Speaker 1: M Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties, weekly podcast featuring conversations
Speaker 1: with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment.
Speaker 1: I'm Cynthia Littleton, co editor in chief of Variety Today.
Speaker 1: My guest is Susan Brandt, President and CEO of Dr
Speaker 1: Seus's Enterprises. Dr SEUs is truly Sue Jannaris. The sixty
Speaker 1: or so books left behind by author and illustrator Theodore
Speaker 1: Geisel are incredible and enduring work. From The Cat in
Speaker 1: the Hat to the Lorax to Oh the Places You'll Go.
Speaker 1: It's uniquely resonant across generations. As Brandt puts it so well,
Speaker 1: Dr SEUs really represents childhood for so many. As a
Speaker 1: writer and a reader, I'm marvel at how his books
Speaker 1: grow with you at every age you learn something new.
Speaker 1: Brandt has the responsibility of managing the archive and keeping
Speaker 1: the world of SEUs fresh. Based in San Diego, Dr
Speaker 1: SEUs Enterprises is the for profit company that is owned
Speaker 1: by a foundation. The proceeds from SEUs Enterprises work go
Speaker 1: to support children and family focused charities in the San
Speaker 1: Diego area. In our conversation, Brandt explains how the company
Speaker 1: is thinking about the content marketplace at this time of
Speaker 1: incredible demand for established titles. She also shares the sweet
Speaker 1: story of how following her heart by moving to San
Speaker 1: Diego led her to twenty four years and counting with
Speaker 1: the brand she loves. That's all coming up on today's
Speaker 1: episode of Strictly Business. Susan Brant, President CEO of Dr
Speaker 1: Seuss Enterprises, thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. You are the steward of all
Speaker 1: things Dr SEUs that managed the the archive and all
Speaker 1: of the electual property left behind by the amazing, amazing
Speaker 1: author illustrator Theodore Geiselm better known to millions as Dr SEUs.
Speaker 1: So I would like to start at the thirty foot view.
Speaker 1: You are in such a unique position with the steward
Speaker 1: of this incredible, incredible marquee content at this moment in
Speaker 1: time when there is so much demand for content, so
Speaker 1: many different avenues to take. Truly beloved, I P, how
Speaker 1: are you? How are you looking at this landscape? How
Speaker 1: are you managing? How are you managing things? And all
Speaker 1: of the And have no doubt the incoming calls are tremendous. M. Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, we do take stewardship very seriously, Dr SEUs.
Speaker 1: You know we're blessed with this beautiful I P. And
Speaker 1: would we take that responsibility quite seriously myself and everyone
Speaker 1: else on the team. UM, we also take really seriously
Speaker 1: the relationship that our fans have with this property were
Speaker 1: so unique. UM, you alluded it, alluded to it. Generations
Speaker 1: have grown up with Dr SEUs. It really represents its childhood. Uh.
Speaker 1: It represents that bond between parents and children, UM. And
Speaker 1: as such, you have to be very careful with what
Speaker 1: you do with this content. UM. Then we also watch
Speaker 1: and we say, what are where are the places that
Speaker 1: we can further that relationship? Where can we take this
Speaker 1: beautiful i P? And how can where can we deliver
Speaker 1: it um to where our fans are in fact consuming it?
Speaker 1: And that's why you see us actively involved in things
Speaker 1: like streaming UH films, UH podcasts, stage shows, you know,
Speaker 1: even cruise ships. UM. If there's an opportunity to reach
Speaker 1: our audience and deepen that relationship, that bond, that's what
Speaker 1: we're looking at. When you are working with content that
Speaker 1: is beyond the you know, the original canon of what
Speaker 1: Dr SEUs left left? How do you what is the
Speaker 1: gut check? How do you determine the quality to control
Speaker 1: that this is worthy of the Sieus brand. I think, Um,
Speaker 1: you have to pick your partners really carefully. Uh, in
Speaker 1: any venture, whether obviously you know you're making T shirts
Speaker 1: or cruise ship partnership, You've got to make sure and
Speaker 1: we try to make sure it's always best in class.
Speaker 1: And that's where meeting that team, uh, seeing what they've
Speaker 1: done before, having discussions about how they might utilize the property,
Speaker 1: That's where your gut comes in, UM, And then I
Speaker 1: think you trust you know those partners, you really do.
