WEBVTT - Studio71's Reza Izad Gets Real About Digital Video's Challenges 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:09.920 Welcome to another episode of the Strictly Business Podcast. My 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:14.520 guest today is Rezazad, CEO of Studio seventy one. A 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.560 company may not know by name, but chances are the 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.160 young people in your life know the digital native stars 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:24.320 and the Studio seventy one roster like Lily Sing, Roman 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:27.400 Atwood and Rent and Link. They helped the company drive 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:30.720 billions of video views online. We're building a business on 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:34.159 all those eyeballs. Has never been easy, but Azad is 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:37.080 a veteran of the digital video world who has steered 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.160 Studio seventy one and some innovative directions that we'll talk about. 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.680 Thanks for coming in, Reso, Thanks for having me. So 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:48.440 let's do some level settings Studio seventy one. It's not 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:52.560 as simple as just selling ads against video. No, there's 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.040 a lot more to it than that. But um, we're 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.520 essentially one of the world's largest distributors and producers of 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:04.480 short form content, and so you'll see our stuff on YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:07.520 and we are essentially a B two B brand, so 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.959 you may be watching our content so like on YouTube 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:12.520 every month, about one and three Americans watch an hour 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:14.919 and a half of our content every month. Our brand 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:17.280 does not follow. It's a lot of our partners or 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:21.399 content or brands that are housed within sort of um 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:24.679 our group. So we're some of those brands are world 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:27.440 Star hip hop is a good example. You just listed 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:29.920 a bunch that are you know, really powerful. I think 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:32.559 you know, the Fine Brothers were producing a show called 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:34.639 This Might Get So there's there's a bunch of content. 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:36.560 It's coming from a lot of places. I mean, every 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:40.080 month we're publishing a little over twelve thousand pieces of 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:44.320 video content just on YouTube, and another when it's all 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.680 sliced and diced, another thirty or forty thousand pieces across 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:50.320 the rest of the web. Um So it's it's a 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:53.360 huge volume of content that we're putting out there. So 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.160 give me your sense of where we stand right now 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:01.400 here in mid to late in this digital video ego system, 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.320 which seems to me to be you know, pretty stormy weather. 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.240 Absolutely like if you look at it in the the macro, 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:10.760 it's all up and to the left, but when you 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:13.799 look at it in yearly Micro's it's it's a very 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:17.400 very tough business. Um I think a lot of our 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:20.560 competitors and ourselves you know as well, have had to 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:23.480 really level set what this business is. So I came 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.200 from the you know, the management side of the business, 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:28.040 as a lot of people who entered in from tech 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.239 and other sort of traditional players of it. Well, we'll 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:32.959 talk a bit about that because the history of TWODO 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:35.840 seventy one is interesting. You started as a management company. 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:38.360 We were the collective. There was a management firm. We 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:42.160 had about hundred and twenty employees, and we represented Lincoln 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.880 Park and Kanye West, a lot of music talent plus 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.160 you know, mainstream actors like Emil Hirsch and Martin Lawrence 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.040 and a bunch of folks like that. So yeah, it 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:54.960 started with that foundation. So it was talent first, was 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:57.800 the foundation, and the thesis of the business was that 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:01.560 all this disintermediation that was happening. So when Michael Green 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.480 started the company after the firm, it's like mid two 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:09.120 thousand's and you know, the there was I think my 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.480 Space was around. I think a lot of these earth 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.720 platforms that we're talking about today we're just emerging, and 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:18.000 it was clear that there was gonna be a way 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.520 that talented people could go direct to consumer. Um, we 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:23.400 thought it was going to happen in music. That's why 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:26.120 we had such a large emphasis in music because of 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:30.560 the disruption of Napster and iTunes and whatnot. Um. But 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.240 the reality is, for us, it happened actually in digital video. 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:36.200 That's where we saw the biggest opportunity to sort of 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:39.560 grow a business. And once we figured that out, UM, 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:43.080 Michael was very clear, um in terms of let's let's 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:45.840 make that our core sort of mission. So it was 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:47.760 kind of like a pivot at birth. It was a 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:50.840 pretty interesting pivot. Yeah, we've been the management firm for 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.720 about six or eight years. Um, we identified that we 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:58.120 were gonna there was this hyper growth opportunity. Took us 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:01.960 about two years to sort of really unwind the management business. 