How Brian Schulz Is Turning Las Vegas into a Filmmaker’s Playground

"I'm all in on Vegas. The camaraderie, the energy, the variance of industries—there's so much opportunity out here, and it’s just so untapped."

In this episode of Pursue Vegas, we sit down with Brian Schulz, documentary cinematographer and founder of Hot Fuss Films, to talk about why creatives, filmmakers, and storytellers are betting on Las Vegas as the next big production hub.

Brian's credits span from NFL Films to projects on Netflix, Showtime, and Amazon, but it’s his move from New York to Vegas that lit a new creative fire—and gave him the space to build something original.

"It's a creator's economy, so if you're not opening up a podcast studio, you're sort of behind the eight ball."

We dig into how the city’s startup energy, booming sports scene, and influx of talent are shaping a cultural renaissance—one that’s still flying under the radar but growing fast. For Brian, Las Vegas isn’t just entertainment and nightlife—it’s a sandbox for storytelling, tech, media, and collaborative energy that can’t be found in LA or NYC anymore.

"The best marketing is the truth. And through what I show, there’s a remarkable energy around what’s possible here in Las Vegas."

We also talk about the power of routine, infrastructure, and staying grounded in a city built for distraction—and why Brian believes investing in creative infrastructure could unlock an entirely new economy in the Valley.

"All politics is local... I want the infrastructure in Las Vegas to evolve to support the creative and business growth we’re seeing."

If you’re a filmmaker, builder, or visionary looking for the next frontier—this episode’s for you.

Key Takeaways:

• Las Vegas is ripe for creative industries to take root and scale.
• The local energy, sports expansion, and entrepreneurial culture are drawing national attention.
• Routine and discipline are the secret sauce to thriving in a high-stimulation environment.
• Investing in creative infrastructure could unlock long-term growth and retention.
• Truth-driven storytelling is the most powerful form of marketing.

Resources:

• Hot Fuss Films Website
• Instagram: @brianjschulz
• Book Mentioned: Open by Andre Agassi
• Filming Locations: Pizza Rock, Good Pie

"What I've noticed, it's funny that basketball is going to probably be the fourth sport. Whenever that happens, we're hoping it goes on the north side of the Strip." — Brian Schulz

Tune into the full episode to learn why the most innovative minds are building their futures in Las Vegas—and how Brian Schulz is documenting the rise in real time.

Thanks for tuning in to The Pursue Vegas Podcast!

Transcript

0:00:00 - (Brian Schulz): Brian. I'm Brian Schulz, owner of Hot Fuss Films, and you are listening to the Pursue Vegas podcast.

0:00:10 - (Dave Burlin): The idea of Pursue Vegas was to really highlight the local people that really make Vegas Vegas.

0:00:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): I love that aspect of how these visionaries are actually bringing people together.

0:00:21 - (Dave Burlin): When we hit record, our responsibility is to connect the people of our city so we can show the world who we really are. All right, welcome back to the Pursue Vegas podcast. I'm your host, Dave Berlin.

0:00:32 - (Tawni Nguyen): And I'm your co host, Tawni  Nguyen.

0:00:33 - (Dave Burlin): And we already know. Does he know? Should we tell?

0:00:36 - (Tawni Nguyen): I don't know. Are you excited?

0:00:38 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, it's up there.

0:00:41 - (Dave Burlin): Are you ecstatically excited? Next time he's neutrally excited.

0:00:46 - (Tawni Nguyen): Dave is not allowed to use.

0:00:49 - (Dave Burlin): And then we'll see how my crutch words are. Excited. Um.

0:00:53 - (Brian Schulz): Ah.

0:00:54 - (Dave Burlin): And I'm excited to. Just kidding. The last time I saw you made.

0:01:00 - (Brian Schulz): A lot of progress.

0:01:01 - (Dave Burlin): We totally remixed that.

0:01:02 - (Brian Schulz): That's great.

0:01:03 - (Dave Burlin): No. So grateful to have Brian Schulz on the show today. Brian is a documentary cinematographer based right here in Las Vegas. He is a director. He's been featured on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Showtime film festivals and other popular viewing destinations. We're just gonna dive right into this because he's got a very unique perspective, both visually and cinematically from what he's done here in Las Vegas. And I met Brian, Gosh, it's been. When I first moved here, I can't remember the exact event.

0:01:39 - (Dave Burlin): I'm trying to place it. You do call me out on it.

0:01:43 - (Tawni Nguyen): Dave Berlin doesn't remember the date.

0:01:46 - (Brian Schulz): What happened by Corner Bar Management, which has.

0:01:50 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:01:51 - (Brian Schulz): Property in downtown on Fremont Street. And it's that corner spot right next to evil.

0:01:58 - (Dave Burlin): That's what it was. It was park on Fremont.

0:02:00 - (Brian Schulz): That's it.

0:02:00 - (Dave Burlin): And I want to do this. I'm going to do a shout out to the team over at Corner Bar Management because this just came up the other day. I need to have Mr. Mauricio, the marketing director, on the show. They are doing some phenomenal stuff. Sort of in the remnants of a lot of the energy that was encouraged by Tony Hsieh Zappos, the downtown Project. I know Ryan, the owner of all the Corner Bar Management, was really good friends with Tony, but that's right. They were doing a pancake social.

0:02:29 - (Brian Schulz): Pancake and coffee.

0:02:30 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah. And they normally park on Fremont, normally didn't open until like 11am, which rightfully so. And they were like, hey, let's go at 8am let's just see who the local people are at the time. I was living downtown, like, deep, deep downtown. 13th and Carson. Do not go there unless you have.

0:02:48 - (Tawni Nguyen): That's where I park for life is beautiful.

0:02:50 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:02:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): It is not nice.

0:02:52 - (Dave Burlin): Well, it's funny because right there at Public Us, I call that the lateral limit. And then as soon as we. As soon as I would pass that to go home, like, I would have to, like, change my whole demeanor.

0:03:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): I know that.

0:03:01 - (Brian Schulz): Exactly. I gotta throw the flag on that. I know we're coming out of football season, but I gotta throw the flag on that. Dude, I'm from New York City.

0:03:07 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, that's a little bit different.

0:03:09 - (Brian Schulz): Come on.

0:03:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm sorry. We're so entitled here.

0:03:12 - (Brian Schulz): Maryland is like, you know, bring me a decent.

0:03:16 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, it was a little rough, which. It was a little rough for me, right? It's like, hey, you got a dollar? I'm like, what? You got a dollar?

0:03:23 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm gonna use my tits card on this.

0:03:26 - (Dave Burlin): So it's not safe. It's definitely not safe.

0:03:30 - (Brian Schulz): You're tough. I can see you throwing some punches.

0:03:33 - (Dave Burlin): No, that's right. And it's so funny because we had ran into each other a couple times. And then I remember after the pandemic, I saw one of your videos where you really captured just a totally different version of what most people see. Las Vegas. So when we've reconnected again more recently. Couldn't wait to have you on the show. But, man, tell us about you. Tell us about what you're excited about.

0:03:56 - (Brian Schulz): Oh, man, I'm all in on Vegas. I love what's going on in this city. I love the camaraderie. I love the energy. I think Vegas you would consider a mid level city in terms of population and the variance of industries that the city offers. You get your big players like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and I think Vegas slots right in with like a Boston, a Dallas, you know, Vegas, San Francisco, even. So there's so much opportunity out here and it's just so untapped.

0:04:30 - (Brian Schulz): Alluding to your 12th then, Carson, you know, I'm from New York City, so when I first moved out here in 2018, friends and family was like, first where you're moving to? I'm like, going to Vegas. I'm like, okay, why? I'm like, you have all your client base out here in New York and everything. So first for me, I was just looking for a change and Vegas just sort of has this. I think maybe a city like Austin has popularized it or even in Nashville.

0:04:59 - (Brian Schulz): I think those are on the same level playing field as a Vegas I think Vegas is probably actually bigger than those cities, but it just has that, especially downtown. And going back to my point about where you're living and why are you not living in the country or on a ranch or seeing the mountains. If you're going to take that chance and do something different, why not live, you know, differently? I'm like, I just always been a downtown guy.

0:05:26 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:05:26 - (Brian Schulz): I like corners. I like being able to walk to a coffee shop. You know, I do well in social environments. You know, I want to be out there. And, you know, not to say the suburbs doesn't. Doesn't offer that. And this is in the suburbs, you know. You guys are in the suburbs.

0:05:42 - (Dave Burlin): Absolutely.

0:05:42 - (Brian Schulz): I passed a couple Lululemons. I saw a Whole Foods Home Goods.

0:05:47 - (Dave Burlin): Right.

