Transcript 0:00 When you're running a growing business, the right systems can unlock your full sales potential and make fulfilling every order effortless. 0:05 Switch to ShipStation before peak season so you're prepped and ready before the rush hits. ShipStation connects Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, and over 200 more marketplaces with one platform that does it all. 0:15 You can manage orders, sync inventory, track returns, all automatically. Everything your operation needs, all in one place. 0:21 Upgrade your shipping operations to stress-proof your biggest sales days and capture every bit of potential revenue. Go to shipstation.com and use code AUDIO and get 30 days free. [upbeat music] Hi, everyone. 0:39 My name is Boye Kolade, co-founder and president of The Future Party. And I'm Chris Sawtell, CEO and co-founder of Crosscheck Studios. 0:45 And welcome to the Future Forecast podcast, where we explore the intersection between business, technology, and entertainment. So we've done the research for you so you don't have to. 0:55 We're here to give our opinions about news topics and have a thoughtful discussion on the shifting landscape of our culture. Today, we've got a, a homie guest, Paul R. Urich. [laughs] Welcome. Is it R? Is there R? 1:12 Is R- [laughs]... is R the center of the name? Boye calling me out my full name. [laughs] Yeah. What is the R? Oh, wow. Is it just R? Like, everybody's just gonna... Yeah, just R. But an R [laughs] No, the... 1:23 Is it, is it, is it Raphael? Is it Roderick? Oh, my gosh. Is it just- I like Raphael. That would be awesome. No, it's just Robert. Now everybody knows my full name. So, so Bob? Cool. Hey, Bob. Paul- No... Robert. 1:34 [laughs] I'm gonna call him Bob. And named after the Minion, Bob. Oh, yeah. [laughs] Did you guys see there was a m- uh, Minions... They did a, uh, they had the screening. Yes. 1:43 And they held a Minions singing competition. I was going to bring this up. Did you see this, bro? Yes, yes. I was going to talk about this today. That was- Yes... I, uh, what a renowned performance, I have to say. Yeah. 1:54 It was exactly what I thought it would be. Yeah, it was awesome and incredible, and I was definitely planning on bringing that up today. [laughs] So wonderful. Now it's- Thank you... now it's up. Now it's up... 2:02 thank you for doing that. Can you- Genius marketing once again by, uh, Universal and the Minions team. Uh, if you were to sing a acape- if you were to sing a song... 2:11 For those that are not aware, the Minions, uh, uh, Illumination held for, for the premiere of, of the n- of the new Minions movie, am I- Yeah... yeah. 2:20 Specifically, they held a competition for people to, to do reenactments or, like, sing-alongs or ballads in the voice of the Minions. The Minionese. Of the Minionese? Minionese. You know what I'm saying? Funny language. 2:33 Uh, a- and what was so funny about it was that you got to see everyone perform and who, who got awarded or who won the best performance. Uh, and it went viral, clearly. Y- yeah, I watched every single one. Stop. Stop. 2:46 And I shared it with multiple people, I think including Boye. I was like, "This is awesome." [laughs] So I, I did stumble across an influencer, and a lot of her content is just talking in Minionese. 2:58 That's too- And they flew her out... it's huge. It's crazy. She has, like, 40,000 followers in, like, literally- Wait, wait... go ahead. When you say Minionese- Yeah... 3:06 are, are, i- is she properly speaking- Bro, she is so good. Like, she could be a voice actor on the movie. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. 3:15 I hear you when you say she is so good as, like, an average individual commenting on someone doing banana- [laughs]... and all the things. No, she's like- What I'm asking- I can do that again. [laughs] Banana. 3:27 Oh, patata. Yeah. [laughs] Like, I understand that. But what I am asking is did they... Is this, like, is this like Avatar? Did we just create a whole new language? Oh, yeah... or, or- No, it's a thing... 3:42 so there's, there's a proper language built out- Yeah, it's like Pig Latin... for Minionese. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's, that's- It's nonsense... that's what I w-... It's nonsense, but is it- B-... 3:51 a replicable nonsense, where if I'm gonna say the w- if I wanna sing... When they were singing the songs- Yeah. Yep, yep. Yeah, they did a whole thing. [laughs] I mean, I think there's no, like... I don't think... 4:00 Maybe there is. There's, I don't pay close enough attention, but I think there's, like, probably a dictionary out there of, like, Minionese language and how you do it, but- I mean, now I gotta look it up... yeah. 4:10 That's awesome. Um- The, this influ- Boye... this, this creator is Ella Mott. Look her up. Ella Mott, yeah, that's the video I was watching literally this morning. Dude- Um-... she grew- She did... 4:19 I feel like she grew, like, tens of thousands of followers since I last looked at this. It's awesome. Um- Hold on, guys. It's also known as the banana language. The banana language. 4:29 [laughs] It's also purely gibberish, borrowing syllables and words from real world lang- uh, real word languages, including English. Well, I'm glad we have that cleared up. Mm-hmm. I mean, 4:41 I just can't believe 10 years plus later we're still talking about the Minions. Like, this is something I never thought. I'm surprised too. Just wait till your daughter starts watching Minions, Boye. [laughs] Yeah. 4:50 It's gonna be awesome because those movies rock, not gonna lie. Um- Let's, let's, let's save Minions- Yeah... 'cause we're gonna, we're gonna have a section- Yeah... 4:57 where we talk about Universal, and, and Minions will come up. But let's, let's dive in. You know, Paul, give us a quick, like, who are you? And then let's, let's dive in. Sure. Maybe we can talk about some, some movies. 5:10 Um- Can we cue the, "Ooh, ah." [laughs] Every time we have a guest, that's literally what I would do, is like- That's amazing... what a great way just to cue up someone. We need a... 5:18 That, that'll be, like, a new sound effect- Yeah... that we play. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so, um, we'll test it out. My name is Paul. 5:25 I am a co-founder of The Future Party, and a film producer, and a producer of this pod, and, um, occasional guest. And I love being on here with you two. Cool. Paul, thanks for introducing yourself. 5:38 So today, we're gonna talk about a bunch of things. We are covering Cannes Lions, Meta, and NBC Universal. Uh, before that, we're gonna talk about some movies. What are we watching? And I don't know why- Yeah... 5:51 Chris and Paul are smirking and laughing over here. I can see it on their faces. We're just happy to be here. Okay. [laughs] I'm happy Chris is back stateside fresh- Fresh off the plane. 6:02 I can't just be happy- [laughs]... to see my friends. Okay. I can't, I can't be back and jovial and- [laughs] Noted, noted, noted. Yeah. It- I wore butter yellow for a reason. [laughs] Banana. 6:12 I am kind of in Minion colors. Yeah, you are. Good for you. Yeah. Look- looking good. All right. Uh- You're feeling happy I, I, I w- I definitely wanna hear about Canne Lion and everything that you experienced. 6:26 Um, but maybe we just have a little fun real quick. Uh, what'd you- Yeah... watch on the plane? Did you watch anything on the plane? Uh, I did. Ocean's 11. Oh, hey. I watched Ocean's 11. I watched, 6:41 I watched Sheep Detective. Ooh, did you like it? I did l- I liked it, yeah. I liked it. I liked it too. I liked it. I thought it was fun. Yeah. I under- I, uh, Max and I the entire time were like, "Who was the director? 6:53 How did they get all of the, this cast to, to get on?" I'm a- I'm aware it was an animation director, w- well known. No. Well, yeah, but do you know who wrote it? Oh, oh, yes. Craig Mazin. Yeah, yeah. Yes, yes, yes. 7:08 We were asking ourselves how, who, who brought this all together? It obviously had to have been him by proxy. Yeah, I mean, Chernobyl and The Last of Us. Yeah. Genius. Absolutely. Such range. 7:19 I mean, the cast is ridiculous. Yeah. It's great. I had a, an awesome time. Also voiceover, if you think about it, like, of course you can get Patrick Stewart, Ryan Cranston, uh, Hugh Jackman was, is obviously live. 7:33 Yeah. But everyone else, all the other actors, it's all voiceover. It's like one to eight hours worth of work just to go- Yeah... to, not just, but to do your- Yeah. Yes. The trailer looked really good. It's good. 7:45 It's fun. It's good? It's like, kinda wholesome. I- Yeah. It's definitely a family- There's a lot of sheep, there's a lot of sheep jokes that work really well that I was, like, not expecting. Yeah, yeah. 7:54 It was, I m- it was very well played. Also- How does, how does cousin Greg do? He's funny. Uh, but, but I gotta- He's very corny... I gotta be really honest, horrible. Really? You didn't like it? Horrible. 