Latest / We Built This Brand / LA Trip Ep. 2: Building a Media Brand with AI and Innovation featuring C. Craig Patterson
Transcript
- Chris: Well, welcome to We Built This Brand. I'm your host, as always, Chris Hill, and, uh, with me today is my co-host is Adhrucia. Adhrucia: I am the host of Conversations with Curiosity. I'm so excited to be here to talk about building this. Brand. Chris: Absolutely. We're talking about everyday mischief. And that is, is it? C, Craig, pat c Craig, see Craig Patterson. Um, you are the founder as well. I am, yes. And we're excited to have you on today just to learn a little bit more about your business. And this will be really fact finding for me 'cause I'm just learning about it on the spot. Craig: Oh, well. Like, let's learn together. Chris: Yes. And let's talk about building a brand in, in media. So, um, yeah, so tell me what was the. What was the inception of this brand? Craig: Oh, as, as a filmmaker, like, uh, you know, normally you start a production company, right? Right. But, uh, what we wanted to do was make sure that we had, uh, a company that could not only do animation and not only do film, live action film, but also do, uh, research and development. Hmm. Right. So, uh, at times when like cameras and, uh, need testing and lenses need testing and new techniques testing, we also have that side of it. So that, that's big. And what it does is it allows you to. They at the kind of the tip of the spear, right? For things. And, uh, at the top of everyone, uh, everyone's kind of contact book. So when it's time to make a movie or try something out, uh, we get that call. So it's a, it's a beautiful Adhrucia: And do you have infrastructure for that? Is that something you built consciously from the beginning? Craig: Yes. Yeah. Adhrucia: Such an interesting choice. Craig: Yeah. Well, uh, because, uh, I worked a lot with the entertainment technology center at USC. Right. Okay. And it was started by George Lucas, uh, at his behest 30 years ago, uh, when they were, or I guess 35 years ago, when they were, uh, doing, uh, the digital camera versions of, uh, the second three of the The prequels. The prequels, yeah. Yes. And um. And from there, what USC and the Entertainment Technology Center continued to do was test things out. Like they were testing out cloud computing in like the early two thousands, right? Mm-hmm. Uh, and uh, so things like that. So what, when I first started with them, the film that we did Fathead, uh, we were, we tested out Amazon's new stage 15 at the time it was new stage 15 volume stage, right? Mm. And at the time, it was the biggest volume stage in North America, and they needed a, a Guinea pig. To like try out their, their tech before the big movies and everything rolled in there. And uh, and we happened to have a movie to test out. Mm-hmm. And they were like, Hey, would you wanna do this? Uh, but if, if you do it and it goes down, then we won't, then you kind of just sacrifice the movie. Right? Yeah. And we're, and my team, like our team is just like the Goonies man. We never say die. Right. So we were like, oh yeah, cool. Let's do it. And, and we, we just kind of. Ran through it and, and had a, an amazing time making films there. And, uh, and, and from there I kind of got bit by the technology book. 'cause before that I was a very, like, traditional filmmaker. I had never even used a green screen with anything ever. So I went from that to like. Straight to the volume stage, straight to ai. So what is a volume stage for those who may not know what that is? Oh, sorry. So, uh, a volume stage is like, imagine, um, the largest TV screen you've ever seen. Oh yeah. Okay. Right. So like the volume stage that we were using at. That time, like how they make the Mandalorian, right? Mm. Mm-hmm. Um, that you, you create these beautiful assets and you display 'em on, on the, the backgrounds. And our stage was 28 feet high. It was 90 feet across and 60 feet deep, right? Yeah. And, uh, it was, it was a remarkable experience. They built, our film was, uh, based around these kids who all lived in a junkyard, and so we built the entire junkyard. In on, uh, inside that stage, but it looked like it went on for miles and miles and miles because of the screens. Right. That is fascinating. And the, Adhrucia: yeah. I'm sorry. Uh, go ahead, finish. Craig: Oh, so the, the biggest thing about it is, uh, making the movie so you don't even know that we did it. Mm-hmm. Right. Like, so it just looks