Speaker 1: I'm Emily Chang, and this is the circuit. If you've
Speaker 1: ever walked down the toy isle in walmart or caught
Speaker 1: one of his famous video reviews, chances are you know
Speaker 1: Ryan Kaji. He's one of the biggest YouTube kid stars
Speaker 1: on the planet, racking up billions of views on his
Speaker 1: various channels. After almost a decade of content creation, He's
Speaker 1: getting his first major motion picture with his parents and
Speaker 1: his sisters as co stars.
Speaker 2: Like being a guitar, it's very quality.
Speaker 1: Behind the scenes of the Kaji Empire is a former
Speaker 1: Disney executive who saw a tremendous opportunity. Chris Williams, CEO
Speaker 1: of Pocketwatch, built a company that helps YouTube kid stars
Speaker 1: transform into global franchises. He's now got over fifty kids
Speaker 1: on his client roster.
Speaker 2: They've won the Hunger Games of YouTube, and it's not
Speaker 2: because they're lucky. It's not because they gained the algorithm.
Speaker 2: It's because they've worked really hard.
Speaker 1: It's a lucrative but complicated business, sort of like an
Speaker 1: next generation Mickey Mouse Club. I sat down with Williams
Speaker 1: to talk about how Ryan and his family can compete
Speaker 1: with kids entertainment juggernauts like Coco Melon and Pepa Pig
Speaker 1: and how parents including me should think about balancing screen
Speaker 1: time with playtime. Joining me on this edition of the
Speaker 1: Circuit podcast. Pocket Watch CEO Chris Williams.
Speaker 3: Okay, first of all, thank you for doing this.
Speaker 2: This is absolutely my pleasure. Thanks for being here.
Speaker 3: It's so great to be down here.
Speaker 4: And as you know, I'm a mom four kids, so
Speaker 4: very interested in where this whole world is going. Can
Speaker 4: you start by giving us a little bit of history?
Speaker 4: Who are you and why did you start pocket Watch?
Speaker 3: Sure?
Speaker 2: I'm the founder and CEO of pocket Watch, and I
Speaker 2: was really inspired by watching an incredible transition of how
Speaker 2: kids were consuming content. And it really transformed from watching
Speaker 2: a lot of linear television channels like Disney Channel and
Speaker 2: Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. And I got to see first
Speaker 2: hand this transition from those linear platforms and TV channels
Speaker 2: and into YouTube primarily. And I saw an incredible shift
Speaker 2: also in my house of kids consuming content much different
Speaker 2: than we ever did.
Speaker 3: Right, Because you're a dad too, I'm a dad and.
Speaker 2: My kids were definitely you know, I would come home
Speaker 2: from a hard day's work and sit down on my
Speaker 2: couch and turn on my big screen TV with my
Speaker 2: surrounds and then crash on the floor and fire up
Speaker 2: their iPhones and watch YouTube videos. And then as a
Speaker 2: member of this company Maker Studios, which ultimately was acquired
Speaker 2: by Disney, where I had been before, I really looked
Speaker 2: and I said, there are these stars, characters and ip
Speaker 2: being born through digital creators on YouTube. Why, as Disney,
Speaker 2: are we not thinking of them more like we think
Speaker 2: of traditional franchises and expanding into all sorts of other things.
Speaker 2: So the real mission of the company from the very
Speaker 2: beginning was to bring kids more of what they love
Speaker 2: from these digital creators in a lot of new places,
Speaker 2: just like the way sort of Disney would do it.
Speaker 4: So what is your role with these kids versus their
Speaker 4: parents and agents and managers.
Speaker 2: What I would say is that we really rely on
Speaker 2: the parents to be parents. What we can do is
Speaker 2: we can determine who we partner with, and this is
Speaker 2: very important that we share values. We need to partner
Speaker 2: with parents who prioritize the right things for these kids,
Speaker 2: and that is everything from health and safety to socialization
Speaker 2: to education. And even if they don't necessarily know exactly
Speaker 2: all the right things to do, that's where we can
Speaker 2: be really helpful. We can empower them with information. We
Speaker 2: actually do that with a creator handbook that every single
Speaker 2: one of our forty seven partners gets when we partner
Speaker 2: with them, and in it it's all sorts of best
Speaker 2: practices from really great organizations, from SAG to governmental organizations
Speaker 2: on everything from how to film your child, how long
Speaker 2: is the right appropriate number of hours, how to book
Speaker 2: a studio teacher, how to set aside money for your
Speaker 2: child appropriately through Kogan accounts, how to disclose promotional relationships
Speaker 2: in an effective FTC compliant way. So we really make
Speaker 2: sure we partner with incredible parents who want to do
Speaker 2: the right thing, and then we empower them with all
Speaker 2: the information that they need to be able to do that.
Speaker 4: Aren't you the one who's also coming up with the
Speaker 4: show ideas and the toy ideas and sort of the
Speaker 4: way to expand the brand.
Speaker 2: For the most part, all of our partners have achieved
Speaker 2: a great level of success on their YouTube channels without us,
Speaker 2: and in fact, that is one of the things we
Speaker 2: look for. Sometimes I say that they've won the Hunger
Speaker 2: Games of YouTube, and what I mean by.
Speaker 3: That is it's competitive there.
Speaker 2: It's the most competitive platform for video, and they've won
Speaker 2: this Hunger Games over tens of thousands of other creators
Speaker 2: trying to do what they have done. And it's not
Speaker 2: because they're lucky. It's not because they gained the algorithm.
Speaker 2: It's because they've worked really hard, they found the right
Speaker 2: things to do for their audience, and then millions of
Speaker 2: people now love to watch their content.
Speaker 3: I was wondering, how much is going viral just luck.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't consider these viral stars. I would consider them
Speaker 2: digital content creators who have amassed loyal followings and deep fandoms.
Speaker 2: It's not like one off videos. Sometimes you get someone
Speaker 2: who has one video that goes really successful and then
Speaker 2: that changes the course and then they lean into it
Speaker 2: and they decide to use that as a platform to
Speaker 2: get much bigger and generate a loyal audience. But generally speaking,
Speaker 2: these are not necessarily viral. They are folks who've amassed millions,
Speaker 2: in some cases hundreds of millions of subscribers free subscribers
Speaker 2: to their YouTube channels. They're generating billions of watch time
Speaker 2: in minutes, and they've really achieved that success because the
Speaker 2: content they create is something that lots and lots and
Speaker 2: lots of kids all over the world want to consume.
Speaker 4: Break down the building blocks of a success full YouTube
Speaker 4: kids Star.
Speaker 3: How much is luck, talent, timing.
Speaker 2: I think it is a mix of art and science.
