Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast devoted to thought leaders in the entertainment industry on varieties co editor in chief Andrew Wallenstein. There may be no more sought after demographic than millennial Hispanics, which means it's a lot of energy being spent on attracting them with content. One of the companies doing that is Raise, and it's CEO and Miliano Collumsook is here to talk about it. Thanks for joining me. Thanks Andrew, very very nice to me.
You good to have you. So in terms of the you know, being a Latino media company, I think that can mean like so many different things, and you actually do a lot of different components in your business. So walk us through what exactly Raise is. Yes, I mean, we we saw a great opportunity where, you know, some of the dominant forces in the Hispanic business in the US are catering to an older audience through business broadcast,
which is in secular decline. And we asked ourselves if we were to create a Hispanic sort of focus company to the in the US, what it would what would it look like? And we look at some, uh, some some previous successful companies like the case of MTV. You know, can we create a brand that talks to a generation, uh and and really take advantage of the fact that a lot there's a lot of transitioning and kind of sunsetting of the audience that's been historically on those two broadcasters,
like you know the case of Univision and Telemundo. But we knew that in order to be a successful company you have to put creative first, you know. You know, I spent about fifteen years at Fox and and and and every time that success was created financially was it
because it was a great story at the center. And we said, we have to put talent and story at the center, and then trying to figure out how to exploit those things through digital, through traditional media, and really also taking advantage of the fact that the platforms like Netflix and Amazon are ex ending dramatically into the into
the demographic and need a lot of content. So how how do we create a company that on one end creates that brand for the future of his Spanish in the US and at the same time takes advantage of all the immediate business opportunities that are happening today. And I think that's how Race was born. Does one really sort of take care of the finances for the other selling into Netflix and Hulu. I it imagines where the money is whereas monetization in setting up a brand on
digital platforms, that's really tough. I think you're right. I mean, you know, you look at a lot of the digital media companies at the last three to five years, and I think everybody's fighting for the tent of the budgets that Google and Facebook don't take. And we don't believe that created content for a brand is a sustainable business proposition for any media company. I look at the Simpsons.
You know, Simpsons wouldn't have been the Simpsons if they were created for a butterfinger or for a brand like you know, the creative process needs to be independent from sort of a brand that comes coming on board. So we founded Raised on that premise. We said, we have to do the best as the best content that we can and then if Netflix and Amazon or Hulu or TNT want to buy it, great, and then over time
we'll develop a brand relations brand related business. But it has to start with the programming and and I think, um, you know, I think I think that's that that that holds true to to today. I mean we were not a branded agency. We are a company that creates content for demographic that's actually looking for a lot more than what you currently exists. And you have some interesting partners working with h and some interesting backers. Talk about that we are we are blessed. I mean, what can I say?
I mean, this is my first experience in raising money and having BC partners, and all we get is is help and support and encouragement and actually, you know, can we do more? Can we invest more? Can you know? And I think in that in that regard great Craft and Rain who had great experience with Vice, with awesome STV, with Maker Studios, ut A partners as well. Uh, you know, we're really been very health full in sort of helping us, uh make you create this architecture for for for raise.
And obviously my partner Louise Ba and Sofia are obviously people who have been in the Latino world for a long time, and and I've had extensive relationships with you know, other talent with brands. So I think it's a very interesting ecosystem. But at the end of the day, I think we're all very convinced that, you know, we do have to create a brand and at the same time,
we have to be a company. Went to a company that makes money, uh, you know the way that historically production companies and media companies have made money as well. So um, I have to ask the Sofia Vergara. People might assume raises. You know, a lot of big talent like her had these vanity shingles, as Variety would call it, is raised just that or Sofia really bringing some ambition to that. Sofia is one of the hardest working people
I think I've ever met. And and Sofia doesn't do anything where she doesn't believe there's real upside in it. And she's got a lot of ideas as well. So I think we have you know, our ecosystem is an interest seeing one. You know, I come from a studio, which comes from talent management. Sophia has had extensive brand relationships and work in Big I p our VC partners have been involved in creation of successful companies. So I
think everybody has a role to play. Obviously, you know, Sofia has has a lot of performing work that she does as well. So you know, some of us, you know, you know, spend more time than than mm hmm. So you've been around a year or so, what are the winds that have put Raise on the map. I think we've I'm actually very excited and and and quite pleasantly surprised by by the by the progress, you know. I think,
you know, we've announced a series with Netflix. We're co producing within the Mexican production company series for Amazon Prime, so you know, and these are these are very significant shows. I think for a company one year old that kind of comes from from a from the digital digital space is a great win. We're having conversations with studios and strategics about partnering for developing of i P which hopefully
we'll get to announce in the next few months. We launched Raised dot tv and our presence across all social media, and we amassed you know, a million and a half subscribers on YouTube and you know, definitely growing Instagram. So we're starting to see our KPIs and A metrics really
really grow very fast, and particularly engagement. One of the things that we look at is that's our content resonate with the audience, and I think, you know, compared to any other digital media company that puts content on on social media, our engagement sometimes doubles the average. So we're very excited about having created a combination of content and audience fit that we think has a very long, you know, you know, long path that we can continue to exploit.