0:05:48 - (Tawni Nguyen): So that's how you know you're safe.

0:05:49 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, thanks for having me on.

0:05:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): You are safe here.

0:05:51 - (Dave Burlin): I appreciate.

0:05:51 - (Brian Schulz): Appreciate it. It's great.

0:05:53 - (Tawni Nguyen): We won't take you too much.

0:05:54 - (Dave Burlin): Only. Only 418 paces from trader Joe's.

0:05:58 - (Brian Schulz): Boom. I have to go there after this. You want to walk over?

0:06:03 - (Dave Burlin): Well, so first of all, I needed to defend myself. You said 12th in Carson. It was 13th in Carson, and that is a very.

0:06:10 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, one block.

0:06:11 - (Dave Burlin): Well, it's that big empty lot. And trust me, anybody that drives by it now, if they're listening to the show and driving by it right now, please be careful. No, it is. It's like there is a different.

0:06:20 - (Tawni Nguyen): Who hurt you down there?

0:06:22 - (Dave Burlin): There's the lim. But no, I appreciate you saying that because there's elements of every community where I think all the different cities that you mention, they all have a very clear advantage of where they are further ahead in the game of the United States or even in the game of the world. What's interesting about Vegas is that has changed. And I talked to somebody the other day. It's really fascinating because somebody was talking about when the Tropicana blew up. And it's like the cool thing about this city is you can always almost like Etch A Sketch.

0:06:58 - (Dave Burlin): You could just start over. If something doesn't work for any long period of time, blow it up. You just blow it up and rebuild. But now that's from a very literal sense. But when you talk about. And I got to see this transformation happen, I moved here the end of 2018. I lived at 13th and Carson. Right. But what was interesting is it wasn't very much later. It was, here we are, we're coming up on five years as the anniversary for when the pandemic struck. And that changed this city forever. Now, I have a lot of people that hate me for even trying to compare this, but a lot of people try to compare 2020 to 2008. While I wasn't here in 2008, I know it was bad because people remind me of that.

0:07:42 - (Dave Burlin): But the casinos weren't closed. It wasn't like boards on the windows. It wasn't completely closed up. And the Strip was not a free for all where you could literally. My friend, I remember my friend Caitlin, she was like, longboarding just down the Strip, and there's just not a soul in sight.

0:08:03 - (Brian Schulz): There's some biking down that. It was a great time for that.

0:08:06 - (Dave Burlin): For that. Yeah.

0:08:07 - (Brian Schulz): Not for other instances.

0:08:09 - (Dave Burlin): But talk about a major reset button. Because it really did test the city as a whole. It tested our economic infrastructure as a whole. And we are resilient, not just as a city, but as individuals. And I think you've seen the renaissance happen since then, especially with sports and how that has all come back full circle. So. Yeah, man. Just.

0:08:35 - (Brian Schulz): I mean, sports has always been a part of the city. I mean, even from the early days. And I think, you know, you think about UNLV and they're running in the early 90s, and even before that, you think of boxing. You know, boxing is ingrained in this city. I just did a shoot at Top Rank. That gym has been around since 1988. Oh, wow. It was originally built. It was built in 87. And it was built as a training ground for the 88 Olympics that were in Korea that year.

0:09:06 - (Brian Schulz): And they're celebrating. They have a big anniversary coming up, and it's nondescript. It's in the shadows of the Strip. It's on the Dean Martin side of 15 and now. So you always had boxing, always had gambling. You know, gambling is, you know, it's Vegas. So you always had that sports correlation. But now you have the Raiders here, and you got the Golden Knights here, and you got the A's coming here in 2028.

0:09:30 - (Dave Burlin): Allegedly.

0:09:31 - (Brian Schulz): And it's. Allegedly.

0:09:32 - (Dave Burlin): I'm just kidding.

0:09:33 - (Brian Schulz): It's so funny. It could be a different team because Vegas is a fickle bunch.

0:09:40 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, right.

0:09:40 - (Brian Schulz): They're not from. If you're not grown from Vegas, what they do with you.

0:09:44 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:09:44 - (Brian Schulz): Unless you're the NFL, because anybody will take the NFL. Yeah, but. But it's funny that basketball is the last one to be here because they hosted an all star game here in 08 or 07. And you would have thought, you know, forward thinking, because baseball tends to be on the conservative side. I worked at baseball for 16 years, and they sort of just lie in the weeds and went to a bail. Okay. We'll go there. We'll do this.

0:10:10 - (Brian Schulz): The Burger King, McDonald's model. I what I've noticed. And it's funny that basketball, now, it's gonna probably be the fourth sport. Yeah. Whenever that happens, we're hoping it goes on the north side of the Strip.

0:10:21 - (Dave Burlin): Right.

0:10:21 - (Brian Schulz): Because that'd be really close to me.

0:10:23 - (Dave Burlin): Right.

0:10:23 - (Brian Schulz): Big A downtown guy.

0:10:24 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:10:25 - (Brian Schulz): And being selfish.

0:10:26 - (Dave Burlin): I love that.

0:10:26 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah. Right by the Fontainebleau. If it happens, like, right in that little area.

0:10:29 - (Tawni Nguyen): Are you putting the message out in the universe?

0:10:31 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah. Whoever wants to, we'll send them directly. That lot is there.

0:10:35 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah. That's amazing. And it's funny that you look at that. Right. Because now I was just on the Strip the other day, Veer Tower, and I was looking out, and it's like, you see these empty lots, and you could just make it up. It's so funny because I could see where the rooftop across from. What is it across from Aria. That's where they're going to have the world's largest in N out. Right. And I was like, oh, the world's largest in and out's going there. And then somebody's like, oh, what's going there in the big empty lot? And you could literally just make it up.

0:11:04 - (Dave Burlin): But it's a crapshoot. You could be right. It's like, oh, it could be, you know, the world's largest boot store.

0:11:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): Do we have those options on the sports betting ticket? We should probably.

0:11:13 - (Brian Schulz): Ooh. Yeah.

0:11:17 - (Dave Burlin): Instead of fantasy. Yeah. Instead of fantasy football, let's do a fantasy Las Vegas. Yeah.

0:11:22 - (Brian Schulz): It's your favorite real estate developer, you know. Yeah.

0:11:24 - (Dave Burlin): It's like, oh, my God, we can.

0:11:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): Start our own parlay.

0:11:27 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah.

0:11:27 - (Dave Burlin): Right? Oh, there it is.

0:11:29 - (Tawni Nguyen): Finally, a sports team.

0:11:30 - (Dave Burlin): The Pursue Vegas app. Is that a thing? Do we just create a video game?

0:11:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, if you gamify anything.

0:11:37 - (Brian Schulz): That's right.

0:11:37 - (Tawni Nguyen): I think we have a chance at winning.

0:11:39 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, Right.

0:11:39 - (Brian Schulz): Good point.

0:11:40 - (Tawni Nguyen): We are in a culture of, like, music and, like, entertainment. And with the lots that we're talking about kind of like on the west side, you know, where Hollywood 2.0, they haven't confirmed the lots, but I went to see a couple of them, and they're kind of waiting for whoever it is to sign the dotted lines. And those lots are amazing. Like, next Blackfire. I always call it Blackbird. I don't know why.

0:12:03 - (Tawni Nguyen): There's a piece of my brain that goes Blackbird, Blackfire.

0:12:07 - (Dave Burlin): Which is a great guitar player on.

0:12:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): The other side of Summerlin. So I've been kind of like, expanding my understanding of how LAN development works here. So with your background in film and moving here from the east coast, do you feel like it's in alignment to you for your career growth? And I know you're very much into sports and film, all of the things that makes Vegas, you know, the future of the next decade of Vegas is going to be huge.

0:12:30 - (Tawni Nguyen): Like, what do you see?

0:12:31 - (Brian Schulz): Well, in my industry, stuff that's already in the news, you know, is it Sony that has a partnership with unlv? Someone has a partnership with UNLV to partner with an educational. Higher educational center of learning and bring, you know, modalities of filmmaking and mass communication, you know, to their students. And that's supposed to be happening, I guess, in the southwest corner. And then you have what's going on out in Summerlin.

0:12:59 - (Brian Schulz): So supposedly, Warner Brothers, right?

0:13:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): Allegedly.

0:13:03 - (Brian Schulz): Is The Warner Brothers. UNLV1. I can't keep track of. Who's the who?

0:13:06 - (Dave Burlin): We're not sure.

0:13:07 - (Brian Schulz): We're not sure. Someone will put in the comments.

0:13:10 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, guys, that's your job.

0:13:11 - (Brian Schulz): Put in the comments.