Speaker 1: There is a sense of letting go. UM. You if
Speaker 1: you do find and you find the experts and your
Speaker 1: gut tells you that's the right team. You know, you
Speaker 1: we understand the DNA of it they entertand the expertise
Speaker 1: of their genre, you have to let them go. And
Speaker 1: so there is a bit of a leap of faith,
Speaker 1: UM that says, I'm going to give you this this property,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna you're gonna caretake it. There's checkpoints for sure. UM.
Speaker 1: You know all the way, I'm very actively involved in
Speaker 1: the major entertainment deals. So I'll work with the product,
Speaker 1: the producing parties, the creative teams, on films, on television,
Speaker 1: even the cruise ships, but all the way down owned
Speaker 1: you know, every member of the team is touching those products.
Speaker 1: So um so, so I think it does go back
Speaker 1: to finding those right those right team members, those partners,
Speaker 1: and really partnering with them. But it does sound like
Speaker 1: you said, you said you you're checking in every step
Speaker 1: of the way, you know, every iteration, because as you know,
Speaker 1: it takes you know, it doesn't take long to tarnish
Speaker 1: even a gold plated brand with Yeah, um, we are
Speaker 1: notoriously tough. I understand. Uh in our approval rights where
Speaker 1: that is when people uh enter in an agreement with us.
Speaker 1: That is something that I have been told is like, wow,
Speaker 1: no one gets these approval rights. We do. Um, we
Speaker 1: do and and and we also have a proven truck
Speaker 1: track record of not holding up productions. That's when people
Speaker 1: are nervous about and I get it. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: production is expensive and when you have to go back
Speaker 1: to the rights holder, uh, you know, the potential for
Speaker 1: loss of dollars. We get it, and we've been able
Speaker 1: to do that so successfully in the past that people say, okay,
Speaker 1: and we That's what I mean about being a partner.
Speaker 1: You have to know when you can jump in what's
Speaker 1: important to change, um and you know what's important for
Speaker 1: that brand, right, what's important for SEUs? So where will
Speaker 1: I push back and where where will I not um?
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's it's it's certain rights me out, is it?
Speaker 1: Of course we know that the industry is you know,
Speaker 1: the the industry is in the middle of a huge
Speaker 1: content boom and a huge moment of globalization where we
Speaker 1: are really seeing for the first time borders really kind
Speaker 1: of being erased by gigantic platforms. So there's a lot
Speaker 1: going out on the marketplace. But is there Is that
Speaker 1: the reason why we're seeing a lot of sious initiatives
Speaker 1: in media right now or is it just kind of
Speaker 1: coincidental that things have been brewing for a while and
Speaker 1: this is when a lot of them have come to fruition. Well,
Speaker 1: things have member and it takes a while to do
Speaker 1: these deals for sure, but um, the opportunity for where
Speaker 1: we can place this content is exploding, right and so
Speaker 1: there's all these opportunity us for us to develop new content.
Speaker 1: Deals do take time, and sometimes they all tend to
Speaker 1: happen around the same time. A lot of the news
Speaker 1: that you're hearing, particularly a preschool slate our Warner Brothers,
Speaker 1: since we have three felts with Warner Bros. Actually, Um,
Speaker 1: those obviously had been in the works for a while. Uh,
Speaker 1: they just happened to all get tied up at the
Speaker 1: same time. But a lot of this is being generated
Speaker 1: by the opportunity to create content for a different delivery,
Speaker 1: like again podcasting. Um, that's we're not yet in that space.
Speaker 1: We are having discussions. It's really exciting. Um. That didn't
Speaker 1: really exist pre pandemic. There really wasn't a huge There
Speaker 1: was some, yes, but it wasn't as as prolific as
Speaker 1: not nearly as much attention for sure overall. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: so we listen, you know, you pay attention, you listen. Um. Uh,
Speaker 1: you just have to see what's moving and and and
Speaker 1: what's appropriate. We're not always also concerned with being a
Speaker 1: first mover. Sometimes we do. Ofttimes we wait and we
Speaker 1: say is this appropriate for this brand and our families?