8:04 He just plays a really, like- Come on. Horrible British accent. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, come on. [laughs] It is, it is the worst. 8:10 Like, like, it is, it is just as bad, if you've seen Daniel Craig do an American accent in Tomb Raider, it's just as bad. [laughs] Yeah. I don't, it, it didn't stick out. 8:22 I, I haven't seen it in a, in a while, so I don't remember the specifics. But I do remember it's just very, um, kitschy- Mm... his whole performance. And everybody's having a blast, and you can tell, you know? 8:33 Um, uh, I know The Bear just dropped. Um- Oh, yeah... I've been watching The Bear. I have one episode left. Mm. I fell off. House of Dragons. I feel bad saying I fell... I haven't, dude, House of Dragons got no play. 8:44 I don't know what happened, but I love Game of Thrones. I feel like I got no marketing for that whatsoever. I've been watching House of Dragons. Is that just me? You're, yeah, you're just- Really? Yeah. Really? 8:53 I mean, look, it took two years off, and now it's back. And honestly- Knight of the, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms though... you got hit hard with marketing. I feel like I got- Yeah... I feel like I got no marketing. 9:04 Yeah, it was very light. It was very light. They don't need, they don't need it. I saw a lot of out of home marketing. So I saw a lot of billboards, I saw a lot of bus stops- Sure... 9:15 and, um, things like that, especially when I was in New York for Tribeca. There was tons all around me. I guess I just, maybe the reason why I'm bringing that up is I just find, particularly, particularly with these 9:30 main staple shows, when they're in season three, four, as they get along, I find, at least I've always found that you're gonna put your money where your mouth is, where you wanna make sure that you retain your, your retention. 9:44 But perhaps it feel, maybe, maybe the bet was more like it's already a staple, everyone's gonna want to watch it. So- Mm-hmm... but I, I feel like I didn't... 9:52 Like Last of Us, when the season came back, you get that big staple trailer, uh, moment of, "We're coming back. What's gonna happen? Who's gonna die?" That, the, they did it. Did they? Yep. 10:04 Like, I, I just didn't, I just wasn't- You were too busy- I wasn't targeted... in, in Cannes. No, I, I, I was, I was too busy wheeling and dealing. Yeah. [laughs] You know, guys, what can I say? 10:11 Wha- what do you think, uh, boy, two questions. Yeah. What do you think about this season of House of Dragons so far? And, um- Don't spoil it... no, no spoilers. Okay. And do you watch The Bear still? Okay. 10:21 Because I have, I have some overall thoughts on The Bear as it's ending. Opinions on both. I'll start with House of Dragons. Yes, I'm watching it. I like it. 10:29 Uh, one thing you guys will get to know about me, I just love worlds. So even if a particular piece of content, like fil- like... There goes the smirk again. [laughs] You love world building. Yes. You say it every time. 10:43 We know. What was, what was that comment? I'm sorry. Okay. I gotta give you shit. I, I- You know, something you guys might not know about me- They might not know... I love worlds. Okay. I love worlds. 10:52 So let me define it. I, what I mean by that is a movie or a TV show could be B or even C, but if I've fallen in love with the world they're building, I will still like it overall. So- Yeah... 11:06 in that- Anything that has built out rich history- Yes... things like that, right? So I love Game of Thrones, so I love the spinoffs, right? Even if they're not perfect. Yeah. 11:13 So House of Dragons, season three, really good. Um, i- is it like a 10 out of 10? I don't know. Probably not. But it's good. Okay. I, I loved Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. I, I, I might like- Yeah. Mm-hmm... 11:27 that better than House of Dragon. It is very unique. I agree with you. Mm-hmm. Very, very good. Um, and then, uh, The Bear, I'm with Chris. 11:36 I actually, m- my wife Ashley and I, we've probably tried to watch The Bear maybe three or four times. I c- I feel like I can never get past episode two. So- Oh, whoa... yeah, of season one. Of season one? Yeah. Whoa. 11:48 Mm. So- And the show's- That's, that's- Yeah. Ch- That's a hot take... the show's just not for you. That's hot take. Yeah. Did you ever do hospitality? Uh, yeah. 11:54 I was, uh, I did, uh, catering, um, uh, for a little bit Delivery. [laughs] Yeah. It's like work in a kitchen, then- I was a c- I was a cater waiter. We, we get it. Yeah. [laughs] Okay? We get it. 12:04 [laughs] We, we, we understand. You were, you were, you were, you... That was... Yeah, we get it. Yeah. I, I... 12:10 One thing that I've been noticing about The Bear, for the people who listen and watch it, I, I find that I wonder if the show was built for a 30-minute format. 12:20 Like, as it's ending, I'm finding that I want more from all these characters that I really like and love, and I wonder what an hour-long format could look like. Who do you want more? Who do you want the most from? 12:30 I want more from Carmy. I think, like, they- Really? Yeah. I think they rushed the whole storyline on the last season with, um, his love interest that hasn't been in this se- this last season. Yeah. I think I want more. 12:43 They're... The... 12:44 I, I don't wanna spoil anything, but they've introduced some, like, little threads, um, with some other characters where I'm like, "Well, that's gonna be wrapped up fast," or it's just gonna be left there, right? 12:55 And I th- I, I think there is... People have been less satisfied with some of the previous seasons, I think because it, A, either felt rushed, or it didn't feel complete, or they didn't dive deep enough. 13:11 And yes, it's like the 30-minute binge is really f- great and I w- can watch four episodes in a sitting, and I actually think that's how you should watch The Bear. 13:21 Um, I wonder what, like, an hour-long format would, would, would do to the show, and if people would be more invested in some of those elements. Um- There'll probably be some special or something come out. 13:33 Well, there was. Oh. There were, they, they did a- They did- Oh... they did the prequel. They did a one-off. Shows how much I know. Yeah, which is cool. Which I found that the prequel... It would've, would've... 13:42 Um, they had to have shot it. I'll have to ask Ricky. It's good. Uh, I'm, I'm sure that they shot it during the time that they had Jon Bernthal. I have to imagine that they, they did it. 13:51 I'm assuming they did it, because I, I haven't watched season three or four. Are there flashbacks during that time? A little bit in three. Not in four, right? This season there's been none of him. 14:02 So I, I'm assuming that they had to have shot it when they had him- Yeah... because he's been so busy. So it was probably more like an exercise in talent exploration, given the way in which they shoot it. Yeah. Um, yes. 14:13 So- Yes... I ask- Um, I- To this day, guys, can we just, just... I know, as I know, I don't mean to make this a whole episode about The Bear. Chips. Can we just for a second just give Chips its flowers? 14:24 And by Chips, I mean the episode. Oh, yeah. Can we- Spoons? Was it Spoons? No, it's called Chips. Oh. Because ice... Uh, because it's all based on the idea of the ice chips. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. 14:33 You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Yep. Uh, boye. Yes. Ashley would appreciate this. It's probably... 14:38 It's, it's the episode that follows the sister who I feel like her story arc was the least profound, and to then see it have that moment or for the, for her to have that moment. Yeah. Yeah. 14:50 And she gets, she gets a lot of story in this season. Does she? Without spoiling anything. It's great. Wait, why would Ashley appreciate this? And... Well, through the end... 14:58 Well, you clearly have not watched The Bear then. Uh, well, I guess- Clearly not... clearly. Yeah. [laughs] But it, she, uh, uh, what's her name? Won the Golden Globe. Won, won a Golden Globe for her performance. 