0:13:13 - (Tawni Nguyen): Please correct us.

0:13:13 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, please stand to be correct. I don't know, but there's so much going on in the city, you can't.

0:13:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): Keep up with Someone downtown is working on a partnership with Universal Studios to bring more downtown attractions here to downtown. He's going to come on the show and hopefully talk about that. Unless his lawyers tell him not to. Then I can't control that rumor I've.

0:13:31 - (Brian Schulz): Heard about the llama lot.

0:13:33 - (Dave Burlin): Oh, nobody knows.

0:13:34 - (Brian Schulz): Nobody knows. We call that a. We call that a tease.

0:13:37 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, exactly. Speaking of tease, like, I know that you've put together a phenomenal reel. Yeah, Like, I think it makes sense. We'll just. We gotta show that to add some context. Right.

0:13:48 - (Brian Schulz): 73 seconds. It's consumable.

0:13:49 - (Dave Burlin): 73 seconds.

0:13:51 - (Brian Schulz): You're not gonna be bored.

0:13:51 - (Tawni Nguyen): 70 seconds of my life.

0:13:52 - (Brian Schulz): 73. Well, the first 30.

0:13:54 - (Tawni Nguyen): Oh, damn.

0:13:54 - (Brian Schulz): My first 30.

0:13:55 - (Dave Burlin): I heard 37.

0:13:57 - (Brian Schulz): Well, after the first 30, you can check out, but if we could hold you on for another 43 seconds. We love to have your viewership. Yeah, I mean, really, you know, you got me for 73, but that's the whole thing.

0:14:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): Like, reels usually lose me about eight.

0:14:11 - (Brian Schulz): Well, it's a real. And it's, you know, it's publicizing yourself and your work, and, you know, you're sending it to some high level and no one has the time So I see some reels out there and whatever, they're like two minutes, three minutes. It's like, it's not a lot of time. But yeah, after a while it's like, okay, I've seen enough. So hopefully, you know, I feel like 73 is a good start.

0:14:29 - (Dave Burlin): I think you do a brilliant job in grabbing people in the first five seconds, which is great. So, yeah, since this is. We're going to test this out. We have to go back to. To go forward. We have to go back. So we're going to go back to Wayne's World and we're going to go in five, four.

0:15:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): Sa.

0:16:00 - (Dave Burlin): And we're back.

0:16:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): Dramatic pause.

0:16:03 - (Dave Burlin): Dramatic pause. Man, that's brilliant. I love you. Congratulations.

0:16:08 - (Tawni Nguyen): Standing out of that. That's a crazy shot at the end.

0:16:11 - (Brian Schulz): Oh, this is a drone.

0:16:13 - (Tawni Nguyen): Oh, I was like, what robots?

0:16:15 - (Dave Burlin): Just a robot shot.

0:16:16 - (Brian Schulz): You can find any 12 year old, any grammar school kid.

0:16:20 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm like, where are you? At the lot until McDonald's.

0:16:22 - (Dave Burlin): Shout out to Ju Quinones. Right? No, that's brilliant. You have a very unique eye to capture. What we always talk about here is the best marketing is the truth. And I could feel just a different version of that truth through what you show there. And it's kind of that behind the scenes of what is possible, especially in probably anywhere. But I think there's this remarkable energy around of what's possible here in Las Vegas.

0:16:59 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, when you say truthful, that's one of the cornerstones that I always try to build my reputation around. I did a documentary about the Flint water crisis in 2016 and it was very sensitive subject and you're coming into people's lives that there's no something that we could relate to in Vegas. You know, the absence of water and what that means to people. So, you know, it was a mission to go out there and just sort of portray myself as honestly as I could and find three unique characters working with professional athletes. That's.

0:17:34 - (Brian Schulz): There's a lot of trust built in there a with the organization, the league and themselves. You know, last year I was embedded with Devonte Adams, the former wide receiver of the Las Vegas Raiders. It was for a Netflix show with NFL Films. And you know, they're one of my clients and they recognize as a trustworthiness with Brian and then Devonte and his family and bringing the crew into his house and stuff like that. So trustworthiness is a big, you know, in filmmaking is a big something you want to be a part of. So.

0:18:08 - (Brian Schulz): And I just try to tell authentic Stories. I. I don't know, man. I look at what's out there, and I look at other marketing and, you know, you look at the Strip and, you know, some of the stuff you see out there is just. I don't know, it's kind of kitschy or. Sure. It's just like, you know, is there a way? And it could be funny. It doesn't have to be serious. It could be, you know, obviously, it's. It's a jovial city, and people come here for a release and, you know, feel. You feel all the emotions in Vegas, you know, the bad ones when you lose, you know, lose at the roulette table, and the good ones because you're around people you haven't seen in a while, and it's a great place just to socialize and, you know, leave whatever's in your previous world for these four days.

0:18:51 - (Dave Burlin): Well, one of the things that. When we started this show, the essence. The essence of Pursue Vegas is come here, play here, stay here. So the difference isn't just, can you come and have a great time? The answer is yes. Like, we can show that. And anyone can show that on their reels. They can show. I had this poppy steak where, you know, sparklers come out. You can show that It's a little bit harder to help people understand what it's really like to build here, what it's like to move here from somewhere else, what it's like to start a family here or grow a business here.

0:19:28 - (Dave Burlin): So that's really been the reason why we started this show. I'd love for you to explain, because I know you came from New York City. What, essentially, what was it that made you choose Vegas? And how long have you been here now?

0:19:40 - (Brian Schulz): So I got here in August of 2018, and I had a buddy.

0:19:45 - (Dave Burlin): Oh, right before me.

0:19:46 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah.

0:19:47 - (Dave Burlin): I didn't realize it was. Literally, I got here in November.

0:19:49 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah. I had a buddy living out here, buddy from high school. He had made some different stops along the way from New York City. He worked with the Buccaneers in Tampa, and then he moved out here to work with the Vegas Knights. He's now in Scottsdale. He moved last year with his family, but he just said, why don't you come out in 2017? And I. I didn't know Vegas wasn't on my map of places I wanted to go. But my good buddy, who I've known since 13 years old, was out here, and I said, let's do it. And then, like, three days into the trip, I'm like, it's Pretty good living out here because I think it's always the same thing. It's like Vegas. Where do you live? On the Strip. You know, it's like the running joke. Like, no, there's, you know, which hotel.

0:20:29 - (Dave Burlin): Do you live in?

0:20:30 - (Brian Schulz): Right. This city of 2 million people, you know, it's huge. We all couldn't fit on the Strip if we tried. Well, it'd be like living in New York City, actually stacked on top of that. Beyond that, we don't want that because we're making the move in 2018. So we're looking for something different. So it was just, you know, and I said, we're out here, Brian. Come on out. You know, people out here now. And, yeah, I found a place on Fremont Street. It was then called Fremont 9. I think it's now called the Eli. Oh, yeah, right by Atomic Liquors.

0:21:01 - (Dave Burlin): That's actually shout out to some fellow friends of the show, Taylor and Tyler. That's where their studio's at.

0:21:07 - (Tawni Nguyen): They didn't mention Atomic Liquor. I've been in a hole and not been in downtown.

0:21:12 - (Dave Burlin): She doesn't even know what that is.

0:21:13 - (Brian Schulz): It's like one of the oldest bars in Vegas.

0:21:15 - (Dave Burlin): I believe it is the oldest.

0:21:17 - (Brian Schulz): And interesting enough, I was staring at it one day, and their address is 917, and 917 is the OG cell phone or the OG area code for New York City.

0:21:30 - (Dave Burlin): Whoa.

0:21:30 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, interesting. I was looking at a one, like 212 was the beginning, and 718, and then 917. And now people in Vegas that aren't from Vegas, maybe from the east coast, they see the 917. Like, whoa, how did you get that? I didn't know 917 is a thing if you're in New York City.

0:21:44 - (Dave Burlin): So. Yeah, interesting.

0:21:46 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah. Shout out to Tom McLucker, though.

0:21:49 - (Dave Burlin): Good.

0:21:49 - (Brian Schulz): Good address, guys.

0:21:50 - (Dave Burlin): You got it.

0:21:52 - (Tawni Nguyen): He's like, you got me. I think in the city of, like, noise and just saturation and everything, and there's opportunity for everyone to, like, come in, build a new business, and a lot of things kind of fade, right? Because there's people come in. It's kind of like a flash in the pan. They make a big noise for a short amount of time, and they're good for a short amount of time. But I think to us locals, after we've been here for a while, we know that those things don't really last.