What is the secret sauce of raise from a brand perspective, from a programming perspective that makes it resonate with this Latino millennial audience. Things a special sauce, and I don't think we have it down to the center. I think we're iterating and there's sorta of things that work better
than others. We recently launched kind of our live show, live variety show, which is purely focused on the digital space out of our Mexico office, and we're gonna try to see if we can add now from Los Angeles to have that Mexico Los Angeles kind of corridor, which from an audience perspectives are important for us. And we
try stuff all the time. You know that we've we've done high budget content with some of the town that we that we that we work with, We've done we're planning to do some big tent pole initiatives over the next year. They're gonna be relevant, but you know, at the end of the day, I think is respect for the digital audience in terms of their uses and how they use social media, being genuine to to to our market, and and being innovative, I mean all those things that
we believe that linear broadcasts has struggled with. I think we're really trying to put an overdrive and and so far the results are there. I mean, our growth and again across the KPIs is there, and that we're also being able to sell a lot of shows to third party platform So actually we're very happy on both ends. And what is your competitive set look like? Because I know there's other companies like me too that have some
similarities to what you're doing. And as you mentioned, you know the fact that there's these giants like Univision and Telemundo that don't really seem to be focused on this younger audience. So what does this competitive set like? You know? I think I think we look at how can we create something for the eighteen to thirty five where Univision and Telemundo are are continuing sorting to hold to an all the audience. Uh. I think that's what we look at a sort of our main objective in terms of
other companies playing the space. I think everybody every you know, you know, rising tide raises all boats. I think it's a it's a large enough market their space for everybody do was done a phenomenal job on the English language side and develop a massive sort of Facebook following. I think we're doing the same from a form of IP perspective where we sort of established our place in the ground. But I do think that there's there's enough for all
of us to do in that space. Um, I'm really focused on trying to get as much as we can in that Spanish language sort of US and Latin America. Where where where that we think there's a great opportunity And is it entirely Spanish language programming. It seems that over the years, as I've looked adventures like your own, everyone sort of takes a slightly different tack. We started with Spanish because the strength of our talent was in
Spanish language. Sorry, Um, you know, we're producing some shows for some of the big SAT platforms where it's in Spanish. We have development in English. Uh, you know, we think that you know, the Latino population in the US, you know,
there's a lot of shades. Uh you know, actually a d plus percent speak either a lot of Spanish or some Spanish, and the English only audience is actually quite small, so you can't paint with just you know, you have to be able to sort of you know, be you know in every kind of you know, midpoint and ultimately, you know, some things that are for a very young adult audience, maybe more English dominance, some things that are that are older you know, maybe a mixing Spanish and English.
And I think if you look at some successes like Netflix is Narcos, where it's a show that comes out of Latin America with you know, a lot of it in Spanish, but still being able to attract a very significant audience in the general market. So we see that as sort of you know, becoming the norm across the board, and we definitely want to play there. Talk a bit also about the talent component, uh, you know, who are the stars of Raise and what does it tell us
about the venture. I mean, we're lucky that we, you know, we have an ability to sort of you know, Louise and and and and Madi sort of come from a management role for for decades, so you know, I think we do have management relationship with some key talent on the writing side, doctorial acting. You know, obviously Sophia partner we lose on Latin world. Uh. So, you know, we definitely we you know, we definitely look at talent and as a as a as a as a main component
of of of what we do. And uh and you know, obviously we have a relationship with some of the biggest social media influencers in Latin America and and Hispanic. We also have creative ambitions for movies and series which we're helping develop. We have relationships with talent that's been on univisional telemon and from the camera that we're also developing
programming for. So I think it's also an interesting ecosystem where you know, some of the writers and directors and some of the acting talent and some of the social media influencers, and we try to make everybody kind of playing the same mix. Uh. And you know, obviously, you know, you know, profably in the putting, but we're very confident that that I think it's a good it's a good combination of of assets to to to create content with.