15:09 It, it, this, this, this episode is penultimate. What, what is her name? She's from, from Halloween. We all know her. We love her. She was in Freaky Friday opposite Lindsay Lohan. Oh. Oh, Jamie Lee Curtis? 15:19 Jamie Lee Curtis- Oh, yeah... gives the most- Brilliant. The mom... spellbound. Yes. Gives the most spellbinding performance. It's called Ch- Ice... It's called Chips. 15:28 It's all about, uh, you watch this beautiful passing of the baton between mother and daughter, where the daughter is having her f- she's having her first child. She felt like her mom was never there for her. 15:41 Her mom has her own issues. Absentee father. This is a family built on complete, utter chaos. Chaos. Yeah. Disruption. And Jamie Lee Curtis is never, is always, she's- Mm-hmm... 15:54 her whole character is built out of, uh- She's, like, manic. Yes. Yeah. 15:58 Manic, but also a deep guilt of not providing for her kids in the way in which she wanted to, and all this, all this self n- not, not only shame, the amount of shame that she has for herself takes up a- so much space that it robs her of her experience- Mm... 16:14 with her children. 16:15 And what's so beautiful is that in this 24 hours of her husband not be- of her daughter's husband not being present or not being available by phone, Jamie Lee Curtis, who is shunned by her daughter for the most part of the show because she herself is shunning herself from her daughter and her kids, rises to the occasion. 16:36 And her daughter's still being shamed or is still, is still, like, stressed out by her mom, but is also ironically enough every single... 16:42 Like, her, she, the, the value that Jamie Lee Curtis as a mother who went through all of these births, the idea of like, "If you do this, eat these, eat these ice chips, chew on it, it's gonna work through it." 16:54 Like- Right... the amount of- The learning of past experiences and past- Oh... damage. Great... may- maybe I'll just watch that episode, and then I'll see. 16:59 Just wa- I, I mean, there's another episode you should watch, too, but it's great. And I think you should just, like, push through the first couple episodes. Okay. It's chaotic. It's stressful. 17:07 I, I, I might try it again. And I'll say this, because- Please... that happened with Paradise where I w- I had to watch it once or twice, and then, then we watched it again, and boy, do I love that show. Yeah. 17:19 It, it's a great... It, The Bear is a great show. It, I mean, it clearly won all the Emmys the first two seasons for a reason. First two seasons for sure. It lost its way seasons three and four, or season three at least. 17:29 Also, if I would say this, as a company, I notice... 17:33 I gave, uh, uh, many of our m- a lot of the, the, the individuals part of the company had already watched the show, but we were saying, "Yes, chef" to each other- [laughs]... 17:43 or talking to the chef for a good portion of a month and a half. Yes, chef became a meme for sure- Oh, yeah... because of that show. But out of res- but out of, out of... 17:51 I- if anything, I feel like it was, like, a homework assignment to watch 'cause it was more of a means of saying, "Hey, like, pay respect to your fellow partner in crime who's here- Mm-hmm... with you- Yeah... 18:00 all day, every day, 'cause we're here to-" Um- Be, be more than just, just the makeup of the means. Yeah. So really quickly, Boye, and then we'll, we'll actually dive in. 18:09 [laughs] It's never really quick, but, um, what do you, uh... Have you seen anything in a theater recently? I know, like, The Invite just came out, Supergirl came out. I- Oh, I heard. I'm so bummed for Supergirl. 18:21 Just, I saw Disclosure Day. Oh, yeah. I think that was the most recent. 18:25 Uh, Disclosure Day was good, but honestly, I, back on TV, 'cause that- that's more interesting for me than what I've seen in theaters, I'm really liking Starcity, so- Oh yeah, I hear great things. 18:36 So I don't know if you guys have seen- Which one's Starcity? So For All Mankind, uh, it's a spinoff of For All Mankind- Mm-hmm... which was on Apple. And, um- Yeah... kudos to Apple. Best sci-fi in the game. 18:46 Uh, For All Mankind just finished, uh, all... Uh, no, they have one more, uh, season actually. 18:52 And, um, they, they, they launched Starcity, and Starcity is a spinoff set in Russia, and it's basically For All Mankind but with, like, k- the KGB as, like, a looming character, and it's intense. 19:08 And I think that's what makes it- Mm... like, maybe even better than For All Mankind in a way, 'cause you have the, like, this oppressive government- Mm... as part of, like, a fictional universe space launch. 19:20 And so anyways, I, I'm really liking Starcity. Isn't Otto Hightower from House of Dragon in it? Now that you mention it, yes. I r- I- Yeah... yeah, he's, he's one of... He's the chief designer. The golden father. Yeah. 19:32 Um, also just shout out to Widows' Bay. Like, Apple TV is- Oh, yeah... so good and funny. I think it's gonna sweep at the Emmys. Really? People like it a lot. It's not a hot take, but it's a take. Wow. 19:44 I think it's gonna sweep. I, and my wow is not to suggest that it's not deserving. I just didn't see that coming. But I, it is, it is very well in- I mean, he's, Matthew Rhys is fantastic in it. In hero. Oh, yeah. 19:56 In a hero directing and writing stuff and- Wait, hero like hero-hero? Like Atlanta? Yeah. Oh, sick. It, it, it, for those that haven't watched, it rides such a fine line of comedy and dr- comedy, drama, and horror. 20:12 And horror. Yeah, it's great. Now that makes me wanna watch it. Oh, it's awesome. And I, I have to also say I don't think I could see many other people playing that role outside of Matthew Rhys. Yeah. 20:24 I could confidently say it's probably one of the best TV shows airing right now. Wow. Okay. Easy. Okay, okay. 'Cause you think it's gonna... When you first get into it, you think it's gonna be something. 20:33 I, I think you think it's gonna be something with it being cast with Matthew Rhys in it. Yeah. Does that make sense? Mm-hmm. And then ironically over the course of time as the show evolves- Mm-hmm... 20:42 it turns into something, no spoilers, but it just, it evolves into its own- Thing. Yeah. Okay, okay, I'll watch it. Cool. I'll watch it. Fine. Well- Let's, uh- Awesome... Chris, tell- [gentle music] 20:56 Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing. You're managing all the things, so why waste time sending important documents the old-fashioned way? Mail and ship when you want, how you want with stamps.com. 21:08 Print postage on demand and schedule pickups from your office or home. Save up to 90% with automated rate shopping. Over one million small businesses trust stamps.com. 21:18 Get $20 in free postage when you sign up for the pro plan at stamps.com/blackfriday2026. Terms and conditions apply. [gentle music] Tell us about Cannes. How was it? Yep. Uh, Cannes was... 21:33 What, I, I'm in my fifth year of going to Cannes now, or Cannes Lion. Yeah. I would say Cannes, it was the biggest it's been to date. Mm. It felt that way from just- Major FOMO... social presence. 21:46 See, I wanted, I wanted to get that perspective. Major FOMO. I, I c- I, I will, I will give the real- Yeah... I'll give the DTL- Okay... or I'll give the TLDR. Okay. 21:54 But I think it's so important prior to me doing the TLDR, getting the- Okay... given what we do- Yep... what was the outside perspective- Yeah... on social media and what you were seeing and how you were seeing it? 22:07 All right. What do you think it was this year? I'll go first and then Paul if you have anything to add. Uh, major FOMO. It, like, I have to go next year. I used to go to the Cannes Film Festival a bunch and- Yeah... 22:19 uh, just even just the thought and from, like, everything I've seen, I'm like this must be epic. I saw, uh, outside in, it seemed like UTA and CAA had the biggest agency presence. Uh, a lot of creators obviously. 22:34 I saw all the think pieces. I saw JT Barnett's party which seemed to be popping. Like, everyone's, everyone was out there. It just, it, it definitely felt like FOMO. 22:45 I did have a conversation with an individual at an agency. It was very brief, but he was like, "I have mixed feelings on it." He didn't tell, I have to dive in a little bit, but, uh- Yeah... 22:54 you know, maybe that will come out with what you have to say. I know, I know who that was. I know who that was. 22:59 Um, I'm curious now I feel like next year, I feel like I'm one of probably 5,000 people who feel like they have to go next year. So I'm wondering if next year will even be, like, fun. Uh- Yeah... 23:11 but, um, I mean, uh, it's, it's the talking pieces, right? The, the future is creators. You know, creators and TV shows and, you know, where's all the ad money going? Um- Yeah. Yeah. I have questions on that- Yeah... 23:25 too. Um, from my perspective, a lot of echoing a lot of what Boye said. A lot of brand activations, a lot of m- musical artists, a lot of fun parties on, in nice venues, and a lot of nice houses and pools and sunshine. 