Vegas Circle
Step into the electrifying world of The Vegas Circle, a dynamic American podcast based in the vibrant city of Las Vegas. Guided by the infectious energy of Co-Founders Paki Phillips, hailing from Chicago, and Chris Smith, a proud Detroit native, this podcast burst onto the scene in July 2018 with a mission—to amplify the voices of those with extraordinary stories shaping the cultural landscape not only in Las Vegas but across the globe.
Picture this: A podcast that doesn't just talk, but roars with life. The Vegas Circle Podcast has played host to an impressive lineup of trailblazers, from the charismatic Global Keynote Speaker Nick Santonastasso to the gridiron legend and Hall of Fame hopeful Steven Jackson. The excitement doesn't stop there—Wellness Coach Kelley Fertitta-Nemiro, NBA Players CJ Watson and Marcus Banks, Amazon Web Services Co-Founder Robert Frederick, Nike Master Trainer Traci Copeland, and even "The Last Dance" Producer Matt Maxson have all graced the podcast with their presence.
But wait, there's more! Prepare to be spellbound as the podcast delves into the magical world of Magician & Illusionist Jay Owenhouse, explores the seasoned insights of MLB Veteran James Loney, and hears from entrepreneurial maestros like Blake Wynn, Dean Grey, and Del Wayne. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The Vegas Circle Podcast isn't just a podcast; it's a pulsating force that transcends boundaries. You can catch the excitement on all major platforms, including Apple and Google Podcasts, Anchor, Spotify, YouTube, and more. Dive into the thrill at TheVegasCircle.com or connect with them via email at admin@thevegascircle.com.
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Don't just listen—immerse yourself in the whirlwind of stories that redefine the podcast experience. The Vegas Circle Podcast: where the energy never sleeps.
Vegas Circle
Revolutionizing Entertainment: Byron Booker on Innovating Film, TV & Music with Lookhu
Byron Booker is revolutionizing the way we consume film and TV. What if you could merge the best elements of Tubi and TikTok into a single, freemium platform that not only entertains but also empowers creators to monetize their content? Byron, the founder and CEO of Lookhu and RAG, shares his inspiring journey from tech wizardry to Hollywood filmmaking, and how he's shaking up the industry with Look Who. From interactive engagement tools to AI-driven product placement, Brian reveals the innovative strategies that set Look Who apart in a crowded OTT market.
We explore the fascinating evolution of Lookhu, from its uncertain beginnings in 2014 to becoming a pioneering force in the streaming world. Discover why Las Vegas might just be the next big thing for filmmakers, and the strategic benefits of moving away from Hollywood. Byron delves into the advantages of this shift, such as enticing tax incentives and lower living costs, making it a haven for both established and aspiring industry professionals. We also spotlight the platform's collaborations with industry giants like Ron Johnson and discuss the transformative impact of advanced CGI and virtual production technologies on independent filmmaking.
Byron's insights extend beyond just technology and location. He emphasizes the importance of a positive business foundation, integrity, and building a strong team. As we look ahead, we discuss Look Who's upcoming projects, including original content that addresses pressing social issues and collaborations with local producers. Listen in for a comprehensive look at Brian's visionary approach to the future of film and TV, and why staying innovative is key to success in the ever-evolving entertainment landscape. Prepare to be inspired by Brian's journey and the exciting ventures on the horizon for Lookhu!
and on today's podcast we got an entrepreneur that's really disrupting the film and tv industry, so we're gonna be jumping in how he's been able to do that and also crowdfund specific projects. Welcome into the circle. Founder, founder and CEO of Look who and RAG, mr Brian Booker. How?
Speaker 2:you doing.
Speaker 1:Finally get you in the circle man, likewise it's good to finally meet you in person. Man. We were talking, you know, before you jumped on. We've got mutual friends in the space with David McCovey and Ron Johnson, but let's dive right in man. So for our listeners that may not know what, is Look who, look who.
Speaker 3:Really, in a nutshell, is like a Tubi meets a TikTok. So we're bringing what they call freemium, which is you can watch movies for free or you can rent them. You can subscribe to an individual channel or you can do a pay-per-view event. So we kind of put all the ways and monetizations for creators on the platform. But we have the social interaction tools integrated into that experience.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's powerful.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So what really got me the idea is, you know, right around the pandemic, you know, this whole creator economy thing took off with Patreon and OnlyFans. Yes, so I'm a filmmaker, tv producer, so I said it'd be cool to leverage social media influencers and creators to engage with film and TV fans Like they do on Instagram or TikTok. Yes, okay, so we integrated all the tech and we have thousands of films on there. We have our originals and we do pay-per-view events and it works.