So there's film in this mix as well. Yes, Yes, Actually one of the conversations we're having right now is to develop three You know, obviously these are not you know, forty million dollar movies. You know that the more and the sort of a single digit million, But if you look at the talent UH and the and the influencers being a part of UH, you know, there's there's really
really very very strong appeal for that demographic. I mean, if you and if you combine the social media reach other people that will ultimately be in this in this project, it's in the tens of million. So we're trying to figure out is there a way for director consumer so the you know s about platform UH play that we can do with talent that really wants to do more and and and you know, I think the word influencers
being kind of thrown around a lot. I mean, we were these are people that have been doing social media for ten years and be the top of their field, and we've been able to place them in Disney Channel series and Nicola. I mean, so these are also very good performers. So we're very confident that the town that we work with is very capable for doing sort of the next the next generation of content. As I hear
you talk though, when I pull away the Latino audience target. Really, your business is not that different advice or buzz feed in Europe roach to market. And then I look at those companies and they've had their share of victories, but they've really taken some LUNs in recent years, a lot of questions about their growth pattern for the future. How are you avoiding some of the pitfoil, sorry, pitfalls that those companies are facing. I think it's a good question.
And you know, to begin with, you know, at revenue and branded content are miniscule part of our of our business model. So you know, if if brands decide that the digital space is not safe and we don't invest, you know, our exposure is very limited. And again I think having learned at Fox for many years, you know, one solid hit will solve a lot of problems. So we're very focused on what is that piece of content that really is going to create a franchise for us?
You know, how can I create the next Twilight? How can I you know, I think you know, coming from the Latino space gives you a lot of opportunity because you know it's an under certain audience. But but I think if you look at all those companies you mentioned, they were they were born out of. We reach billions of people, like we're not. We're not in the business of you know, hopefully we will reach buility, but that's
not a selling proposition. This is sort of you know, we have the best combination of idea, talent and execution to create a great franchise. And I think that's that's how we see our company um and I think of the game being able to sort of be able to sell to all these you know, you know, we have the credibility to do so, we have the creative expertise
to deliver. And I think that's very that's that's that's why we think we're different from from from all those companies that really come from a volume business eyeball and impression business, and and and I think, you know, volume and high quality ideas are not always compatible. Uh so you know, we're we're patiently trying to grow that stable of I P looking for great opportunities where we can also own intellectual property. I mean, ultimately we want to
build our library. So I think I would say that's probably one of the biggest differences with those companies. I mean, we're very we're not in the branded content we're not in the agency business, and we're clearly not in this sort of you know. But I would imagine, not only when you look at the size of the Hispanic market in the US, but obviously around the world internationally, you guys are probably very well positioned. Yeah, I mean we're
in Latin America, we're we're absolute leader today. Uh. And and in the US, I think we're carving our space. We have the demographic playing in our favor because I think dollar you know, it's the dollars. Ultimately will try to follow those younger demographics. And I think because we're smaller, we're nimbler, uh, and we can take much more risk than some of these established broadcasters. I think we're looking we're really trying to carve out that that space. But yes,
you're right. I mean in Latin America we've got a very significant audience, and you know, right now we're planning talent tours. Things that will start in Latin America will give us an opportunity to test before we're bringing to the US. I have to say though, sometimes and this is not just with regard to the Latino market, but
really for lots of them, different demographics. I find myself skeptical about the whole notion of sort of ethnic targeted content, that perhaps the Hispanic audience in the US doesn't necessarily care whether they're watching Hispanic content or not, and they could love a lot of the English language stuff. Am
I being a little shortsighted there though? No? I think I think, you know, I'm always wary of some of the extremes black or white zero hundred, like you know, And I think I would consider my house to be somewhat sort of you know, in in that in that in that average mix where you know, I watched a lot of stuff in English, is something interesting in Spanish.