23:41 Yeah. And just felt like a overall, like, pretty good vibe. I heard it was hot. Heard it was hot. It was hot. Yeah. Huge heatwave this year. About 97 was the high. Wow. Okay. Uh, in, in Cannes. Sticky. 23:55 But it wasn't, it was that for two days and then it, and then it peaked off, or it capped off. Here's what I'll say. It's only g- it's getting bigger and bigger and bigger every year. 24:05 And- I think it's so important to hear how you guys are seeing it for individuals that didn't attend this year, because what you're seeing is, and what we are s- what we are seeing 24:18 are our colleagues and/or other parties of the industry leveraging their social media right now to showcase themselves as thought leaders. No different than what we're doing right now. Yep. Right? 24:31 But that's happening at mass scale. It happens, and it's happening more and more. It... What it really exposed was the LinkedIn community's conversation around whether or not you were at Cannes. Mm. 24:43 I mean, the, the feed, my, at least my social feeds, all it was was everyone telling me what you should be doing or who the, who is a pro at what is going on at Cannes Lions or why it's a thing, or pontificating on the future and, and, and what have you. 24:57 That's such a good point. A lot of think piece pieces from people. And it's happening so much more and more and more. A lot of articles coming out on how the executive suite is now turning into the influencer. Yep. 25:13 And that's a big highlight in, in, in- So what you're saying is brands are winning the conversation because outside of people creating articles and they're posting videos, they're showcasing, and they're, they're showing the brands in the events they're at- Yes... 25:28 and the things. And so- Yes... the brands are winning in this case- Yes... 25:32 creating these moments for people to, um, make content and feel like they're a part of something special, and empowering them to feel like thought leaders. Very mu- v- very much so. And 25:44 I'd go one step further as to say when we're talking about these events and we're talking about the things that we're seeing, for individuals that haven't participated, and maybe this is sounding too insider-y, but if you haven't attended Cannes Lions, and if you don't know the usual suspects and know the places to go and not to go, you'll see a party, and you'll go, "That's really cool. 26:08 That looks like it was really fun." But Cannes isn't just about... You don't go to Cannes Lions to throw a bunch of parties and just look... Like, this isn't... 26:18 I think people get too caught up, or the newcomers get too caught up in the exoticism of, "I'm in the south of France." Mm-hmm. "This is fun. This is one part vacation. I'm hanging out with my friends, and I'm 26:33 doing business." So what is it then, if you had to describe it? I would, I would, I would describe it as... 26:42 You have to think of it almost as an executive retreat or executive camp in the south of France where some of the biggest decision-makers are all in one central point for a week and are available, 26:59 for the most part, to meet because they have an entire cal- they have an entire cal- it's like, it's like the... it's, it's like the energy that is Manhattan. Sure. You're all on the island. Yeah. 27:10 You all need to feed your time. You're there from 8:00 AM till 5:00 PM, or you, you're- Till 5:00 AM. [laughs] You're not gonna go back and tra- And you're making deals. You're making deals with brands. Yes. 27:22 Like, what's actually happening? You're, you're, 27:25 you're, you're, you're heavily focused on targeting and discussing the ad spend that is going to ensue over the course of the back half of the year, and for the, you know, in preparation for what is going to be the next y- quarter or the next year-round, uh, the next year, uh, strategy. 27:49 Okay. Uh, there are... A lot of the, uh, a lot of the ex- a lot of the ad agencies are trying to win awards. We're trying... 27:56 Sorry, are trying to win, uh, prospective clients by way of the CMOs that are out there speaking on panels and talking and doing. 28:04 The CMOs themselves are looking to get the message out, looking to further, uh, align themselves with other big celebrity talent or other, other, o- uh, do other deals or implement their, their brand to other, 28:17 other, other, other tech- technological advanced spaces. Like, I don't know. You would, uh... What's a good example? 28:25 Like Coca-Cola putting ad spend, uh, against Amazon's storefronts or, or their, their live shopping network. Sure. They need to figure out where is their brand going to show up, what bets are they taking. 28:37 Those are the institutional trades that are happening at a Cannes. Yeah. Cool. It just happens to be at a space that happens to have yachts and things like that. It's very showy and flashy- It's very... Exactly... 28:47 and there's a lot of programming around it. You, you mentioned- Yes. Got it... 28:50 you mentioned two things that I did also notice on social media that I didn't really cover that I wanna highlight, 'cause I think they're important. One is the accessibility. Uh, it did feel outside in. 29:01 You know, like, I think I heard, like, you could just run into Oprah on the street or whatever like that. Like, these titans of industry are just all around. Uh, and the think piece part I think is massive, right? 29:14 A lot of the content was just colleagues, you know, on panels or, you know, doing LinkedIn lists or- Yeah... this is my recap. This is my take. You know? And, uh, that is... I think that's very profound actually. 29:31 It's very, very intriguing. I'm, I'm a little, I am, I am a little nervous at... This sounds so, this sounds so, like, elitist or... It sounds a little elitist. I'm nervous at the evolution of what wa- uh, I'm nervous 29:49 at 29:51 Cannes Lions' evolution because we're going to hit a point where as you guys are talking, more and more people are saying, "Oh," are, is ha- are having that FOMO, and I've seen more and more people go to Cannes this year for the first time than ever before. 30:10 And we're gonna start seeing more and more of it's an oversaturation, where people are not gonna even go to the festival. To your point, "Oh, I can see Oprah on the street." Like, 30:21 the purpose of going is not to run in with- It's to do business. Right. But there are people that are starting... There's an influx of influencers all traveling out. That's great. 30:31 That's great for the business, because it's great for brands, and it's great for talent, and it's why Josh and I go, uh, my business partner, Josh Richards, that's why we go to, to Cannes to have, uh, top-level conversations. 30:43 It's just a, a great way to, like, pick, you know, just... Same way in which we, why we would go to New York. Just a great way to, like, have it be set up at back-to-back-to-back meetings. 30:54 I get nervous that some, that more and more people are saying, "Oh, I'm gonna do that." And I mean more like, I don't wanna say Joe Schmos, but people that are- I get what you're saying, though. 31:03 It's like, it hits the zeitgeist in a way where it's gonna oversaturate, and it might not be as productive as you hope- Exactly... it's gonna be in years to come. Exactly. Yep. 31:13 And, and that, that, that's all it means, because then it just becomes more of... Like VidCon. VidCon w- for a time- Yeah... 31:19 was a great place where it was the epicenter of all these things for everyone to show up, but then it lost its muster because it lost the cultural backdrop or the- It became about the programming. Yes. Right. Yes. Okay. 31:31 One, one- That's a really good s- uh, summation One thing on the deal front that I've been thinking about, and Chris, since you've been so many times, I'd be curious your thoughts, but I'm gonna compare it real- Oh, did, did, did I announce our deal with Fox, like, just before? 31:44 Go for it. Yeah. 