Speaker 2:Man, that's an interesting concept. Yeah, so that seems like perfect for this times, right? You know, I think I always imagine watching netflix. I want to sit here and talk about it. You know what's going on with this. So you're giving that platform to be able to people to jump in and interact, and are you seeing a lot of like the actual creators are the ones interacting with the guests, or you're seeing more of the? You know, people watching the films, interacting with each other?
Speaker 3:um it's really, uh, the creators interacting with the fans. Interacting with the creators oh, that's awesome um, although we're really fostering a bustling uh film community here in vegas and also, you know, internationally, um, we're bringing some people from patreon over to look who actually, so we kind of siphon them off and even only fans.
Speaker 3:We have some of their creators. Oh, that's because what I'm finding is a lot of the creators want to kind of be out of those brands or those niches and they want to kind of elevate to more premium content. So we're a curated platform which is a little bit different because anybody can join OnlyFans or Patreon, so we kind of have to do that in order to stay premium. So we, you know, we have a lot of the same titles as tubi. You're a little bit more liberal with with I was gonna say yeah, yeah, tubi movies right yeah I think, yeah.
Speaker 3:So we kind of like filter, make sure we have really good quality content and we allow the creators to interact with their fans like they would do on patreon only fans, okay. But instead of just having a mobile play or web play, which is basically and we allow the creators to interact with their fans like they would do on Patreon or OnlyFans, but instead of just having a mobile play or web play, which is basically what OnlyFans and Patreon is, we put them on Amazon, fire TV, google TV, apple TV, roku, yada, yada yada, so it gives them that TV look.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's absolutely amazing, that's when you came on our radar? I mean with being able to do that. So do you have like a tech background? Is that kind of the space I know you produce and write and things?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I've always been a lover of tech and I've always been in the tech space, so I was around early days of the internet, okay. So actually my first exit was a tech company.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 3:Back in the early 90s I was selling cars. I created a software that helped. When you sell a car in Texas you have to make a temporary tag. So I created a software. You can put the paper tag and it prints out a label right on there with the date and all of this stuff. I made that. Then I made it to be where it was, like an automatic reminder to the customer and follow up. I made this whole software that's pretty interesting and I ended up selling it.
Speaker 3:but my dream, my dreams or ambition, was always go to hollywood, become a filmmaker, movie producer, okay, and whatnot, and um, and and also music, okay. So, um, I sold my company, uh, in 98 and, excuse me, 99 and moved to LA, okay, yeah, early 2000s. Where are you originally from? Originally from Dallas, Texas.
Speaker 1:Okay, excellent, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Excellent. So my background has always been in both entertainment and tech. Okay, I've always had a love for it. I learned to you know HTML early on and, um, you know, had a couple um internet companies that I sold over the years. So I actually was forced to build look who, because it's all original code I. I started off like like zeus ray j yeah, licensing, yes, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, what's the? Uh, the owner of zeus, let me, okay, I met lenny.
Speaker 3:Lenny yeah, great guy, very sharp, yeah. So I started before those guys actually, so I was early. 2014 is when we launched. Look who.
Speaker 1:So you've been 10 years now 10 years in.
Speaker 3:Yeah, wow, okay, yeah. So at that time we went with the usual suspects to license White Label. It was very expensive but it wasn't a lot of people doing it during that time. Tubi came out that year also.
Speaker 2:Pluto TV yeah.
Speaker 3:Actually the year before 2013. So we were all on the circuit doing the panels and stuff together. I would see those guys Talking about. Ott was a different thing, okay, so it was like cutting the cord.
Speaker 3:At that time. It was just HBO go was the only a la carte channel you could download, yeah, so you know, um, my co-founder was chief legal at playboy before I had met him and he was like man, I'm in the most hated industry in the world cable tv. So I was like, all right, well, he's like yo, we and it's so restricted too. Yeah, so restricted. Yeah, and he was like yo, it's about to phase out. And we had the vision to do a la carte channels. So that's what we do now. We got about 10 a la carte channels and we're going to be also subbing those out to Byron Allen's company and some other licensees as well. So, you know, even when we do our live which is also kind of a different component than Tubi, does you know we put it on YouTube, tiktok, instagram, and then, of course, when we want to make it more exclusive, we just shut it down. Where you have to come to look.
Speaker 2:So it's kind of interesting. Having a tech background is one thing, but this seems like there's a lot of different pieces on this right.
Speaker 3:You have the distribution, you have the monetization.
Speaker 2:You have the monetization, you have the exclusivity, you have all of these different assets to building that background software program. What hurdles do you have to jump through that? Because it's not like a Netflix where it strictly does one thing subscription and distribution. Now you're getting engagement and you're having all these other things that play a part in it. How do you build that portion of it? Because then you're talking about server space and banking and all these other different avenues behind it and most people may not see, but it's, it seems pretty involved well, you know, what happened was again.