normal. If, if you can tell that we're doing it, we've messed up. Right. Adhrucia: Well, your metric stages is now given a way to what we're seeing as the AI insurgence into film and TV and into everything in everyday life. A hundred percent. And you're at the forefront of that with the partnership with hysteria. Yes. Would you tell us a bit about the partnership and also a little bit about, uh, what you see both as the, the peaks and the pitfalls of this new tech invasion? Craig: Um, uh, well first off, Asteria has been wonderful partners, uh, with the film Chileo that we're doing, and we have a second film that we're, we're just starting to roll out and figure out. Adhrucia: Could you tell them a little what Asteria is? Craig: Oh, yeah. So Asteria is, uh, an incredible company that focuses mostly on, uh, ai, right? And they. Uh, together with Moon Valley, they've developed this model called Mary, M-A-R-E-Y. Uh, that, uh, is, is readily available now to use. Uh, and it is the first clean model, right? Mm-hmm. So everything that has ever been fed into it, they have ownership of or have partnerships with. So it doesn't go scrape in any data. It, it is everything that is there. And like for our film, the only thing that's fed into it are the images, the custom images made by, uh, human artists, right? So, uh, but. As far as, uh, the pitfalls of like utilizing like this new tech, uh, of, of generative and procedural, um, I think mostly it's, it's gonna sound weird, but when the sky is the limit. And, uh, like a lot of times where you could do anything you want, it can become debilitating. Mm-hmm. And you could start going too far. And it absolutely, you know, so it's, you still have to have specificity Mm. In which, uh, specifically what you wanna make. And not just make things, because you can make them right. Because you could send your team down a crazy rabbit hole, rabbit hole, and, and that, and everything costs right there. There's still like, so the more you're spending to try to just make something bigger and bigger and more unwieldy. Like that, that's at the detriment of your team, Chris: right? Right. Yeah, because that generative AI costs money to run the servers and to do all of that stuff, the environmental Craig: costs and all of that type of thing as well too. Right. So you, you want, you wanna make sure, um, like. There's the analogy of, there's like kind of two types of sharp shooters, right? There's the, the people that ready set, like, and, and they, they aim at exactly what they want to hit and then they hit it, or there's the people that kind of go everywhere with it and then afterwards walk up and draw the circle afterwards. Yeah. Spray and pray method. Yeah. The spray and pray. Um, and, and, uh. The relationship with hysteria has never been the latter. Right. We, we come at it in, in a way it's been a, a remarkable partnership. Yeah. Adhrucia: Uh, can you tell us a little bit, like, for the filmmakers who are watching, who have tuned in for, to listen to this episode, how has, uh, the integration of AI and this partnership with Hysteria changed your filmmaker change your process as a filmmaker? Uh, you know, we have. Our, our normal process as filmmakers. How we go through after we have a script, how we break down the script, how we set up the, the shots for the script, the shot list, et cetera. Now you're going into. Now you have this unlimited potential of, in some areas of that filmmaking, uh, when you're looking at maybe creating some sort of, uh, model that the film is Yes. That it's within the film, or when you're creating a extension to a scene or you're, how is it changing your process, Craig: uh, in from, from inception, right? Like from, uh, when you get to the deck onward. Right. So, um. It used to be for your deck, you would spend tons of time finding like, uh, images that were in the ballpark, right. Of what you wanted. Right. And now you can get to the brass tacks and get to the, the specifics of this is what this movie is then like. That's a super important part because that's the part that gets them on board with you. Right. And then once you're on board, I've had the, the great fortune, uh, undeservedly. So to work with people that are far past my ability levels. Right. And those people command huge paychecks. Right. So one of the reasons that, that, uh, they're able to work with me is 'cause they like the idea. Uh, but on top of that, I don't have to have them start at zero. Right? Uh, like, um, the