Stephen Curry's Right-Hand Man in Hollywood

on Team Hollywood. Curry has turned to my next guest, to Ron Smith, to figure that out. Smith is one of many people I spoke to, including Curry, for the Variety cover story we published today about the NBA star, so I thought it'd be nice to go a little deeper in podcast form with Curry's right hand man in Hollywood. Welcome to Ron. Thank you for having me. Now, I gotta ask this because people are gonna be curious. How

involved is Steph Curry in all this? You this is your job, so I get that you're gonna be all in, but how involved can he be in season or off season? Setingly incredibly involves um obviously has his number one priority, right, and that's being Steph and Curry and winning NBA championships and being the most amazing basketball player he can be. And that platform that you know, basketball has given him

to impact the world is is important to him. I think Stephen believes his gift is God given and with you know, with that comes with a great responsibility and responsibility to take seriously. So when it comes to media, I think when you think about the purpose behind it, and you think about why Stephen I wanted to get into this space and his vision something that's incredibly important to him and something he's very involved with. I mean,

I'll give you this quick story. You know, we got our first script as we started to go down this journey and uh, Eric read the script. I read the script and Eric Eric is Eric is my partner, he's the chief creative officer at Unanimous Media. And we read the script and we sent it over to Stephen. The very next day. Steff was like, I love this project. I read the script. This is why I touched me. This is why this is why I think this is a Unanimous project, and this is why I think the

script represents me right. And I was blown away one because I didn't even read the script in one day two because it was during the NBA season. I mean, I'm sure he read it after practice one day, after shoot around in the hotel or or whatever the case might be. But he read the script extremely quick. And then when you think about his critical thought process against

the script, it was impressive. It was really impressive. And I was it was that that was this was months before before Sony and and uh, that's when I know, Okay, we're we're in a we're in good shape, and Stephen's invested and he's into this thing. You're saying that based on the notes that he gave he he he has.

It sounds kind of like in an eight sense of what he is good creative You think about something resonating with Stephen and who he is, and when you think about his audience and the people he wants to impact, he's going to have the best gauge on whether a project represents who he is and whether it has the right fill to impact people the way he wants to impact people. How big are his ambitions? Your ambitions, because

this could be something like a vanity project. Maybe you do a project or two a year, and stuff puts his stamp on it, or you are you guys looking to do as you look at what Kevin Durant is doing, when you look at Lebron is doing, They're building out these full slates of content that bear their name. Give us a sense of what the ambition is here. The ambition is great, uh, and we want to do really well in this space and have longevity. I think I'm a huge fan of what Kevin is doing with with

Rich Kleiman. I'm a huge fan of what Lebron is doing with Maverick. Those are those are all friends of mine, and I'm really excited for what they have going on. I think Stephen represents a bit of a different athlete, and because he's different, the way we'll approach media will

be different. Hate to kind of hone in once again on on the faith piece, but that's such a such a different element for an athlete when you're talking about film and television, right, Uh, then the the family piece, etcetera. I just think we're gonna go about it. We're gonna go about this in a way that feels right and it's authentic for who Stephen is. And I think Sony understands.

Sony really understands who Steffen is and and they're gonna be great partners and helping us kind of execute against that vision. What about the decision to make a deal with Sony? Walk us through the process and how you got to needing to partner with the studio in the first place. Yeah, studio is important. Studio is incredibly important. Uh. Stephan is all about doing things the right way, and not only the right way, but he's all about having

the right partners, right. I think Stephan is someone that tries to put good people around him and um he uh,

he entrusts those people. Uh. And when you think about a studio and you think about the expertise, and I think about the executives we met with, especially at Sony, and uh, you think about their knowledge, you think about their experience, you think about how long they've been in this industry, and I think most most importantly, think about the fact that they really understood what we were trying

to do. Uh. Sony became absolutely pertinent because they shown themselves as as great partners, and I think coming into the space, great partners were Um, it was imperative for us, right. I think additionally, Um, you know, once again we mentioned the faith piece, but faith being such an important silo to what we're doing. Um, Sony has the affirm label, right, what do they do? Yeah, So you have a myriad

of of labels at at Sony. You have Columbia Pictures, you have Try Start your scream gyms, and you have a firm, a firm really specializes in kind of your faith faith content, inspirational content, and well really from a film perspective, it's it's one of their film labels and it uh they they you think about all your favorite faith based films. For the most part, a firm probably made it right and and that made them even more of an attractive partner because uh, because of that element.