Speaker 3:I was like I was saying I was actually forced to build it because the first three white label partners we had went out of business. Oh, during the pandemic too.
Speaker 3:No, oh, 2014, got it 14 2016, 2017 2019 had to start over every time and go to a different white label partner, and so we were like 2019, we're going to start over, we're going to build it from scratch like we want it to be, and we're going to own the code and have something truly proprietary. So that's actually what we did, and it was it's like five servers that won it.
Speaker 3:We have one for the live component one for the VOD component one just to kind of move the content around from server to server, and one to house it once we get it from the distributors. So it's a lot of moving parts. But it works seamlessly now. In fact, you mentioned Ron Johnson earlier. We just did his live broadcast.
Speaker 1:He sold out the Riverside Auditorium boxing about two weeks ago. Big fan of Ron Johnson yeah, ron is a good guy, really good dude, absolutely.
Speaker 3:So we were able to broadcast that live and we're going to be doing more events with him. We have a deal with him and so you know it's given a lot of people an opportunity to have distribution that otherwise wouldn't, because you only got a couple players in the boxing spaces. Now, for sure, you got basically DAZN, you got Fight TV, you know, and ESPN.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all the main players. And one of our friends, sean Merriman, just launched his with his MMA company. Yeah, with Lights Out. Yeah, he's doing a streaming service.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they just went live on too, so I think everybody's knowing that streaming is where to go and, yeah, I think this has to let go in a lot of those situations, because you're getting that engagement, which is what we want as fans right, like fans want that engagement, organic engagement.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's pretty interesting, it's a great. I gotta reach out to sean. I didn't know, dude, I know he was thinking about doing bkfc for a while yeah, he's got the lights.
Speaker 1:We had uh sean on a little while back last year, but uh, yeah, he just launched yeah lights out his stream.
Speaker 2:So yeah, is he here in vegas? He is yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, for sure I'll connect right after you so tell me something real quick brand track. So how does how does that work? That's the monetization yeah, inside the movies. Is that what I'm understanding? How it does. So it's an 8i product.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know what I was actually um on a production and we had a lot of people wearing labels on their shirt.
Speaker 3:We wanted to basically erase um a lot of the logos that were in the shots, and you know that's a tedious because of the product placement right exactly um, now, you know, and in some, in a lot of instances, the brands don't trip, but it's also a free bit, it's a free advertising for them, you know. So, yeah, so in that process, we're thinking, you know what, what tools do, does ai lend to removing brands and and, and then you know what, can we take that? So we actually, um, if you guys familiar, familiar with AI.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's his language.
Speaker 2:And all the tech stuff is on my warehouse. Okay, great.
Speaker 3:So we taught AI how to basically pick up the top 100 brands in the world. You know the Nikes, the McDonald's, the Fords, all of those.
Speaker 3:And you know, in that process you've got to basically put hundreds of different renditions of those logos on different products, and so basically, we had it learned, learned that, and so the process is you would upload your video and it would detect whatever logos that you want. We could also learn new ones, I think, like, for instance, that's a subtle one right there with Timberland. That would be hard, but we have different degrees of how intense we want it to be and it would pick it up. And what's cool about it is we have a notification where it can notify the brand manager for that brand and say we have said video. Here's the clip. We can keep it in for your approval or fee or we can remove it.
Speaker 3:See what I'm saying On top of that we can replace it with another brand that might want that. So it allows a lot of creators that don't necessarily have inroads to product placement before they enter production to say oh man, we got a really finished product now. How do we get a brand to break bread?
Speaker 2:with us after the fact, that's fantastic.
Speaker 3:So we were really searching for creator tools and something practical that we could actually use in production. So that's kind of how we came up with it. So we're in beta now. We're kind of testing it. Well, I pre-baited beta. We're going to release it in july and, uh, we're using it for in-house right now.
Speaker 2:So what do they do right now?
Speaker 1:so that definitely is a game changer especially if I'm a content creator.
Speaker 2:So right now, how does it work? If I do it, if I post it and it's not allowed, they flag it, my video gets removed and I'm done exactly. So I'm just basically lose all my content, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 3:But we say, hey, why don't we make this an opportunity for the brands? I always use the example of the ocean spray guy.
Speaker 2:Remember that guy yeah, skateboard or whatever it was right, right, right.
Speaker 3:I remember that guy but the ocean spray was kind of a phenomenon, right it was just like a homeless guy listening to gary v he was like let me just take myself skateboarding with now, I remember those viral right and uh, luckily, you know, sales went up like they were, like we couldn't have paid a million dollars for this commercial, so we gotta break bread with this guy, and ultimately they did. They paid him, you know, and, um, you know, I think he got a car you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:That's organic, that's organic, I love it.