Speaker 1: Is this space where we want to be? Um. So
Speaker 1: you may not always see us move first. Um, sometimes
Speaker 1: we do, but oftentimes we're very We're watching and saying
Speaker 1: is this the right move for us? Yes? Sometimes the
Speaker 1: deal is just kind of all culminated around the same time.
Speaker 1: Is the Sush brand at first Plush You think of
Speaker 1: the Sus brand as fairly you know, two to five,
Speaker 1: two to six year old age range. But is it
Speaker 1: broader than that? I mean, of course it has the
Speaker 1: love of parent, you know, it has that multigenerational that's invaluable.
Speaker 1: But in terms of the core the core readership, is
Speaker 1: is it that younger? Is it? Is it? Well? I
Speaker 1: mean fundamentally, you know, the company was built on books.
Speaker 1: You know, yes, eighty three years ago, you know, four
Speaker 1: or five books. We have absolutely grown into a global
Speaker 1: entertainment company. But the core those books. You know, we
Speaker 1: speak to the preschoolers, we speak to the early readers absolutely,
Speaker 1: but we've been able to take those books and parlay
Speaker 1: and build beyond that. UM. We certainly have an audience
Speaker 1: in teens. That's why we can do collaborations like The
Speaker 1: Supreme or Kylie Jenner. UM. That's way our films. We've
Speaker 1: got five films and collectively be one point five billion
Speaker 1: at the box office. You can't do that with a
Speaker 1: preschool only property, right, So we've had this and I
Speaker 1: think part of the reason we can do that UM
Speaker 1: is I'd say we're really smart, but I think Ted
Speaker 1: Geisel was really smarter. You know, his his stories have
Speaker 1: such universal messages and themes that you really kind of
Speaker 1: never outgrow that, right, You never outgrow a concern for
Speaker 1: the environment or an understanding of wide diversity. So it's
Speaker 1: so important, um, because those themes you never ever grow.
Speaker 1: We can take that, and we can take those characters,
Speaker 1: um and remain relevant as people age. So we've got
Speaker 1: you know, teens, we've got young adults, we've got parents,
Speaker 1: we've got teachers, we've got grandparents, um, and we can
Speaker 1: talk to each one of them. Uh, done right in appropriately.
Speaker 1: You also recently announced on the book front and really
Speaker 1: fascinating initiative on the book front that also kind of
Speaker 1: raises the tantalizing suggestion that there is quite an archive
Speaker 1: of Dr SEUs and Theodore Geisel drawings that exist that
Speaker 1: you are now going to kind of share and put
Speaker 1: out in the world for creators of all different backgrounds
Speaker 1: to come in and make new works inspired by some
Speaker 1: things that that are left. So that I have the
Speaker 1: image of a very colorful spire tower that is the
Speaker 1: archive of of works. Tell me, tell me a little
Speaker 1: bit more map about that project and about the archives
Speaker 1: that still are left perhaps to you know, to look
Speaker 1: through and to look through for content. And I don't know.
Speaker 1: The day that we're recording this podcast, every single motorcycle
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles is going down my street. I would
Speaker 1: just like to know. It's a work from home Friday
Speaker 1: and all the motorcyclists are out. But anyway, tell us
Speaker 1: about the book Seuss Book Initiative. Well, I hate to
Speaker 1: burst your bubble. I'm with the archives. Look like you
Speaker 1: can keep your tower in your head. It's in a library. So. Um.
Speaker 1: When Ted died, Audrey Geisel, his widow, donated all of
Speaker 1: his notes and his sketches, everything to the to the
Speaker 1: UCSD library, which was renamed the Geisl Library. Um. So
Speaker 1: it's a library. It's in the library. Um. And as
Speaker 1: any artist is, uh, Ted wasn't linear, right, they don't
Speaker 1: start middle end right there. They're extremely creative. Um. And
Speaker 1: so Ted would just draw draw things doodle. Um. He would.
Speaker 1: He had hit different folders like things that's a villains
Speaker 1: and all these really interesting yeah right, all these really
Speaker 1: interesting little characters and sketches or places, just locations. So
Speaker 1: they were just ideas. And I think maybe. I mean,
Speaker 1: I didn't get the chance to meet to guys all one.