'Cause, uh, no, thanks for a- no, no, thanks for asking me about it. I really, I really appreciate that, boy. 31:49 Yeah, that was really fun, and it was really, like, we strategically planned that announcement. [laughs] No, 'cause you're not asking me about it. [laughs] I didn't know about it. It was... Well, it was- Yeah, yeah... 31:56 gonna be a part of, a part of what I was gonna talk about. But, um- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... let me- I'll self-promote. Don't worry, I'll self-prom- I'll promote myself... let me, let me first- I'm talking... 32:05 set the stage, and then, and then, uh, would love to hear more about your deal. Um, but what I was, uh, what I was gonna compare it to was the, um, the film side, right? So, like, you go to Cannes or you go to Sundance. 32:18 Yeah. There might be a film to premiere, and that night you have all of the studios bidding all night- Mm-hmm... to buy the film. Whereas I saw a lot of announcements, really cool announcements, that 32:34 w- were announced while people were in Cannes, but I'm like, "Th- this took months before." 32:40 And so what I also noticed is people leveraging Cannes as a PR moment, but it was, it felt like it was done in a way, or s- not some, not all, where it was like, "We did this at Cannes," but it wasn't... 32:52 It was, it, the relationships happened- Mm-hmm... well before met. Maybe they met at Cannes last year, but they were using the moment of Cannes. 32:59 And one of those announcements was the deal you guys did as part of, um, you know, what Billy is doing at Fox, um, which is awesome. Tell us about it, and also give me your feedback on my, my thoughts. I would say... 33:13 So for those not, not familiar, for any of our listeners that are not familiar with what Cannes Lion is or what it started off to be, Cannes Lion was the cr- it- Well, I hope they know now. Well, yeah. 33:25 But, but, but we've talked about creators and brand- Yeah... and stuff, but the whole basis of it, it started off as, uh, you know, Cannes Incentive is, you know, they have, like, crypto convention. 33:35 It, it, there's, it's, it's kind of- Yeah... think of, like, a San Diego Convention Center- It was a commer- it's for advertisers... for advertisement. It's commercial. Yeah. So, like, so they would do- Like Mad Men... 33:41 Cannes Film... Right. So they do... But they're always trying to figure out what are more conventions that we can throw. Mm. 33:47 So they would have the Cannes L- the Cannes Film Festival, and then it very conveniently made more sense, "Okay, we'll use the same space, and we'll double it around, and we'll make it more focused around commercial advertising." 33:58 And so people would, you know, the whole idea is you would go to Cannes specifically to win your award- Yes... for Best in Class commercials. Yeah. The awards have really taken a huge backseat- Yeah... to all of the, 34:13 for lack of a better term, performance, because we're talking about brands. We're talking about live action installations or content and commercials. Mm-hmm. 34:20 A lot of the times the, the brands, it, it becomes a bit of, like, a way to say, "Let me show off." Like, w- uh, not like a CinemaCon, but in a way it's almost, it, it brings- Mm... out that cinema- CinemaCon- Yes. 34:33 Wow... age vibe It's like an ex- Quality... exhibition. Yes. 34:36 It very much feels like an exhibition for saying what we're about, what we're doing, how can we show, show off, uh, during the summer, during our downtime before the back half of the year, what we're about. Yep. Sure. 34:49 Uh, and so it started that way, and I think over time people... Where I'm going with it is 34:58 because, uh, because we've, we've removed ourselves more from the showing or the showcasing of the ar- of the art that is a commercial, we're now more about saying and talking about what we're going to do or talking and saying what we're going to do. 35:11 So it's become a little bit more like, "Let me do this announcement and show you in pr- and, and show, like, a, a level of strength in my ability to, like, show up my presence." Mm. 35:19 A lot of what it's turned really into is all the brand executives go out there, and they all kinda, all the European ad sellers, uh, or sales teams of, of, of all the, these companies said, "Okay, I need to sell inventory to TV," so or, or, "I need t- I need to sell it or I need to buy it." 35:40 Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And so they would come together, and they all kind of convened and were like, "You know what? Why don't we just go to the south of France for a vacation? Like, we'll all agree. We'll bring our family." 35:49 So it was one part vacation or, like, where are you going to, like- Mm-hmm... find yourself, uh, in, in the summer. So are they doing these deals in real time, or are they happening way before? Oh, no, no. 36:01 It would happen there. So, so- Your, your deal happened there? Uh, our deal happened before, but I'm saying during, what you would have is- Yeah... 36:10 during, they'll, they'll get on a yacht, they'll talk for a bit and say, "Okay, here's, I need-" Sure... "I need, I need-"... five hours of programming, or I, I have, I have five hours of programming. 36:20 How much ad money, ad money do you wanna- Does that still happen? Does that still happen now? Yeah, that still happens. I think much, uh, far less because now, like, you don't need to go to... They- that's a phone call. 36:31 Yeah. You know? Sure. You don't need to do that, that discussion. That, that, that does still happen, but it's much more- Especially in the Zoom era, everyone's just hop on a Zoom and talk. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 36:43 Well, so can you talk about your deal a little bit and what that- Yeah, yeah. Happy to. Uh, we were excited to say... We honestly, shout out, shout out Billy Parks and Rob Wade. Those guys are awesome. Uh, love them. 36:57 So excited to, to build snaps all around, to, to build with them. For, for those that didn't see the announcement, we, they- Fox come on to license season one- Oh... 37:09 by in o- of, of our sketch comedy show, Read the Room- Okay. Sweet... that, that, that stars and, uh, uh, uh, Josh Richards and is produced by Crosstrek Studios. And we... 37:21 What we did is we, we financed season one as well as season two just on the bet that we believed in vertical content or v- or, you know, uh, content creation, and 37:33 wanted to get ahead of, quote-unquote, "premium programming" on social media. Fox identified it. Long form storytelling broken up into bits- Yes... on TikTok. On TikTok and on Instagram, or just- Yep... 37:44 just across social media- Sure... in totality. And Fox identified it. 37:51 Fox saw and sees the power of what we're doing, and what Josh is doing, and what we, what we want to do, and what we believe to do, and what we're going to do is continue to grow the next generation of creatives via social media distribution. 38:11 Read the Room is a sketch comedy show that helps elevate some of the brightest talent that, that I know. 38:18 One, you know, specifically in this room, Eli DiFiore, who was, uh, our cinematographer on both season one and two- Oh, I didn't know that. Nice Cool... and, and future to be three. So- I love it. Sweet... 38:29 uh, we, uh- Congrats... we're, we're very... I- listen, like, when, when, when a man is in the room, you gotta make sure he gets flowers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got to. That's dope. 38:35 For those unaware, DiFiore already has his flowers, but we're gonna give them to him one more time. Also le- less famous than Eli, Curry Barker. Yes. 38:43 Cur- Curry, Curry and Cooper were both, uh, in season one and will be re- uh, reoccurring in season two. Oh, really? Sweet. With... Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's sick. 38:53 Not that they need, not that they need [laughs] any- [laughs]... any additional support for their names getting out there, so shout out them. That's very kind of you to mention, uh, Boye. 39:01 But so they, so Fox came in to buy in. They will, they're, they bought into season two- Yep... and are financing, uh, fully financing season three. Awesome. Congrats. Yeah. 39:11 I think this is a, this is really cool in a lot of ways because the way I see it is, um, you're having more traditional media companies buy into the idea of short form storytelling- Yeah... 39:26 um, in kind of just a, or long form storytelling broken up into short bits, and they're seeing that that's a new wave and kind of investing in that, which is a sign that there's probably more to come, and that's really cool. 39:40 Where can people watch it, just for those listening? Well, uh, we're, we're literally figuring that out as we speak, but what you, where you'll, you will be, where foreseeable you'll be able to see, uh, in August. 