Speaker 3:But being able to go after the fact. If you don't have that and say, look, I'm getting traction here.
Speaker 2:Here's a great Bible video. Maybe it's an off-brand juice and you put a nice ocean spray there.
Speaker 3:Exactly that's powerful.
Speaker 1:Where will you take Look who to? Because it's like there's so many things happening so it's just getting so much better with everything, with Look who.
Speaker 3:I mean with everything I mean, I think, honestly, it's the most, uh, amazing time to be a film and tv creator, because remember, when distribution, uh, film music distribution was completely dismantled with the birth of napster and so, as music, I was a music guy in the industry and everything was like wow, wow west. Luckily, itunes and apple came and we're going to organize this for you guys.
Speaker 3:We got this iPod, we got iTunes this is how it is and they basically created independent distribution. You know, through DistroKid and I think early on it was TuneCore and some other distributors that allow, you know, independent music makers to bypass the gatekeepers, because you had to go get a deal if you wanted your music out. You had to go to Orchid, I think it was, you had to go to Universal Bungalow or somehow try to get in the door and you had to. You know, read some prompts, you had to like. You know it was hard, you know, or even worse, you had to go through radio. That was before Spotify and you had to pay those guys.
Speaker 3:Then, all of a sudden, it's all digital. You can make a song from your phone, upload it instantly from your phone and it's everywhere. So, ultimately, where I want to take, look who is to be a place for independent film and TV producers to be able to literally upload songs, their their content, be everywhere, get paid directly, see all the transactions, complete transparency, which is not where it is today. And with the power of ai, now they have those tools where they can do voice to video, video to video yep, they can do all and they can literally create scenes, characters and the chat. Gbt4 dropped last night.
Speaker 2:I honestly saw that.
Speaker 3:Right it's crazy man so it's like, as of last night, you can have a conversation with the AI in real time and they can look at you, see your facial expressions. So imagine the implications of how that can change the film industry a year from now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a lot of producers are having a hard time with that because it's leveling the playing field a little bit. Now you don't need to spend $100 million to make a movie, or $30 million to make a movie.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I'm saying, with the Subra, I guess you can develop a whole set green screen, the whole nine, just through AI, just telling them what to do, and it builds it for you.
Speaker 2:That's going to be fascinating. Good for the little man, but not so much for, maybe, the people up top With the advent of all this software auto-tune no distribution, you know what I mean, but ultimately you just got to adapt. You always hear the people at the high always complaining about it. It was disrupting this.
Speaker 3:We don't want to build this studio now, because now people like us I may make a movie now?
Speaker 2:I don't know, you never know and that's what we want to do.
Speaker 3:We want to prove that In fact, we're working on a series right now that's going to be uh, developed largely in ai and even the storyline will involve that. And we really want to motivate and show the average enthusiast that they can make a film, even if it's a short film, a series, in today's, today's world, with the power of ai and look who's distribution model and you think that's going to be a challenge, like from a monetization standpoint.
Speaker 2:I just started getting this flood of AI-created content where maybe it's less desirable, because you're having millions upon millions of AI-generated videos where they lose that sincerity. Do you think it's going to be harder and harder to monetize that? Well?
Speaker 3:I think it's going to be a lot like the music. Because, remember the music went through this True to be a lot like the music.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because remember the music went through this, true plays versus yeah, paid on content.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, there's a lot. There's a lot that we can learn from what happened because, you know now, I think the last time I checked the statistic it was 50 000 new songs uploaded every day. Yeah, just to spotify, and this was probably five years ago when I got that, that's probably like 180 000, 200 000 a day.
Speaker 1:That a day, something crazy. That's every day. That's wild, yeah.
Speaker 3:So like mentally you're like okay, how am I going to stand out? You know what I mean From the pack on a daily basis. You know it's really going to be about fostering community. That's how you're going to really get through the fray and be noticed in today's world. And that's kind of where we encourage of all our creators is foster your own, your own community, you know what I mean and engage with them. And that's kind of where you know look who comes in.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. How are you feeling about cause I love it Hollywood 2.0, right, you got Sony. You know Howard Hughes corporation. You got Mark Wahlberg doing the consulting that's about to launch in Summerlin pretty soon. How are you feeling about that, being that you've had to travel to LA and Hollywood all the time? Now you've got it in your backyard. What do you think about that?
Speaker 3:That's great. I think it's amazing and I'm glad that Mark stepped up with his leadership to bring it out here.
