Williamson invests in a distinctive podcast look

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

1. 53:44

   And before we get to that, I really want to bang on this just a little bit more. You also made a decision, we were talking before about, we did something lo-fi to just get ourselves in the same space virtually with Zoom for a couple of hours. Your production quality is absolutely stunning. You care about aesthetics. You care about the lighting and the location. Just for the audience here, take us through that decision.

2. 54:12

   And I don't know the earliest part of the catalogue, and if you did it to that level. You have done some Zooms, I believe, because Rory's only available on Zoom. But take me through the aesthetic choices you made and why. Yeah, so I realised about three years ago that most podcasters are something with a podcast. They're a UFC fighter with a podcast. They're a comedian with a podcast. They're whatever, investors with a podcast, right?

3. 54:37

   It's not their profession. So I asked myself, what would it look like if we turned pro at being a podcaster. And part of that is the lift needs to be very low for most people that are busy doing other things because they're busy doing other things. So they can't spend ages going towards this one big production. So I started working with cinematographers. I got one of the best directors of photography in America.

4. 54:59

   He's out of Nashville. I got a producer. We got grips, gaffers. We started using location scouts. And we started to dial in a very specific look. We started to use handheld cameras on tripods, monopods, dollies, doorways, olleys. We did the first ever five-camera podcast on LED video wall, the same technology that was used for the Mandalorian. And as we were talking live, the video controller changed the scenes based on what we talked about. So if we moved from a war story to a scary story in a spooky house, we went from Afghan base with trucks driving around and helicopters coming in to a spooky house that had...

5. 55:38

   This is like literally the opposite of what Colin and Tamir were saying with keep the budget low. No, but it's interesting. I mean, just knowing what I know about production costs, that sounds like you're spending 30, 40 dimes an episode. It's not far off that. We can get it down by squeezing here and there. Thankfully, my line producer is a sort of bully when it comes to... and get that stuff down. But look, I like pretty things. And I think that one way that you can excel is to stand out visually. Same one.

6. 56:09

   Look who I'm on stage with. I like things to look nice. And I didn't see anyone that was really elevating the way that stuff looked. Does it change the subject's mindset and the interview itself when they see how beautiful it is? When they see the investment in it, does it change something in the subject? So I have this belief that at least in the world of podcasting, we're sort of splitting into two directions at the moment. One of them is perhaps a little bit more elevated. It's the modern wisdoms. It's the Stephen Bartlett's of the world.

7. 56:43

   And then the other side is the more sort of low tech. It would be all in. It would be Matt and Shane's secret podcast. And then, you know, you've got sort of a Rogan or a flagrant that sort of sits somewhere in the middle, which is good quality, not insane. It's just facilitating the hang. and I think that barbelling both of those is a good way to go you can lean into the real sort of high-end production stuff and when the guest turns up and they're like wow we're in a 25,000 square foot warehouse in the middle of LA and there's a team of 15 people here and there's huge lights and there's guys holding dollies like they lock in they're really there to oh this is an occasion this isn't me just turning up for a chat but that wouldn't work for every type of show In fact, what you want to do is facilitate a little bit more ease.

8. 57:30

   So that's why I still like doing stuff over Zoom, or I guess like Riverside or whatever you use, because I want to have that casual sort of conversation. Not everyone wants to turn up and feel like it's the World Cup final of podcasting. Yeah. Should we go to the monetization?