39:51 We're figuring out the exact date in August now. That'll be, uh, like, probably the last week of August on, uh, Josh's, uh, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, as well as our own Read the Room socials. 40:03 So that's season three, though. Season one and two- No, that's season two. Season one and two will be available o- Okay... 40:08 across those, and then we're about, we're gonna start, we literally just post Fourth of July, we and team are all meeting up to talk through and start formulating, uh, the writer's room and the process. Cool. 40:20 So season one is not out yet? Uh, correct. It, it is... No, no, incorrect. TikTok. It has been seen. It, uh, you're able to see- That's right. Okay. That's what I thought. 40:27 You're able to see, you're able to see the content on TikTok and on Instagram. Sure. We specifically didn't put it out on YouTube knowing that we were to have conversations- Sure... 40:34 like this for the full catalog- Cool... stitched up as, as, uh, as 15 to 20 minute, uh, episodes, and now we'll roll that out in, in, in partnership with Fox. Sweet, dude. 40:46 This kind of alluded, by the way, uh, I alluded to this last episode if I recall, um, Amazon did the same thing. You know, all these media companies are u- now gonna start leveraging their sales units. Mm-hmm. 40:57 Amazon has done a huge push, you mentioned Oprah, Boye, which is why I'm mentioning this. Oprah did a big deal with Wondery, Amazon specifically, uh, as well as they, they've done a deal with LeBron. 41:12 You have LeBron, the Kelseys, Oprah, as well as Rich Kleiman and Boardroom, uh, and I'm forgetting, um, um, I'm, I'm drawing a blank. They did something with Tubi, too, I believe. And Kevin, and Kevin Durant. Mm. 41:27 Uh, and I don't know what the Tubi deal is. I think they're putting a bunch of Tubi content on the Fire TV. 41:33 I think, uh, that would make sense, but they also specifically announced that they're gonna l- bring Fire TV, they're gonna allow creators to self-distribute their own content via Fire TV. 41:44 So it's kinda like a fast- It, it-... channel model. And it might be in, in, like, not in partnership with Tubi, but, like, it, they're just doing exactly what Tubi is doing. 41:52 Maybe that's what the article that you read was saying. The, the, the, the headline is, "Tubi to provide Creatorverse lineup to Amazon's Fire TV." Got it. 41:59 I mean, look, w- you're also seeing, uh, Instagram launch a, a TV version of their app. Yeah. Like, they're just setting the table- Mm... for this kind of content. Yeah. So- Love it. Yeah. 42:11 Well, we should, uh, talk about the next thing. Uh, congrats again, Chris, uh, awesome to hear on, on everything in Cannes. Thank you. 42:19 Um, uh, maybe you'll see a little Boye running around the streets next year, we'll see. Um, let's talk about Meta Uh, Meta's been in the news recently. A couple big headlines. One, their Meta Glasses. 42:32 So, you know, uh, they have had a lot of success with the, the Meta Ray-Bans and the Oakley, or the Meta Oakleys. Yeah. Yeah. 42:41 And now they're doing their own line, which is interesting because we were talking about Apple doing their own line. So we should dive into that. Also- Mm-hmm... um, we have, uh, Meta getting into prediction markets. 42:54 So that will be- Whoa... really interesting. Could Meta be sort of the third big entrant into the sort of Kalshi, Polymarket battle? Maybe, maybe not. 43:05 If that happens, I think it's really fucking, I think it's really smart. Yeah. Yeah. 43:08 I mean, look, they're- Where'd the stock pri- And stock prices went up today, so I'm actually very curious to see if that announcement, which I think came out today- Yeah... I'm gonna say, yeah... 43:17 I mean, it, it shows they're paying attention. They're following what people want to invest their time into. Um, it's cool. I'm, I'm interested to see how it develops and how they're gonna do it differently. 43:28 Um- Was there any talk about either at, in Cannes? No. For some reason I thought Meta, the Meta Glasses were- Well-... were also timed for, with Cannes. 43:35 Well, I, I don't wanna, I don't mean to say, I don't wanna say, I don't mean to say no, uh, so fast. I, I was actually surprised that we were gonna talk about the, the, the Meta Glasses. 43:48 Not, not, not to say that it's nothing burger as much more as it's to say that, like, it wasn't, it, it wa- it wasn't highly discussed, at least in my conversations. 43:56 Also, it was part- they partnered with Kylie on it- Yeah... didn't they? Yeah. Well, it's- Which I feel like wasn't very robustly discussed. Well, there's no brand attached. So that's the thing, right? 44:06 So my take is they did the initial wave of, "Hey, we can be a, uh, technology company and a fashion brand." Mm-hmm. Or techn- we could put our technology into fashion. 44:21 You partner with Ray-Ban and, uh, Oakley, and you do these partnerships to showcase, "Hey, we have, you know, buy-in from these legacy brands that you love and people wanna wear." 44:33 Because if you make something that no one cares about day one, they're not gonna wear it. S- see Snapchat. Um [laughs] But they, Meta also has a- It's very different... 44:40 collaborate, if I'm not mistaken, they have a, what, Lexi- what's the... Uh, Le- Luxottica? Right. Yeah, so- They have a partnership with the entire- Right... overarching. Yes. Hence the Oakleys. Luxottica. Right. 44:51 Exactly. And so this to me felt like they looked at that and said, "Okay, this is a higher price point, and, uh, we wanna create something that's less expensive. 45:03 And so w- let's take the brand out of it and let's make our own." Right. "And let's partner with the likes of Kylie Jenner to push that." These are Meta Glasses. 45:14 These are not Oakleys or Ray-Bans or any like- This is Meta's own... this is straight up Meta, and they're at a good price point, and they're going to win this market for now. 45:24 And I think this is a precursor to all the conversations we've been having about- Yeah... Apple wanting to enter into this space. They, they have to. And- Clearly they ha- they had to have moved... 45:35 I have to imagine they pushed to move faster given the even- like, the Snap of it all announcement, right? Ki- And like- Yeah... not that they needed to- Man... 45:42 but it was more of a way to just kinda, like, use the traction to kinda give them a- Look, I haven't seen the glasses on Snapch- the Snapchat glasses yet. I haven't used them, but boy, oh boy, like, 45:52 it, it, that announcement was like a thud. Didn't they- You know, stock dropped. Yeah. No one... Everybody was making fun of Evan Spiegel online. 46:01 They were- Well, it's 'cause they, they- They partnered with all these celebrities... they had, like, a five-year heads up plus with spectacles and just, you know, didn't really capitalize. They just doubled down on it. 46:10 But, but I heard, I heard a bit of a murmur. I heard some murmurs that, uh, that they were out to some pretty big talent. Oh, yeah. Robert Downey Jr. I, I heard, I heard, I heard lots of money- Spectacles for Snap?... 46:23 going, going in that- Yeah, like, what was it, like, $500 million, something crazy like that? What? It's too much. Yeah. W- how do you make those kinds of decisions- Yeah, there's no way... when your stock is tanking? 46:34 Yeah, yeah, yeah. But here's- I just don't-... here, here's the thing, though. This is the f- I believe this is the future computing platform, the, the, the glasses. Uh, so I could- Mm-hmm... see a desperation. 46:46 And to Paul's- Right... point about Meta partnering with Kylie, this m- this might be sort of a new, uh, battleground for talent because this is gonna... This is the new computer. Paul, weren't you saying that- Yeah... 47:00 OpenAI even poached someone from, from Apple? Yeah. Yeah, Apple. Like, that's huge news. I saw the announcement. Huge. I mean, yeah, Apple has ha- been having a lot of struggles internally with their executive team. 47:13 I think we're gonna see that button up real quick once the new CEO steps in, but that's def- definitely a blow to that. But, but what's, what's more interesting is the fact that OpenAI has poached this person. 47:27 So that- Right... that to me signals not only do you have this front with Apple, with Meta, with Snap, but you might now have it with OpenAI and Anthropic- Yeah... and SpaceX. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Yep. Uh, I- Right... 