Speaker 1: I feel like I know, but I don't. I would
Speaker 1: imagine he was testing things on to see if there
Speaker 1: a story here or I don't know, or just doodling.
Speaker 1: So while there's also the library all the original sketches
Speaker 1: for the books that are published, which, let me just
Speaker 1: tell you if you're a fan, is amazing. Um. It's
Speaker 1: like you can see his thinking yeah, but then there's
Speaker 1: also yeah, right, super cool. But then there's also um,
Speaker 1: just again these sketches, and they're just beautiful characters. So
Speaker 1: there's characters, there's locations, there's crazy machines that just didn't
Speaker 1: go anywhere. They were just his um. And so our
Speaker 1: thought was, um, I I spent a lot of time
Speaker 1: with the archives. I just helps me understand the man,
Speaker 1: which helps me care take get us better. And so
Speaker 1: I saw these and I thought, we need to do
Speaker 1: something with this, and why not take these and allow
Speaker 1: these new and emerging voices um to you know, keep
Speaker 1: that legacy alive and let them take it and say
Speaker 1: do they do these stories? Or sorry? These images inspire
Speaker 1: a story. And so the thought is to let emerging
Speaker 1: artists take you know, a sketch. You could be a character,
Speaker 1: it could be a place, it could be you know,
Speaker 1: a machine, and come up with their own story and
Speaker 1: write a book, a beginner book for readers in their style,
Speaker 1: their prose, their artistic style, um, the you know their characters, um,
Speaker 1: and tell the story. And then these books would also
Speaker 1: just have a quick aside um maybe the four of
Speaker 1: the backwards. It would say their process, like why did
Speaker 1: they like the hummingbirds? And what why did that spine
Speaker 1: this beautiful story? Um? I just love the idea. It's
Speaker 1: also actually in keeping with what Ted Gasl himself did.
Speaker 1: So Ted started the division at Random House called Beginner Books,
Speaker 1: and he was pressed logo again one of those things
Speaker 1: that just is such a trademark of quality to parents
Speaker 1: for generations, just utterly invaluable in terms of again that
Speaker 1: that that what it's what it speaks to about what
Speaker 1: that book is going to represent for that child. You know,
Speaker 1: so many people to that end. So because when it
Speaker 1: was a beginner book, Ted put his cat and hat
Speaker 1: and the logo on it. Right, This was part of
Speaker 1: the the division of Random House, part of the what
Speaker 1: do you call it? Um? I can't remember the name.
Speaker 1: Of it for the books. But anyway, UM, so that's
Speaker 1: why there's other authors that have that logo on there.
Speaker 1: So many times people say, what do you do You know,
Speaker 1: I work for doctors. Oh my god, I love doctors SEUs,
Speaker 1: I love Go dog Go And I always say that's
Speaker 1: a great book. But at the beginning book you know
Speaker 1: it's not a Doctor Seu's book. Um, but it was
Speaker 1: in the same thing. So Ted worked with emerging UM
Speaker 1: illustrators and authors at that time to help basically kind
Speaker 1: of teach them how do you write a book it's
Speaker 1: appropriate for early readers. And we are not no, we
Speaker 1: don't have to teach anyone. But the idea of giving
Speaker 1: a platform to new and emerging artists is certainly consistent
Speaker 1: with um what SEUs is all about. And so those
Speaker 1: will start as books and conceivably, you know, that's more.
Speaker 1: That's more I t P. Will they be branded some
Speaker 1: form of Dr Seus's dot dot dot, or will use
Speaker 1: the name Seue Studios. So just like you see the
Speaker 1: inner book logo on like Go dog Go, Um, you'll
Speaker 1: see a Sue Studios logo on someone's book. Um, but
Speaker 1: it's their book. They on the copyright, their book, right,
Speaker 1: it's just under our line of books in print. In
Speaker 1: print was the word I was trying to think before imprint. Uh,
Speaker 1: this is not an imprint. This is a line of books.