0:22:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): And I think for me, like, to ask you as a creative person, and that's like, capturing the reality of what people live like here. Like, how do you stay connected to, like, the essence of who you are and how do you cut away from, like, all the noise and the distractions to really focus on, like, what your actual vision is?

0:22:34 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, that's a great question. There is a lot of noise in the city and a lot of distraction, but there's distractions everywhere you look. I mean, in any city, you're always going to find something that's going to tug at your heartstrings or curiosity, and you have to make time for yourself. I think a schedule is good. Dave, you're in the military, so you're very. I bet your schedule, like, you're probably on top of it, right?

0:22:59 - (Dave Burlin): It can be, it can be, it can be, it can be.

0:23:03 - (Brian Schulz): But we're supposed to start this an hour ago.

0:23:04 - (Dave Burlin): Some days are a little more chaos.

0:23:06 - (Tawni Nguyen): Than others, depending on which day you talk to him.

0:23:10 - (Brian Schulz): It's good having a routine. I think that's something that professional sports teaches you about. I worked at Major League Baseball for 16 years, and granted these guys make a lot, a lot of money, but at one time it like, really dawned on me, like from April to October, especially in baseball, where it's an everyday sport, 162 games, it's just, you know, if you're, if you're at home, it's the same thing. You wake up, you eat, you know, maybe you take care of a little bit of business. You're in the car by 1:00 clock, you're at the ballpark by 1:30, you know, you stretch, you batting practice, you eat, it's game rinse and repeat, you know, for six months.

0:23:50 - (Brian Schulz): So I mean, it's so. And it's proven that routines are good for us and vacations are good as well because we need a break from our routine. So I think that's how I try to keep a routine, you know, like, I try to get to the gym in the morning. I know I don't do well at the gym, like at five in the, in the afternoon, get it out. I try to get stuff out of the way early. Anything that could get out of the way early, whether it's phone calls to family members, keeping in touch, work.

0:24:17 - (Brian Schulz): Well, obviously work is throughout the whole day, but like the gym or stuff that I want to do for myself for Brian, you know, I try to get that out of the way. So I know it's taking care of myself before I take care of anybody else.

0:24:29 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, I run into that too. I've recently, because of scheduling and trying to get other things done. I'VE realized my time that I have the most energy is in the morning. I've missed the gym. But then there's some days where I'm like, well, I still want to get one in and I'll go in the evening. And it just like, I'm go home and I'm just dead to the world. And I wake up just exhausted. So it is interesting trying to find that balance.

0:24:56 - (Dave Burlin): The best part is we have so many. We have access to so much here in Las Vegas, as far as, you know, health gyms. Like, we really can't. Like, anyone can change. We don't have a lot of the barriers that other places might have. So you can jump into a yoga routine if that's your thing. I don't know. What's your thing? You say gym.

0:25:17 - (Brian Schulz): Getting into the gym is. Is good. I'm sort of getting into LED saunas.

0:25:23 - (Dave Burlin): Nice. Very cool.

0:25:24 - (Brian Schulz): Get a good sweat. We have none downtown, so we don't have a lot. It's funny, we don't have a lot downtown. We don't have a lot in terms of great bars, great art galleries, great restaurants. I mean, I think that's what we do really well. But, oh, man, could we use a grocery store.

0:25:40 - (Dave Burlin): Oh, yeah.

0:25:40 - (Tawni Nguyen): I don't think it was designed for quality of life, like the lifestyle of actually living downtown. It was more created towards art and creativity and entertainment.

0:25:48 - (Brian Schulz): Great.

0:25:48 - (Tawni Nguyen): But we have to eat, you know.

0:25:49 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, exactly.

0:25:50 - (Brian Schulz): I don't want to come out to.

0:25:51 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, there's only so many restaurants you can eat, you know, like Esther's Kitchen. Like, everything is great. And so you can't be dining out every single night.

0:25:59 - (Brian Schulz): Well, that's why we need. I would love to have a grocery store that I could get to, you know, outside of a Smiths, which is. Which is good and everything, but sometimes you want, like, what's the new one? Is it Trader Joe's? Well, no. Is that coming out? There's something. No, there's another one that, er. One's the fancy one in la, so it's not Erwan, because I don't think we're a fan.

0:26:15 - (Dave Burlin): Trader Joe's.

0:26:16 - (Brian Schulz): Trader Joe's would be nice. Trader Joe's putting out there.

0:26:20 - (Tawni Nguyen): Say it three times and don't.

0:26:22 - (Dave Burlin): Did we say Trader Joe's?

0:26:24 - (Brian Schulz): I think we did Trader Joe's. Or you kind of like, it'd be nice to have, you know, something like that where it's walkable or take your bike or whatever.

0:26:33 - (Tawni Nguyen): I think that's coming up because I think I drove past downtown. You See all the buildings kind of coming up, like the Midtown, and all the areas right there by the World Market Center.

0:26:41 - (Brian Schulz): Symphony Park.

0:26:42 - (Tawni Nguyen): Symphony park is coming up. And for me, you know, I geek out on real estate. So, like, driving, looking at land and looking at development and talking to people about who owns those pockets and the investment opportunities, that's like, what I kind of do for fun is, like, data is one thing. And then me driving around like, oh, look at that. Like, that wasn't there.

0:26:58 - (Brian Schulz): Well, yeah. Symphony park has those new luxury apartments going up. And, you know, the bomb is going to be real estate.

0:27:04 - (Dave Burlin): Sure.

0:27:04 - (Brian Schulz): Commercial. So those people have to, you know, eat. And then look at what's going on in the arts districts with those new buildings. You know, one across from the Good Wolf on Commerce street. The other one's by Esther's Kitchen. I mean, it's, like, going to be, like, 900 people eventually living downtown after November of 2025. So that's exciting.

0:27:22 - (Dave Burlin): No, I think it's great. Well, and here's what's really interesting, too, is you have all this opportunity. Well, even you mentioned, because you live in the. What the. Ellie? Like, I think the. I knew people that had commercial real estate on that bottom floor, and I guess it wasn't zoned properly for that. So now those are all, like, vacant.

0:27:43 - (Tawni Nguyen): Tell me more.

0:27:44 - (Dave Burlin): Oh, yeah, there you go. Let's talk. I get 40%. No, I'm just. I'm just kidding. It's 45. It's 45%. No, the. The. Here. Here's what's interesting. Right? And we're starting to see this trend happen. I'd love your perspective. One, being someone who lives here, someone who moved here, but also the. The future of what we're starting to see with Hollywood 2.0 coming and all those things. What we're already starting to see is a natural fallout of all of these podcast studios popping up.

0:28:13 - (Dave Burlin): Right. And even there's a fun story. The Uncommons over in Southwest. Right. I was there when one of their venues opened up probably a year and a half ago. Right. It was cold outside. That's all I remember.

0:28:26 - (Brian Schulz): What's it called?

0:28:27 - (Dave Burlin): The Assembly. Right. And so the Uncommons, fantastic place. We were talking to the developer of the property and the GM of the whole property, and I was like, what are you excited about, man? They just went on and on and on and on, and it was like all the vision that they had for everything. I was like, that's great. Where does the podcast studio go? And they just looked at each other and it was like, oh, like we didn't even think of that.

0:28:53 - (Dave Burlin): Now they're coming in with the new co working space, the kiln, and it does have a podcast studio and you're starting to see a lot more podcast studios pop up on properties. Like I always say, Elysian, you know, Elysian is a great network of properties. Here you're already starting to see some of these really high level apartment complex condos. Clear out a unit and create a podcast studio because it's going to bring a lot more content creators.

0:29:22 - (Dave Burlin): So as we really shift into the next phase of what Las Vegas is becoming, what, what's your prediction for how you see content? Video production, movie production, all of those things. What do you see that, that evolution look like?

0:29:40 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, it's a great point. I mean, I think if you look at a big level, you see that we're in a creator's economy. You know, TikTok has burned that and you know, Instagram and you know, YouTube, everybody has pages and content to look at the push. So it's a creator's economy. So if you're not opening up a podcast studio, you're sort of behind the eight ball.

0:30:05 - (Dave Burlin): Sure.

0:30:06 - (Brian Schulz): You know, and you know, they're going to open that modestly. It doesn't take a huge, like you're building a Warner Brothers lot or something. This is something that, you know, Universal, with a vision, can, can operate it. And then, you know, a lot of people work from home and everything, so it makes sense. You know, we're in a room that's what, 15 by 15. It doesn't take a lot of, of precious real estate. It's just, you know, and you have to be competitive as a real estate developer.

0:30:34 - (Brian Schulz): You know, hey, we did, you know, we also have a pot and that might bring in, you know, but I.