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:06.720 But that's essentially what happened. And fast forward to you know, 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:10.320 we talked about the stormy weathers. How are you running 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:14.040 a diversified business, talk about the different ways you're making money, 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:17.320 because diversification it seems like if you don't do that today, 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:22.200 you're dead. Um. So look, the irony is last year 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:24.800 it was brand safety. This year, what you're seeing is 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.240 the impact of all these O T T players that 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:29.120 went out of business at the end of last year 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:31.880 really sort of choking a lot of the economics of 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:34.800 the ecosystem. So when you look at the business, it's 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:39.440 you've got to have a very large, scalable advertising business play, 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:41.680 which means you have to be good at media and 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.919 packaging media as part of what you do. Branded content 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:47.960 is an adjacent sort of business that that is, you know, 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.440 rides alongside that, and those are big parts of what 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:52.240 we do and where we've spent a lot of time. 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:55.960 And then you have to understand I P UM and 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:59.000 and content creation. UM. That's how we actually fell into 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:01.359 the business was we co produced the Fred movies with 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:04.520 Brian Robbins and then did the Annoying Orange and video 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:06.880 game High School, so we started you know, I P 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:09.880 was central to what we were doing. UM, what we've 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:12.480 seen in the last year is a shrinkage of that market. 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.920 So when Go ninety goes out of business and see 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.120 so and watch a bowl and there's a much longer 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:21.400 list than that, UM, you get contraction, which is sort 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:24.680 of what we're seeing here. Last year the struggle was 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:29.400 navigating through UM the brand safety issues that we're running 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:33.320 havoc that I think still continue to sort of Yeah, 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:37.159 talk about the ecosystem, talk about how studio seventy one 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:41.000 encountered all that, my guesses, is a lot of technology 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:45.039 at work now to make sure that marketers are protected 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.919 when they're placing their dollars with you. We we built 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.480 a tool called Studio seventy one context and so it's 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.560 not just technology, it's technology and people. So when when 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.040 you release, you know, we'll call it fifteen. And we're 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.440 very focused today on YouTube media. I think that will 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:02.760 change over time. Um, but when you're focused on on 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:05.640 a platform like that, you have that much of a 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.159 sort of a release schedule, you can't have a traditional 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:12.599 standards and practices department. People go insane. So what we 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.600 had to do is build technology that would actually avoid 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:19.240 out videos that we know are not brand safe. And 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:22.680 there's the parameters. I think the market in terms of 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.640 just brand safety. Maybe this is the big topic is 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.719 what is brand safety? Is the first thing that's that 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:31.960 I think is unclear in this market. And so I 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.960 think everyone's in agreement that hates speech and you know, 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:40.359 things along that line, maybe overtly sexual pedophilia, you know, 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:42.640 all the things that are just beyond the pale that 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.080 that stuff is easy, but when you get into the 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:49.120 rest of it is is you know the effort, Okay, 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:51.880 how sexual can the content be? All that sort of stuff, 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.200 And given the market swung so heavy in one direction, 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:57.800 we decided to take attacked with context that we were 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:00.400 going to make a sort of PG thirteen and G 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:04.960 rated products. So it's very very safe, not unlike primetime 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:09.200 network tv UM and in some cases maybe even less 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:12.320 so like less edgy UM. And so what that product 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:16.440 does through two means of technology and then people on 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:20.440 the technology side, we take all the text data that 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:24.240 comes off, including including closed caption, and then we use 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:28.320 some image recognition software that Amazon and Google. We prefer 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:32.200 the Google product where we scan all our videos for 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.480 drug paraphernalia, guns and all the usual stuff. And this 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:38.360 stuff works. The stuff work is is actually very accurate, 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.760 but what drives the accuracy is actually people. So then 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:44.240 we so we we discount a lot of stuff. So 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:47.400 you say a bad word, there's guns, or there's something 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:50.080 that we find objection able, you're already self selected out. 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.480 So in theory, what what the people that are working 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:55.400 for us, since a team of about twenty people are 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:59.240 looking at are things that we think our brand sake, 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:02.560 but we don't. Peter doesn't know yet. And so we 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:06.680 have about twenty twenty sort of data points that we 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.960 try to add and and can try to contextualize, so 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:13.200 like contextualizing a gun. So there's a radar gun, there's 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:15.640 a NERF gun, and then there's a handgun that's been 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:19.960 used in a violent act, all very differently different um 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:22.200 sort of outcomes in terms of brand safety. And so 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:25.200 the people are trying to train the computers what those are, 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:28.320 and hopefully they're selecting more and more stuff that's just safe. 