Speaker 3:He's you know, he always been a little bit of a maverick, you know. Um, I think it's going to be great for vegas, it's going to be great for the industry as a whole, you know, because I feel like hollywood has had, you know, they have the weather, they have the legacy of the industry. Yes, they have most of the studio system, um, but we need to kind of break that, you know what I mean, and and have more options. Um, and yeah, selfishly, I'm here, so it's a little bit closer for me to interact with those guys, it's a lot of good studios here, a lot of cutting edge in vegas.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, okay a lot of cutting edge studios I don't know that, was not aware either is that part of the reason why they're bringing it, because they already had that pre kind of established. Uh, you know what?
Speaker 3:I think um part of that initiative was tax incentives right.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, Just like Atlanta and New Mexico. A lot of the ones, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3:Right. So I think that, this being the entertainment capital of the world, it makes sense. But I think California is tough, especially for a starving artist man. It's tough. It's tough to get ahead, because even if you hit a lick and you come up a few hundred thousand, maybe a million dollars, it still don't get you far in LA.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. It's so expensive. It's expensive as best, you know.
Speaker 3:But that kind of money, you can kind of get ahead and make a project. You know what I'm saying? Build some relationships out here, and so I think it's going to be something where it's needed for a lot of people in LA. They just need a little bit of relief, and it's a four-hour drive, it's not too far, but is that an industry where you need to go?
Speaker 2:It's not like the tech industry, right? You usually want to establish a place where the talent already is, right. You're going to want to put in Silicon Valley because you have a lot of coders there. Is that the same kind of concept in that?
Speaker 3:industry where you want to put. Are they putting it here because we already have some talent here, or is it? You know the goal is to bring the talent from california over to vegas. Good thought process, you know. Um, I put my time, my tenure, in la. I was there for, you know, 15 years and I have established my relationships there so I can always pop in. A lot of people don't even know I left and you know I can move and shake without having to physically live there. But for the average person coming into the industry they kind of still need to make that stop in LA, I think.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I got it, you know what I mean, or New York, but mostly LA. So luckily for me I don't have to live there in order to do business. But I think slowly, as you get more and more of the industry, the Wahlbergs and the guys that can really really shift the business to come here, then you're going to have more people that live here.
Speaker 2:That is enticing. That has a lot of benefits.
Speaker 1:I remember we had Jeff Porter. I don't know if you know who he is. He owns Porter Craig Pictures, based in Beverly Hills.
Speaker 2:They've got a land in New York City.
Speaker 1:We've had him on a couple times now, but he was mentioning the hardest part was when you're building a movie set. It's so hot, but it seems like now the technology is getting so much better. You've got the sphere, You've got all these people coming up with these creative ways to, you know, to make it feel like you're outside or indoors. So I see it going to the next level just because it's you know what I mean? It's just it's it's so much easier here to get around and and get out if you need to, versus LA and commute with all that traffic. Right, you know what?
Speaker 2:I mean A hundred 100%.
Speaker 1:So where do you think it will actually go as far as just movies in general? Do you think more people will spend the money to do that? Or do you think they'll do more low-budget short films and things along that space? Or do you think the big industries, like the Tyler Perry's of the world are still going to do that spin?
Speaker 2:All right listeners, let's take a break from the podcast to talk about something that's been a real game changer for both Paki and myself Magic Mind Productivity Shot. I've been using it for a while now and it truly is a game changer.
Speaker 1:You guys got to check out Magic Mind. I've actually added it to my daily routine, not drinking a coffee like I used to before, able to stay way more focused than I've usually done. I was actually working out at 1130 last night, so love it.
Speaker 2:It's not just a caffeine boost either. You know it's not just a caffeine boost either. It's packed with organic matcha, adaptogens, nootropics. It really helps me cut down on my personal to-do list and just overall not get that mid-afternoon jitters the power through the day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hey. So for all the Vegas Circle listeners, if you're looking to change your daily routine without compromising, definitely check out Magic Mind. So let's get back to the podcast.
Speaker 3:I feel like you're going to have a A little bit of both. I think probably the major franchise films will still be studio films. Okay, yeah, three $400 million films, and a lot of that is going to be some really high-end CGI which, with the advent of what NVIDIA is doing and these mega processors, those tool sets, is going to be in the hands of the independent guys very soon. Um, but I think what you're going to have is a fragmentation. You're going to have, uh, more of a decentralized industry where you're going to have this could be a film studio.
Speaker 3:Yes, you're going to have like a. You know some guys that are really savvy in the computer. You know you're going to be able to do renderings of humans, your cast body scans, and you're going to be able to put them in full scenes and do darn near half the movie with just their likeness. The contracts are going to change a little bit where you say look, I'm good, you're good, I got your voice, I got your face, we're good, let me your voice, I got your face, we're good, let me go to work, I need you for half a day. I'm good, sign this contract and I'm good. So now you don't have to have the cast on set for so long.