So again to put it in context, faith is just on piece of the larger STEPH puzzle when it comes to entertainment. But focusing there for a second, is faith every bit a challenge as it is an opportunity? Meaning, yes, there's a marketplace for that kind of content, and Sony's a firm label has proved that. But do there also become issues raised by someone being a person of faith is a celebrity? Does it become an impediment for some? Uh? Just trying to get a sense of how you're navigating

that it could, right, it could. I think faith, uh, religion, the word Jesus. I think it strikes every person in in a different form of fashion, right. And I think that's something we're all aware of. But at the same time, Stephen is who he is. He doesn't shy away from who he is. And I think that's what makes Stephen is so amazing. He's so comfortable in his own skin. And and when you think about our three content silos, they are very representative of who Stephen is. Uh. And

faith is a big part of that. Uh. And while it's not going to represent everything we do, is not something we're gonna shy away from. And and uh, you're you're never ever ever gonna please everybody, right. So I

think that's something we're aware of. Um. But to be clear, you're not what little or how much you do in terms of faith based content isn't all going to be Some of it might be something that does mention Jesus or be something very strictly for faith based market, and then there'll be other stuff like you mentioned the movie The blind Side, that are sort of you know, religion

light that's absolutely correct, Okay, I get the plan. I'm also curious when you talk about in this announcement things like consumer products VR, I mean, is there a real the applications that are Currey related in these kind of Oh, absolutely absolutely, I think, especially in the VR space, and that's some things. Those those types of projects you know, well you will definitely, um, they're definitely forthcoming and we'll

definitely uh chat about. But they're absolutely very relevant and authentic applications, especially when you're talking about the VR space consumer products as well. Uh. I think what one of the things that's so amazing about Sony is they have such a robust ecosystem and great teams that work against each of those business units, and we definitely plan to

tap into each of those. And I see the appeal of Sony, but also Sony is in the context of a broader marketplace of much bigger tech companies that could be interested in stuff services, much bigger entertainment companies. Why wasn't scale more of a factor in choosing a studio partner because you didn't go with scale? Ultimately, yeah, fit filing partnership. I would say it's the easiest way to

answer that question. Um, I met with the executive team Eric Maye with the executive team Stephen did as well. And that feeling that you have UM executives with the expertise and experience that they have, that are really invested in what you're doing so important that I think maybe uh, not having that same feel at another studio, UM, you know, I think Sony Sony really shine through in that that department, right. I think other studios offered some really you know, I

think I would say great fits as well. But but when you think about Sony and you think about the executive team, and you think about UM them really understanding what we were trying to do, it was a it was a foregone conclusion. How was the process of meeting all these different kinds of companies? Uh, you know, were you coming into with a very clear idea of what you wanted or did you kind of learn some things

as you went along? No? I think uh definitely had a had a clear vision of what we were trying to do and where we were trying to go with this thing. And I think with that, you know, as we went along on that journey, Yeah, we were definitely able to hone in kind of further and further on kind of what that vision looked like when as you learn more, as you meet with more executives, as you start to understand, you know, the nuances of the studio system.

