Executive Producers Ben Silverman & Howard Owens on The GaryVee Audio Experience | #AfterTheApp 01

all right the garyb audio experience brings you after the app and this is the important show because these two gentlemen are the generals they are the infrastructure the backbone the captains of Planet of the apps Ben Silverman Howard Owens I am humbled to have you on the podcast uh for the couple of people in the vayer nation that don't know who you gentlemen are Howard we're going to start with you and your beauti face tell everybody who you are and a little bit about your career uh I'm Howard Owens great to see you Gary ve great to talk to vayer Nation love you guys big fans first time uh first time caller long time listener um I uh not calling you're actually a guest I know but I'm just referring to talk radio can you turn your pH I mean Jesus Christ you're ruining the show 8 seconds into the I turned my ring around Ben Silverman let's let's Howard you regroup over there after I birthed Howard yes Ben we're going to go with you while Howard drinks a little water here and tries to reset himself uh teller Nation who you are you have an amazing career I mean if people go into this Google uh hole they'll be there for five days you have for such a young man you've had such a prolific career in the Hollywood landscape and so tell everybody who you are on planet the apps and a little bit about your career EP I am executive producer of plan of the apps with my partner over here Howard T Owens iiii the son of a Connecticut legislator and judge so I help I'll help do Howard's job here a man of the nation from Bridgeport and not the good part of town okay we all know bridgeport's got two sides other side of the tracks track self-made man but um have been a Serial entrepreneur and executive in the entertainment world creating TV shows producing TV shows traveling the world looking for great ideas things like Jane the Virgin Ugly Betty the office that I epd executive produced and then many other shows co-created um Biggest Loser with Howard and some colleagues Nashville star date my mom the restaurant tons of different genres of TV had the great privilege of uh you know rehiring Donald Trump to be uh on the Celebrity Apprentice when I was chairman of NBC and Universal media and uh have been enjoying making content forever and love planet of the apps just feels like a gamechanging show I had a show a long time ago called fashion star yes where we had sax withth Avenue H& M and Macy's as my judges on the show but basically investing their dough to buy product live think a little bit Project Runway meets HSN almost and uh and that was kind of something that was in my head when Howard approached me about um plan of the apps and that he was thinking about the app space and we collaborated it's interesting about that show I think I got to tell you this while we were filming that show more than any show as me living my life blew my mind when I heard when I knew that there was business Dynamics to the content Jessica Simpson right exactly I remember this Nico Richie johnv I remember this clearly I was like holy [ __ ] it was the Apex what was that 2004 5 six seven like where was it yeah seven eight I just remember it was like reality was really happening and I just remember thinking you know that was such a big business if it was a humongously hit show obviously you've had a lot of hits that show didn't go crazy the way I thought it was going to probably not the way you guys thought it was going to as well but the business model was Bonkers and with apps we thought what was incredible is you could that night download yep you can actually access within the content ecosystem you ab and buy the app you know or get the app or experience the app and I think Ben's uh what Ben did with fashion star and prior to that what we did with Biggest Loser which was offer you know weight loss uh programs and diets to the audience who were fans of loser you know Ben took it the next level then with fashion star and I what we saw with planet of the apps but was that the whole in doing with apple is the whole ecosystem of consumption of media following your own apps becoming part of the show and being able to experience and purchase or download and you know that whole 360 has never existed before when we we're working on this and I think we talked to you Gary ve about this early on is as you know if Who Wants To Be A Millionaire democratize the game show fastest finger you could literally play the game from home and be on the show and what people forget is during that initial cycle of millionaire which aired on ABC AED initially five days in a row then aired for 10 it was crazy 10 nights in a row and we had the privilege of putting that show together and bringing it over to America re just dominated he was our first choice D wasn't he the second choice some somebody you one of you told me a good story wasn't a second choice but we

