Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week.
Speaker 2: I'm I, how would I describe a television set, oh
Speaker 2: Man from a headline grabbing point of view, the hack
Speaker 2: producer me says one hundred percent put him in.
Speaker 1: Welcome back guys to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris
Speaker 1: and on this podcast I go behind the scenes with
Speaker 1: the biggest players in television.
Speaker 2: Yeah, great questions. The show's about the game. There's a
Speaker 2: lot of great television out there in Australia.
Speaker 1: But I've also got to go behind the scenes with writers.
Speaker 1: The truth is, when I started writing it, it wasn't
Speaker 1: had nothing to do with the news and casting agents they.
Speaker 2: Know from a casting point of view what they need.
Speaker 1: And editors because that's what we do as editors where
Speaker 1: storytellers them. Not to forget some incredible executive producers who
Speaker 1: are making some of the best TV content in Australia.
Speaker 1: I have been on the program since the beginning and
Speaker 1: it's kind of in my DNA. So thanks for joining
Speaker 1: me each week and I hope the podcast continues to
Speaker 1: give you real insight into the magic of te Today
Speaker 1: on the podcast, I have entrepreneur and producer, writer, director
Speaker 1: Michael Ratner. This is pretty cool. Amazon Prime set up
Speaker 1: this amazing chat with Michael and Los Angeles, who was
Speaker 1: promoting his latest documentary, Justin Bieber Our World, which premiers
Speaker 1: worldwide on Amazon Prime Video, and that release date is
Speaker 1: October eighth, so you can pop that in your diary. However,
Speaker 1: Michael is the founder of OBB Pictures and under his leadership,
Speaker 1: that company has grown into OBB Media, a leading media
Speaker 1: company which has divisions in film, TV, digital, podcasts, branded content,
Speaker 1: and it has amassed over a one point six billion views.
Speaker 1: His relationship with artists is beyond compare, gaining access to
Speaker 1: some of the most recognizable names in the business. Today,
Speaker 1: we'll focus on his relationship and collaboration with Justin Bieber.
Speaker 1: And I have to tell you that during this chat,
Speaker 1: I was able to ascertain that Michael is kind, thoughtful,
Speaker 1: and a genius and unlocking storytelling That immediately made me
Speaker 1: realize that I was talking to one of the best
Speaker 1: dooco filmmakers in this space. I mean, come on, Justin
Speaker 1: is at the top of his game, FYI. Justin Bieber's
Speaker 1: new single Ghost is now available to stream on his
Speaker 1: number one album Justice, which if you've got Beaba Fever
Speaker 1: you're gonna want to download. Also, in preparation for this
Speaker 1: upcoming documentary, I suggest that you go back and watch Seasons,
Speaker 1: which was a previous collaboration with Michael and Justin, who
Speaker 1: of course I'm on a first name basis with I'm
Speaker 1: clearly not. So let's get started with today's guest. I'd
Speaker 1: like to welcome to the podcast. It's Michael Radner.
Speaker 2: When you're Justin Bieber or you accept the fact that
Speaker 2: they're going to be false headlines, do you want to
Speaker 2: start by talking about the last four years? I also
Speaker 2: don't make puff pieces on Justin. Justin Bieber says he
Speaker 2: is counseling the rest of his world too. Wasn't an
Speaker 2: easy thing to sign up for. As for why Justin
Speaker 2: canceled the tour, and he spoke to maintaining a healthy mind,
Speaker 2: making your own judgments based on your experience as people.
Speaker 2: Business kid thinking is your real own personal experiences is
Speaker 2: definitely a healthy way to live.
Speaker 1: Hey, Michael, how are you?
Speaker 2: I'm excellent? Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: You know, over the years and with an enormous amount
Speaker 1: of experience, what have you learned the most about making
Speaker 1: a documentary.
Speaker 2: I've learned that you need to take the time off
Speaker 2: camera to learn the story you want to tell. You
Speaker 2: need to be a good listener, you need to specifically
Speaker 2: with these talent driven dark pieces, you need to understand
Speaker 2: the talents objective, what are they looking to accomplish? And
Speaker 2: I think that it's really all about communication and trust.
Speaker 1: I guess the most important question in my mind is
Speaker 1: how did you build a friendship with Justin Bieber? And
Speaker 1: more importantly, how did you build trust to make a
Speaker 1: documentary like this?