But all in all, we definitely went in with a clear vision of what we were trying to do and what we needed from a partner. Yes, I grew up with Cheel Hills. UM initially went to u U c l A. UM ended up leaving U c l A and transfer to Howard University and Washington d C. Uh. They went to grad school at Georgetown from my first master's degree, and then I went to Columbia University of New York for my second master's degree. That led me to Nike. Spent about seven years of Nike doing brand

management and brand strategy and uh, what does that mean? Absolutely? Um, that means essentially that you are UM the kind of central steward over the integrated marketing mix. So that's across UM advertising, digital marketing, comms, et cetera. And you kind of bring that marketing mixed together to execute kind of

a holistic brand strategy around a product or service. Uh. Well, yeah, I spent seven years of Nike UM and uh, final the Nike I got just a unique opportunity UM about you know, I was kind of got win that UH, President Barack Obama was you know, bringing in some private sector town to look at government strategy differently. And luckily I was one of the phone calls that was made about,

UM gaging my interest in a job at the White House. UM. I think I had about six or seven interviews when I finally went to the White House to interview, and I ended up, after about six months of background checks, which is a pretty exhaustive process, ended up working out at the White House as a Deputy Director of Digital Strategy. UH. And again absolutely I knew that was coming. So in the Office of Digital Strategy at the White House, UM,

since an executive office of the president. But you're you're essentially UH talking about you know, all your all content, all digital media, all social channels at White House dot gov excuse me, at White House at potis UM as well as White House dot gov UM, and you know, anything from UH policy announcements, rollouts, et cetera. I think the the mantra of our office was to meet the

people where they are. UH. President Obama didn't want to just speak to his Bay, but he also wanted to ensure we were leveraging our digital platforms to communicate and message to uh, the entirety of the the US. He wanted to make sure he was reaching everybody, and largely our office to Digital Strategy was responsible for executing against that that mission and that vision. So how does a X shoe guy X DC guy end up in Steph Curry's Yeah, for sure. So I think following the White House,

I really wanted to do something different. I think that was the that was my as a goal of mine and uh, you know, naturally you would think you would just end up going back to working within the like the corporate infrastructure. And I had got wind from uh someone I used to work at Nike with which was a close friend of Stephan's name is Bryant Um and Briant kind of let me know about some of the things stuff and was trying to do across the is.

You know, it's kind of off court business and brand strategy and that there was probably a good fit and opportunity there, and that's when the business conversation started with Stephen. So you come in to sort of help manage brand. Step The question is is when you came in. Was media part of that mix? Yeah? I mean media was something that you know, you you as a as a good steward, has to be thinking about. Right. But um, but from from day one we started talking about who

Stephen is and what he wants to stand for. And um, when we started thinking about when Stephan really started to articulate, you know, his mission and what he wanted to do, and that's where you get to the yeah, I really want to inspire as many people as possible. That was it was It was clear that that narrative really Uh, it always always came through and you hear it enough and you're like, okay, how do you how do you execute against that vision that he has? Right? And media

became the clear answer. You know, when you think about touching and reaching as many people as possible, Um, there's no better and more effective way to do that thing through media. What does he want to touch and reach about? Yeah, I mean when you think about inspiration, you think about inspiring. Um. Often that can come in a myriad of different forms. Right.

That can come in the form of laughter, that can come in the form of sometimes it might mean mean tears, right, Um, And I think it through kind of different avenues, if you will, right, And I think you know media, you know that can be filmed, television, digital content, etcetera. So, um, it just became it just became the clear vehicle by which we were gonna execute against that vision. Got it?

But was he thinking and were you thinking specifically in terms once you decided to do the media thing, what kinds of TV shows, movies aligned with what you saw as brand staff? Yeah? Uh one stuff and hates the brand staph Moniker thing. I just think he is who he is, right, He is who he is, and he is a super authentic person, right, And I think that's really shown through in my time really working with him, and you know that person people experience and see on