Speaker 2: Like most forms of entertainment, the science part is a
Speaker 2: bit connected to the hard work and the sense of
Speaker 2: competition that I think all successful digital creators have. In
Speaker 2: this environment on YouTube where they're competing against tens of
Speaker 2: thousands of people, it is very important to have a
Speaker 2: competitive feeling and attitude and then talent. I really do,
Speaker 2: truly believe that the partners that we have who have
Speaker 2: achieved this great level of success on YouTube have done
Speaker 2: so because they're talented, just because they've done it on
Speaker 2: a platform that, to a certain extent is frictionless, meaning
Speaker 2: they don't have to audition, they're not going through gatekeepers.
Speaker 2: That doesn't make it any less successful. In fact, I'd
Speaker 2: argue it would make it more successful that they've amassed
Speaker 2: this audience.
Speaker 4: So Ryan broke out twenty fifteen, What was it about him?
Speaker 2: For one, he is incredibly passionate and confident, and he
Speaker 2: has been since he is six years old, So I
Speaker 2: just think he had the right mix. His parents have
Speaker 2: the ability to allow him to pursue this passion of
Speaker 2: his to make video. I think they've now adopted that
Speaker 2: same passion and built around Ryan into animated content and
Speaker 2: all sorts of other things that don't rely on their
Speaker 2: children nearly as much, and that this has all come
Speaker 2: together to forge a chemistry that has taken Ryan to
Speaker 2: new heights. And then I think from there, from YouTube,
Speaker 2: Pocketwatch this is what we do. We come in and
Speaker 2: we say, how can we take what they've already accomplished
Speaker 2: on YouTube and expand that way beyond YouTube?
Speaker 3: When you met Ryan, what did you think? And then
Speaker 3: what did you do?
Speaker 2: Number one? I thought, wherever I put Ryan content and
Speaker 2: the Ryan's World brand, it would succeed because it had
Speaker 2: succeeded so well on YouTube. I knew he had a
Speaker 2: very deep fandom. Kids all over the world love Ryan,
Speaker 2: and I knew that would I had a tremendous amount
Speaker 2: of confidence that would translate into other things. So Pocketwatch
Speaker 2: we come in. We repackaged the content that they're already
Speaker 2: making on YouTube, for an example, and then we put
Speaker 2: that on platforms that are walled gardens that you can't
Speaker 2: just upload to, like a Facebook or a YouTube, so Hulu,
Speaker 2: so you know, taking Ryan's content and putting on a
Speaker 2: Hulu on Peacock, putting it on Sky in the UK,
Speaker 2: taking that content and starting to build audiences there, and
Speaker 2: then taking that a step further by doing even a
Speaker 2: more premium series with Nickelodeon called Ryan's Mystery Playdate, which
Speaker 2: our chief content officer, Albi Hecht created and executive produced,
Speaker 2: and that was our show. And we did that with
Speaker 2: Ryan called Ryan's Mystery play Date, and then distributed that
Speaker 2: through Nickelodeon and all over the world ninety episodes, five seasons,
Speaker 2: Emmy nominated, and Ryan and his family Sean Lean at
Speaker 2: the core of that. And consumer products, we were successful
Speaker 2: in bringing the Ryan's World brand to different types of
Speaker 2: manufacturers for things like toys and toothbrushes and all sorts
Speaker 2: of things to put the Ryan's World brand on, and
Speaker 2: then sold those through Walmart and Target and many other
Speaker 2: retailers all over the world to great success. And frankly,
Speaker 2: I believe this opened the door for not just of
Speaker 2: our other creator partners to walk through, but digital creators
Speaker 2: in different verticals. I think if you asked mister Beast
Speaker 2: why Feastables was available at Walmart, he'd say Ryan's world
Speaker 2: paved the way because he did.
Speaker 3: But can Ryan be the next mister Beast He could?
Speaker 2: I don't know. It really will depend on where his
Speaker 2: interests go. He may be more like a Ron Howard
Speaker 2: who decides to take a more behind the scenes role
Speaker 2: in his career. You know, his current passion is wanting
Speaker 2: to be an animator. You know, the world is his oyster,
Speaker 2: and I think it really says a lot about his
Speaker 2: parents and about us that we are not pushing him
Speaker 2: in any particular direction. He should be free to do
Speaker 2: whatever he wants, even if that's nothing at all. I
Speaker 2: think it's a big part of what we also try
Speaker 2: and establish for his future.
Speaker 4: YouTube Kids can be a super lucrative world. Take us
Speaker 4: inside that world and what the possibilities are.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it can definitely be lucrative. And I think what
Speaker 2: we really try and focus on is working with these
Speaker 2: creators to really expand what they're already doing and generate
Speaker 2: new revenue streams for them on all sorts of different
Speaker 2: platforms that might not be readily available to them as
Speaker 2: just digital creators. Right platforms that are closed, things like
Speaker 2: Hulu and Peacock, and all sorts of platforms like that
Speaker 2: they don't necessarily partner directly with digital creators. They want
Speaker 2: to work with companies who bring them a great supply
Speaker 2: of brand friendly, kid friendly, family friendly content from these
Speaker 2: digital creators in a way that's enriched and packaged so
Speaker 2: that they feel confident that they can put it on
Speaker 2: their platform. So it's really important that that's a new
Speaker 2: revenue stream that we can drive for them. We're even
Speaker 2: doing that now through fast channels, which are free ad
Speaker 2: supported television. So you may have heard of platforms like
Speaker 2: Pluto or the Roku channel or Samsung TV Plus, and
Speaker 2: these are new channels of distribution that we're packaging this
Speaker 2: content into that's ad supported. We even have a new
Speaker 2: service called Ryan and Friends, which both lives as one
Speaker 2: of these fast channels and also as its own subscription
Speaker 2: service for parents to give parents the best of what
Speaker 2: their kids love about YouTube and environment that's completely safe,
Speaker 2: and in exchange for that, they're willing to pay a
Speaker 2: subscription of three ninety nine a month, and in doing so,
Speaker 2: that creates more revenue and more diverse revenue for creators
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 4: Has Ryan been as successful on these other platforms On Nickelodeon,
Speaker 4: for example, as he has been on YouTube.
Speaker 2: Yes, Ryan has been successful in many other areas and platforms,
Speaker 2: including Nickelodeon. In fact, Ryan's Mystery Playdate, the series we
Speaker 2: launched on Nickelodeon back in April of twenty nineteen. Forty
Speaker 2: percent of the audience of the premiere episode had never
Speaker 2: watched Nickelodeon before. Wow, So he brought an entirely new
Speaker 2: audience to Nickelodeon. It was the number one show for
Speaker 2: a couple of years. We went five seasons, nominated for
Speaker 2: an Emmy, lost to Sesame Street because everybody does. And
Speaker 2: as soon as you see you're in that category best
Speaker 2: Preschool Series, you're like, Okay, we lose thirty five years
Speaker 2: I think they've won. But yeah, And certainly consumer products,
Speaker 2: toys especially have probably generated over half a billion dollars
Speaker 2: at retail since launching in twenty eighteen. So yes, Ryan
Speaker 2: is very successful. Wherever we put the brand and the content, you.