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I was working with sp Projects on
Speaker 2: another project three ish years ago. It was a music
Speaker 2: anthology series, and that's when I met Scooter Braun and
Speaker 2: Alison Kay and a lot of those a lot of
Speaker 2: that team, and I've done a lot of work since
Speaker 2: then with that team. And when we were creating that,
Speaker 2: I was producing this series and I also directed an episode,
Speaker 2: And it was then that the Spie Projects team asked
Speaker 2: me to sit with Justin. We hadn't met, and they
Speaker 2: asked me to sit to talk about potentially doing a
Speaker 2: project together because he was going to put out a
Speaker 2: new album and they wanted to document that process. And
Speaker 2: that project ended up becoming seasons.
Speaker 3: I just feel like right now it's a really happy
Speaker 3: season and I want people to get an inside look
Speaker 3: of this guy really is just a human who's just
Speaker 3: figuring it out like you and me.
Speaker 2: From there, we really sparked a strong professional and personal
Speaker 2: relationship and it's been great with a communication gets stronger
Speaker 2: with each project, and we've done so much stuff together.
Speaker 2: Obviously we did Next Chapter after that and I directed Intentions,
Speaker 2: which was with Kwavo. It was music video. I oversaw
Speaker 2: the visual album for Changes, and then now this project.
Speaker 2: So I think when it's years and many projects and
Speaker 2: you take the time to really think through the process
Speaker 2: and the workflow, and ultimately Justin's vision leads I'm there
Speaker 2: to create and tell a story in service of that vision,
Speaker 2: you end up with really really great projects.
Speaker 1: You've said publicly that nothing is off limits, you know
Speaker 1: when you're working with Justin. But I always wonder with
Speaker 1: people in the spotlight, surely some things none of our business. Right.
Speaker 2: He's been really an open book. There hasn't been something
Speaker 2: to date this many years in where he said, well,
Speaker 2: don't ask me about this or that. I mean, in theory,
Speaker 2: if I started trying to like poke In prod for
Speaker 2: things that I think that would be irrelevant and just
Speaker 2: salacious in nature. I'm sure he'd push back, but there's
Speaker 2: never that's never happened. And I also don't make puff
Speaker 2: pieces on justin we'd do. You know, if you watched Seasons,
Speaker 2: you know that we didn't shy away from some moments
Speaker 2: that maybe weren't the most comfortable or shed light on
Speaker 2: insecurities or growth. And I think that's what made that
Speaker 2: product so powerful. And here, you know, he really allows
Speaker 2: the camera, whether he's shooting it himself on a cell
Speaker 2: phone or whether it's our cameras with Ry Kramer or
Speaker 2: whoever it is, to really capture the essence of what's
Speaker 2: going on. And I think it's just again that communication
Speaker 2: and trust with well, what are you gonna do with
Speaker 2: that footage? And how are you gonna make me look?
Speaker 2: But his willingness to trust the filmmaker and trust that
Speaker 2: ultimately our understanding of what we're looking to accomplish will
Speaker 2: result in good results for his fans, which is really
Speaker 2: what he's looking to accomplish and to fulfill his artistic desires,
Speaker 2: is what allows these projects to feel so authentic and special.
Speaker 4: The doc title Justin Bieber. Our World follows Bieber and
Speaker 4: his close knit team in the month leading up to
Speaker 4: T Mobile Presents New Year's Eve Live with Justin Bieber
Speaker 4: as they rehearse and construct a monumental stage while adhering
Speaker 4: to strict health and safety protocols.
Speaker 1: In a complicated world with cod and politics, there must
Speaker 1: be so much scrutiny over an individual opinion. Are you
Speaker 1: ever worried that you may reveal something about Justin that
Speaker 1: would upset these fans? I mean, cancel culture is a
Speaker 1: factor to consider, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean if you open your mouth the wrong way,
Speaker 2: of course, there's always a fear of that. But you know,
Speaker 2: you can't live in fear of offending or cancel culture
Speaker 2: or these things. You have to live your life and
Speaker 2: live your truth and pursue projects and not just be,
Speaker 2: you know, sitting around idle and letting opportunities pass. I
Speaker 2: think when you're Justin Bieber or you're some of these stars,
Speaker 2: you accept the fact that they're going to be false headlines,
Speaker 2: they'll be false narratives. Of course, you don't want to
Speaker 2: feed into that and have your words misconstrued or anything
Speaker 2: like that. But you know, we certainly think those things through.