0:30:39 - (Tawni Nguyen): Think the collaborative effort is like, if you can get the piece of real estate, doesn't mean you have the creative eye to do lighting well. And like the production value behind like what a creative there does versus what a developer does, which is they're good at getting the piece of land, they're getting at the structural build of things on the infrastructure side. But if they step in, it is still going to be an empty room with sound bouncing and light, just, just people in there, you know, so they still need kind of like that, that effort from people like yourself that could recognize like, this is what we do in this room.

0:31:11 - (Brian Schulz): Right. And guys like yourselves that are bringing the energy and, you know, you're bringing a different take on Vegas, which I think is amazing. You guys are doing a great job and you're killing it out there. It's all about a vision, you know, are we doing something that's different? You know, have we talked? You know, are we going to do, you know, is, is our theme going to be something that's been replicated before? It's this kind of tired, you know, do we want something different?

0:31:32 - (Brian Schulz): You know, because you guys are like taste makers. You're bringing things to the city that people just don't know about or recognize. And there's so much stuff in Vegas that's yet to be unearthed. I don't know how much we want to dig though, but you know what I'm saying? Deeper, deeper. Well, it's Vegas. A lot of stuff that's very deep, but.

0:31:52 - (Dave Burlin): Right next to the bodies.

0:31:55 - (Brian Schulz): Dig into Vegas. But it's not too deep. Yeah, you know, exactly. But no, there's a lot to be unearthed here. And it's, it's an old city, but it's, it has a new, young, creative vibe. And you know, it's all about attracting, you know, recent college grads. You know, you look at cities like Chicago and Chicago is a great city that works like for the big ten and all the, you know, the Michigan, Michigan states, Indiana, Illinois, all those big, you know, monolithic state run universities that are amazing centers of higher education.

0:32:28 - (Brian Schulz): Wisconsin, Minnesota, a lot of those kids gravitate to Chicago because it's a city of commerce. So the same thing out here. Vegas could just start attracting, you know, it's a great start. You have UNLV obviously, but then you have schools that are not too far from here like UCLA and us, Tennessee and you know, Arizona and Arizona State and you know, Utah. So they're regionally, you know, Vegas seems, you know, and it's a relatively cheap city to live in. No state income tax kinds of businesses, a three city economy.

0:33:01 - (Brian Schulz): You know, it's not huge. Although I love to see the money go in other areas like education. That's a whole other, you know, I think the state could do better in that. But what they've done so far is, is it's, it's quite amazing and it's just, it's only growing more.

0:33:15 - (Tawni Nguyen): I think it's come, come down to entrepreneurs in the city too. Those are the communities like leaders, kind of like the ones that we talk to that has their certain challenges and frustrations. The same with you, like in certain pockets like education, healthcare is probably the top two that we've heard the leaders in this city it's like, hey, like, we kind of had to take the lead on ourselves and kind of lead other people in our community.

0:33:37 - (Tawni Nguyen): Community out of certain pockets that the government can't take care of us. And even with the, like, I'm a hardcore capitalism, like, yeah, at, at its core. Right. But with all these podcast Studios, sure, like 50 can come up, but how many is actually going to last? Because it is such a relationship town that I've seen a lot of people just turn and burn their way through this town and just kind of like, oh, I have a business model.

0:34:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): Pump up people, pump people in and just burn them real fast and then they're never going to last in this town.

0:34:06 - (Dave Burlin): Right, you're right. I think with anything that's a fast growing trend, you're always going to have the mass market that runs towards it. Immediately you're going to figure out who the top 20% are that are going to lead that part of the industry. Then you have the bottom 20% that are just literally bottom feeders and then you have that meh, middle. Right. What's interesting is, I think, to speak to this industry specifically in film, television, podcasting, content creation, what do you see as the biggest challenge that's in the near future for Las Vegas?

0:34:50 - (Dave Burlin): And what do you see as the biggest opportunity as we go through this evolution together?

0:34:56 - (Brian Schulz): Oh, that's a good question. Well, a, there's a lot of opportunity out there, whether you want to get into marketing and maybe, you know, you're into hospitality and it's a strip or you're into sports. You know, I didn't mention ufc. You know, they have a strong footprint here and there's lots of content available there. And then obviously with the, with the, with the major studios coming here, which is also going to bring an influx of people in and I'll be ready for that.

0:35:21 - (Brian Schulz): The infrastructure here and because you have to have infrastructure like education and health care and all that with. I remember going back to New York City, if you wanted to build a skyrise, you had to add a school, and if there wasn't a hospital nearby, you had to build a hospital. It was like one of the interesting. Yeah. Wow. You're getting like, you know, 40 story. You know, you might have, you know, 3,500 people living.

0:35:47 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:35:47 - (Brian Schulz): And, you know, and that's just, you know, on a square.

0:35:50 - (Dave Burlin): That's a whole ecosystem of human beings.

0:35:52 - (Brian Schulz): You need to be prepared for that. So, you know, I'm big, you know, I like to follow local politics as I might be dating myself. Here, But a wise congressman from Massachusetts. He was a former speaker of the House back before. Well, I was young Tip o' Neill. And he's just saying all politics is local.

0:36:11 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:36:11 - (Brian Schulz): So I think it starts with, I'd like to see more of our city government. I would love a. I'm really bullish. Like, you know, give me that, you know, master's in public. What is it? Master's in public administration. I want that person from, like, that young kid from Stanford or, you know, University of Virginia, you know, public policy. That's it. A master's in public policy. Just come out here and have a vision. You know, I think we've done okay on the city level, but I like to see us because as the city's progressing.

0:36:43 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:36:44 - (Brian Schulz): You know, hey, the Goodmans were great. They got us started, but now it's like sports. We're competitive. How do you know? We made one free agent acquisition, we made another. How are we building our farm system? Who's the next people that are going to lead us beyond the great foundation that this city has been built on by people like the Goodmans and Shelley Berkeley? That's now the mayor here. Who is that next individual that we probably don't know right now.

0:37:08 - (Brian Schulz): That person's not here. But. But that goes into a lot, you know, into my. You know, into my ecosystem of being, you know, a director and a cinematographer and be able to tell stories because, you know, I want to stay in Vegas as long as I can. I just want to make sure the infrastructure is there.

0:37:25 - (Dave Burlin): I love that. And thanks for sharing it. And this is something that I did not get approval from with my fabulous co host here, but in a way, we've started to create this podcast as a. Almost as a manifesting podcast. It's like there's all of this incredible stuff that we have access to. Wish list. Just putting you on the spot here with all of the things you mentioned. Ufc, which has a big presence here.

0:37:51 - (Dave Burlin): I know you have some different people that you would love to interview or you would love to create, you know, content and documentaries around and stuff like that. But, like, if you could wave that magic wand, who are the people that you would love to get in front of and capture the essence of who they are and what they're doing in this community and beyond.

0:38:13 - (Brian Schulz): Well, one person I love to work with, and I grew up a big tennis fan in New York City.

0:38:19 - (Dave Burlin): You look like a tennis player.

0:38:21 - (Brian Schulz): Do you know where I'm going? Vegas Tennis. Who am I thinking about? Who am I thinking about? Podcast.

0:38:28 - (Dave Burlin): Mike Tyson.

0:38:29 - (Brian Schulz): Mike Tyson. He does have a good second serve. The first is a little, you know. Now, Andre Agassi, he's the guy that put this city on the map. He's an innovator, and I've gotten to do something around him with pickleball, but I like to dive into as a documentary subject. I think Andre is fascinating.

0:38:47 - (Dave Burlin): Okay.

0:38:47 - (Brian Schulz): He's born and bred in Vegas. Remember his Rebel, the canon. Back in the day again, Dating ourselves, going to YouTube. Andre Aggies. Rebel. I mean, but like, growing up in New York, I was wearing, like, black socks because he wore black socks at one point in his career. The pink tennis racket, the denim shorts. You know, I was a kid, you know, I played on the New York City Parks Department, you know, hard courts, you know, Marine Park, Brooklyn. Flatbush. Where are you? Flatbush. You out there? No, Flatbush. Brooklyn.

0:39:21 - (Tawni Nguyen): Now you're just saying them drippers.

0:39:23 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah.

0:39:24 - (Dave Burlin): Nobody knows.

0:39:25 - (Brian Schulz): No one knows. No.

0:39:25 - (Dave Burlin): That's great.

0:39:26 - (Brian Schulz): Into Brooklyn. So I think he's. And then, you know who he's married to, you know, 23 time Grand Slam champion Stephanie. Stephanie Graff.

0:39:36 - (Dave Burlin): That's amazing.

0:39:37 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, he's a really cool dude. I like to find out more. And he. I think he's.