Speaker 4: Now represent so many kids, and there are so many
Speaker 4: influencers out there, some of them have much bigger followings
Speaker 4: than Ryan. Talk to us about the other people in
Speaker 4: this world.
Speaker 2: Who's the competition in terms of the creator partners that
Speaker 2: we have from YouTube, Not all of them are even kids.
Speaker 2: Could be an animator who's had great success, or it
Speaker 2: could be a nineteen year old magician from the UK
Speaker 2: named Dan Rhodes. He was the seventh largest creator on
Speaker 2: all of YouTube last year. So we really pride ourselves
Speaker 2: on the diversity of the portfolio of creators that we
Speaker 2: partner with. And that's not just traditional diversity, which means
Speaker 2: so much to us, and that traditional diversity obviously nationality, ethnicity, race,
Speaker 2: This is very important. We truly believe kids are better
Speaker 2: off being able to consume content where they can see
Speaker 2: themselves in the content. We think that's truly important to them.
Speaker 2: But we're also diverse in genre type and within the
Speaker 2: kids and family demographic, so we have a lot of
Speaker 2: different creators. I think we tend to look for creators
Speaker 2: that have already succeeded with their own content and then
Speaker 2: who also have an ambition to go even further, which
Speaker 2: is not everybody.
Speaker 4: Diana is now your biggest star, I guess based on
Speaker 4: YouTube views.
Speaker 2: From a pure audience measurement on YouTube, Diana's a pretty
Speaker 2: astounding creator.
Speaker 3: What is it about her?
Speaker 2: Her and her brother Roma have generated an audience that's
Speaker 2: pretty incomprehensible. They're the third largest creator channel on all
Speaker 2: of YouTube, not just kids, just broadly Wow, hundreds of
Speaker 2: millions of subscribers, billions of views every month, and I
Speaker 2: think they've pioneered a new type of format that worked
Speaker 2: really well globally. And I think big part of their
Speaker 2: success besides the passion for what they do that really
Speaker 2: shows and their adorableness amongst each other and how they
Speaker 2: interact with each other, but they've really done this imaginative
Speaker 2: play type of format where they're pretending, and I think
Speaker 2: it mirrors the play patterns of kids all over the world,
Speaker 2: and they do it with very little dialogue. And by
Speaker 2: doing it with very little dialogue, it's really easy for
Speaker 2: kids all over the world who speak all sorts of
Speaker 2: different languages to embrace Diana and Roma and their content,
Speaker 2: and I think that's a big key to their success.
Speaker 4: Diana and Roma, Vlad and Nikki Nastia. Why are we
Speaker 4: seeing so many stars from Ukraine from Russia?
Speaker 2: That's a really good question. There are others besides those three,
Speaker 2: but they are all massive with massive audiences, and it's
Speaker 2: probably something about the culture there. I really couldn't tell you.
Speaker 2: I don't know the answer to why that particular cultural
Speaker 2: upbringing has led to three of the largest kids influencers
Speaker 2: on all of YouTube.
Speaker 4: What about the audience like globally, where are the viewers
Speaker 4: coming from?
Speaker 3: For Ryan? For Diana.
Speaker 2: The good news about operating on a platform like YouTube,
Speaker 2: for these creators and for us and being their big partners,
Speaker 2: is that we can see where the audience is coming
Speaker 2: from with a very high level of accuracy. So it
Speaker 2: really depends on the creator. You know, Ryan has always
Speaker 2: had a very strong English language audience. We've recently started
Speaker 2: moving heavily into Spanish language. There's a Spanish language channel
Speaker 2: on YouTube that's very successful. Now we are now incorporating
Speaker 2: Spanish language into partnerships for Ryan that we have with
Speaker 2: cameo content distribution on platforms like Roku, So we're really
Speaker 2: starting to expand Spanish language there. And you can tell
Speaker 2: where are the audience is coming from, and so when
Speaker 2: you look at someone like Diana, it's true maybe only
Speaker 2: fifteen percent is from the US, where twenty percent might
Speaker 2: be from India or from the Middle East, So you
Speaker 2: see audiences from all over the world. But it really
Speaker 2: helps guide us in terms of the type of global
Speaker 2: markets that we want to focus on as we're expanding
Speaker 2: them onto new platforms.
Speaker 4: I'd love for you to break down the building blocks
Speaker 4: of the business, because I think a lot of people
Speaker 4: don't understand how it works. What's the most lucrative part
Speaker 4: of this business? Is it a lot of us on YouTube?
Speaker 4: Is it getting a show, a movie, brand, deals, merch.
Speaker 2: They're all kind of connected. I wouldn't say there is
Speaker 2: one area that we focus on as the most lucrative.
Speaker 2: They do all play together. So, for example, content distribution
Speaker 2: or content syndication, we give them lots of guidance, but
Speaker 2: then we take that content and we cure it, we
Speaker 2: enrich it, we package it, and we distribute on all
Speaker 2: sorts of other platforms. And what we believe that does
Speaker 2: is also help build the brand in a different context.
Speaker 2: So I can take let's say Diana content, and I
Speaker 2: can put that now on a platform like Hulu. There's
Speaker 2: an adjacency to content that parents have a different perception of.
Speaker 2: Suddenly it's sitting next to paw Patrol, it's sitting next
Speaker 2: to SpongeBob, and parents are going to view that brand
Speaker 2: a little differently than having come exclusively from YouTube, and
Speaker 2: that might open the door for consumer products, or for gaming,
Speaker 2: or for things that we're going to start exploring this
Speaker 2: year like live events, and so it is definitely a
Speaker 2: cumulative effect of being everywhere kids are giving them more
Speaker 2: about these brands that they love, and just continually expanding
Speaker 2: from there. Oftentimes we'll start with content distribution and content
Speaker 2: syndication and it can be very lucrative as the content
Speaker 2: makes its way onto all these other platforms besides just YouTube,
Speaker 2: and it certainly creates a diversity in revenue that is
Speaker 2: very important for these creators, mostly for their peace of
Speaker 2: mind to know that they're not one hundred percent reliant
Speaker 2: on one platform. And we see what that can do
Speaker 2: not only to creators but to businesses. So you want
Speaker 2: to make a real strong effort to diversify your revenue streams,
Speaker 2: and that's the first way we do it is usually
Speaker 2: content distribution.
Speaker 4: In twenty nineteen, the FTC called out Ryan's channel for
Speaker 4: blurring the lines on sponsored content. It's called spond com.
Speaker 4: What did you learn from that or what are the
Speaker 4: lessons there?