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.080 So before we traffic in an add a person looks 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:33.839 at that's our final sort of step in the brand 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:36.480 safety process. And I would imagine this technology has got 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:38.480 to be table stakes at this point, for it is 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:41.800 table stick and and the interesting thing is there's not 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.800 that many companies that have the video scale we have 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:47.960 in the data we have that could actually execute or 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:51.800 create something like that. UM. So it's so we're not 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:53.640 the only ones with the product, but I think we're 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:55.520 one of one of two or one of three with 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.360 this type of tool in the market. But you're making 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:03.760 money in other ways besides advertising. I mean, even e 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:06.280 commerce I'm hearing is becoming part of the mixed for 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:10.160 you guys talk about that. So look, some let's just 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.160 talk about the core of the business. Right. It's these 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:15.160 talent that the talent that's creating this content. So wherever 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.680 there's an engaged audience and wherever there are people that 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:22.440 care about something, there's an opportunity, if done right, to 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:26.960 market and create merchandizing or ancillary product around around that. 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:30.760 And so we've been taking advantage of that opportunity for 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:34.960 some time. UM, we've kind of found an interesting you know, niche. 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:39.000 We've gotten very good at the collectible space, which is 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:43.800 not how I anticipated our business evolving. We have um, 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.600 we have a we have a channel called Guava Juice 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:50.360 where we sell toy boxes every quarter. Um. You know, 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:52.959 we've sold almost three or four hundred thousand of these 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.040 boxes over the last few years, and you know, we've 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:57.920 done very well with that. We just put out a 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:00.160 mobile app with them that we're about to you know, 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.000 announce a fairly large license probably you know, a deal 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:06.280 around so so that that business has gone very well, 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:09.040 but it's very much um. He speaks to a very 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.000 young audience, and these are toys every quarter than they 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:14.679 get in a box. UM. We have a we have 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:17.760 a talent called Sanite and Happiness, where a year and 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:19.760 a half ago we did a kickstarter with them we 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:23.600 did over three million in sales um and that has 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.640 that the success of that it was it was a 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.760 card game, has led us into a number of sort 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:34.320 of gaming opportunities. So just this past month, uh, there's 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:37.640 a very famous sort of indie video game called The 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:40.640 Binding of Isaac and we just we just completed a 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.720 massive kickstarter there. We did raised two point six million 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.320 in thirty days and we expect that to have a 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:49.400 fairly long distribution life in retail in a bunch of 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:53.000 other places. So we've actually gotten more collectible. I thought 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:57.280 we would have been package goods or T shirts. Our 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:59.600 business has grown in a in a in a different 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:03.360 niche and it's but it's an unpredictable business. It's hit 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.360 driven and therefore our hits have been in this space 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:09.840 and so that's why you know it's defined that way today. Also, 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:14.680 I mean you're working with influencers, which from you know, 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:18.040 obviously we've seen them amass some great audiences, but not 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.960 without a real struggle. There's lots of sort of industry 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:24.720 anecdotes about how difficult it can be to work with 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:29.280 town like this, how do you insulate yourself? Well, first 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.280 of all, let's just talk about this talent versus others. Right, So, 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:35.840 the original thesis of the collective is that disintermediation is 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:38.480 going to allow creative people to go direct to consumer. 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.200 That thesis when it plays out in video or in 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.400 music or in any other sort of form, essentially you 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:49.240 end up with a creative class that has not had 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:54.200 to go through all the steps and all the collaborations 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.800 that they that would normally they would normally go through 0:11:56.880 --> 0:12:01.319 to be successful. Meaning Roseanne Are does not exist without 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:04.960 ABC putting her on TV and so on, right, Um, 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.120 And so therefore there's a standard there hell too that 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:11.000 when ABC canceled the show, it's gone and all of 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.760 that sort of stuff. On the endverse, Beauty Pie can 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:18.480 go around saying whatever he says, Disney can't cancel him, right, right, 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:24.120 so Doesny was their impact? Absolutely? But but but you 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:26.200 know he's able to continue on. And so in a 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:31.240 world without those business consequences for behavior, you definitely have 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.800 um challenges in sort of managing and working through that. 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:39.200 That being said, when you when you really want to 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.319 the sort of the cream sort of rises to the top. 