well, which
Speaker 1: is even more exciting. We hit for both the first
Speaker 1: installment in as you mentioned, and the second installment last year.
Speaker 1: In this I think goes back to the conversation we've
Speaker 1: been having about creators. Neil Gaiman was very involved. His
Speaker 1: support and guidance was there through the entire inception. Of course,
Speaker 1: the adaptation by Dirk Mag's was really important, and then
Speaker 1: the cast to bring it to life with folks like
Speaker 1: James McAvoy. This is a really big effort. You have
Speaker 1: this comic book that so many people have connected to
Speaker 1: for so long in their lives that seeing it come
Speaker 1: to life in other forms you have to be able
Speaker 1: to manage through staying true to that story in which
Speaker 1: people have already constructed in their heads and help them
Speaker 1: take it further. And this is a really great area
Speaker 1: to showcase how audio can do that for people. And
Speaker 1: working with Dirk and Neil really got it to a
Speaker 1: place where this was something that represented how he had
Speaker 1: seen this and had how he had built this in
Speaker 1: his mind. Of course, it also didn't hurt that it
Speaker 1: was layered with really amazing sound elements, production music elements
Speaker 1: that really brought the whole picture of it together and
Speaker 1: created this immersive experience. And then I mentioned before our
Speaker 1: marketing with this title, we did a lot of crew
Speaker 1: innovative marketing and things that helped connect people and mentioned
Speaker 1: the bag Bang experience. But we're also at Comic Con
Speaker 1: we are working with the talent to have them talk
Speaker 1: about their experience and how it connects, connecting directly with fans.
Speaker 1: These things helped expand the world and give fans that
Speaker 1: connection earlier on, and it helped that there was a
Speaker 1: pretty big installed fan base right for the Sandman graphics. Definitely. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So when it when it comes to the you know,
Speaker 1: green lighting a project, right, what is the you know
Speaker 1: what pushes it over the top? Is it you know
Speaker 1: you're confident that you know this will serve as you know,
Speaker 1: an acquisition vehicle for a certain number of people, um
Speaker 1: or you know you're projecting certain uh sell through rate
Speaker 1: or something. What is it? Is it gut instinct? Do
Speaker 1: you model out you know, sales performance or customer acquisition
Speaker 1: targets that kind of thing. So it has to start
Speaker 1: with that, and that's where folks from the Audible Studios
Speaker 1: team who live and bring breathe creativity play such an
Speaker 1: important role. And marrying that with the customer teams that
Speaker 1: know what customers are looking for and having that dialogue
Speaker 1: has to start with gut and excitement from a creative
Speaker 1: standpoint and understanding what's coming before it's even come. That's
Speaker 1: where you hit the right inflection points and cultural moments.
Speaker 1: But there's also content that we create that meets a
Speaker 1: bunch of different needs. So I've talked about us scaling
Speaker 1: our original content. We're certainly scaling in big ways, and
Speaker 1: we're not acquiring content all to do the same job.
Speaker 1: Some content we do acquire because we think it has
Speaker 1: great acquisition awareness potential. We think it can bring audio
Speaker 1: to new customers or engage current customers in different ways.
Speaker 1: But we also create things that we know are going
Speaker 1: to be fan favorites where there's just an insatiable appetite.
Speaker 1: I talked a little bit about, you know, our cinema,
Speaker 1: but there's other areas that always resonate. We have stuff
Speaker 1: like take me away, feel good fiction and romance and
Speaker 1: rom com Our customers devour these things, so we're creating
Speaker 1: in that space and supporting things that our customers really enjoy.
Speaker 1: And then we're also innovating, so we're looking for things
Speaker 1: that are going to break the ground, break the mold,
Speaker 1: and do new stuff. We have a title that we're
Speaker 1: working on right now called Breakthrough. It's the first of
Speaker 1: its kind audio singing competition. It's in partnership with at
Speaker 1: Will Media and the Chain Smokers, and it's just something
Speaker 1: that hasn't been done before, and we're bringing it to
Speaker 1: life and letting it grow and evolve and seeing what
Speaker 1: can happen when we allow just testing and flexibility and
Speaker 1: trying new stuff. Yeah, I was gonna ask you about
Speaker 1: new formats and genres and and there's one, definitely a
Speaker 1: couple others were excited about. We have some more we
Speaker 1: call them more toistic programs, things that we think do
Speaker 1: a good job of highlighting what the space can be.