Speaker 2: Honestly, we have always been the gold standard in terms
Speaker 2: of compliance. We believe in the regulatory framework that's out
Speaker 2: there to protect children and people, And to be frank,
Speaker 2: I think the people who lodged the complaint didn't fully
Speaker 2: understand the nature of what required disclosure and what didn't.
Speaker 2: And as you can see, that was a while ago.
Speaker 2: No actions were ever taken from the FTC to Ryan
Speaker 2: or to us on that. And we continue to go
Speaker 2: above and beyond what the level of compliance is. That
Speaker 2: we will always go higher and always be the gold
Speaker 2: standard in terms of that type of compliance, and we
Speaker 2: think it's incredibly important. In fact, one of our attorneys
Speaker 2: here who specializes in this came from an organization called Kiru,
Speaker 2: which is the children's advertising unit that's part of the FTC,
Speaker 2: and so it's very very important to us.
Speaker 4: I'm a mom, and Guilty has charged my kids watch
Speaker 4: more YouTube than I would like to admit.
Speaker 3: Is all this stuff good for kids?
Speaker 4: Is this stuff these kids are making on boxing videos,
Speaker 4: for example, is that actually.
Speaker 3: Good for kids?
Speaker 2: I would say, generally speaking, there's a lot of not
Speaker 2: good for kids things on YouTube, one hundred percent. However,
Speaker 2: as a company, what we get to do is really
Speaker 2: carefully select who we partner with, and it is important
Speaker 2: for us not just that the kids who are in
Speaker 2: the content are prioritizing the health and safety and well being,
Speaker 2: but of the audience as well. And I think you
Speaker 2: see genres just not unlike traditional content, it moves in
Speaker 2: and out based on certain popularity. An imaginative toy play
Speaker 2: is actually a really important aspect of how kids grow
Speaker 2: up and socialize and learn things. And so there's nothing
Speaker 2: inherently wrong with imaginative toy play.
Speaker 4: Right, But do I want my kids watching other kids
Speaker 4: playing with toys on a screen versus playing with toys
Speaker 4: themselves and imagining what could be?
Speaker 2: I like to think, and I saw it in my
Speaker 2: own house as a parent. Maybe you see it is
Speaker 2: many times what they're seeing on YouTube inspires them to
Speaker 2: do something that's the best type of content. So you
Speaker 2: might be watching like a kid's channel that has cooking
Speaker 2: going on, and now all of a sudden, your kid
Speaker 2: has a desire to go, hey, let's make this, Let's
Speaker 2: do this, or it could be some sort of outdoor
Speaker 2: play or even playing with the toy that the notion
Speaker 2: that there's someone just like me who I consider in
Speaker 2: many ways a friend. I think that's the relationship between
Speaker 2: the audience and some of the kids on YouTube is
Speaker 2: one that's more friendly, that they perceive them as their friends,
Speaker 2: and then they're often inspired to do those things themselves,
Speaker 2: which I certainly see in my house all the time. Now.
Speaker 4: Historically the goal was to be in the Mickey Mouse
Speaker 4: Club and everything flowed from there.
Speaker 2: Is that ara over, No, I think you still have
Speaker 2: aspirational performers who think of traditional media success as the
Speaker 2: end goal, and it is a different thing. What I
Speaker 2: find certainly is with these creators on YouTube, their experience
Speaker 2: is different. I always say like one of the things
Speaker 2: they never have to do is go to an audition
Speaker 2: and be rejected that in fact, the majority of content
Speaker 2: these kids create are with their parents, who, at least
Speaker 2: the ones we partner with, prioritize their health and safety,
Speaker 2: their well being, their educations, all the things that are
Speaker 2: really important. The familial part of this is really important.
Speaker 2: In fact, I see some of our creators and I
Speaker 2: wish that I had a business with my kids to
Speaker 2: be able to spend as much quality time together as
Speaker 2: they do. It makes me a little jealous.
Speaker 3: To be friends.
Speaker 4: The landscape is changing though, Like my kids, they watch
Speaker 4: a Disney movie once and they don't want to watch
Speaker 4: it again. I would watch The Little Mermaid and the
Speaker 4: Lion King and send her hundreds of times. Right, So
Speaker 4: who should be worried? Should Disney be worried or Nickelodeon?
Speaker 4: Seems like everyone's coming from them. TikTok's even coming for YouTube.
Speaker 2: I think as the space evolves, the traditional media companies
Speaker 2: will embrace this digital content more and more, which will
Speaker 2: give them access to these audiences like your children, who
Speaker 2: are veering away from what they traditionally consumed from them.
Speaker 2: I just think it's inevitable they have to.
Speaker 3: So Disney's going to figure it out.
Speaker 2: They kind of have to. They don't really have a choice.
Speaker 2: If you think about what's happening with YouTube and TikTok
Speaker 2: and what consumers, including kids, are really deriving from these platforms.
Speaker 2: I do think the traditional system is going to start
Speaker 2: incorporating elements, but I don't think they're going to go away.
Speaker 2: I think they're going to continue to make movies and
Speaker 2: make very premium series, and I think those will have
Speaker 2: a strong place in the buffet of choices that we
Speaker 2: all enjoy, including our kids.
Speaker 4: So then there's these other emerging platforms like Twitch and
Speaker 4: Instagram and discord.
Speaker 3: How do you think about those?
Speaker 2: I think about them all differently. I think YouTube, by
Speaker 2: coming to terms with the FTC in twenty nineteen and
Speaker 2: implementing a process by which to distribute kids content safely
Speaker 2: on that platform, is kind of the only one that
Speaker 2: has that clear lane today. I expect others to adopt
Speaker 2: policies to negotiate with regulators on opening themselves up to
Speaker 2: engaging kids. But even TikTok is a thirteen plus platform,
Speaker 2: we all know there's kids under thirteen consuming content there
Speaker 2: and even making content there, but they're not supposed to,
Speaker 2: And so all of these platforms, Twitch included, we will
Speaker 2: likely hold off until they've done what YouTube did, and
Speaker 2: was to acknowledge that there are kids on these platforms
Speaker 2: and to really create a safe environment through policies and
Speaker 2: regulations to engage with them.
Speaker 4: Shows like Paw Patrol and Pepa Pick these are juggernauts,
Speaker 4: but hits like that are hard to come by.
Speaker 3: Aren't they? Like? How many more of those kinds of
Speaker 3: hits what we see?
Speaker 2: It's a great question, Emily. I do think there's only
Speaker 2: a certain amount of massively popular IP that can kind
Speaker 2: of exist at once. I think you're seeing this in
Speaker 2: traditional a lot as well. I think as we go
Speaker 2: through some superhero fatigue and some things like that. I
Speaker 2: think in kids, the beauty of a platform like YouTube
Speaker 2: is that it does give kids a really strong opportunity
Speaker 2: to pursue content that they might not find in other places.