0:39:41 - (Dave Burlin): There it is. It's in the Pursuit Vegas podcast universe.

0:39:44 - (Brian Schulz): He's got a great autobiography. Was called Open. I read that years ago. It's probably about 10 years old. That book is probably 10 years old. That's a good book. Opened by. By Andre. So, yeah, that's. That's. And there's so many other people in this city.

0:39:57 - (Dave Burlin): It's just.

0:39:57 - (Brian Schulz): It's a bunch of characters. I did something with Murray the Magician. He's well known on the Strip. He used to perform at the Tropicana.

0:40:06 - (Dave Burlin): Gotcha.

0:40:06 - (Brian Schulz): But now the Tropicana doesn't.

0:40:08 - (Tawni Nguyen): You know, I did bump into him on my friend Lana's.

0:40:11 - (Brian Schulz): Can't miss the hair, right? Yeah, Murray, great hair, baby.

0:40:14 - (Tawni Nguyen): She was on Lana's show and then I bumped into him because I came on her show and then he lives by my friend John, which is like a really small world because now that you mentioned you're a tennis guy. Yeah, I took tennis lessons from Marty and he was like, you don't know Andre. Whatever.

0:40:26 - (Dave Burlin): Oh, Marty.

0:40:27 - (Brian Schulz): I think I play with Marty.

0:40:28 - (Dave Burlin): I know who this Marty. Marty was my coach.

0:40:30 - (Brian Schulz): I know Marty. We played at the.

0:40:31 - (Tawni Nguyen): Look at me. I'm so athletic.

0:40:33 - (Brian Schulz): Did you go to that?

0:40:35 - (Tawni Nguyen): I was at Sterling Club.

0:40:37 - (Brian Schulz): That's. I know Marty there.

0:40:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, I've been There, that's what I'm saying. I remember him saying. He was like, oh, I used to coach, you know, whatever. And I was like, I don't know who that is.

0:40:44 - (Brian Schulz): He's like, what you said? He said, andre, you didn't know who that was? I was like, dude, look, Andre Agassi never.

0:40:51 - (Tawni Nguyen): I had six times.

0:40:52 - (Dave Burlin): Hold on, hold on. She does not know very many pop culture things.

0:40:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm a little unreal.

0:40:59 - (Brian Schulz): She's making too much money.

0:41:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): I like data. Okay.

0:41:02 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, anyways.

0:41:03 - (Tawni Nguyen): No, but that's what he was saying. He was like, hey, come out like all these. And he was like, why are you taking tennis lessons? And at that time. And I was like, because pickleball's like getting huge. And I'm like, I want to take tennis because it's harder. And I'm going to go kick ass on the kick.

0:41:15 - (Brian Schulz): Pickleball. Yeah.

0:41:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): I don't never. Still haven't played pickleball.

0:41:17 - (Brian Schulz): There's a great book out there. I'll drop a little. And I first read. Heard about this book. People in Vegas will know this person now as Pete Carroll, the new head coach of the Vegas Raiders. And he's at USC at the time. So it's the early aughts he left the Patriots, I believe he went to college for a while at usc. He was with the jets, that other football team in New York. Suffering Giants fan here. But yeah, he was like the other one, that other team.

0:41:45 - (Brian Schulz): But he couldn't really break through to this one linebacker. And what he wanted to, like just to get him like dialed in. And he gave him this great book. It's called the Inner Game of Tennis. And it just teaches you how to think differently about life and how we learn certain things. One of the things was like. And I don't think this guy into Pete's philosophy, but I love to talk to him about this book because I remember like it was like 2005 and I saw it on ESPN. It was a feature about the inner game of tennis. This book almost.

0:42:19 - (Brian Schulz): Books are making a big thing now. You look at the, the Eagles, the wide receiver. He's reading a book on the sideline during the Super Bowl. I mean, he'd been doing it all year, but, you know, and it just, it teaches you, like when you want to teach someone how to do something. I remember the one thing about the book, it's like, you don't want to give them instruction in how to do it. You know, you don't have to get behind them. And this is how you Hit your forehand and come out.

0:42:44 - (Brian Schulz): It's like, how do you envision what a good forehand looks like? Can you imagine what a good forehand looks like? And now do you have the process to put it together? And he found that the learning curve, if you envision what something looks like and the modality that goes into translating it from, you know, hand, eye coordination to mind, all in a quick second, it's, you know, it's repetition, but it's like, what does something look like? And I think that's a good analogy for anything in life.

0:43:16 - (Brian Schulz): Like, what does success look like? What is, you know, being on top of the data world or killing, you know, the podcast community? You know, it's not maybe reading books or whatever, which are good, but, you know, it's.

0:43:28 - (Dave Burlin): Well, it is part of that. Now, I do want to speak to the book thing because this happens in pop culture very seldomly, and it's perfect that you brought that up from him reading the book on the sidelines. I've made this joke multiple times. I have a T shirt. I'll probably start wearing it more often again. It says alchemist on it. Right. Book. The alchemist.

0:43:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): You wear to yoga.

0:43:51 - (Dave Burlin): I did. I did wear it to yoga. What's interesting is I've had people stop me and they'll come over and be like, oh, my gosh, have you read the Alchemist? And what's interesting about you talking about a sports celebrity reading books on the sideline. There's no way that you can tell what books are on my shelf right now without visually seeing my bookshelf. You would never know what I'm reading when I put it on a T shirt. It's almost like a jersey. There's no jersey for the books that we read, but when you start to create that connection, that's the little game for me. But. But part. You mentioned this podcast.

0:44:28 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah.

0:44:29 - (Dave Burlin): Like, I was in deep concentration and thinking about this when I shot the original series of Pursue Vegas four years ago. Post pandemic, we shot five episodes of just, what. Trying to capture the restaurant scene, the art scene, the entrepreneur scene as what was what was going on. I didn't realize, but I did know that it was going to be something that was for a media platform that was getting stronger. I didn't know that it was podcasts, but in a way, like, I were not here by mistake. Right. So there is that opportunity to really get deep in that. I would challenge you that if you don't wake up every morning, like, sitting with Andre Agassi, it's not going to happen.

0:45:11 - (Brian Schulz): Right.

0:45:12 - (Dave Burlin): But it starts with saying, this is what I would love to do. And then it's like you really get deep inside of that. So that's why I joke. This is a manifest we're calling people out here. It's like I've called many people out, like Pasquale from edc. I would love to have you on the show, my friend.

0:45:27 - (Brian Schulz): Come on, Pasquale. It's not that bad. It's really easy. Sit down.

0:45:30 - (Dave Burlin): I mean, it's only though, it's only the largest. It's only the largest music festival in North America. So. Yeah, what is it?

0:45:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): EC something, right?

0:45:39 - (Dave Burlin): EC Everyday carry. It's your everyday carry.

0:45:42 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pasquale, don't be so scared. Come on.

0:45:45 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, come on.

0:45:45 - (Brian Schulz): I might have to wash these for you. It's great.

0:45:48 - (Dave Burlin): Watch, watch. It's funny because he's getting tennis lessons right now from Andre Agassi.

0:45:52 - (Brian Schulz): Oh my God. Andre's day rate for like, you talk about day rates, you know, work it freelance and everything. You know, it's like when, you know, maybe you won that like at a silent auction, you know, well, 50 grand for an hour with Andre.

0:46:05 - (Dave Burlin): I don't know if you've thought of this and this is just like on the spot, like advice. You can take it or leave it. Like, here's. Here's what I. Here's what I've learned. Here's what I've learned for some of the larger people, like bigger stars and stuff like that, it's never just going to them or approaching them or even going up the traditional chain. Figure out what a cause is that he might care about if there's any kind of non profit cause or any of that stuff and just offer to shoot a miniseries or a mini film about that to get it more.

0:46:39 - (Dave Burlin): More visibility and that may be kind of a side door. I don't know.

0:46:42 - (Brian Schulz): No, yeah, you have to. You know, it's always great getting how.

0:46:45 - (Tawni Nguyen): To stalk without stalking.

0:46:46 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, exactly.

0:46:47 - (Brian Schulz): Is that a book?

0:46:48 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:46:48 - (Brian Schulz): Wait, is it? Right.

0:46:50 - (Dave Burlin): And if it is a book, it's an ebook.

0:46:51 - (Brian Schulz): Going back. Going back to Dave's thing. Do I want to put that on a T shirt?

0:46:55 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, right.

0:46:57 - (Brian Schulz): The Alchemist. I don't know if I want to put that T shirt on. That might be. But going back to that T shirt, I love that. Because what you were saying is like just by looking at me, you don't know what's on my. My mantle or on the. The Berlin Library.