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:45.080 The reality is those that are super successful, and I 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:47.760 know we use beauty pies an example. The reality for 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:51.200 the most part is that the top layers is a 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:55.360 fairly professional class because they have been over the last 0:12:55.400 --> 0:13:00.880 five years working with brands, delivering on time, creating content 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.880 for third party platforms, taking notes and all of that 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:06.600 sort of stuff. I think where the where the tension 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:12.959 is is where the biggest tension is when the expectation 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:16.640 of the partner is not in line with the reality 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:20.439 of the talent. The partner being any at any third 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:25.360 party right. And so a TV example would be, well, 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:29.040 we're broadcast, we should have these rights in deal making, 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:31.400 or we should be able to control this because we 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:34.000 do with all our other on air talent, or however 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:36.320 that may be. The reality is you don't get that 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:40.760 control because as somebody who's built a massive opportunity outside 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.600 of you, or a brand that thinks they're making a 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.640 commercial when what the talent thinks is a brand of 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.160 content deal meaning you're coming into my show, you're coming 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:51.680 into my environment. I'm the one who's sort of going 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:54.760 to be lending you my credibility in the segment. That's 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:58.319 where a lot of the friction is um in in 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:01.240 in managing this sort of market place. In the branded 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:03.960 content side of things. It seems like a lot of 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:06.480 people in the industry are complaining about how chaotic that 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:10.319 is with regard to representation of this talent. So many 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:14.640 different people claiming to speak for you know, influencer X. 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:16.960 How do you deal with that? Oh, it's that. So 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.240 that part of the market is very high growth and 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.600 barrier to entry is almost zero, right or very limited, 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:26.360 So we we have whereas on the media side, on 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:29.040 the content side of the there's there's just much higher 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:33.320 barriers to entry. So it's very confusing. On two sides. 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:37.480 You've got I think a buyer market that has not 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.720 figured out who owns the football and in media or 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:45.760 in creative, in strategy and PR, there's firms that actually 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:50.520 own the capability and the expertise and the market knowledge. 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.840 In branded content, it could be the brand, could be 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:56.120 the creative agency, it could be the PR firm, it 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.880 could be some specialist. So so the fact that the 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:04.520 by side is so fractured is one problem. Because r 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:07.320 o I, which is what every CMO talks about when 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:10.200 they have to ask for budget and all that when 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.440 you when you disperse sort of the expertise across a 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:17.000 bunch of agencies, you end up with with people who 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.680 don't have the same measurement, the same expectation, the same 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:24.840 quality control, the same standards. So the BY side needs 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:29.400 to fix itself, I think first before the cell side 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:34.480 organizes itself and the cell side is everything goes right, 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:38.040 it's whoever gets the client first, and what the challenges 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:41.160 on the for the talent is. You know, some version 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:45.000 of pricing is all over the place, multiple people representing you, 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:47.160 and when you go back to the sort of the 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:50.480 perception problem that this talent may be difficult to work with. 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:55.640 Um nothing like a mismanaged representative in the market to 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.640 sort of further that to cement that reputation. And so 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:02.200 I in talent needs to take a little bit of 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.160 control in this at the moment, and I think the 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:08.680 BY side needs to to sort of clean itself up, 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:12.600 which I think over time, as things grow, um, it 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:15.160 will have to. So you're hopeful then for change. Well, 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.000 look two years ago it was a billion dollar business. 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:19.880 You know now that they're saying it's two and a 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.320 half billion, and it's growing at you know, pretty fast, 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.440 um kigers and these are you know, McKenzie and analysis 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:29.840 of the market. I think at some point cmos are 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:32.120 gonna go. You know, I can't put fifty million to 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:37.280 work and get like a PR response, a creative agency response, 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:39.480 and a media response for the same problem. This is 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.120 not and so I think everyone needs to figure out 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.520 what is it and how are they going to measure it? 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.480 And once that happens, I think I think the cell 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:52.400 side will also clean up. Because today anyone can get 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.520 to anyone through any door. I think that there's not 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:59.160 a lot of vetting going on. What's also interesting about 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:03.080 Studio seventy one is your ownership structure. A number of 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.720 international companies have stakes, and you talk about how that 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:10.200 came to be and how that positions you in the market. Right, 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:14.119 So this business is whether you like it or not, 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:17.000 or want it to be or not as global. Um. 