Speaker 2: And that could be as simple as like, I love
Speaker 2: to watch farming videos. Right, we have a partner name
Speaker 2: of Hudson's Playground. All of Hudson's content is through the
Speaker 2: lens of a creator on a farm. Right. This is
Speaker 2: not something you're going to get on traditional television or
Speaker 2: through movies. But I still think you're going to have
Speaker 2: a mix, and the brands will just come from different places.
Speaker 2: We might see a roadblocks game attain intellectual property status
Speaker 2: as a massive franchise. You know, you could see things
Speaker 2: coming from other areas besides just the traditional system, but
Speaker 2: I think they'll still be throwing out some good big ip.
Speaker 4: So compare the top kid entertainment offerings, whether it's Disney
Speaker 4: or Netflix or Coco Melon or Mister Beast Ryan's World
Speaker 4: to vladen Nikki.
Speaker 3: How do they all stack up to you?
Speaker 2: They're mostly different. When you think of platforms, YouTube is
Speaker 2: in fact the largest platform for kids content in the world.
Speaker 2: Netflix up there. I think it's second. Disney's probably third,
Speaker 2: and so I think there are lots of places to
Speaker 2: consume different types of content, but they usually stand for something.
Speaker 2: I think Disney in particular stance a something very specific
Speaker 2: that when you and your children engage with Disney Plus
Speaker 2: or their content, that you have an expectation of certain
Speaker 2: type of content and you're going to be delivered it.
Speaker 2: Netflix even I think, has a little broader mix, but
Speaker 2: there's a certain expectation. And then you know platforms like YouTube,
Speaker 2: it's a much larger variety that opens the door for
Speaker 2: lots of IP and content that can then actually move
Speaker 2: to those Cocoa Melon's a good example. I think that
Speaker 2: was an incredibly powerful animated series on YouTube and attained
Speaker 2: the status of the largest channel in the world on YouTube,
Speaker 2: and it certainly was no surprise to me that it
Speaker 2: found the same type of massive success when you put
Speaker 2: it on Netflix and other platforms.
Speaker 4: So Disney's third, Right, What is it about Disney? Why
Speaker 4: has Disney lost its shine?
Speaker 2: Well, first off, I'll say I lost the magic. It
Speaker 2: is a very important word, the magic at Disney. I
Speaker 2: am a two time Disney veteran, so keep that in mind.
Speaker 2: I have an incredible admiration for Disney, not just as
Speaker 2: a creative engine, but for their ability to bring that
Speaker 2: creativity to people everywhere. I mean, it is incredible in
Speaker 2: the machine they have for bringing content and IP to people.
Speaker 2: I think in the case of Disney Plus as a
Speaker 2: streaming platform, relative to Netflix and YouTube, it's just purely scale.
Speaker 2: I think Disney will continue to gain ground, but at
Speaker 2: the end of the day, Netflix has way more subscribers
Speaker 2: than Disney, and I think it really comes down to that.
Speaker 2: I don't think they've necessarily lost the magic. I think
Speaker 2: they are going through a period that's happened before where
Speaker 2: they need to refocus their energies on producing great creative
Speaker 2: which I think they've lost a little bit in the
Speaker 2: last couple of years. But I think back to the
Speaker 2: post Katzenberg era, where they had gone through this incredible
Speaker 2: run of Lion King and Aladdin and these incredible animated
Speaker 2: IP and they went through a real rut. And what
Speaker 2: happens in that context is something like Disney Channel actually,
Speaker 2: led by a phenomenal executive, Gary Marsh, incredibly creative, became
Speaker 2: the tip of the spear for the Disney brand for
Speaker 2: a while and that was things like High School Musical
Speaker 2: and Wizards of Waverley Place and that kind of thing.
Speaker 3: But now it seems like Disney Channel is not going to.
Speaker 2: Be certainly no. But my point is, I think something
Speaker 2: within the Disney ecosystem will rise and will be the
Speaker 2: creative engine for the next decade. I think, you know,
Speaker 2: it could still be Marvel, it could still be Star Wars,
Speaker 2: it could still be Pixar. I think those things have
Speaker 2: great opportunity to continue and create a lot of success,
Speaker 2: but they're also facing a lot more competition than they've
Speaker 2: ever faced.
Speaker 3: You think Eiger can do it.
Speaker 2: I'm a true believer. Yes, I've always believed in Bob Iger.
Speaker 2: I've always believed in his what I would call left
Speaker 2: brain right brain success, that he is a rare executive
Speaker 2: that has an credible creative gut. So I think when
Speaker 2: Bob Iger sees content or a ride or a game
Speaker 2: or some experience based on the IP, he can tell
Speaker 2: you whether it's good enough that people are going to
Speaker 2: love it and it's commercial and that they should invest
Speaker 2: heavily in it. And I think that commercial gut, accompanied
Speaker 2: with his ability to manage a team of one hundred
Speaker 2: and eighty thousand people or however many people work at
Speaker 2: the Walt Disney Company. Is a very rare combination, and
Speaker 2: it's probably why it's so challenging to find a.
Speaker 4: Successor we've watched a lot of Coco Melon in my house,
Speaker 4: not me personally, thank goodness, But.
Speaker 3: What's your take on Coco Melon? Like, how big a
Speaker 3: threat is Coco Melon?
Speaker 2: I think Coco Melon is a very, very very big brand.
Speaker 2: I think what happens inevitably is brand value for franchises
Speaker 2: like Coco Melon ebbs and flows. I think they'll see
Speaker 2: their fair share of ebbs, and then they'll have to
Speaker 2: do some great work to make it flow again, if
Speaker 2: you will. And that might be a movie, or that
Speaker 2: might be some event that they can rally behind to
Speaker 2: invigorate the franchise. You know, you've seen it with Paw
Speaker 2: Patrol over the last couple of years, where they've done movies, right,
Speaker 2: Those are great ways to aventize. Certainly, we believe in
Speaker 2: that formula of utilizing things like feature films to eventize
Speaker 2: that particular ip or that particular brand. So I think
Speaker 2: you'll continue to see a lot of that.
Speaker 3: Why is it about Coco Melon that's so addicting.
Speaker 2: You know, I don't generally like to judge the audience.
Speaker 2: This is my title at my last role at Maker Studios,
Speaker 2: which was a part of Disney, was Chief Audience Officer,
Speaker 2: and I kind of made it up, but I made
Speaker 2: it up because it was my homage to the power
Speaker 2: of real, organic audiences and fandoms. And so kids love
Speaker 2: Coco Melan and it's not necessarily for me to judge
Speaker 2: so long as it's not terrible for kids. And I
Speaker 2: do not believe Coco Melos but for kids at all.