47:41 I, I- Paul, um, Paul Mead, is that how you say his name? He was- Yeah... um, the, uh, he was the... He was an upper level executive at f- over the Apple Vision Pro and the glasses team. Got it. Um, yeah. 47:59 I see, I mean, a lot of this- Vice president of hardware engineering specifically... uh, I think a lot of this will be... Yes, this is the new supercomputer. Sooner than later, the translation 48:12 connection that glass has the capability, ca- has the capability of doing. Like, being able to tran- be a translator- In real time... you won't have to learn language. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Right? I mean, you, alr- To me-... 48:23 it's already happening in your, uh, your AirPods... so, so to me, just imagine, like, because now they already have the capability of tran- like translating... 48:31 seeing your lips move, and it does a pretty damn good job of it. I have to imagine, like, okay, well there goes Spanish class. [laughs] Dude, no, I'm, I'm dead serious though. No, I know. You know? 48:41 I mean, those types of things are w- are worrying to me because, I mean, you're talking about generations of people who, um, as technology gets more convenient, their need to learn becomes less, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. 48:56 And so like even in the iPad era or like the, uh, ChatGPT, um- Wall-E. It's Wall-E... y- yeah, it's like they're being fed things. 49:05 Um, it's w- it's worrying, but I also think, uh, we're just replacing phones with glasses. We'll see how it, how it goes. Um- Yeah... 49:14 to round it all out, Snapchat needs to take some lessons i- in design and hire some people. I think they, uh... It seems very clear that they, um, they care more about technology than they do, um, design. 49:27 I don't, I don't know- And I think that's what Meta got right from the start... I don't know that that's a fair assessment. Um, Evan- Have you, have you seen the glasses? It's not about the glasses. 49:35 It, like, Evan Spiegel has been at the forefront of great design for a long time. It's why Meta has basically copied almost every single thing that he's done. 49:46 Maybe in this particular instance it doesn't look as great, but, like, he... Evan also was the first person to create hardware in this manner. 49:57 I mean, I think the spectacles look, look maybe better than this, but I, I just... I don't know, I just... That didn't- If-... 50:03 feel like a fair assessment of- UI, UX in app development and design is much different than, like, real hardware design. And if you look at those glasses, they are not cool and they are not... 50:16 I've not talked to one person who's like, "Oh, I'm excited about that." In fact, they're like, "They look horrendous." I mean, look- And even on people like Jack Harlow, they look like trash. That might be fair. 50:27 That might be fair, but maybe look at, look at- I gotta like, I gotta like pull them up right now- But what is-... 50:34 just to like re- I, I, I agree with you, 'cause I had saw them, but now I'm like, do I actually- We sh- we'll throw up a photo or whatnot on here for people- Remember the Google Glass? I mean, they're bad. Or servers. 50:43 They're, they're bad, B. But r- I'm sorry, B... remember, do you remember Google Glass though? Like, those were so dumb. But Google Glass... 50:49 But Google Glass was like an ush- was like completely, I think, just a tri- As we talk about the Apple Vision Pro being this like testing kind of device, I mean, I've talked about that. You just call it a flop. 51:04 [laughs] Uh, you know, that's what Google Glass was. It was an experiment, and honestly, those looked pretty cool. When we saw them and they came out, everybody was like- Yeah... 51:12 "That's sweet" In retrospect they seemed dumb... "I wanna try one." Do you know what, do you know what they kinda look like if you look at it the wrong person? They're kinda like glasses for Minions. 51:22 [laughs] I was literally, I feel like you were just about to say that. Oh my gosh. Please, someone make a, to put, Photoshop these glasses on Minions and see if- No, this is, this is a good idea for them... 51:32 this is a good idea. To partner with Minions to release the glasses. Game over. A lot cheaper too. A lot cheaper than Robert Downey Jr. I will say- Look-... 51:40 super quick though, the one thing, the one difference is that these are fully AR glasses. They're not just Meta Ray-Bans, right? I know. So- But you could still partner- But what are you, what are you-... 51:50 with one of these fashion companies to make it somewhat fashionable... just saying. Hey, B, when, when was the last time you used AR? 51:57 I haven't, but, but- Well, I got a great pitch for you, 'cause I have Snap Spectacles for you to buy. [laughs] And you can u- you can AR the shit out of those spectacles all day long. 52:07 I think they're going, they're trying to appeal to the same- Wall... audience that, um, Paul thought would buy the, uh, Apple Vision Pros. Like- Yeah, but we all know he was wrong on that. [laughs] So I think [laughs] 52:18 Also, they're almost just as expensive at, like, $2,400. Yeah, that's... It's mental... 25, almost $2,500. Come on. All right, so- If you're not... If you don't... Sorry. Okay. 52:27 I'll- We should take the note on the Minions front and use it to tie into our next conversation about NC- NBC Universal. So- Yes What's going on with them? So recently- Haven't you heard? Recently- No, what?... 52:41 Comcast has announced that they are planning to essentially spin off NBC Universal as its own company. Mm. So they already did this- Mm... with Versant, and now they're doing it with NBC Universal. 52:56 So they're essentially taking three, three companies from one, and, uh, now the Minions won't have a parent company. They'll just be the Minions. 53:05 So it's an interesting move when it comes to sort of the titans of industry. Wait, wait, wait. Sorry, just to... When you say the Minions won't have a parent- Meaning- Parent company... 53:16 for clarity though, we're saying that Illumination and NBCU are still one and the same. Is that right? Sorry, yes, yes. In that- I, that, that's... I just wanted to make... 53:23 I didn't know if there was like a separation of- If he was just being... Yeah... my bad, my bad, my bad. And yes. I missed it. 53:27 Illumination is still gonna be part of NBC Universal, but essentially what I'm saying is it'll just be an entertainment company. It, NBC Universal- Right, right... will stand alone like Disney does, right? Yes. Yes. 53:39 Got it. Just making sure I'm following. It kind of, it kind of feels smart to me. Um, but it also could signal some... 53:47 It could, it, it could expose some weak areas in the divisions, meaning I feel like we've talked Peacock being like the weakest subscriber base in the streaming game right now. Yeah. 54:00 You know, they really- Is that really a thing?... are, they're pr- it's pretty low. Wow. Um- Like that against Paramount?... we can look at- Yeah. I'd be, I'd be curious what they are versus Paramount. Yeah. 54:09 They have traders though. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, they survive on the- Olympics... Universal movies, the Olympics, sports essentially. Right. But sports costs are- And they're losing, and they're losing it more and more... 54:20 and the sports costs are rising. Yeah. They're not getting cheaper. Right. And so where are they gonna stand in that? How, uh, where is the money gonna come from? How are they gonna raise the money? 54:30 Those are all big question marks, but I also think it's, it's a pretty smart move, um, because it will allow these companies to move-... 54:40 quickly and more freely, um, as opposed to being locked up in a huge conglomerate like Comcast. Still, still debatable whether a big, like conglomerate like Comcast can run a media brand. Right. 54:55 It's, you know, because, um, we just haven't seen it. I mean, I'll, I'll talk, you know, the Warner, AT&T buying Warner and that wh- whole debacle. Right. I'm not saying this is that, but we have history of this, right? 55:12 And so I, I would be interested to see what this actually means. There were some articles signaling that it could, that it could mean that NBC would go on the attack and be... This is not actually a- And, like, sell? 55:29 No, no. Buy. Hmm. Oh. That's, I- There was talks about it. I've seen, I've seen several articles- They need something... specifically saying that the whole purpose... This shouldn't... 55:40 A lot of people were talking about this being a signal of, of weakness, and it was in, it was just, I just, I found it- I don't know... 55:46 to be an interesting take that it's, that there's a takeaway to be said that it's actually more them looking to be in the driver's seat of acquisition. I don't know that it's a signal of weakness necessarily. 