Speaker 1:The crew on set the locations.
Speaker 3:You can do all of it virtually, and so it's going to change a lot, you know, and fast.
Speaker 2:And going to change a lot, you know, and fast, and that's the thing you know. It is, since we're so early in that infancy, right, we're early in this process, and, you see, every time people are early, there's always, you know, the pros and cons. The pros is, you're early, so you get a full hold experience, knowledge. The bad part is, though, the regulations sometimes catch up with you. So you may all of a sudden get some regulations where you have to pay this person off of maybe you do a half day of work, but you're paying them $10 million if it blows up. How are you seeing this regulations impact what you're trying to?
Speaker 3:do as well. Well, you know what? It was? A big pigeon. It was a big, I guess, shutdown last year with the industry due to AI and the negotiations with all the guilds. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:And except, Gordy Artis Guild. We stayed out of it. That's good. That's the code he owes. Yeah, yeah, that's beautiful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but you had, you had a writer's guild, director's guild, producer's guild, all like yo, we got to figure this out now before it gets out of hand, yep. And so it shut down for basically the better. Who look, who you know? Because you had creators although they be producers of film and TV primarily, that were, like you know, starving you know. But you had the Instagram, the tick tocks the. Patreon, the only fans creators still engaging with the audience.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's still getting paid directly from their fans versus the studio system, like they're detached from those, those fans. Okay, so that's one of the reasons that I that I tell the you know the relevancy of look who is for you know, in the future you need to be less dependent on the studio system, where you can balance that out a little bit. But I think you know there's going to be companies like look who everybody's gonna have to be more interconnected, even on a higher level mm-hmm and so we are just at the precipice, where we're.
Speaker 3:You know, people, the words getting out, and I'm talking to a list talent every day about what we're doing yeah, they're like oh wow, I see how you're. Yeah, you're in, you're implementing this social stuff. Yeah, on a netflix type type platform like the light bulb is finally kind of coming on.
Speaker 2:You're conditioning for the future because now you're you're a sole owner, you're the content creator. You're gonna pay for your skill versus you know a job exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1:So that's exciting man yeah, yeah, yeah, it's it. That's why we had you on man yeah you're a visionary and you're a disruptor. What's happening? And I don't know anybody else doing. What's what you're doing with?
Speaker 3:me and I just yeah. I hope that the world sees and gets behind what we're doing.
Speaker 1:We're gonna show them, yeah, show them with the circle yeah, yeah, talk a little bit about A big piece that I've been studying a little bit and I want you to touch on. It is crowdfunding. Obviously, Spike Lee's done it since inception, since he's been building movies. Larussell, from my understanding, has been doing a lot of that with his direct-to-consumer with music, Oakland artists doing concerts in his backyard and doing those things along that line.
Speaker 1:But what would you share to somebody? Because there's a lot of people trying to figure out how do you raise capital? How do you? You know, a passion project might be out there. I know you've been successful with it. You know with crowdfunding. But what's one tip that you would share? You know for our listeners on how to crowdfund and how to do it the right way.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we actually have connected with a couple of crowdfunding platforms. You know Kickstarter. They pioneered the whole game. Okay, starting with film. Okay, that's where they started. They ended up being a lot of hardware and some other things, but we, we have really reached out to the crowdfunding community, let them know. Hey, you know, one of the things that filmmakers don't think about is distribution when they're making a film. Yes, yeah, and that's a whole nother life cycle. That's the hardest part. That's the hardest part, but I tell people to think about that part of it. So we work with Seed&Spark and there's Kickstarter, indiegogo, reaching out to those communities. We're here and a lot of those filmmakers are on Look who that we can put their film out once that's done. But they can also communicate to their backers or their investors. I have a distribution outlet. This is how we're also able to monetize out the gate instead of just depending on the circuit of the film festivals trying to sell it to.
Speaker 3:Netflix. It's tough, it's a very it's about gatekeepers.
Speaker 2:That's a gatekeeper for sure.
Speaker 3:It's like trying to get you know, picked up by the nfl you know, as a walk-on you know, what I'm saying. Yeah, one thousand percent, it's like okay, because they already have their slate. They got, they already got a budgeted content that they already earmarked, you know.
Speaker 3:So you coming in trying to sell your pictures, it's a little bit tough, but hey, if you got a community or you have a cast that has a community, then you can tap that in. They can support you and um so so that's that's kind of what I did. But as far as crowdfunding, we're going to bring um some some innovative things with look who and working with live events. Okay, because there's not a lot of crowdfunding with live events. So I don't think I've ever heard of crowdfunding for live events yeah.