Speaker 2: In fact, I think it's deeply rooted in educating kids
Speaker 2: on morality lessons and many many things that are important
Speaker 2: that actually we're being a little neglected in traditional entertainment,
Speaker 2: And so it doesn't surprise me. And I think it
Speaker 2: obviously has attributes that kids are passionately in love with.
Speaker 2: And parents don't have to love the content that their
Speaker 2: kids love. That's not a rule. And there's I think
Speaker 2: kid for kid content is really important.
Speaker 4: So let's flip it instead of making it about the audience,
Speaker 4: What about the creators? What did the creators of Coco
Speaker 4: Melan get so right in terms of capturing the audience attention?
Speaker 2: It's hard to say exactly. Jay the creator and founder
Speaker 2: of Coco Melan and his wife certainly were looking for
Speaker 2: content that they weren't finding for their own children and
Speaker 2: created it. A lot of stories start that way. In fact,
Speaker 2: some more current stories like Gracy's Corner, who we love
Speaker 2: very much. They're not a current partner, but never know
Speaker 2: love them very much, but they are a lovely family
Speaker 2: who wasn't seeing enough diversity in the content that they
Speaker 2: were consuming. An animated content Coco Melan is an example,
Speaker 2: wasn't giving them enough diversity for their kids, so they
Speaker 2: went out and created Gracy's Corner. Now it's massively successful
Speaker 2: as an animated series based on their daughter, and a
Speaker 2: whole huge audience of tens of millions of kids has
Speaker 2: also fallen in love.
Speaker 4: The interesting thing about Coco Melan is owning the IP.
Speaker 4: Do you all wish that you took a page out
Speaker 4: of the Coco Melon playbook and owned the IP?
Speaker 2: I would say, personally, I'm an entrepreneur, I'm a builder.
Speaker 2: I admire Moonbug that acquired Coco Melan very much. In fact,
Speaker 2: the founder and I work together and maker studios. But
Speaker 2: it was a completely different thing. It was built to
Speaker 2: acquire channels in IP, and that's not us. We were
Speaker 2: built to partner with incredible digital creators to help build
Speaker 2: businesses around that. And so it's not that we might
Speaker 2: never acquire some IP and we do. In fact, when
Speaker 2: we partner with our creators, we obviously are investing some
Speaker 2: cases millions of dollars into new IP with those creators.
Speaker 2: Certainly we have very large ownership stakes in that as well,
Speaker 2: but it's just different. I would say we're builders, not buyers.
Speaker 4: Yeah, take us inside YouTube's black box.
Speaker 3: How does the algorithm actually work?
Speaker 2: The algorithm changes frequently in the kid space, but not
Speaker 2: just the kid space. In fact, you can see sometimes
Speaker 2: when it's changing through creators that we're not even partnered with. So,
Speaker 2: for example, mister Beast his rise to success, you can
Speaker 2: definitely pinpoint a little bit to a change in the
Speaker 2: algorithm relative to rewarding content that the algorithm believes is
Speaker 2: good for people.
Speaker 3: So the algorithm has given mister Beast a boost.
Speaker 2: I believe that he, like many creators, was trying lots
Speaker 2: of different things, and that altruism became an incredibly important
Speaker 2: part of his content. One because I think he's a
Speaker 2: good person but also because the algorithm was shifting to
Speaker 2: rewarding that at that particular time. So that's where timing
Speaker 2: comes in the chemistry of his charm, his genuine desire
Speaker 2: to do good for people hitting the same timing is
Speaker 2: the algorithm rewarding those things created a alchemy that blew
Speaker 2: him up.
Speaker 3: Interesting.
Speaker 4: I'm wondering if is mister be someone you see that
Speaker 4: will sustain long term fandom.
Speaker 2: Probably, I think he will retain fandom for a long time.
Speaker 2: It's the ups and downs within that context. There might
Speaker 2: be some peaks and valleys, but I think mister Beast
Speaker 2: will continue to do quite well.
Speaker 4: Talk to us about how does it take kids in
Speaker 4: and out of these videos without them even pressing a button?
Speaker 3: And should we be terrified parents?
Speaker 2: I think you can take some confidence in YouTube kids.
Speaker 2: So that's a separate service that's part of YouTube. You
Speaker 2: can download it as a separate app or I believe
Speaker 2: it's also a tab within the app that will create
Speaker 2: a more kids safe experience. That's not safe enough for
Speaker 2: some parents, And I do think most parents' greatest concern
Speaker 2: is not necessarily what their kids are watching, but what
Speaker 2: they're watching next. Because it's been served up to them,
Speaker 2: and there's not a ton of confidence that YouTube is
Speaker 2: going to be serving them something that is parental approved,
Speaker 2: so to speak.
Speaker 3: And what about YouTube in.
Speaker 2: General, Well, YouTube in general, that's the one I'm really
Speaker 2: my kids.
Speaker 3: When they're six, they age out of YouTube kids.
Speaker 2: Yes, I think that is going to continue to happen.
Speaker 2: We're making efforts to build bridges right, and this is
Speaker 2: our investments to enable parents to enjoy the best things
Speaker 2: that their kids love on YouTube, but in environments where
Speaker 2: they don't have to worry. So that's where our services
Speaker 2: like Ryan and Friends and our pocket Watch channel on Pluto,
Speaker 2: and our Ryan and Friant's Plus service on the subscription
Speaker 2: based service that you pay for it really is trying
Speaker 2: to fill that void for parents who really want the
Speaker 2: most safe place for their kids to experience this digital content.
Speaker 2: So getting the best of it. I want my kid
Speaker 2: to be able to enjoy seeing himself and the content
Speaker 2: and seeing content where the kids look like them. But
Speaker 2: at the same time, I don't want them going down
Speaker 2: rabbit holes. I want to know that human beings have
Speaker 2: curated every second of video in this platform. We provide
Speaker 2: that service, so our creator partners, we bring in and
Speaker 2: part of distributing their content is into these safe environments
Speaker 2: that we create.
Speaker 4: And obviously there's only going to be more and more
Speaker 4: of this kind of distributed content. Right Where is this
Speaker 4: all going for kids?
Speaker 2: I think every generation looks at the younger generations with
Speaker 2: a little bit of side eye. You know, it wasn't
Speaker 2: long ago that, you know, we didn't recognize hip hop
Speaker 2: as music because it didn't have a melody, and now
Speaker 2: it's the dominant form of music out there in the world.
Speaker 2: And I think we're going through similar transitions with respect
Speaker 2: to video and how kids consume it, so that people's
Speaker 2: initial reactions are because it's not familiar to what they
Speaker 2: grew up with. They're going to have a certain cynicism
Speaker 2: about whether it's good or bad or what exactly it
Speaker 2: is because it's different. But I do think over time
Speaker 2: those barriers start to fall. We start to embrace the good,
Speaker 2: weed out the bad, and end up in a place
Speaker 2: with kind of a new view on media and content.