Speaker 1: One of those being the theater space. Theaters obviously are
Speaker 1: amazing storytellers and there's an opportunity to bring these stories
Speaker 1: to life and audio. Not everyone can go to Broadway
Speaker 1: or the West End to see a theater program, and
Speaker 1: so we can work with play rights to help create
Speaker 1: projects that can reach broader audiences. Currently, we have a
Speaker 1: six week live performance happening at Audible when in a
Speaker 1: Lane theater. So we do have a theater UH in
Speaker 1: New York where we put on live performances. And we
Speaker 1: have Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey in tonight, which will
Speaker 1: also be available in audio. And this is an exciting
Speaker 1: classic that we've done a vibrant and timely update and
Speaker 1: it's being interpreted by Tony Award nominated Robert O'Hare we've
Speaker 1: also commissioned new works from twenty five playwrights UH. Ten
Speaker 1: of those come from our Emerging Playwrights Fund, which is
Speaker 1: specifically focused on finding emerging voices in the theater space
Speaker 1: and helping them grow their audience and platform. But we've
Speaker 1: also released more than forty theatrical projects to a global audience.
Speaker 1: It's a space that is exciting for us and is
Speaker 1: also exciting for our customers, and so exciting for creators
Speaker 1: for finding new avenues to reach their audiences. Let me
Speaker 1: shift the conversation here. You know, one trend that we've
Speaker 1: seen in UM original audio content is UM stuff getting
Speaker 1: adapted for TV and film. UM. So what is the
Speaker 1: audible thinking about that? What's on your slate of UM
Speaker 1: intellectual property that that are in the hopper maybe for
Speaker 1: you know, UM an adaptation UM uh with with some
Speaker 1: kind of partner, maybe Prime Video right or Amazon Studios,
Speaker 1: which is corporate cousin for you. Definitely we've been doing
Speaker 1: some things with that ongoing over the last bit, but
Speaker 1: certainly more to come. We know there are some titles
Speaker 1: that just organically translate to screen adaptations, and there's some
Speaker 1: exciting opportunities for creators and that since we were just
Speaker 1: talking about the theater program, I could highlight a project.
Speaker 1: We have Evil Eye, which came out through the theater program,
Speaker 1: Up up start playwright who created in the audio space
Speaker 1: just wonderfully. UM. It's a project that's about a woman
Speaker 1: living in the US talking to her family in India,
Speaker 1: and it's a bit of a thriller. It's there's a
Speaker 1: lot of suspense, but it also talks about family and
Speaker 1: it utilized the audio space in such a magnetic way
Speaker 1: it really popped for our audiences. It was then picked
Speaker 1: up by Blumhouse, UH turned into a film and then
Speaker 1: um distributed by Amazon. And for me, that's such a
Speaker 1: great connection to how the medium can really elevate those
Speaker 1: voices they're coming and breathe life into it. Another exciting
Speaker 1: one that is similar but also creates new ways to
Speaker 1: think about it. We have a project called When You
Speaker 1: Finish Saving the World with Jesse Eisenberg, another fan favorite. UH.
Speaker 1: It falls into the space of not a podcast, not
Speaker 1: an audio book, but a play for your ears. And
Speaker 1: the exciting thing about that is it was also an
Speaker 1: option for film. It's premiering at Sundance just next week,
Speaker 1: and the thing that's super interesting about it is it's
Speaker 1: not a straight adaptation. What he's done is use it
Speaker 1: as an opportunity to further explore some of the characters
Speaker 1: and build concrete or deeper storyline. So actually you can
Speaker 1: watch the film without have listened, or listened without have
Speaker 1: watched the film, but the two things actually go to
Speaker 1: really really well together and help expand and build the
Speaker 1: world around it. Very interesting. Um So, uh, we're just
Speaker 1: about a time I wanted to ask you, you know,
Speaker 1: before you joined audible, um in twenty nineteen, right, Um,
Speaker 1: you spent a little over five years and Spotify. What
Speaker 1: what was your experience at Spotify and you know, how
Speaker 1: did that lead into what you're doing in audible. Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think you left Spotify before they really um, really
Speaker 1: plowed into the podcast strategy. Yeah, it was earlier. It's
Speaker 1: uh six years. It's such an exciting, fruitful experience that
Speaker 1: allowed me to really explore a lot of different spaces,
Speaker 1: understand the music space, early thoughts on audio space as well,
Speaker 1: and as I mentioned before, for me, it was a
Speaker 1: continuation on that journey of how can you help people
Speaker 1: connect to entertainment that they love, but do it in
Speaker 1: that less frictioned way, and that to me is always
Speaker 1: an exciting way to think about that emergence of technology
Speaker 1: and content, and that's a space that for me personally