best way to explain it is there's a, a Oscar winning, uh, production designer and costume designer that we worked with, uh, like these, these two amazing women, and they were on the way to go. Do a much, much bigger feature film mm-hmm. Than our little short film. Right. And they said, look, uh, see Craig, we wanna make this movie. We got three months to work with you. It's like, okay, cool. So we can't start at zero then. Right. We can't burn a couple of weeks trying to figure out for them, trying to figure out what's in my head. So I spent a ton of time creating the images so that they could start at 60, 65%, and they say, okay, we get it. We understand what you're going for. And then that way, cost Adhrucia: saving, time saving, you already Craig: know. And that way we're not, I'm not burning your talent on you trying to figure out what I want. Adhrucia: Yeah. Craig: Right. Like that's, that's a bad way to utilize an amazing teammate. Adhrucia: What an exciting frontier to be on, man. Craig: It's, it was a blessing in every way. Adhrucia: Chris, I wanna hear more about this media brand. Chris: Yeah, I know, I do too. And I was about to ask, so, so everyday mischief, where did that name come from? Craig: Oh. 'cause I, I, as a kid I was fairly mischievous. So like, it was, it was a, it was a simple thing to go. And I, and I believe in like. I want my teams and, uh, like we have fun, man. We enjoy being around each other. We en enjoy crafting and creating things. And, um, and I thought that was important to keep that spirit of like, we're doing something a little kind of crazy here. Adhrucia: Great name. Right? Great name. Chris: That is, that is awesome. How, how has that brand helped you get business or grow your company? Craig: Mostly just off of the fact that we're the people that you call when you're not sure exactly how something is going to work, right? Like one of the, the best blessings that we had was, um, there was a comedy special 'cause a dear friend of mine, I, I, Aroy Wood Junior, I've shot two of his comedy specials. I love Wood Jr. He's a friend. He is a dear friend, right? Uh, and we were about to shoot his comedy special, but like. We wanted to play around and test some stuff. So, uh, the, our dp uh, made a call up there to, to, uh, Ari and said, Hey, uh, do y'all have some stuff for us to play with? And they were like, oh, by the, well, we, we do have the new Super Bowl cameras, right? We have the ARI 35 live. Would you mind testing them for us before the Super Bowl? Ah, and it was like, and they sent us, uh, seven cameras and seven German engineers. Beautiful. With the cameras and, and, uh, and we tested 'em out and it was a remarkable experience. Right. Oh, how much fun. Adhrucia: It Craig: was really great. And, and because of that, uh, because of that relationship and what we were like, what. They trusted us with, you know, thankfully, like, you don't, you don't have to pay for the cameras. Right? Yeah. Like they, they wanted they want the data from that. Chris: Yeah. 'cause you're on that experimental Craig: end. Yeah. Man. And it, it's, it's great to see, and I, and I've been really fortunate to, to work with people that have products that 'cause they, they don't want that product to fail. Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. Right? Craig: Like they know we're going to shoot someone's comedy special. They want, like, that's why they sent the engineers with the camera. Each camera had its own engineer there with it just in case wild. Right. So, uh, those are, those are beautiful things to, to do. And it, it's been, um. I've been incredibly, incredibly grateful and lucky to, to be able to do it. Adhrucia: Tell me the intersection now. Building a media brand. In today's day and age, the intersection of building a personal brand versus a media brand. Where now, you know, being a filmmaker, I know, I know personally is such a face forward thing in many ways. You are giving your vantage point, your viewpoint, and we're now at this really, I struggle with this, with this really crazy intersection where building your personal brand. Building your brand has almost become, in some cases, one, how are you approaching it? What are your, it may be maybe you're struggling with it like I am. What is the, what is the best approach do you think, for media brands and people are trying to get into media? Do you see personal, really, uh, elevating and pushing forward, or do you think that going all