Speaker 2: We often say to move at the speed of a
Speaker 2: digital first generation, because they're moving really fast into new
Speaker 2: content types and forms, and we want to be everywhere
Speaker 2: they are.
Speaker 4: We've all seen the horror stories about child kid stars,
Speaker 4: kids being exploited, kids having regrets, kids hating their parents.
Speaker 4: I'm curious what you've seen over the course of your
Speaker 4: career from your time at Disney. What have you seen
Speaker 4: and what did you learn from it?
Speaker 2: Well? Number one is a parent, myself and many of
Speaker 2: the people who work here are parents themselves. Like we
Speaker 2: obviously take the health and safety of the child performer.
Speaker 2: It's the top priority and it's important that we do that.
Speaker 2: But this is a category that's been around a long
Speaker 2: time with a lot of important issues to tackle and face.
Speaker 2: Whether it was from TV shows or from movies or plays,
Speaker 2: children performers has been something that needs thoughtful consideration for
Speaker 2: their health and safety. We are one hundred percent advocates
Speaker 2: of their being regulation government regulation to protect child performers
Speaker 2: in this new category. There are some things happening within
Speaker 2: states that are trying to do that. We are fully
Speaker 2: supportive of those. In the absence of that, all we
Speaker 2: can do is set a gold standard for ourselves and
Speaker 2: our creator partners. We have forty seven of them. We
Speaker 2: can empower them to do the right things by their kids.
Speaker 2: We can just support that effort in any way we
Speaker 2: can with our partners and certainly support broadly policies, regulations,
Speaker 2: and anything that's going to be out there to really
Speaker 2: support the health and safety of these kids.
Speaker 4: I mean a lot of people look at some of
Speaker 4: these parents and think they're exploiting their kids, or at
Speaker 4: least they're pushing their kids too far?
Speaker 3: Are they?
Speaker 2: I'm sure some are one hundred percent. The only thing
Speaker 2: I can say is that the parents that we work
Speaker 2: with are not that kind of parent. It is an
Speaker 2: incredibly important filter for us that we share values with
Speaker 2: these parents, and that means prioritizing the right things. It does.
Speaker 2: It means prioritizing socialization, education, health and safety. These are
Speaker 2: incredibly important values that we have that all the parents
Speaker 2: that we work with, I know they have that We've
Speaker 2: vetted them, we're batting a thousand and we have an
Speaker 2: incredible confidence in their desire to do the right thing.
Speaker 2: And then it's just about making sure that we help
Speaker 2: empower them to do the right thing with information.
Speaker 3: Have you ever had kids say no, like I don't
Speaker 3: want to do that.
Speaker 2: I will say this, I have said no to families
Speaker 2: where I've seen the parents interacting with the kids in
Speaker 2: such a way that made us uncomfortable.
Speaker 4: There is a law now about making sure kids get
Speaker 4: their earnings right. There's a new law about kids having
Speaker 4: access to their earning.
Speaker 2: Well, there's an old law called the Cougan laws and
Speaker 2: the Coogan Laws are very important laws that are designed
Speaker 2: for parents of child performers to set aside money fifteen
Speaker 2: percent of the earnings in a trust account that immediately
Speaker 2: becomes the child's when they turn eighteen. We obviously pay
Speaker 2: into coop and cancel sorts of things like that when
Speaker 2: we're working with kids, and it's part of what we're
Speaker 2: trying to educate these families on is what's appropriate and
Speaker 2: what's not to set aside for their kids. I can
Speaker 2: certainly say that Ryan and his sisters are well taken
Speaker 2: care of for the rest of their lives and likely
Speaker 2: the rest of their kids' lives and their kids' kids' lives,
Speaker 2: and so we don't have any concerns over that.
Speaker 4: One Ryan's getting older, his audience is getting older. What's
Speaker 4: the likelihood he can become a multi generational hit.
Speaker 2: I don't know that Ryan the real kid, as he
Speaker 2: gets older, what first and foremost he'll want to do?
Speaker 2: And we would never want to impose anything on him
Speaker 2: and what the audience will expect or want from him.
Speaker 2: It's hard to say. What I can say is the
Speaker 2: beauty of on demand platforms is that six year old
Speaker 2: Ryan Right is on YouTube forever, attracting a whole new
Speaker 2: audience of young people all the time. And Sean and Lean,
Speaker 2: with our help and support, have expanded that into an
Speaker 2: animated universe that can live forever. And that is something
Speaker 2: we do with a lot of our creator partners. We
Speaker 2: truly believe that if we can establish some new intellectual
Speaker 2: property built around animation based on the kids, that there
Speaker 2: will be an opportunity for annuities to pay them and
Speaker 2: their children and their grandchildren forever.
Speaker 4: So you're putting your bed on the Ryan cartoon to
Speaker 4: keep things going.
Speaker 2: I certainly have contributed an immense amount of resources to
Speaker 2: that end.
Speaker 4: Yes, okay, so we've seen some of these YouTube stars
Speaker 4: try to jump to the big screen.
Speaker 3: It hasn't worked yet.
Speaker 4: This isn't a slam dunk Right Ryan's movie, It's not
Speaker 4: a slam dunk.
Speaker 2: I think it's a slam dunk. Why I think it's
Speaker 2: a slam dunk because he has a deep fandom of
Speaker 2: children that relate to him and love him, and I
Speaker 2: think they're going to want to see him in different
Speaker 2: context and we know that already so by having the
Speaker 2: success for example on Nickelodeon, where we did five seasons
Speaker 2: of Ryan's Mystery played a to extremely high ratings, in
Speaker 2: some cases the best on the network. The context can
Speaker 2: change and we believe that the success will still come.
Speaker 4: We're seeing now what gen Z wants. Jen Alpha is next.
Speaker 4: What does Jen Alpha want?
Speaker 2: Clearly Coco, Melanie, Jen Alpha. Look, they move very quickly
Speaker 2: in terms of what they love, and certainly YouTube still
Speaker 2: holds a very strong place for what they're focused on
Speaker 2: and all the diversity that comes from all the different
Speaker 2: types of content on YouTube before them and then consuming
Speaker 2: that in places that we put that content as well.
Speaker 2: But they move fast. I think gaming will continue to
Speaker 2: be a big part of it. I think they are
Speaker 2: the first to really move into the metaverse, and I
Speaker 2: think you see that on platforms like Roadblocks, Minecraft and
Speaker 2: now coming quickly Fortnite. Creative be behind that, and I think
Speaker 2: that's going to be a big, big, big area of
Speaker 2: where our kids are going.
Speaker 4: Do you see the entertainment hierarchy changing, you know, Disney
Speaker 4: to Netflix, to Nickelodeon, to YouTube, to TikTok, to you know,
Speaker 4: some of these other emerging platforms that we've talked about.