had thought about Donahue yes I love that cuz I want to be donu I think I'm going to bring Donahue back in Gary ve form I'm doing daytime TV I think and I want people to call me ingred in Iowa what do you say like I've been dreaming about this I by the way you were manifesting all your other dreams why won't you be the next Donahue and then I'm going to win Seven Super Bowls as the owner of the New York Jets and then I'll be ready to go I think the ladder is a lot tougher for you I think I you know I'm more on the Bitcoin and the the Drew I was thinking more dinosur when I what's that Howard Douglas Michael Douglas yeah he's got but so if millionaire democratized the game show in one of those early episodes you saw a guy whose partner was in the audience it was the first time you had a gay contestant yes and it just happened because the guy was smart and he won the fastest finger and got his way onto the show it wasn't cast in the normal way then you looked at what Idol did you voted with your phone you made the choice it actually started at Big Brother there was a whole lawsuit big brother did that teley first that was you know the name for around using your phone to vote and the around everything with the phone at that time now apps is one step further where you're literally voting with your click and your desire to download this app and participate in that way and then obviously the show's emotional heart is these extraordinary American Dreams these amazing men and women from all over the place you know which I loved as well about the show CU it's democratized entrepreneurship technology has enabled people like you Gary Van to be a king yeah and you know that's a lot harder than when you would have started trying to become and compete 25 years we were talking last night about the casting process I was talking to Nikki last night and we were talking about casting and finding apps and how we went and did it and people are and you yourself said people have reached out to you Sor shows come on and you're like oh my God they want to have their app on the show it's a great experience part of the idea behind the show is not different from say Nashville star where the first season we found Miranda Lambert yep who was a 18-year-old singer songwriter guitar player who Sony Music told us you'll never really find anyone this is for posterity it'll be good for marketing for the brand we find Miranda Lambert in this show one of the things that we think is cool and helpful is to allow the glass ceiling of silicon Valley to be shattered is allow anyone with an idea and the you know kind of perseverance to come and wait in line and make their video and Pitch their Wares but we as you know Gary and eron here are still with us we go through an extremely you know rigid vetting process where we really want to make sure what people have what it takes but the fact that anyone can do it we don't really know who you are we don't check your CV before you come on the show is great what's even greater is that's the micro of the macro which is this show is bringing awareness to that world but there's millions of people that will never be on this show that are just doing it direct to Consumer at scale you guys are reacting to the reality this is a synthesized version that gives even greater exposure to the genre but this is happening every day right now people are listening they'll never be casted on this show because there still that gatekeeper aspect and things of that nature and that is the most powerful thing because as we continue to bring awareness to what's actually going on it inspires those that may not go through this funnel that just might make a great product and put it on the App Store and that's a big deal I think it's been the age of the grinder now it's Hustler and how do you define the difference between a grinder and a hustler works just as hard as a grinder but they know that the no is irresistible and they're going to come on top they're not going to like work the half yes into the no they're going to take that no and make it a yes and that and the Hustler also is living in this age of maybe I'm going to skip my education the old fashioned way maybe I'm not going to build a retail outlet spend my money on marketing maybe I'm going to use a different kind of currency maybe I'm going to bet on myself maybe I'm going to go to the bank and get a line of credit maybe I'm not going to enter this system this door and I think it's these people who are growing up and using their whole street smart skill along with their intellect and idea and it's really different you feel it super different Howard biggest surprise from what you thought was going to go down to what's manifested you know one of the surprises really and I shouldn't say it was a surprise because we wanted it to happen but until it happens you don't see it is you Jessica gwenith and will becoming so personally invested in the apps and the creators and seeing you guys go to town and seeing you get on planes and meet these people and seeing you really you know care and I think that we thought that we cast you guys we think you're awesome but you're incredibly busy running Empires you have a lot of other things on your plate but you

guys dug deep and we I was impressed by the ability for you and your co-partners uh your advisers to stay emotionally and mentally connected to the process which was hard you know when we did this we shot over you know 10 13 days and we did 15h hour days and you guys saw I think over a 100 apps it's a big process and you put a lot into that you really you know there's a lot of information coming at you and so your perseverance and your guys ability to really help lift this experience has been awesome Ben you know I'm still in it yeah it's really early um for me the moment as the culture starts to expand and absorb it I'm thrilled that we're starting our consumer facing marketing campaign a different play right with apple than a network which is going to do everything up front and apple kind of doing it along the way has that been intriguing for you I mean you used to run NBC like how are you feeling about that I'm totally into it because it is new and exciting for me and watching it play out and knowing where it hits the consumer knowing when the consumer finds it and whether it's somebody kind of entering these new doors like whether it's on the. com through the Apple music platform or on Apple music itself or on the Apple TV platform you know all of these different touch points inside iTunes and then through to Apple music is really cool and the global we haven't yet pointed our megaphone global Apple has turned on its platform globally but we haven't yet gone into the rest of the world which we're going to start to do and that is going to be really cool too as we watch and find how much the ukrainians love Gary Vee well of course I mean and of course they do and as I was born in bellarus your people and Ben you mentioned something to me which I think is totally true and I we may have said this to you Gary but one of the things that we didn't know you know we wanted the escalator pitch to work and be a great experience and we had tested it out and look good but we couldn't Bank on was that all the entrepreneurs and all the app creators are video creators in general talk about the Hustler or the grinder these people these you know whether from 17 to 70 everyone you know by creating their app understands visuals and understand everyone saw companion up on that screen who's watched the show and thought oh I get it that's a great idea and then I have my Aunt Amy up in you know who's an architect sending me her tweaks on companion and how to do use it with old people and the way she wanted the target marketed and then I are you calling your Aunt Amy old my Aunt Amy is old respect but she started old just to be clear old soul so I think one of the things surpris us the escalator pitch you know defined for me it's like the age of the Storyteller anyone coming down in 60 seconds can tell uh a wrenching story something really important because they live it and they're used to selling it that's how they're and also the apps themselves are manifested in a screen enabled world and that segue in the moment in the show when you throw from what they're doing on their iPad or on their phone to the actual screen in the studio was like an aha this is a new lexicon of art Howard without using names obviously will was very involved very early he was locked in as one of the mentors without naming names you got three other mentors how many names were considered for those three spots and how did you guys do with your priority and list I'm sure you know you went through a lot of names before you got down to me so I get that part but like the other two it's a short list I have to tell you what was the list I we're trying to get some Scoops here on the Gary V audio experience we got our first choices you know period yeah period Jess was we didn't somebody we didn't say let's go somebody like gwenneth palro and then go get somebody just like tangential we didn't go like Jessica Alba you guys are rolling into this studio and disrespecting me in the face and telling me the four I mean there's no way I was the first time I met you said hello Greg Vander I mean like let's call it real here Gary ve you came with a tornado of enthusiasm supporting you not just from you and the moment your name surfaced the Army turned on its megaphone and that Army is also of all of the incredible friends and entrepreneurs that you've supported or worked with or people you've given advice to and it just started like machine gun fire on us and Jimmy ivene our kind of mentor and Godfather here and the Epic Apple music studio built this you know it's incredible he really connected to you immediately him at about 30 20 seconds he's a [ __ ] genius yeah Staten Island knows its Brotherhood and we were and truthfully Ling and Howard were so absolutely and all I was thinking try to be in bu was at that I'm very tried to