Speaker 3:So something I've been working on for about five years is just that you know, we have to have the right partners. We got some right partners in place for it. But basically, if I want to put on a fight and I don't know if I want to spend a million dollars to see if the public really wants to see this fight, okay, to spend a million dollars to see if the public really wants to see this fight, okay. I can basically, you know, sign, sign a contingency with the talent and say, look, if the public wants this fight, we will put it on. We got the venue, we got this, this and the third, and, uh, we offer it and put it out there.
Speaker 1:So we're working on that it's a better way to check the pulse to really see. Yeah, okay, I like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah and I don't mind putting my ideas out there, because you know, by the time I talk about it, I'm already just about to launch it.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but that's something that's needed because it's a lot of boxers out here that need work. Yeah, you know, maybe they're retired, but they can still pull off a Mike Tyson, Logan Paul, you know version.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you're seeing this a lot. Like you said, like the influencer boxing at Grange Vans. I think Jake, paul and Paul's done a great job.
Speaker 1:Rob's been working with the Paul brothers for years.
Speaker 2:A bunch of random people fight. We don't care really, but they're driving heavy traffic. They're driving heavy traffic and the eyes are there. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I don't know if you guys follow Celebrity Boxing, but they've tried to put on a lot of fights that didn't happen yeah, a lot of the talk there.
Speaker 1:I remember that. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:It's like how do we get you know, so us having our own platform, you know, we would say, okay, hey, you guys, if you want to see this, I'm not going to give away all the stuff but, it's like if you guys want to see this. You know you have the opportunity to see it if we reach a certain threshold.
Speaker 2:I feel like that appeals more to the masses. Everybody's boxing fans, but everybody would love to see their two favorite celebrities fight.
Speaker 1:That's my thing.
Speaker 2:1,000% that's my thing, Like Drake and Kendrick fighting right now. I'll watch that. We can schedule that.
Speaker 3:I'll help you schedule that. You know what? I think Drake a lot bigger than him, yeah, but still, but still, Kendrick got that dog. Yeah, Kendrick got that dog.
Speaker 1:He got that dog right, that's hilarious, Just kind of business-wise, right. I love this conversation just on just picking your brain. But mentorship is big for me, right? So who has been? You know, somebody that's spoken to your life, Because you've obviously been in a lot of different industries the industry, you know, film tech, what's been a big piece that's kind of helped you. Or a mentor that's been in your life or in your inner circle, that's really, you know, spoken to your life and been able to help you on this road of business.
Speaker 3:You know honestly, in my DNA I'm a pioneer.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's not necessarily something that you want to be born with, because you're signing up for a hard path.
Speaker 3:Okay, you know, but I mean I'm 50. I just turned 50 years old and I saw I've assessed my strengths, my weaknesses.
Speaker 1:I'm coming up behind you and I've accepted, you know who I am.
Speaker 2:Okay, you know. And.
Speaker 3:I'm that guy, I'm a pioneer in it, and so you sign up to climb Mount Everest and run marathons and hard stuff you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:And so it's a little bit different path than say, you know, go get in a job at one of the studios and going up the rankings and in that model you get a lot of mentorship, more mentorship because you're going into a system that's already developed, whereas if you're trying to kind of do some things and do something where you're kind of paving your and be you know and do something to where you kind of paving your own path, you know, you kind of have to you know, find, you know, find your mentors where you can and and and really what becomes. For me personally, it's been more of a mental and a faith encouraging from my mom, just my roots you know what?
Speaker 3:I mean Just like staying rooted in my, in my faith. I grew up Christian and you know, and a lot of the principles of, just you know, having faith and weathering the storms, and that belief system of, of, of keeping the faith. You know it, it's not easy for everybody, it's not for the faint of heart, so you know, um, but that has sustained me and I and it's like it becomes. It becomes an asset, it becomes like having a fund that you can tap to a line of credit, yeah, all that positive energy, I get it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and when you work that muscle, you have a certain level of confidence in it. But instead of technical um or um, strategic uh, mentorship is just more been my principles of life. That's what's up faith, faith, keeping a positive mindset, always doing good business, always being fair, being respectful, and so, over the course of my career, I have a good name.
Speaker 3:I have a good name, work with a lot of people and most often than not, people have something positive to say with me, and I think that's a big asset that I carry into this next chapter. That's important, yeah, especially in business.
Speaker 1:No, I agree with you, and we align man. You're a man of integrity, you know. That's why I reached out to you, you know, because you could see that you could see that what you've been able to do. So that's, that's great man, somebody that's thinking about right now. Maybe they've got a vision and they want to get into, you know, their own small business, or they want to build a movie and put it on Look who and work with you. What would you share with them?
Speaker 3:I would say you know, believe in yourself. You know, understand that you're going to have challenges.