Speaker 2: We're living in the Internet age, and there's trolls on
Speaker 2: the Internet, and there's all sorts of people that are
Speaker 2: going to twist your words, and you have to just
Speaker 2: understand that comes with the territory and try to look
Speaker 2: at the positives. So I think it would be unfortunate
Speaker 2: if we didn't create because we were afraid of somebody
Speaker 2: canceling us or you know, saying taking things out of context.
Speaker 2: Everybody deals with it. I mean, you know, it's a
Speaker 2: new norm and reality, and you navigated accordingly.
Speaker 1: You know, there's some lyrics that sometimes come into his
Speaker 1: music that you know could mean different things, And I
Speaker 1: always wonder with your friendship with him and your collaboration
Speaker 1: with him, to get a chance to ask what things mean.
Speaker 1: And one of the lyrics that I thought was quite
Speaker 1: good was, you know, I get my news from the source.
Speaker 1: Have you ever asked him what that means? Where is
Speaker 1: he getting his news from?
Speaker 2: I have never asked him. I would venture a guess that,
Speaker 2: you know, if if I had to guess what he
Speaker 2: meant by that. Justin's not paying attention to headlines or
Speaker 2: what the news or media is saying. You can't I
Speaker 2: mean there's a how he would have no other time
Speaker 2: to do anything else. There's an article of a minute.
Speaker 2: I think Justin feels really confident in his circle, and
Speaker 2: it's surrounded by good people and has conversations with people
Speaker 2: and knows people and gets his information from those people
Speaker 2: around him that are family and friends. And I think
Speaker 2: that's a really healthy way to live your life. I
Speaker 2: think we could all learn something from that, whether we're
Speaker 2: in the media or not. It's definitely a healthier mindset.
Speaker 2: And I think with social media and the immediacy of
Speaker 2: everything at your fingertips with Twitter or what have you,
Speaker 2: it's sometimes easier said than done. So I think making
Speaker 2: your own judgments based on your experience with people, your
Speaker 2: real own personal experiences, is definitely a healthy way to live.
Speaker 1: Why do you think Justin has been able to really
Speaker 1: transcend from being a child's stuff so well to this
Speaker 1: respected content creator as.
Speaker 2: An adult, authenticity, incredible talent, hard work, growth, you know,
Speaker 2: like he's really You've seen him be consistent, you've seen
Speaker 2: him committed you I mean, the work ethic. If you
Speaker 2: watched the project too, you know it wasn't an easy
Speaker 2: thing to sign up for. And I think also he's
Speaker 2: a evolved in his artistry as yet as he has
Speaker 2: as an individual like you. The way his music sounds
Speaker 2: and the lyrics that you're referring to and all these
Speaker 2: things are quite different now today than they were when
Speaker 2: he was younger. I mean, I hope, so I'd hope
Speaker 2: your music sounds different when you're thirteen, fourteen, fifteen than
Speaker 2: when you're twenty seven and married. And I think it does.
Speaker 2: And that's why his fans are growing with him, and
Speaker 2: he's getting new fans obviously as well, younger fans. So
Speaker 2: it's really great to see. And I think, you know,
Speaker 2: he's the most streamed artist in the globe. You know
Speaker 2: that that comes from really a lot of things, a
Speaker 2: lot of different factors. I don't think it's just one.
Speaker 2: I think it's all those combined.
Speaker 1: What is it in your mind that you want us
Speaker 1: to feel as an audience, you know, watching our world,
Speaker 1: you know, as a documentary, as a concert, as a
Speaker 1: look behind the scenes. You know, what do you think
Speaker 1: the take home should be as an audience hour.
Speaker 2: And a half of joy? You know, like you really
Speaker 2: should be able to escape for a second and just
Speaker 2: like take this trip down memory lane and nostalgic because
Speaker 2: we play you know, he plays some of the old
Speaker 2: hits and whatnot. You see him doing Baby and it's
Speaker 2: pretty cool to see. And then you see it all
Speaker 2: the way up to some of the new hits off Justice,
Speaker 2: and it's just this fun night where you can sort
Speaker 2: of just enjoy the music. And then of course you've
Speaker 2: got a great story there as well, so it's it
Speaker 2: should just provide joy.
Speaker 3: I just wanted to create a night that was gonna
Speaker 3: bring people together and people could just let go and
Speaker 3: enjoy themselves.
Speaker 2: When I first met Justin, he was a young teenager.