0:47:12 - (Dave Burlin): Exactly.

0:47:13 - (Brian Schulz): Still trying to get that car, the key, it won't work. The fob.

0:47:15 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah. Well, that's the veteran. It's the Veteran Entrepreneur Library located at Nevada Partners.

0:47:20 - (Brian Schulz): There you go. There you go. But no, that's it. I still love that. I might have to start doing that. Like, just making sure it started.

0:47:27 - (Dave Burlin): I actually, it started with a good friend of mine who she helped on the. The first original series of the. Of the show Pursue Vegas. Her name is Mikayla. And Mikayla, actually, she used to work with a phenomenal author, Simon Sinek. Oh, yeah, she was the tour manager. Yeah, she was tour manager for that. I was doing some. I was doing some work with them. I was actually helping facilitate the Y discovery course for veterans online.

0:47:53 - (Brian Schulz): Okay.

0:47:54 - (Dave Burlin): And I had this idea. I was like, oh. So I had made a T shirt that said, find your why? I did it in Nike font because it just. There's that something about that font that just grabs you. And I put the little Simon Sinek flame on the logo. I did a full photo shoot with Josh Line, friend of the show, and I sent it to them as, hey, this is. And I wore it out in town first as like a social experiment. Literally, people would walk across a casino to walk over and be like, hey, is that the. Is that the TED Talk guy?

0:48:26 - (Brian Schulz): Smart.

0:48:27 - (Dave Burlin): And I was like. So then I sent it to the team at Simon Sinek and I got my very first cease and desist letter. And. Yeah, and it was. Yeah, and it was. It was my very first cease and desist.

0:48:39 - (Brian Schulz): But put that on the refrigerator would imagine.

0:48:41 - (Dave Burlin): No, no, this is great. Here's what happened. The director of Brand Experience, Stephen Shedd, who's a good friend of mine now, he actually pulled me aside virtually, and he's like. It was like a wink, wink, you know, he goes, hey, we have to tell you to please, please stop doing this wink. Please take the logo off.

0:48:59 - (Brian Schulz): Just the flame.

0:49:00 - (Dave Burlin): Just take the flame off. And I was like, why? And he said, you can't copyright a book title in the same way, so that's kind of free game. But it was Take the Flame Off. And I was like, okay. So I immediately took the flame off, and it's been a fun thing ever since, so. And to the point of the Alchemist one, I was in Austin, Texas. I got on an elevator, and you can always tell when people get it right. But, like, again, you just won't see this anywhere else. Like, you could see somebody in an Eagles jersey, you could see somebody in a Kansas City jersey, and you could be on the other side of the world and see somebody with a Las Vegas Golden Knights jersey and, like, you have a connection there, or you have resistance and you, like, you might walk past, like, your life partner and never speak to them because they're wearing a different jersey. But there's no jersey for the books that we read. And that kid in Austin, he got on the elevator and you could tell he was very anxious, and he just goes, have you read the book? And I just go, what if I told you I read the book and I made this shirt just to find other people who have read the.

0:49:59 - (Dave Burlin): The book?

0:49:59 - (Brian Schulz): And he's just like, experiment.

0:50:01 - (Dave Burlin): His mind explodes.

0:50:02 - (Brian Schulz): Well, I. I feel like what you're going into is what Tony talked about. What is it? Combustions. Spontaneous. I'm really making Tony Shay.

0:50:13 - (Dave Burlin): Oh, gotcha.

0:50:14 - (Brian Schulz): He has that. I know someone saying dummy. It's this. It's spontaneous.

0:50:19 - (Dave Burlin): It's. Are you talking about when you meet people on the street, it's not. Not combustion.

0:50:24 - (Brian Schulz): Get a term for it.

0:50:25 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, it's a. Collision points. Yeah, Collision points. Yeah, it creates that collision.

0:50:30 - (Brian Schulz): Right, exactly.

0:50:31 - (Dave Burlin): For you're like, oh, wait a minute, there's an association here.

0:50:34 - (Brian Schulz): Right. But you're just meeting people. And that's what's great about downtown. You know, the west side is great. We love it, but it's more of a bedroom community. And, you know, you have to, you know, be out, and then you have to be more. If you want to talk to someone or if you see, you know, someone wearing your favorite Jersey, shout out. UConn Huskies alum, two time national defending champions.

0:50:53 - (Brian Schulz): Having a rough year this year. I think we'll get back into it, but really, I digress. This is not. This is not the college basketball podcast. Dan Hurley, Best coach of America Talk. Really. The husband. We're nice people. Stores, Connecticut. But anyway, it's. It's. It's a. It's. It's something about downtown.

0:51:12 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:51:13 - (Brian Schulz): You know, it's just going back to my point earlier. It's just, you know, I love hanging out places downtown like Vesta and Bungalow. My friends own the Good Wolf and sometimes Elden Places, which is a lifestyle shop. And, you know, and they sell clothes and home goods and all this great stuff and it's expertly curated. But these little places where, you know Vinnie that owns the Good Pie, He's a fucking guy.

0:51:36 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, Vinnie's a friend of the show.

0:51:38 - (Brian Schulz): On the show.

0:51:39 - (Dave Burlin): No, he's a friend of the show. He's queued up. He's queued up. So we'll get him On. No, it's actually funny. Like I work with. So on a totally different life that I have around the world of pizza. He's in the, he's in the. He's in the same network as, as one of. We have a friend clients.

0:51:59 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm going to manifest that. He brings us pizza.

0:52:01 - (Dave Burlin): Oh, yeah.

0:52:02 - (Brian Schulz): Oh, Vinny comes on the show. Vinny, if you come on the show.

0:52:04 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, it's like I'm gonna send it directly to him.

0:52:07 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah. Vinny, bring the pizza.

0:52:09 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:52:09 - (Brian Schulz): It's dough, it's flour, it's artisanal cheese. I know it's expensive, but really I was. You are getting the best flour.

0:52:15 - (Dave Burlin): Literally a good pie yesterday day. Good stuff.

0:52:18 - (Brian Schulz): Good pie is good stuff. We just make a good pie.

0:52:20 - (Dave Burlin): Good stuff. No, as we hint towards that, I will say this, and this is what's fascinating. I have not seen this anywhere. And I work with, I work with. I'm close with the world Pizza champions, which are more than 75 world competitive pizzeria owners from around the world that have been hand selected because they are good people. I have yet to find any other people on the planet in the United States where at least five people at Good Pie have the tattoo of the logo on their bodies. That is a company culture anomaly that I've yet to see. And that's where I'm really interested to see.

0:53:02 - (Brian Schulz): So they have the Good Pie hat employees have.

0:53:05 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, they have the logo tattooed on them. So that creates a very compelling culture that I'm just like, I cannot wait.

0:53:11 - (Brian Schulz): Isn't this pizza thing coming up in Vegas? They have the.

0:53:14 - (Dave Burlin): It is the pizza expo. Yep. We're gonna need your help for that. That's the secret. Secret. My stomach helped. I need your video help. Yeah, we're shooting a documentary. Yeah, we. I might need your help.

0:53:27 - (Brian Schulz): Oh, yeah, I know. I have very high standards when it comes to pizza. Well, being a New York City kid.

0:53:32 - (Dave Burlin): Good. I, I, I, I imagine you do.

0:53:34 - (Brian Schulz): I'm right there with Port knowing that whole thing. Yeah.

0:53:38 - (Dave Burlin): You know what?

0:53:39 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'll be next to you.

0:53:40 - (Dave Burlin): We need to make you the Dave Portnoy of Las Vegas. And we're just gonna go try all the pizza. Right.

0:53:44 - (Tawni Nguyen): When he says that, I was like, no, we're not getting matching tattoos.

0:53:48 - (Brian Schulz): There's this new place in Summerlin.

0:53:50 - (Dave Burlin): Okay.

0:53:50 - (Brian Schulz): Solamente. Have you heard about it? Hopefully I'm saying it right.

0:53:53 - (Dave Burlin): I think so.

0:53:54 - (Brian Schulz): It looks really. There's a.

0:53:56 - (Dave Burlin): Where's that one at?

0:53:58 - (Brian Schulz): It's like, okay, yeah.

0:54:00 - (Dave Burlin): There's also Rebellion Pizza. There's like five places that I gotta try Familia pizza.

0:54:05 - (Brian Schulz): Another good one downtown, which you really wouldn't think of. Now I recommend going to. To their backside where they have the oven. Is pizza rock.

0:54:11 - (Dave Burlin): Oh, yeah. Pizza rock is the OG Right? But I.