55:57 I think we just have to remember that a lot of, like, to Paul's point, right, with A- with AT&T, like, a lot of these guys are numbers-driven, and Wall Street is, is partly telling these people that these are different businesses and they need to be split up, right? 56:14 And NBC Universal's- But when companies, but when companies split up, debatably, like, a lot of times when you see this type of separation, it's- But-... not a s- not a, not a fire sale- But it, it-... 56:24 but it's a sum of, like- It creates more value, though, to shareholders. Yeah. Right? Yeah, yeah. And so now you have Versant, which is cable. Mm-hmm. You know, now it can be sold, and it can have more value. 56:35 And now broadband is gonna stick with Comcast, but then you're gonna have NBC U- Universal that's just entertainment. So I, I don't know, necessarily see it as bad. 56:43 I think it's just smart business and maybe, you know, the family-run business of Comcast, they're getting tired of it. I will say what I think is... 56:55 I, I haven't heard of what you were saying, Chris, but what I have heard of is this idea that, um, before it even gets to a spin-off, that there may be an acquisition from someone else. And- Oh, interesting... 57:10 like, maybe this is, this is a moment for Apple, or even better yet, Netflix, who lost out on Warners, to essentially- Buy Universal... buy Universal. So that- Yeah... 57:22 that's my hot take is that I actually think that is likely to happen. I, if I were Te- Ted, I would be like, "Missed out on Warner Bros. I can get Universal," who is, I believe, second to Disney in the box office. 57:37 Mm-hmm. And- They're so good, yep... and be g- you know, just as great. You know, I won't have HBO Max, but, you know, I'm gonna have a lot of IP to play with. It's- And then Nintendo... it's interesting too because- Oh, 57:50 yeah... um, it, it's, uh... To me, I automatically think while that's really a great conclusion, and I would love to see something potentially like that happen or it to be a win, 58:02 I, I just see them also, like, cutting, cutting the rope on anchors that are making the sh- the, the ship sink, right? Like, uh, cord-cutting is happening. Yeah. People aren't watching news like they used to. 58:15 There's low value in these assets. 58:18 Like, the only reason people are paying attention to these services are because of sports, which are becoming harder and harder to get, especially when Amazon and Netflix are paying a lot of money for some of these games, right, and taking away these rights. 58:33 And so I, I see it as potentially, like, they're protecting their stock. They're protecting their assets so that it doesn't all sink at once, right? Yeah. Their stock sank 30% and hasn't really come back in a while. Wow. 58:49 So this could be a potential way to create more value in their assets. Like you mentioned, Boye, Universal is, like, second, second-highest grossing studio. 59:01 This could be a way to create more value in these specific entities, right? And I wanna mention they are second to none, second in, like, highest grossing because long-winded distribution windows. 59:15 So I wonder how that would affect if someone like Netflix bought it, right? Because they have long windows, and they've, um, notoriously played with, um, premium video on demand and releasing their s- their content. 59:29 And so, uh, they have very unique and specific strategies to the whole, to the whole thing. Yeah. And I'd be curious where that lands. Well, Ted, Ted has set the stage a little bit from the Warners, uh, acquisition. 59:40 Like, even past it, he has been sort of propping up theatrical distribution. So he might have more street cred- Yeah... now when if, you know, when and if he- Hmm... goes to Universal and says, "I actually want this." 59:52 I think people may actually trust him now. Maybe not to kee- Yeah... I think the 45-day window, but longer than that I think would be not likely. 1:00:00 I would like to see his shareholders trust him because the stock said different, right? Yeah, that's true. And I, I would love to see that happen. Right. 1:00:08 I heard a producer tell me yesterday they felt like Netflix would be dying in the next five years if they do not acquire a studio. But can I say this? That was a bold take. Uh- Can I say this? Yeah. 1:00:20 This is the, what, what is different to NBC is the theme parks. Yep. 1:00:25 Netflix acquiring Universal would make them, like, would make the fusion of the Disney and the streamer overnight, they would go toe-to-toe because Disney, what? They have the theme parks. 1:00:35 They have the cruise lines and the IP. Imagine what Netflix can now do if they own- Mm-hmm... the theme parks as well with the IP that they're gonna create. It's gonna, it would be crazy. 1:00:45 And then, and then Minions- Yeah... having Minions too, like, and sports. Right? Netflix wants sports. I think this is gonna happen. That's my, this is my, this is my- This is your hot take? I mean, yeah, I'm gonna, I- 1:00:59 It's like a lukewarm take? No, no. This is, this... I think Netflix will buy Universal. All right. Okay. Also, just to bring it, uh, 360 or, or, or full circle. 1:01:09 Can, but the, they lay out all the beach clubs, a lot of the companies the Fortune 500 buy into. Mm-hmm. It's interesting to note, the biggest, 1:01:20 Google, YouTube, Meta, no Tik- Uh, it's, it's YouTube, Meta, Amazon, Stagwell, which is not a tech company. It's one of the biggest a- a- ad agencies. Mm-hmm. They do a thing called Sports Beach. Mm. And Influential. 1:01:36 Those tend to be the biggest beaches, quote-unquote, on, on, uh, of the be- Yeah... when I say the biggest beaches, I mean more to say that the beach clubs are the, the larger installations- Yeah... 1:01:47 that you can go to and see and hang out at. UTA had one, though, it looked like. Uh, I, I'm mentioning- Just brands... brands. Okay. Not, not, not, not, uh, not, uh, not to shun UTA by any means. No. Yeah. 1:01:59 UTA and MediaLink have a phenomenal, phenomenal location. Yeah. But, uh, it's more to say, like, Netflix and Netflix, Snapchat, they are not on the boardwalk. But I think it's just maybe this year. 1:02:13 I would argue Netflix doesn't need it. I'm, I'm just saying it's ver- But they throw a party. Just very interesting to see how they have a presence- Yeah. Yeah... and, and what have you. 1:02:22 But not, um- But it's probably, like, over time. I remember one year, like, Snap had, like, a whole, uh, carousel, uh, Ferris wheel on the beach, and that was, like- Oh, really?... really popular. Yeah. Wow. 1:02:34 I'm surprised Netflix isn't there only because they're getting more into ad-driven content. Yep. Netflix is there, but what I'm trying to say is they don't do a beach. Right. 1:02:42 And when you think about Spot- But I, I, I left off Spotify. I mean, it's just so interesting to see which places, 'cause it is... 1:02:51 If you're, if you're really putting your, putting your cojones on the table, having a beach is one of the big kind of ways to say, "Hey, we're here." Yeah. Everyone comes to us. Yeah. 1:03:05 When you have a be- When you have a beach bought out, everyone comes to you. They're these huge installations. Yep. Mm-hmm. They're very pretty, and all the meetings come to you to, like, be at this beach. 1:03:15 It's where you do the deals. So they're not spending those millions of dollars they got from the, the exit of, uh- Yeah... Warner Brothers? Guess not. Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, great conversation, guys. 1:03:25 Uh, welcome back, Chris. Super pumped on, uh, the future. There's a lot going on here. So we're gonna wrap today. Thanks for tuning in. Uh, thanks, Paul, for, for jamming. Thank you for having me. 1:03:38 Definitely grab the pod. You can go on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Spotify, Apple. Am I forgetting anything, Paul? iHeartRadio. iHeartRadio. I didn't even know that. Wherever... Yep. Wow. 1:03:51 Please like, uh, and subscribe to our YouTube. We have video on Spotify now. Sick. We've been... Yeah, we've been getting requests for that. People wanna throw us up on TV. You can do that now. Oh, yeah. Sick. Yeah. 1:04:04 All right. Well, uh, you know where to find us. Over and out. Peace. Thank you. [bright music] Still waiting in line, again? That's time you will never get back. 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