Speaker 2: And I think the ship sailed a little. I think
Speaker 2: a lot of it's happened, and the size of YouTube
Speaker 2: and TikTok, for example, in terms of the video consumption,
Speaker 2: last year, there was a study that reported that less
Speaker 2: than fifty percent of all video consumption was traditional television.
Speaker 3: So the ship has sailed.
Speaker 2: Ship's kind of sailed. I think the value of IP
Speaker 2: remains incredibly important, and so how these big traditional media
Speaker 2: companies look to bring their IP to audiences in these
Speaker 2: new formats like games and metaverse. They'll be there, they'll
Speaker 2: just face new upstart competition.
Speaker 4: You obsess over content and IP, and I'm curious, what
Speaker 4: are the emerging trends in kids entertainment that you're watching?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do, I certainly. I think what I've always
Speaker 2: tried to do is think a little bit ahead of
Speaker 2: everybody else and where it's going. It's hard to deny
Speaker 2: the power of TikTok right now. And it's not just TikTok,
Speaker 2: it's YouTube shorts as well. So this notion of it's
Speaker 2: almost like channel surfing. Literally, the experience on TikTok to
Speaker 2: me is like what I used to do as a kid,
Speaker 2: where I would just like flip up and down and
Speaker 2: maybe you like watch five minutes of a movie and
Speaker 2: you flip around. TikTok is that, And so I think
Speaker 2: it's fascinating that we go through these periods where you
Speaker 2: get these incredible ip and franchisees and brand that you
Speaker 2: have like a deep affection and fandom for, but that
Speaker 2: we all still in our diets of media consumption want
Speaker 2: this like channel flipping. And I think I don't have
Speaker 2: any huge predictions yet, but I'm watching that very closely,
Speaker 2: like what does that mean for people and young people
Speaker 2: in particular, that type of engagement, that type of interaction
Speaker 2: that's a bit lighter. So I'm watching it really really closely.
Speaker 3: So one of my kids kids going to be watching.
Speaker 3: Let's go further out.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, there'll be in some sort of AI
Speaker 2: driven metaverse. I'm sure you know that that looks like
Speaker 2: the real world and something akin to Ready Player one.
Speaker 2: I imagine these things are coming super fast. I think
Speaker 2: AI is certainly a category that we focus on a
Speaker 2: lot at this point. You know, obviously how we can
Speaker 2: make our business more efficient, but from a creativity perspective too,
Speaker 2: in particular working with young kids. One of the things
Speaker 2: we're always trying to do is make it so they
Speaker 2: have to do less and less to achieve more and more.
Speaker 2: Basically and right.
Speaker 3: So AI is going to play here.
Speaker 2: And I plays a big role here, particularly for kids,
Speaker 2: and in the way it dovetails with animation. So when
Speaker 2: we take someone like Ryan for example, and he's superhero
Speaker 2: animated alter ego Red Titan, who is a very popular
Speaker 2: character and content already, and then we bring that to
Speaker 2: a platform like Cameo where it can be voiced by Ryan,
Speaker 2: but he doesn't have to make a new recording every time,
Speaker 2: which would place certainly much unneeded burden on Ryan. So
Speaker 2: we synthesized his voice utilizing AI, and now he can
Speaker 2: not only do these cameos through his animated character Red Titan,
Speaker 2: but he can do them in foreign languages as well,
Speaker 2: including Spanish, which listening to Red Titan with Ryan's voice
Speaker 2: speak fluent Spanish was remarkable And now you can do
Speaker 2: it at scale on Cameo for kids anytime. One of
Speaker 2: the things we're always trying to do is get on
Speaker 2: platforms early. We think it's really important to bring the
Speaker 2: franchises that we work with onto these platforms early.
Speaker 4: Are you concerned at all about how we'll all be
Speaker 4: compensated with AI doing more and more, how your kids
Speaker 4: will be compensated.
Speaker 2: I think it's really important that they become the masters
Speaker 2: of a You know what I tell my kids and
Speaker 2: I tell all the people of the company is AI
Speaker 2: is not going to replace humans. Humans who use AI
Speaker 2: will replace other humans, and you should be the ones
Speaker 2: who understand how to utilize the tools. And I look
Speaker 2: at it very much as a tool, not as a
Speaker 2: full replacement. And I think, particularly in Hollywood, I think
Speaker 2: there is some genuine concern that needs addressing around AI,
Speaker 2: and it's legit. They should have some level of concern.
Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, not everybody wants
Speaker 2: to be a writer or a creator. You still have
Speaker 2: to really have a passion for it. And so I
Speaker 2: think it's the people with a passion for it utilizing
Speaker 2: these new tools in ways that are going to make
Speaker 2: them better creators is really how it's going to play out.
Speaker 4: So it sounds like you're saying, when AI does all
Speaker 4: the work for us, at least there'll be a lot
Speaker 4: of things.
Speaker 2: To watch, right, I do worry about you know. I
Speaker 2: had a conversation with one of my business partners at YouTube,
Speaker 2: where obviously worked very closely with them, and I just
Speaker 2: kept saying, like, you're already in an arms race with
Speaker 2: Asian content farms that are just pumping content onto your platform.
Speaker 2: But the AI, I mean, there's going to be ten
Speaker 2: thousand times as much content. So what I think becomes
Speaker 2: really important trusted curation. I think it's going to get
Speaker 2: more and more important. So pocket Watch we really strive
Speaker 2: to be that trusted curation for parents in a world
Speaker 2: where content is just growing exponentially and AI is just
Speaker 2: going to be putting gasoline on the fire, and so
Speaker 2: you're going to want trusted brands and platforms that you
Speaker 2: can say, Okay, I know this is all curated by
Speaker 2: human beings. This is safe for my kids. There's no
Speaker 2: rabbit holes to go down. It's being enriched for good
Speaker 2: moral values and educational values. You know, all those things
Speaker 2: are going to become increasingly important.
Speaker 3: My god, So as a parent, it's only going to
Speaker 3: get scarier.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a little bit, but we're here to help.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening. To this episode of the Circuit.
Speaker 1: You can watch my visit to Ryan's movie set where
Speaker 1: I meet Ryan and his parents on Bloomger Originals. It's
Speaker 1: a deep dive on the kids entertainment world. I'm Emily Chang.
Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Emily Chang TV.
Speaker 1: You can watch new episodes of the Circuit on Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Television or on demand by downloading the Bloomberg app to
Speaker 1: your Smart tv or on YouTube. And check out other
Speaker 1: Bloomberg podcasts on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartMedia app, Spotify, or
Speaker 1: wherever You listen to your shows and let us know
Speaker 1: what you think by leaving a review. They really make
Speaker 1: a difference. I'm your host and executive producer. Our senior
Speaker 1: producers are Lauren Ellis.
Speaker 3: And Alan Jeffries.
Speaker 1: Our editor is Alison Casey. Catch you next time.