Speaker 1: And I guess in the publishing business there is a
Speaker 1: difference between the two. And is I think I know
Speaker 1: the answer to this, but I am curious. Is there
Speaker 1: any is doctors? Is Dr Seuss always a kids and
Speaker 1: family brand? Is there a version of Dr SEUs that
Speaker 1: could be more adults? I mean I realized some of
Speaker 1: the movies have aimed, you know, a little broader audience,
Speaker 1: But is there something that would that could you know,
Speaker 1: if you were to do with a fully adult themed property,
Speaker 1: Is that then out of the realm of consideration? No,
Speaker 1: I mean maybe we've talked about it. Um, I mean
Speaker 1: could we do so? For example, Ted guys on these
Speaker 1: notes are in the library as well. He gave lectures
Speaker 1: on how to write children's books. Um, that could be cool, right,
Speaker 1: Like maybe you do we do a book that teaches
Speaker 1: you know, adults, Like how do you write a children's book? Um,
Speaker 1: we've toyed with books on our um, you know, taking
Speaker 1: those early sketches and you know, doing in a book
Speaker 1: that it's truly because they are beautiful, they're like piece
Speaker 1: of art, you know, and doing that type of a book.
Speaker 1: So the answers, we've thought about it. It's something done,
Speaker 1: haven't haven't on the right idea quite yet, but I
Speaker 1: think it's conceivable. Why not don't run off with thing
Speaker 1: one or thing to stick around to hear more from
Speaker 1: Dr SEUs Enterprises CEO Susan Brand and we're back, just
Speaker 1: like the sneeches on the beaches with more from Dr
Speaker 1: Seuss Enterprises, CEO Susan Brand. Because it's such an interesting
Speaker 1: life and the legacy is there have there there must
Speaker 1: have been inquiries about doing a a more traditional Hollywood bio.
Speaker 1: Pick of Theodoreguisle is that does that ever come across
Speaker 1: your desk? I know you have a background in film.
Speaker 1: You would previously work for twenties Century Fox. I didn't.
Speaker 1: I worked in the home entertainment division though, so a
Speaker 1: little removed from the lot. We were the hanger on ors,
Speaker 1: you know, like, uh, you were making the money and
Speaker 1: back in those were in the money. Yes, I've always
Speaker 1: been a classic marketer, so I took that approach with
Speaker 1: how entertainment and when I when I was there it
Speaker 1: was actually h S type tapes, So it was it
Speaker 1: was it was back in the day. Um, yeah, of
Speaker 1: course we've been we've been approached. Um, we had a
Speaker 1: partnership with Illumination Entertainment with Christmall and Andre uh and
Speaker 1: Chris and I did spend a lot of time thinking
Speaker 1: about could we do a biopick, how would we do
Speaker 1: it and how would we make it special and unique?
Speaker 1: And just couldn't figure out the story, couldn't figure out
Speaker 1: the angle um for for the film. So just haven't
Speaker 1: quite figured that out yet. But would you say it's
Speaker 1: something that is kind of still simmering somewhere in the
Speaker 1: idea stage or uh DC is not seriously considering it.
Speaker 1: Not right now, We've got three films that will focus
Speaker 1: on right now and we're very excited about. Those are
Speaker 1: the films that I alluded to with Horner, right so
Speaker 1: you had mentioned John Shoe, uh Hand Gela and Bad
Speaker 1: Robot with the plus you'll go. We have two other films. Um,
Speaker 1: it's working also with Warner Animation Group. We have The
Speaker 1: Cat in the Hat and we have The Thing Movie.
Speaker 1: So right now, and as you're alluded to as well,
Speaker 1: we've got a lot of content with Netflix. We're focused
Speaker 1: on those right now. We're not actually seeking another film
Speaker 1: right now. It sounds like you've got to let you've
Speaker 1: got a lot going on. When you do a deal
Speaker 1: with Netflix, given the you know, given the i P
Speaker 1: that you bring to the table, do you own the
Speaker 1: underlying series? Is that? Does that become a property of
Speaker 1: doctors Enterprises? Or does Netflix? Does that property? Lie You're
Speaker 1: asking me to go back to that contract and take
Speaker 1: it through. Typically, and I have to go look at
Speaker 1: the Netflix deal. I don't remember. Typically, like when you
Speaker 1: do a film, the studio is a copyright to the film.
Speaker 1: That's very normal. Um So I would imagine that we
Speaker 1: we probably scheduled, strutted of that way. Honest, you don't remember, um.