Speaker 2: Today I see the young leader. He really grow into
Speaker 2: a man thatl husband. His family life is so important, sich.
Speaker 3: I'm excited to get back on that stage and make
Speaker 3: people smile, make people happy. Prepping for a performance during
Speaker 3: COVID has been challenging.
Speaker 2: We have built the whole stage, hope we are with
Speaker 2: the live stream. The show is going to be seen
Speaker 2: by moons. We haven't done a show since. I'm kind
Speaker 2: of nervous.
Speaker 3: The first time I'm coming out, I'm gonna feel all
Speaker 3: the eyes on me.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna want to move. I just know my soul
Speaker 2: show Day New year's eve.
Speaker 5: Baby Justin has been told that he's a songbird of
Speaker 5: our generation.
Speaker 3: Life is only about content, It's not about.
Speaker 2: The condition of your soul. Are you excited for tonight? Ben?
Speaker 2: Of course if you're nervous, and I'm like nervous, it's
Speaker 2: gonna be dope.
Speaker 5: There's a mad rush to sign on and it's crashing things.
Speaker 2: What is the cutoff Matt and him as a human
Speaker 2: and it's translating to his work.
Speaker 3: I don't know how these dudes get into this vlogging
Speaker 3: thing because my arm was sore.
Speaker 1: As for you, like being this amazing content maker, like
Speaker 1: I was just looking through the back catalog of your
Speaker 1: history is just phenomenal. And you know you've collaborated with
Speaker 1: different people. I noticed yesterday when I was doing some
Speaker 1: research that people kept asking you is there another artist
Speaker 1: or is there someone that you'd like to collaborate with?
Speaker 1: And you a couple of times said to journalists, you know,
Speaker 1: I need to give it some thought. Have you given
Speaker 1: it some thought? Is there someone that you would like
Speaker 1: to collaborate with? Or is there a project you're about
Speaker 1: to work on?
Speaker 2: Yes? I have, and I am there's the mysterious response. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I haven't announced it. Tell me, yeah, I haven't announced
Speaker 2: it yet, but we're in the middle of something already,
Speaker 2: really excited about it, you know. But no two projects
Speaker 2: are alike. I think that very frequently we bucket projects
Speaker 2: or genres, but I don't really. I mean, sure, they're
Speaker 2: both documentaries or music documentaries. If you look at you know,
Speaker 2: people ask me questions about the Demi project or the
Speaker 2: Dustin project. Each one of these are every project as
Speaker 2: a storyteller right at OBB, I'm not even specific to
Speaker 2: unscripted or premium doc We make stuff in scripted, we
Speaker 2: make stuff in podcasts, audio only, we do branded content.
Speaker 2: I'm always looking for what's the story, and whether that's
Speaker 2: comedy or sports, or music or drama. I think that
Speaker 2: what I'm trying to do is make people feel something.
Speaker 2: And when I'm looking at stuff in the music world,
Speaker 2: I want people to not only feel sitting through the music,
Speaker 2: but through the story we're telling and understand those artists better.
Speaker 2: So this project I'm currently direct and producing is going
Speaker 2: to do that for sure, and it's going to be
Speaker 2: a journey and I think will show a really different
Speaker 2: side of this person. So I'm very excited.
Speaker 1: So no, clues. You're not even going to give me
Speaker 1: a clue.
Speaker 2: They're a human being.
Speaker 1: Okay, great, Okay, there's a long way for me to
Speaker 1: go with that clue. I would ask you, though, the
Speaker 1: integrity of your work is quite powerful, and I guess
Speaker 1: that's probably why you're working with such amazing people. What
Speaker 1: was the inspiration for you wanting to be a documentary filmmaker? Like,
Speaker 1: how did you find yourself in this career?
Speaker 2: You know, as a I went to film school. So
Speaker 2: I went to film school at NYU Grad Film. I
Speaker 2: loved my experience there, and I always joked that I
Speaker 2: think it should have been called content school, not film school.
Speaker 2: That's at least how I approached it. I think that
Speaker 2: the world is changing, you know, the way we consume
Speaker 2: the way audience consume content is through all forms of media.
Speaker 2: And I just like telling stories. I like me, I
Speaker 2: like entertaining people. I like people taking something away from something.
Speaker 2: So I never planned to be just a documentary filmmaker.
Speaker 2: I don't consider myself one. Obviously. I directed this doc
Speaker 2: and I've done some other projects recently that have gone
Speaker 2: on to get some commercial and critical success. And at
Speaker 2: the end of the day, I'm always looking to entertain
Speaker 2: and make people feel something, and I think a great
Speaker 2: way to do that right now is through these music docs.