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.120 When we talk about I think we're now at nine 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.679 and a half billion views, that six of them do 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:27.200 not happen in the United States, UM and so, and 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:32.239 when people complain about monetization of digital, one of the 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:35.560 realities is the US market actually even just Google on 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:40.000 their own does a decent job doing it. It's when 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:44.960 you add the UK, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, all 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:48.720 the Brazil, other parts of Latin America where where there's 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.320 where those numbers just are smaller because the economies and 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.800 a number of other factors. And so our thesis was 0:17:55.800 --> 0:18:00.280 if we partnered in local markets with UM law large 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:02.480 sales houses who also had a lot of content that 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.679 was applicable in short form UM, we could build a 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:09.400 really interesting global footprint that would lift all boats UM 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:12.280 and so we partner would proceed in UM. There there 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.280 are the controlling shareholder in the business Germany. In Germany 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:17.760 they're the leading one of the leading broadcasters of not 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:22.320 the leading broadcaster in Germany and UM they were going 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:26.040 along that sort of similar path UM. And I think 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.000 what's interesting about the model is it's in Germany. In 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:33.280 the US, I'm very I'm very digitally native UM with 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:38.760 with few exceptions in Germany. Half my content is actually 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:43.240 mainstream prime time television and and day parts and news 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:45.000 and a whole bunch of other stuff. But cut down 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:47.160 to short form, cut cut down to short form, that's 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.800 exactly right. So it's it's the voice in short form, 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:53.680 the voice of Germany in short form or Germany's next 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:56.520 top model, or you know shows you haven't heard of 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.200 like Galileo, which is their science show, or their news 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:02.480 shows and stuff like that, and we bundle that with 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.760 the best of the sort of digital creative community and 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:09.120 sell that as an ad package. Um and so over 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:11.600 that that business model we sort of you know, are 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:16.359 exporting from Germany into France with t F one and 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:21.040 to Italy with media set And is there further growth 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:24.160 expected there? Can we see yet more partners that get 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:29.040 expected in fairness a lot more speed. The turnover in 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:33.800 broadcasters globally has been pretty pretty astounding, I mean in 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:36.880 the executives executive turnover at the top where we were 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:40.359 having our discussions, so I I would expect in the 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:43.520 next year or so we will have further announcements along 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:45.600 that way. But what we've done in the interim is, 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:48.560 I mean in Germany in particular, we've really doubled down 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:52.359 on that concept. We're we're delivering you know, half the 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:55.080 reach on most of the shows in terms of monetize 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:58.000 herble impressions on most of the shows. And I think 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:01.440 we're really trying to figure out this notion and it's 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:04.560 not it's not Studio sevenyone, it's it's Studio sevenyone really 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:08.520 is part of the proceedings sort of entertainment vertical, trying 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:12.240 to figure out the concept of you know, one reach number, right, 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:16.600 so a single currency for total reach on a on 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:19.800 a on a on a program, and and and so 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:23.520 if if, if we're successful in really achieving that as 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:27.600 a market standard, we believe a ton of AD dollars 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.280 are going to flow into the to the proceeding ecosystem 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:35.840 beyond just broadcast and oinos. I thought of your company 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:39.040 when I saw the news recently on what happened with 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:43.560 Awesomeness TV, because you guys essentially emerged from that same 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:47.679 corner of the ecosystem what was known as multi channel networks. 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:50.600 So many of those companies like your own have certainly 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:55.840 you know, evolved or pivoted since then. What did you 0:20:55.840 --> 0:21:00.000 guys do right that they apparently, given what you see 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:03.719 a drop from valuation to sale price, that is not 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:06.720 a company that I think took a good turn. How 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:11.320 did what went on here? When you lose Jeffrey Katzenberg 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:15.600 and Brian Robbins, That would be one big check. It's 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:18.880 just given how much value those two generated for that business, 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:23.240 and they were shed when Comcast. I don't know the timing, 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:27.320 but but but the that departure was clearly not good 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:31.400 for the business. And you know, I don't know Jordan 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:33.160 all that well, but I just think he had big 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:35.639 shoes to fill in that in that role. And I 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:39.040 think secondarily, they were a little different than us from 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:42.760 the perspective of that was a digital media brand and 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:46.200 a production business. So they really sold production as their 0:21:46.240 --> 0:21:51.040 core capability. Um. They didn't have the scale that we 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:53.520 we have at all um, and so they didn't have 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:58.000 the diversity so as as go ninety and others leave 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:00.920 the market, I think it left a big hole in 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:04.000 in there in their business plan, and I think that 0:22:04.119 --> 0:22:07.439 was that was really I think that was very, very 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:09.840 challenging for them to navigate out of. But you guys 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:12.880 have a production arm as well, you do some long forms, 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:16.880 some scripted, how is that going? We're seeing the same 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:19.440 trends that that is a tough market for companies like 0:22:19.560 --> 0:22:22.480 ours today. I mean, I thought that for a while, 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:25.640 the conventional wisdom was, Oh, there's Netflix, there's Amazon, there's 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:30.719 gonna be Apple. So many buyers wanted his long form scripted, 0:22:30.840 --> 0:22:36.560