Speaker 1: But all these rights are very outlined, you know in
Speaker 1: your contract what they can do, what you can do,
Speaker 1: who can utilize it, etcetera. UM, I just don't know
Speaker 1: the underlying copyright. I would astly imagine it's Netflix, um
Speaker 1: because that's how we do our films. That's what most is.
Speaker 1: Um So for example, to check you on special, the
Speaker 1: TV special that was originally MGM, they have the copyright.
Speaker 1: So it's usually how this is down to copyright's held
Speaker 1: by the studio. How the Grinch stole Christmas? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: the chech on special. Um So, I honestly don't you know,
Speaker 1: I'd have to go back. I'd be surprised if it's
Speaker 1: not structured that way, is there? I mean, can you
Speaker 1: give me an example of sort of again bringing that
Speaker 1: kind of ip utterly utterly unique, you know, I p
Speaker 1: that that gives you leverage in dealmaking when you're when
Speaker 1: you're talking about media or any kind of exploitation of
Speaker 1: those rights. Well, you know, we're just fortunately we come
Speaker 1: to the table with Dr sus so you know we
Speaker 1: can and I'd like to think we're fair but tough negotiators.
Speaker 1: You know we're going to get, you know, a good
Speaker 1: above market deal, both in terms of the financials. Control
Speaker 1: is important to us um any kind of ancillary you
Speaker 1: know rights will will will negotiate. That gives you, you
Speaker 1: know a bit of leverage without having I can't really
Speaker 1: get into all the details, but it does allow you
Speaker 1: some leverage. That said, we are always motivated to do
Speaker 1: a fair deal for both parties. Doesn't make sense if
Speaker 1: you do a deal that really is one side either way.
Speaker 1: Eventually one party is not happy. So we really do
Speaker 1: try to be good partners. You know, we're gonna fight
Speaker 1: hard for what we think is right. But at the end,
Speaker 1: it's got to be a fair, fair deal for both.
Speaker 1: When I standed on copyright, that's to what what's created
Speaker 1: the you know, obviously the characters that we come with
Speaker 1: we keep. Those are ours, and there are always ours.
Speaker 1: Nobody ever gets those. Yeah, but the new entity that's
Speaker 1: created is probably you know, it's probably Netflix is a
Speaker 1: carerate like I got. I have to look at the deal.
Speaker 1: So I think I can appreciate that distinction. And that's interesting.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously, thank you, thank you for for for
Speaker 1: candor there um. And do you see it's interesting because
Speaker 1: I would imagine, you know, I think you mentioned to
Speaker 1: me before as a statistics, something like one out of
Speaker 1: every four family or child born in the United States
Speaker 1: gets get some form of Doctor SEUs book in their
Speaker 1: first year. Is if I'm repeating that first book as
Speaker 1: a first book, Yes, our first book one and four
Speaker 1: gets the Doctor SEUs book as their first book. One
Speaker 1: of the means yeah, yeah, that is just excuse me,
Speaker 1: that's just a you know, kind of a stunning level
Speaker 1: of reach. Um, do you so, I mean, again, those books.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that just that there's a certain sales volume
Speaker 1: that there's just always. But do you see when you
Speaker 1: have new TV or film content in the market. Do
Speaker 1: you see an appreciable spike in the sales of those
Speaker 1: classic books if the content aside to you know, if
Speaker 1: the content is tied to it, or if there's just
Speaker 1: a moment where people are talking about Dr SEUs again. Um, certainly,
Speaker 1: if we have a really exciting and successful uh product,
Speaker 1: whether it's a film or its television as we like
Speaker 1: to say, all boats rise. Um. You know, it's not
Speaker 1: usually just whatever you know, book this, this the entergy
Speaker 1: may be based on. It's literally our our portfolio rises. Um.
Speaker 1: And that's books that could also be licensed products as well.
Speaker 1: So successful entertainment projects really help the entire portfolio. M
Speaker 1: And tell us a little bit about how the Doctors
Speaker 1: to Enterprise is structured. I understand that it's basically the
Speaker 1: overarching entity that owns it is a foundation. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: we're definitely for profit. It's really interesting, Uh people always
Speaker 1: think we're a non for profit or they'll called taka
Speaker 1: tak us like we're the estate, which I think is interesting.