in on company or is it some sort of pairing or matching of the two? Craig: I mean, in, in all honesty, I think the folks that are willing to, to like really throw themselves out there, get a huge head start. I, I'm a pretty like, kind of quiet and, and timid person, right. So I, I stay in the back. That's the reason I, I direct, I love for actors to be in front of things. Right. But, um, because of, um, Eric Weaver and the ETC, uh, like I, I tend to do a lot of talks. Mm-hmm. The more, um. The more intimate the space, the better for me. Like I don't, I don't know if I want to talk to a stadium of people. Right. But, uh, if it's talking about like, I love film, man, we've dedicated our, li our lives to this, right? Yeah. So I, I'll talk about film with anyone, right? I'll talk about like this, this medium has given me so much. Right. It's, it's helped me, uh, like take care of my family. It's helped me learn things about cultures and people, like, I, I would give anything for this, right? So if it, it means being uncomfortable in front of a camera for a little bit, then I'm willing to do that because it, it has given to me. Right? Chris: Yeah. That's a great way to give back, Craig: you know? Well, you know, it's, it's honestly like, it's, it's. It's for the company Uhhuh. It's for, uh, the industry. 'cause our industry needs, like right now at a time where there's gonna be less humans. Objectively, right. There needs to be as many humans saying things as possible. Yep. In that space. Yeah. Right. Adhrucia: I, uh, I, I, as a creative, there's very distinctive, uh, difference between, I'm sure that you come up against this between. The creative me and a founder, me, Speaker 4: right? And so it's always Adhrucia: in, in creative industry, it's always like, how do you marry these two? Because the director, the even the actor, the director, the actor in you, that is something where you love to disappear into other worlds. Not necessarily be fa for fa forward facing as a founder. Right. And then founder's a very different hat and it's a very different energy. And so always interesting to hear how, how individuals are tackling it. 'cause I do think that it's challenging for the creative arts. Craig: Right. And always kind of keeping your eyes open for what's the, the next part of your industry that needs a little bit of help that you or your team might be able to like your voice too. Adhrucia: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Chris: Well, thank you for coming on. It's an honor. As we wrap up, I always like to ask, um, this question, which is, you know, what brand do you admire the most? I find that, you know, as you're building your own business, there's some brands you look towards. What brand is that for you? Craig: Uh, off the top. I really, really, it's going to be an odd one, I'm sure, uh, is Anna Perna. Right? Speaker 4: Okay. Craig: Uh, so specifically because I'm a big gamer. Right. And there's a game that they developed a few years ago that made me proud of them, even though I've never worked with them. I was very proud of them. What was the game? It's called Stray. Okay. It's about, it's about a cat, right? And, and oh and yeah. Yeah. And it's a cat. Adhrucia: Okay. I didn't even know they developed that. Craig: It's incredible. Not only is it just about, and the cat has no superpowers, it's a cat, but it, it has, it's an amazing game. And all I thought was that that's a company that saw that vision and like when they heard that pitch, they were like, I believe. Speaker 4: Hmm. Craig: I believe in like as as they Speaker 4: took the chance, Craig: they took the chance and we're always looking for people to take the chance on ideas that we might be able to see very clearly, but others might need a little bit more like pushing and prodding for it. And I thought Anna Perna did a, a, a remarkable job. That's a Adhrucia: great answer. Chris: That is a fascinating game. I have yet to play it, but I know exactly the one you're talking about. You should play it. It's great. It looks fascinating. My son loves cats, so maybe, oh, there you go. Maybe we'll both play together. He's Craig: gonna love it. Chris: Well, that's awesome. We'll see. Craig, thank you for coming out today. Really appreciate it. Where can people find out more about you, connect with you and your brand? Uh, LinkedIn. See Craig Patterson. Awesome. All righty. All right. Well, thank you for coming on. Thank you. All righty. Thank Speaker 4: you.