reach out to you and I was just thinking I'm like he wants to bank the show he wants to finance it he doesn't want it cuz initially you wanted to be I wanted to be the singular VC yeah you VC and the m so it was a whole I wanted to be the mentor the people pitching and the VC exactly I think it should have been planted very I mean let's call it what it really should have been and it may end up now let's talk about some inside Scoops first day of filming was November 14th my birthday I refused to not be with my family so I missed it you guys did some run throughs Howard I think you sat in for me and acted as me that's true it was a disaster I come the next day it's the greatest of all time do we then give me the credit for being the glue of this show I think we more than confirmed Howard's ineptitude at being on the show but while you may have salvaged stand in the desert we felt very good that show was going to crush and albeit you are a star among stars when you turn on that screen in the 4K and are watching at home all chilled out in any manifestation you want and you see the four of you up on that screen you're not seeing four people like you that accomplished that Focus that articulate and half of them that beautiful yeah I mean no is gorgeous and the other the thing is you have four different person personalities and bring something you know different to it from a TV perspective totally but also then what we saw which is fascinating you all have business different business filters and different ways that you conduct think and that added another wrinkle to it that we really hadn't anticipated which is awesome do you guys get excited as I do that forever you will be associated with producing Apple music's first original show I mean just you know whatever happens if there's a season two if there's 30 Seasons it's just always there and I think it speaks to knowing your guys career a little bit it's that Innovation arm right you know we you know Fashion Stars I mean look I know until you brought it up one day in the trailer I didn't know that was you guys I didn't know the Hollywood landscape to me that was just very smart and for me that's like credit I think in a lot of ways this new distribution obviously Netflix and other Otts exist but let's call it what it is this is the most powerful company in the world at this moment this is their first forever into something that you guys grew up in right like you know to me a lot of this has happened backwards entrepreneurship and this backed into culture this is what you guys dreamed and aspired to do your whole life must be pretty fantastic it we're psyched it's amazing and I just say that one of the things that has been really um uh such a great gift is that Apple has really supported creativity from the beginning we pitched in the show they like the idea and they really allowed us to make it and they've really kind of there it's no surprise that great things happen here and that you know they they've been responsible for some of the most Innovative um things launches ever and they support creative thinking design is such a core element to the culture of the company and so we're all kind of designers in this convergent World whether we're you know Tech entrepreneurs video makers platform Builders there's an element of design and aesthetic that permeates everything we're all doing especially as it relates to the let's wrap up with this because there's a lot of people listening I know my audience what's happening in Hollywood it's changing right the game's changing we're talking about Ott influencers how things get funded it's never been better to be a great Creator because you do have Hulu Apple music Amazon to go along with HBO and Showtime the networks Facebook is going to have its original like what is happening in this town from some real vets right from forget about the Apple forget about the Battalion and the light speed and the Gary ve Tech filter what's the Hollywood inside talk do people realize it's changing do they think it's good bad what's the punchline in this town I think there's a combo effect going on and there's definitely a generational shift and Those Who Love Culture creation and storytelling are pretty content because they're getting their stories told and their content created those who just care about bucks are a little nervous because the dollar is getting squeezed by all these giant vertically integrated companies and this massive oligopoly that controls voice in America real and fake voice in America is a little intimidating for the storytelling Community because it's hard to get your story sustained in that environment and it's a little scary on the business side and that and that's something that you feel like this combination of excitement from those who are here about you know the pure creativity and nervousness from those who've been in the game a long time and watching things go from 22 Episodes to

10 from owning backends taking to open markets to owning backends and profit participations going into closed markets there's a lot of stuff that is uh nerve-wracking in that sense Howard and one of the things you guys were talking about earlier is in the VC world that coin is the new thing you know in our vernacular what storytellers like Ben and I saying is that video is the new currency and that we live in a video enabled world my kids don't you know yes they probably text and stuff but they live in a you know on YouTube and on Instagram and it's a visual video enabled world and I think as that grows the opportunity for storytellers just you know expands and magnifies and where is bullish on AR VR also where you get to tell the story Tuesday nights 9 ET right 9:00 p. m. Eastern 900 p. m. Pacific midnight Eastern oh is that right such a great launching pad right 9