I'll watch the same thing with my kids. My kids, you know, in Netflix watch sort of you know, the traditional sort of you know, English language stuff, but there's this show from Argentina that they love and they're watch it in Spanish. And I think ultimately people get attracted to stuff that's good and you know, and if you have the ability to be able to switch between two languages, then you know, you still watch what's good in respective
of which language it is. I agree with you that just because you brand yourself Latino, people are not going to flock to you and watch. And I think that's one of the things one of the challenges when you do stuff in English is you know, the Latino audience will watch something Latino screwing, but they also will go to complex advice and bus feed and box and and all these things. And and I think it's much harder to find great competitive content when you do it in Spanish.
And for Spanish language content, I think the first word that comes to mind for a lot of people is the telenovela. And yet I've heard plenty that the telenovela may not necessarily be a format that's well situated for the future. To put it kindly, do you guys have a take on that? Are you in that business? I mean, what's the telenoila? Telenoila is yeah, it's it's this is this is this kind of story that's convoluted with sort of a lot of feelings and betrayals and love and
inter twines and and it's gets crazy. I can point a Desperate Housewives and tell you what a great soap
opera that was. And so I think the genre in from you know, when you look at it from the Spanish language content world, I think it's been you know, I think Telemundo has done a great job in sort of bringing that genre to a much more a sort of you know, enjoyable hole for millennials or or you know, so you're really taking all that intertwined crazy love story and put it in a context that's that's much more appealing for a younger audience. Ah, a good story is
still a good story. I would argue the Shakespeare would have been a great telenovela writer. It just a question is if you if you shoot it in Mexico, where there the Mexican rancher falls in love with the maid, that for someone living in East l A, it's like I can relate to that. But if you put it here in East la or if you put it in sort of you know, and you know whatever, in a more and more and more and more and more Hispanic context,
then it's just a great story. So I think, you know, we don't discard things just because of the lenovela, but we do believe that you have to make things that relevant to the people that live here today and are sort of within that age range. And I think that the broadcasters you mentioned struggled with that process. Because you know, Univision was importing programming directly from Televisa Mexico and Televisa
was still stuck doing that kind of Illinois. I think everybody got a wake up call now and both are trying to sort of reinvent themselves and talk to a younger audience. And we definitely are in that mix as a program supplier, but also sort of you know, as as as as developing content for Race too well. But can't you become the next Univision or Telemundo? That's how
that's my goal. Are they looking over their shoulders at you or you just a program supplier to think we're I think we're still small, and I think you know, they got a mass again between both of them, they make you know, they have a three billion dollar business, So I don't I'm sure that they're not losing sleep over Race, but we're definitely going in that direction. We do want to become that brand for for the Hispanic
millennial in the US but also in Latin America. And it's interesting because you know, you know, I think even when you go to main land American country in Mexico or in Colombia or Argentina, you still don't see a company like like like race what we're trying to to to become. And I think it's a massive opportunity if we can really become the company I think we will be. Don't think we will have a great opportunity to great, great, great content. So you've got the brand out there on
digital platforms, adds supported, social friendly. Why that approach as opposed to or in addition to some sort of direct consumer subscription, don't sell the Netflix, be your own Netflix just for that market. I don't think you're mistaken. I think that's ultimately their plans. I think you want to established credibility, you want to sort of get you know what we're seeing that's good revenue there today, but over time, yes, we do want to manage our own business with our
our own consumers. And I don't know if if if the subscription is to be able to sell the audience content, but definitely, you know, sort of have a community of people that really engage with the brand, with the tours, with the music, with the content, and and and and all those things. I'm also seeing e commerce in Latin America skyrocket in markets. So the opportunity of creating a consumer brand are really really, really appealing. So I think
that's all part of the mix. But you know, we're very happy that in the first year we're able to sels sort of the big guest platforms, real shows, real dramas with real budgets at the same time that we're developing our digital director consumer brand. I think that's that's for for our first year. I think it's a it's it's a good first step. Uh. And and also the fact that a lot of the strategics want to play
with us in different shapes and forms. That's very exciting because we don't what do you mean by that strategic to play with studios, some of the big established cable brands coming to us and say, let's develop things together, let's partner on some of your strategic initiatives that maybe you cannot afford on your own. It's great, I mean, because we don't believe that we're here to completely replace everybody.