Speaker 3:You're going to have challenges you know, so just understand that that comes with the territory, so don't let it rattle. You Be very crystal clear on what you want to do and really try to find a good team. You're not going to ever do anything that's going to be very impactful without a team. So it's like being on a championship game. You could be a really good player, but if your other supporting ball players aren't good, you're not going to reach that goal. So having a good team around you that's on the same court is the foundation. I love that.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying? Yeah, love that, that's powerful. Yeah, that's powerful. Transitioning a little bit, we always talk about restaurants, man. So, Vegas restaurants. What's one, Jim? What's your favorite restaurant here in?
Speaker 3:Vegas. You know what man I got to tell you. It might be surprising. My wife is French, okay, and she loves hot and juicy crawfish.
Speaker 2:Okay, so me from Texas.
Speaker 3:She put me up on it. I didn't even know about Hot and Juicy, but I found out about it in LA, did you really? Oh, that one? In LA too, I've been to Hot and Juicy.
Speaker 1:Hot and Juicy is bomb. My wife took me there. I never knew about it.
Speaker 2:You get the shrimp in the bag and the juices and everything you put the bib on. Almost got that in my eye Hot.
Speaker 1:Juicy's gear. Hot Juicy is excellent though. Yeah, so I found out. This is where it came from. Yes, it came from Vegas, right, I know there's other places. Yeah, they got two of them here. Yeah, Two of them here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm excited to learn something new too. So we, you know she put me up on it in LA, Okay, so when we came here, you know, that's awesome, the original one in Chinatown?
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's, there's two of them in Chinatown. It was both on spring mountain. Oh, you're right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think oh do they have a third one in Hollywood? I think one for them. Yeah, yeah. So there's that, you know. But then you know um Italian restaurant, right? Yeah, yeah, it's right in Bellagio.
Speaker 1:Okay, I've never heard of Da Vinci's.
Speaker 3:Okay, yeah, they have no, hold on. No, I'm sorry, it's Picasso, picasso.
Speaker 2:I know it was one of them. I thought Da Vinci's was. Isn't that a Summerlin? We went to Picasso before, I think.
Speaker 1:Da Vinci's is in Summerlin, oh, picasso's before, and Hot and Juicy. But I don't think anybody's mentioned that on the pod before either one of them.
Speaker 2:So you gave us two that nobody's mentioned. Total opposite. I was going to say those are very different types of cuisine, but you want a hole in the wall and then there's high end.
Speaker 1:That's what makes Vegas so great.
Speaker 2:I'm surprised that Paci went to Hot and Juicy. I'm not surprised he went to Picasso.
Speaker 1:Yes, he said shout out to both of them. Yeah French, yeah French guys, good food. What else is on the horizon? What else you want to finish out strong with for 2024?
Speaker 3:well, you know what we? We have tons. If you guys go to lookwhotv you'll see there's tons of movies, studio films, independent projects and live events.
Speaker 1:But we're really getting into our groove with originals okay, so we're really getting into our groove with originals. Okay, so we're really focusing on Like the look cool, original brand, kind of like your Original content. Original content Okay.
Speaker 3:So we we've done a couple. You know, we did the Ray J project, ray Dimption.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, I see that Right and produce.
Speaker 3:And then we did a horror comedy with Danny Trejo and one of the his last films before he passed. Oh yeah, and so this next wave we're going to be working on an original series. We're going to be working with some local producers here Awesome. One of my guys here, Brian Cooper, he's done a couple films that we're going to bring onto the platform. We've got a great project where he has called Lose Lose about Chicago gun violence. That's my hometown man.
Speaker 1:Okay, cool, okay, shout out to Chi-town yeah yeah, okay.
Speaker 3:And then we got a project that's kind of like our version of Black Mirror. That we're coming out with.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's my favorite show. I love Black Mirror. You're doing some big stuff, man.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, we got it. But you know, if it ain't pushing the envelope it ain't fun. You got to do something to kind of shake things up.
Speaker 2:So that's what's coming up, we'll see you making moves.
Speaker 1:That's exciting stuff. It really is, but it's an absolute pleasure to sit down with you, Byron. Seriously, man, what's your social handles? Man, people can check you out At Byron Booker pretty much.
Speaker 3:I think the only one that's not that is Facebook, which is the Byron Booker. Okay, but other than that, there you go, gotta take a little bit of the text, no matter where you go.
Speaker 1:You gotta pay attention to this gentleman man. You're killing it, man. He's somebody to pay attention to, visionary, and I love what you're saying about being a pioneer and the whole nine man, but definitely check him out. Check us out at VigorousSuckercom man.
Speaker 2:But appreciate your time man, thank you, appreciate you so much.