Speaker 2: I mean, Rovioskin, this the golden age of music documentary,
Speaker 2: and I really enjoy it. I appreciate that my projects
Speaker 2: have resonated in a way that has had impact, and
Speaker 2: you know, millions and millions and hundreds of millions of
Speaker 2: people have seen them. And that's what's so exciting, because
Speaker 2: you can really use this moment where people are so
Speaker 2: into something to have somebody take something away. I think
Speaker 2: mental health has been a big component of our work
Speaker 2: as of late, and a lot of the things that
Speaker 2: you know you touched on, even with just the world
Speaker 2: we live in, with the Internet and false headlines or
Speaker 2: cancel culture, all of those things factor in and at
Speaker 2: a really high level because of you know, Justin has
Speaker 2: two hundred million people on Instagram alone following them. I
Speaker 2: mean that's just an absurd, sort of unfathomable amount of
Speaker 2: human beings following another. So I think that I look
Speaker 2: at music doc right now almost the way that you
Speaker 2: would look at historically speaking, these tent pole Marvel films
Speaker 2: or franchises, these moments, right and that's what music docs
Speaker 2: are and right now alongside those other projects. So it's
Speaker 2: a really unique opportunity and I've enjoyed making them.
Speaker 1: You know, you've had a front row to working with celebrity.
Speaker 1: You know, you've been right there working with some of
Speaker 1: the most amazing content makers. What do you think the
Speaker 1: true price of fame is? From where you've been sitting.
Speaker 2: A lot a lot. You know, It's like with all
Speaker 2: things in life, there's the pros, and I think those
Speaker 2: are the things that we all see on display material
Speaker 2: things and fame, and you know, people reck ignizing you,
Speaker 2: wanting to be around you. But then there's a lot
Speaker 2: that there's a lot of quote unquote baggage that comes
Speaker 2: along with that that can be isolating or difficult to navigate.
Speaker 2: And that's why I so commend you know, justin for
Speaker 2: where he's at in his life and the way that
Speaker 2: he carries himself and the way that he's navigated through it,
Speaker 2: because you know, the way you put it is perfect.
Speaker 2: There's there's a price for that stuff in more ways
Speaker 2: than one.
Speaker 1: I think I'd be highly medicated with all that pressure
Speaker 1: on me. I would be so stressed. My one question
Speaker 1: I always ask all my guests before they go, is
Speaker 1: what is an amazing story from behind the scenes that
Speaker 1: we as an audience would appreciate.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good that's a fun question. I think
Speaker 2: maybe I'll take it back to the very beginning of
Speaker 2: this project, when you know, Justin called me. It was
Speaker 2: November twenty twenty, and you know, he said, I got
Speaker 2: this idea, I'm gonna I'm gonna pull off the show.
Speaker 2: And we had just finished one of our projects I
Speaker 2: can't even remember, so we weren't even dark for that
Speaker 2: long at all. And I said, okay, you know, and
Speaker 2: he explained what he was going to pull off and
Speaker 2: he said December, and I was thinking, you know, December
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one. I didn't possibly fathom that we were
Speaker 2: like forty days away from show night. And that was
Speaker 2: it's sort of it's emblem the reason I used that,
Speaker 2: that's my knee jerk reactions. There's emblematic of just like
Speaker 2: the reason this all works, it's just figure it out,
Speaker 2: make it happen. Nothing's impossible, like roll with the punches,
Speaker 2: get to work. And we just started filming right away,
Speaker 2: and before you know, like there was so much that
Speaker 2: needed to get done and we just pulled it off.
Speaker 2: And I really I love those calls because it's it's
Speaker 2: like you need to be a little insane to make
Speaker 2: that call, you need to be a little insane to
Speaker 2: accept the challenge. And I think that creativity and that
Speaker 2: excitement and that working relationship is what allows us to
Speaker 2: make such exciting projects that people are really responding to.
Speaker 1: Well, I've been in your audience for a long time
Speaker 1: and I love all the work.
Speaker 2: That you make.
Speaker 1: I'm in Liston's audience for a long time, and I
Speaker 1: just want to say thank you so much for the
Speaker 1: work that you do, and good luck with all the
Speaker 1: work that's coming up. I'll be in your audience.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I appreciate that so much. Thank you