I think, you know, we're growing slow the uh that that sort of digital space, and and it's great to be able to learn from and collaborate with some of the bigger legacy media brands. You know, we're not We're not here to sort of to to to. We're here to sort of try to grow our business. We believe that it's not again, it's not an all or nothing. And a lot of these companies have resources, have an audience,
have great programming, and they're great partners. The Latino media market being as big as it is, I'm almost surprised that there isn't more attention, more momentum there. Do you think it's something that is looking a sector that's looking for its next big hit, that next show that's sort of re retrains people to understand the importance of that demographic. Yeah, I think a lot of it comes from, you know,
I mean two things. Some of the big media companies have a lot of other issues to worry about that are sort of real threats of the business. And you see sort of cable bundle or you know, we sell to Netflix, so we don't sell to Netflix. Uh And Latino is always priority. It's important, but it's proborily number nine or ten. Uh and and and and and I think you know, in your day to day if you're an executive, because I I'm being that in that position, you know, you only get to prior number ten one
the other time. And I think that creates a situation where there's not a lot of investment and a lot of a lot of aggressive beds. But I do think everybody understands that the demographic change in the country. I think everybody understands they need to do it. And I think there's been on the Latino side that's been growth in the amount of executives, amount of writers. So I think you're you're seeing growth, you know, at all sides of of of of the mainstream market with respect to Latino.
But you're right, I think it will usually takes a big hit to sort of make everybody, oh, oh my god, how come didn't do we see it coming? I think that there's been some examples of good content, but you know, you got a program, you know, continue to sort of to build on top of that, just to create a difference. I would imagine part of the opportunity is that there does seem to be some under representation of Latinos on
screen in TV in the US. Uh there you know, on pace to be a third of the population by you know, twenty thirty years from now, and yet looking at the air waves nowadays, you wouldn't really get that sense. Is that an opportunity for Raise. I think it is because ultimately, I think, you know, I don't necessarily believe that you have to make a quota how many people, you know, I think the best people need to be on the air, and I think the talent on the
Latino side is also growing. Um, you know, the opportunities weren't great, but I don't think I don't think. I don't think we should play victim. I think we should say, let's put more people to do better stuff. And I think we're in the business of trying to make that Latino content better so it automatically will bring more more actors and actresses and writers and directors uh to it.
And I think there's a lot of work to be done from the creative side of the Latino space, where the story has become better, where the stories engage a wider audience that are not just Latino. And I think that's our job. That's where I see Raises as as a real player. How can we really elevate the game So when someone is sitting at NBC, ABC, CBS, turns around, that's a great show. I love it happens to be Latino. Okay, great,
but not the other way around. I understand that a big part of the strategy going forward is live content. Talk about what you're doing there and why you're doing that. It's amazing. I mean, we were doing Race Live uh out of Mexico and we won't add another hopefully in the next month or two from Los Angeles. It's you know,
the opportunities for for digital audience to be live. You know, I can I can look at h Q the game show, but you know, there are a lot of opportunities to sort of jump into something and we've done it, and it's we're you know, we've been global trending topic on Twitter and two of the four shows that we've done uh and and uh and it's just great. I mean it's a lot of work. Well what are the shows? What exactly? What? Two one, it's it's Raised Live, which
is essentially it's a variety show. There's music, there's gaming, there's sort of you know, competition between celebrity talent, uh and and and the audience tuns in from pretty much online America and the US and Spain. Uh And Again, we launched it like a month ago, so we're in the very early stages, but it's an opportunity to have this demographic tune in at once on the phone and and it's great. It's great the feedback that we get. It's great to see the interaction between the fans and
the talent live. We're learning a ton and I think that that becomes a great platform. You know, hopefully we'll be able to add another show on Wednesday's, another show on Thursday. So you know, a year from now, can we own one hour of this demographic daily across all Laine America US. I think it's an ambitious goal, but if we can pull it off, it's something that no broadcaster has been able to do. Uh So, I think it's one of one of the things that we're really
excited about. Well, I'm excited to see how that develops and so much more array is Amiliano Columns. Look, thanks for coming in and talking to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you for for taking the time, and you know, look forward to keeping you up to speed on the progress. Thanks for listening to another episode of Strictly Business. Please do subscribe when you get a chance and tune in next week when my guest will be Pluto TV CEO Tom Ryan m