TV is exactly who he is as a man. He's a family man, he loves his children. Uh, he's kind hearted, he's just I mean, I sound like a step commercial, but that's just that, just is who he is. Start thinking about blind side or start thinking about pursuit of happiness, right, Um? And I think other like projects you're talking about the kinds of movies that I think sort of have a faith element. It's but sort of light, it's not too

heavy handed. It's not espousing any particular religious religion period. I should say yeah. I think when it comes to the faith piece, right, I think that's always interesting when it comes to Stephan and what we're doing with unanimous media, right. I think faith is one silo of the type of content we want to touch, one of three. Really, family slash kids is one major silo and that can you know, I think if you think this is us, right, faith

is another major silo. Uh. And then the sports themes is kind of tertiary, but it's it's it's also another silo, right. I think there are times when two of those silos or three of those silos might come together in the form of one project, and there's times that those silos will stand alone and in some of the projects we're working on. But uh, but faith is is one silo, a major and important one, but it's but it's one silo. You're basically saying you're going after these three areas in

terms of doing TV, movies, other things. What I'm curious about is in terms of what Steph could do on social media, and the guy had such a massive reach, does that become a critical piece in in helping the content, come out and get the biggest audience man social media, I think is following understands who he is, and I think he impacts his following. I think it's also kind of a different day and age, right, And everybody talks

about this, and you hear this narrative quite often. But I think when you when you consider Stephen and consider the modern day athlete and their ability to really connect one to one with their audience in an authentic way, it's going to become extremely pertinent when you talk about some of these projects and and how we're delivering them to his audience. I think the other thing is, because of social media, your audience also has um how do I put this? They just sift through content. Uh, you

know in a very effective minute. Right, You watch a you know, said, random person on Instagram, and they know whether they like what they're seeing or don't like what they're seeing, uh, extremely quickly. You know, with a double tap and a swipe up, you're you're you're off to the races in your social feed. And Uh, for that reason, I think when you think about our silos and staying in authentic to our silos and authentic to who Stephen is our audience is gonna be able to sift through

that very quickly. So I think it's important that we remain um authentic and and um set on what we're doing. I made a comparison earlier to other basketball players with What'stap's doing. I mean, am I limiting him in that sense? Am I limiting all these players? Is what we're seeing now in terms of this trend in the NBA and perhaps in other leagues, kind of a short sided way of looking at it. I don't personally, I don't look at it as a trend. Stephen has a platform, and

Stephane getting into media is really expanding that platform. It's another method, an effective method of reaching the masses, reaching abroad audience, and delivering stories and messages to that audience in the form of media, in the form of films and the form of television and the form of digital content. I understand why people could reference it as a trend, but all in all, this is another Yeah, another mechanism was just you know, leveraging and using his platform too

to execute against his purpose. You describe the sports pillar of what he's doing earlier tertiary, which almost surprises me because I would think it's staff. He's an athlete. It's the easiest, quickest way for the audience to understand content of a sports nature coming from him. Sports is important. I think it's who he is, It's what he's known for. And we will find some very interesting sports stories to tell,

and that's going to be important. But uh, family, slash, kids and faith, I would say, is our is our focus, especially right now. We'll tell some sports stories, for sure, but we want to do them in a way that's uh, that feels feels elevated, feels different, and feels purposeful. In terms of that word purpose, I want to make sure I understand, I mean I understand that in the you know the phrase that Rick Warren popular way back. Uh do you mean it strictly in that term or is

it purpose in a more general way? I somewhere between, but more and in the broader sense, right, I think Stephan knows what he stands for. And with that being said, we're going to take that which is I can't say that, can't say enough right, inspiring as many people as possible. That's really the kind of the purpose driven statement, and that should permeate everything we do. Also in terms of permeating.

I'm curious, do you feel that the content that's going to come from this is just going to be a manifestation of whose staff is, or that the content will come in some degree to redefine people's understanding of whose staff is. It might be a bit of the ladder, but I wouldn't say the former is untrue either. Steps audience probably has a varied view of who Stephen is, you know, depending on maybe where you live, depending on

your age, depending on a myriad of factors. And for some some of this content might might illustrate aside, you might not be as familiar with um, and for others it might be right on pointment, exactly what you expect. Got it? Well, darn Thanks for coming in and talking with me. Very much appreciative. This has been another episode

of Strictly Business. Tune in next week for another helping of scintillating conversation with media movers and shakers, and please make sure you subscribe to the podcast to hear future episodes. Also leave a review in Apple podcast let us know how we're doing. M