Speaker 1: has always been very exciting. In transitioning to Audible, there's
Speaker 1: a couple of things that have really stood out and
Speaker 1: made the experience really interesting at a high level. Obviously,
Speaker 1: introducing this new medium to customers like that is an
Speaker 1: area of entertainment that I just feel truly honored to
Speaker 1: be able to work on and lead as part of
Speaker 1: the industry. I don't think you get those many that
Speaker 1: many experiences to do that in your career, and so
Speaker 1: I reflect on it and feel very lucky that I
Speaker 1: get to do that. The other thing is really working
Speaker 1: with such a wide variety of creators. It's so inspiring
Speaker 1: to go from a meeting with one of the best
Speaker 1: play of rights in the world, to somebody who's really
Speaker 1: prolific in the holiday Hollywood space, to an up and
Speaker 1: coming talent that has been really wonderful experience. And it's
Speaker 1: all cemented by connecting to a lot of the people
Speaker 1: principles that drive Audible, and I'd be amiss not to
Speaker 1: mention them, But we're based in Newark, New Jersey, and
Speaker 1: a big part of that location is about giving back
Speaker 1: to the communities in which we serve. And so mostly
Speaker 1: what we've talked about today is a lot of the
Speaker 1: content that we're bringing out, But as much as we
Speaker 1: focus on the content, we also focus on how we
Speaker 1: can create impact and how we can be about more
Speaker 1: than what we create, and we're always building ways to
Speaker 1: build those connections. So, for example, I have a project
Speaker 1: with ros Baraka coming out, who, if you're unfamiliar, is
Speaker 1: the current mayor of Newark, and he's a super interesting
Speaker 1: guy and has an amazing background. And listening to him
Speaker 1: talk about the fact that he's building this agent for
Speaker 1: change and doing things in and around the Newark community
Speaker 1: that grow that being able to support that, and being
Speaker 1: able to support those stories and bring them to life
Speaker 1: and be about the community, there's something just so incredibly
Speaker 1: valuable in that as part of being in the content space,
Speaker 1: and I am thrilled to be a part of it
Speaker 1: and thrilled to be a part of a company that
Speaker 1: that's just part of our day and day and part
Speaker 1: of our DNA. Who are you going back to the
Speaker 1: Spotify um question, I mean, who do you see as
Speaker 1: your your biggest competitor. I mean, it's it Spotify as
Speaker 1: an Apple, is it a number of players, It's everybody
Speaker 1: creating an entertainment. It's there's so much out there, as
Speaker 1: you know, from the film to TV to audio. You
Speaker 1: really have to cut through the noise to create something
Speaker 1: that hits a customer. You really have to bring value
Speaker 1: to their life. If you're not bringing value to them,
Speaker 1: it's not going to stick. And our day and date
Speaker 1: is to think about how can we create things that
Speaker 1: bring our creatives, visions and imaginations to life while bringing
Speaker 1: real value to our customers. And that is in competition
Speaker 1: with me not listening to anything while I do the
Speaker 1: dishes or walk the dog. We're finding something that makes
Speaker 1: that experience better and enhances that experience. We really think
Speaker 1: about our create our way to make that impact with
Speaker 1: our customers, and that's what's most important to us. Okay, um,
Speaker 1: Rachel Giatta, thank you so much for joining us. One
Speaker 1: parting question, what is your favorite Audible original? And I
Speaker 1: know that's like picking a favorite child or something, but
Speaker 1: for me, I'm looking forward to the next in and
Speaker 1: some Um, I don't know if you have a particular
Speaker 1: favorite or a set of favorites. Well, of course they're
Speaker 1: all my favorites, um, but there are a couple of
Speaker 1: areas that for just fan fan me pop very excited
Speaker 1: about the well being space for so uh it's an
Speaker 1: area that just personal passion. UM. I have my first
Speaker 1: waves of Raiky, so I can be a Reiky practitioner.
Speaker 1: I do a lot in the health and wellness atter.
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of things happening in that space.
Speaker 1: Certainly COVID has made people more aware, but there's a
Speaker 1: lot to unpack about how we could live better lives
Speaker 1: and how we can learn things. The simple act of
Speaker 1: putting on your headset at night and listening to some
Speaker 1: by Maarial audio while you disconnect, there's something life changing
Speaker 1: about that and being able to work in that that
Speaker 1: area is a particular personal passion of mine. Mhm. Excellent, Well, Rachel,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. Our guest today has been Rachel
Speaker 1: Gyatta at Audible and thank you for tuning in today
Speaker 1: and come back to listen to more strictly business podcasts
Speaker 1: from right. Thank you very much Todd for having me.
Speaker 1: Did the script begin think det