Speaker 1: I think that goes to the good will there is
Speaker 1: for the property. UM. We do first and foremost we're
Speaker 1: about being good to children, UM and being good to families.
Speaker 1: Everything we do we use that barometer. Is this good
Speaker 1: for kids? Yes? So I think that's where some of
Speaker 1: the beautiful halo where people think we're a non for
Speaker 1: profit but we're not. We're for for profit organization. UM.
Speaker 1: Since autre past. We are owned by a foundation, but
Speaker 1: we are not the foundation. We simply are able to
Speaker 1: provide money to the foundation so that they can do good.
Speaker 1: Uh Huh, that's awesome. That's gotta be. That's gotta that
Speaker 1: in and of itself has got to be outfully for
Speaker 1: every every bit of dollars and you know, start repay
Speaker 1: our bills. But after that, you know, the money goes
Speaker 1: to a foundation. UM. And and they do good in
Speaker 1: the world. And that's a that's a nice feeling. What
Speaker 1: what size of an operation do you have? Your based
Speaker 1: in San Diego or in San Diego? You know, UM,
Speaker 1: we never like to give absolute numbers. We're smaller than
Speaker 1: you think. Uh. And yet I always say, um, you know,
Speaker 1: there are hundreds, if not thousands of people are in
Speaker 1: the world and work on and it's because we have
Speaker 1: a very unique way of working. We do have a
Speaker 1: core team that works in San Diego, Los Angeles, and
Speaker 1: actually have one in the Midwest right now. UM. But
Speaker 1: we a partner with a lot of licensing. We love
Speaker 1: a lot of agents, so we have licensing agencies that
Speaker 1: work with us in Europe, UH in Australia, UH in
Speaker 1: Latin America, in Asia. We also work with agencies that
Speaker 1: help us in the entertainment space and the publishing space
Speaker 1: to work at I C M C A. UM. We
Speaker 1: work with a lot of different agencies that rep us,
Speaker 1: you know in their various that we work with full
Speaker 1: publishing agencies Chris Brown. Um, So we have a lot
Speaker 1: of people that are on our team that are helping
Speaker 1: sell and manage our relationships. So in that regard, we
Speaker 1: really do have hundreds, if not thousands, They're just not
Speaker 1: in a direct payroll. I chuckle. Thinking of the response
Speaker 1: that you must get when people ask you what do
Speaker 1: you do and you said, I'm the CEO of dr SEUs,
Speaker 1: that must be kind of a I'll tell you I
Speaker 1: love my job and I also love getting to tell
Speaker 1: people this is what I do and people say I
Speaker 1: love Doctor SEUs, and my response is always I do too.
Speaker 1: I do too. You know, I love this body of work.
Speaker 1: It's great when you can absolutely say that. Tell us,
Speaker 1: how did you get there? You've been there more than
Speaker 1: twenty years now. I like to say, I join when
Speaker 1: dinosaurs were still whirl in the earth. Um. Yes, I've
Speaker 1: had the good fortune to work here since n so
Speaker 1: for a long time. You know, a little bit of luck.
Speaker 1: A little bit of luck got me here. Um. I
Speaker 1: was working in Los Angeles, was working for toye such
Speaker 1: a Fox Film corporation in Home Entertainment International, and my
Speaker 1: then boyfriend now husband had an opportunity in San Diego
Speaker 1: and he says, you know, would you move to San Diego? Yes,
Speaker 1: yes I will. And people said, oh my gosh, you're
Speaker 1: you're throwing your your career away for a guy. I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: because it's the right guy. Through said career away. I
Speaker 1: came down here and I read the newspaper that Doctor
Speaker 1: SEUs was doing a movie and I wouldn't work, and
Speaker 1: I was going to just figure out what I was
Speaker 1: doing down here, and so I wrote to Doctor Seuss
Speaker 1: and I sent them a cover letter and rhyme, which,
Speaker 1: oh my god, it cringe now, and it's it's just
Speaker 1: the luck came from I sent to them in the
Speaker 1: day that the head of the board, I said it
Speaker 1: to him, received my resume. They were deciding at that
Speaker 1: day whether or not they were going to hire somebody
Speaker 1: to help them as a license and they were split
Speaker 1: words split on this other woman, and they said, well,
Speaker 1: this resume just kidding, let's talk to this. It was
Speaker 1: Susan A. Sullivan time this time is susanal Sullivan um.
Speaker 1: And so I came in and I got the job.
Speaker 1: So I just happened to open the newspaper that day.
Speaker 1: I just happened to get the resume before they made
Speaker 1: the decision to hire this other hire this other woman.
Speaker 1: And I loved it so much. A stage went four
Speaker 1: years later, I'm still here, Susan. You have to tell
Speaker 1: us at least one of the rhymes in that cover letter.
Speaker 1: You have to you have to. I've got I will
Speaker 1: try to find it for you. Something. I don't have
Speaker 1: it here. I wish I kept it, uh you know,
Speaker 1: but I don't know. I thought it was clever at
Speaker 1: the time, and I look back, like this is silly
Speaker 1: and so I got rid of it. I'll find it.
Speaker 1: I'll find it. I think one thing, I think, you
Speaker 1: know a few generations of variety reporters have had the fun.
Speaker 1: You can't do it all the time, you can't overdo it.
Speaker 1: But every so often, every couple of years, that there
Speaker 1: comes a project or an opportunity where you can write
Speaker 1: a story in Susie and dialogue and rhyme, and you
Speaker 1: just you just do it with apologies to the master,
Speaker 1: but knowing that that, but knowing that, you know, you
Speaker 1: think about just the love of language and the playfulness
Speaker 1: that those books, that that work inspires it. It's true.
Speaker 1: I just I find it again as a writer. I
Speaker 1: just find it so awe inspiring to step back and
Speaker 1: think about what it stands for and what it means.
Speaker 1: And so I think, you know, I know that he
Speaker 1: would appreciate that it resonated that long and that people
Speaker 1: care so much. It's really it's exciting. Let Madre Audrey,
Speaker 1: his his his wife, his past used to say, she
Speaker 1: used to think Ted would be tickled. She's always say
Speaker 1: Ted would be tickled that we're still talking about him
Speaker 1: and his works. Um, And I love to think that
Speaker 1: that he'd still be tickled that people care. Still we do.
Speaker 1: M uh, Susan, let me ask you to take another
Speaker 1: step back and tell me in your path into marketing
Speaker 1: and into business, what was it? What was it in
Speaker 1: your you know, early career or or background. What was
Speaker 1: it that put you on the path that you to
Speaker 1: get you to where you are today? What made you
Speaker 1: get into this into the industry, the entertainment industry. Absolutely well, Um,
Speaker 1: I always wanted to work in business. Even as a child,
Speaker 1: I played office, which is funny. I made my brother
Speaker 1: be my secretary. Um. Yeah. But I also about when
Speaker 1: I when I had the opportunity to do so that
Speaker 1: I would only work on a product or with a
Speaker 1: company that I truly cared about. So I really wasn't
Speaker 1: interested in working you know, perhaps working for there's nothing
Speaker 1: wrong with it, but I wasn't interested in working with
Speaker 1: like a progre and gamble and soaps or things that
Speaker 1: I just not a ship out care. So I only
Speaker 1: wanted something I was passionate about so I could spend
Speaker 1: the amount of time learning and you know, being excited.
Speaker 1: Uh So what did that mean? I worked in a
Speaker 1: wine business. Um, I worked for artists and Julio Gallery
Speaker 1: actually worked for them. I was in meetings with them.
Speaker 1: I mean, how stink cool as that? Yeah, I worked
Speaker 1: in the luxury resort business. Uh. And I got to
Speaker 1: work in the film business. Uh. So that when the
Speaker 1: opportunity work at doctors SEUs came, you know, that was
Speaker 1: another love. Um, so I got to work in that
Speaker 1: business as well. So it was really picking companies or
Speaker 1: products that I found incredibly engaging and interesting and saying, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll do that, and that's what I did. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Be sure to leave us a review at Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 1: We love to hear from listeners, and please go to
Speaker 1: Variety dot com and click on Newsletters to subscribe to
Speaker 1: our free Strictly Business newsletter. As always, tune in next
Speaker 1: week for another episode of Strictly Business.