0:54:14 - (Brian Schulz): The slice is good. I like the slice. But if you want to step it up a notch, you go to the. There's a whole. Is it a pet? You know, you got to get the. You know, it's doc. It's dop. You come from Naples and give you a certificate that you're, you know, certified to make Neapolitan pizza, which is for those non Italian zone. That's the. The slice and then the square is Sicilian.

0:54:37 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah. Tony was the founder of the world Pizza champions.

0:54:40 - (Brian Schulz): Was he?

0:54:40 - (Dave Burlin): And yeah. So I actually know Tony very well and he's part of the whole world of pizza.

0:54:46 - (Brian Schulz): I come.

0:54:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): Making me hungry.

0:54:48 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, right.

0:54:49 - (Brian Schulz): I have cousins that actually own a. They started with their dad who immigrated here, married my mom's first cousin from sicily in the 1960s and they settled in Charlottesville, Virginia, where UVA is. It's an amazing city. And now one of his sons has taken over the pizza shop. So I've been around pizza and how it's made and what it's. You know, even though I don't. There's also a guy out of New York I got to connect you with. Let's do the pizza.

0:55:14 - (Brian Schulz): Like he helps pizza shops get up and going. Okay. He's been like, no, he's New York based. But he'll probably be here for the championship.

0:55:21 - (Dave Burlin): Oh, yeah, yeah.

0:55:22 - (Brian Schulz): So we'll put that on.

0:55:23 - (Dave Burlin): I got some people to intro you.

0:55:24 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, you have your people vote.

0:55:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): There's pizza. I'm there.

0:55:27 - (Dave Burlin): Y. I get 40 pizza.

0:55:28 - (Brian Schulz): What's your favorite topping? Are you a toppings person?

0:55:30 - (Dave Burlin): If you say pineapple, we're shutting it down.

0:55:33 - (Brian Schulz): Shut it down.

0:55:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): This is the end of the show.

0:55:35 - (Brian Schulz): When I get color bars go up on the podcast.

0:55:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm basic. Just some good mozzarella, some basil, good sauce.

0:55:41 - (Brian Schulz): I'm the same way.

0:55:42 - (Tawni Nguyen): I don't even. I don't need a little bit of.

0:55:45 - (Dave Burlin): Red red pepper, crushed p. Salt, a little good salt.

0:55:48 - (Brian Schulz): I'm the same way. I mean, we could talk forever on this. I'll make it really, really short. It's just like, you know, you see all these crazy. Simple is good. I want to taste. I want to taste the crust. I want to taste the cheese. I want to taste the sauce. I don't want. And then bring in the. Bring in The. You know, then on second. On second visit. I will then go into mushrooms.

0:56:07 - (Dave Burlin): Or have you done Double zero Pie in Chinatown?

0:56:10 - (Brian Schulz): Oh, I know about it.

0:56:11 - (Dave Burlin): Okay. Yeah. Erica, have you done double zero? Erica, friend of the show. We did have her on, so she owns it. Erica, she's the gm. So stop by, check it out. We'll stop by. What are you talking about?

0:56:25 - (Brian Schulz): We'll stop by.

0:56:26 - (Dave Burlin): Let's do it. So. So with that, as we start to wrap here, where can people find you? Where can people learn more about what you're doing and get involved?

0:56:36 - (Brian Schulz): Thank you so much for that. I appreciate it. I guess my website's the first thing would be Hot Fuss Films. H O T F U S S F I L M s dot net. It's funny. I actually own the dot com, but I don't know how to bring it over. So maybe someone and I built up so much brand equity on the net side.

0:56:53 - (Dave Burlin): Oh, nice.

0:56:54 - (Brian Schulz): But I thought I actually own the dot com version, so I should probably.

0:56:57 - (Dave Burlin): Well, you got to get that.vegas, bro. You got to get the dot Vegas.

0:57:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): Gotta move the DNS over.

0:57:03 - (Brian Schulz): And then ig. I'm really active on Instagram, so it's my name. Brian J. Schultz. S C H U L Z. No T. No T. Like Charles M. Schultz without the trust fund.

0:57:14 - (Dave Burlin): Okay, gotcha.

0:57:15 - (Brian Schulz): Charles M. Schultz. Peanuts.

0:57:16 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:57:17 - (Brian Schulz): Snoopy. I barely got here on my bike. It's like sets of take. It's like six miles.

0:57:25 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah. You biked here?

0:57:27 - (Brian Schulz): Oh, I was like, whoa. I did a lot of biking when I was in New York going over the Manhattan Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge. There was some incline there. I like biking out here, though. Red Rocks. That's a good. Biking's a great way to, you know, obviously concentrate.

0:57:41 - (Dave Burlin): I'm curious, have you done the. The. The bar, the bike group?

0:57:46 - (Brian Schulz): Tall bike?

0:57:46 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah. Is that.

0:57:47 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, on Wednesdays. I've done that.

0:57:49 - (Dave Burlin): I would love to get those guys, whoever figured that place or that.

0:57:52 - (Brian Schulz): That group interview him on his tall bike.

0:57:55 - (Dave Burlin): Well, yeah, we could just do like a. A little ride along, right? Oh, throw the boom box on the back.

0:57:59 - (Brian Schulz): You are a big boombox guy.

0:58:00 - (Dave Burlin): I am a boombox guy.

0:58:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): I will drive by and hit you with my car.

0:58:05 - (Brian Schulz): Give a shout out to you. Great job with all the veteran stuff you do. I know you're a veteran, so I want to thank you for your previous service and we can do it now for the veterans community. It's. It's amazing.

0:58:15 - (Dave Burlin): So we might need a documentary on that as well, so.

0:58:18 - (Brian Schulz): And Tawny, with all Your. All your data and everything. It's just like. It's like I'm going into, like, a florist. All this data, like, with DDD Wombra and going to Tony knock. And you set you up with this type of data, or do you want longstand Peruvian data? You know, it's like, what do you want to get into? What's. What are we selling? What's up?

0:58:36 - (Tawni Nguyen): You sound like a drug dealer.

0:58:39 - (Brian Schulz): Data you got.

0:58:40 - (Dave Burlin): We had that. We had that conversation. I was like. I was like, I just want it to look cool and get out. And she's like, but there's all the analytics. And I'm like, vegas, let me tell.

0:58:49 - (Brian Schulz): You, Tony's got the best data going. Yeah, pizza and data.

0:58:53 - (Dave Burlin): Pizza on a date.

0:58:55 - (Brian Schulz): Yes, pizza data on a date. I don't know what you're gonna get. You might get some interesting people on that. In book jerseys?

0:59:03 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, in book jerseys.

0:59:03 - (Brian Schulz): Oh, my God. We'll bring it all together.

0:59:06 - (Tawni Nguyen): My only favorite shirt that I make a lot of friends in, it's big uterus energy. So when I wear that, I'm just a magnet for other big uterus.

0:59:14 - (Dave Burlin): That was on our first encounter that we met in a public place, by the way. A very public place. We're a tie, and she just rolls in. Big uterus energy.

0:59:24 - (Brian Schulz): And I'm like, were you a biology major in college?

0:59:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): I was a biochem dropout when I was 18.

0:59:29 - (Brian Schulz): I was a physical therapy major, and I couldn't handle science.

0:59:31 - (Tawni Nguyen): Shout out to my Asian parents.

0:59:33 - (Brian Schulz): Are you good at science? I'm. I got weeded out big time. University of Connecticut, 1992. Those could be a physical therapist. My mom was a dietitian. Worked in renal and people with diabetes and all that. She was telling me, like, hey, Brian, what do you want to do with your life? Like, I'm like 18. Like, what are you thinking about going to college? You know, I'm living from New York City, going up to three hours north in a cow town of Storrs, Connecticut. Says, how about physical therapy? You know, the boomers, everybody's getting older. I'm like, yeah, I'll do that. And then took some chemistry classes. I'm like, oh, God.

1:00:05 - (Tawni Nguyen): You had to have a routine that, like, wrecked me.

1:00:07 - (Brian Schulz): You had to have a routine. Going back to routine.

1:00:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's not the same as doing drugs while you're trying to make drugs.

1:00:15 - (Brian Schulz): Breaking bad. But you had to put the four hours in and you're in college and you want to drink and have good times. But this goes back to the routine thing, the kids that did really well with it, they put their four hours of studying all the prerequisites or a lot of Aderall. Was that before Aderall? Was back in the night. Early night.

1:00:31 - (Tawni Nguyen): That was during my time.

1:00:34 - (Brian Schulz): All this stuff's been around. Just. This has different names.

1:00:36 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, right.

1:00:37 - (Brian Schulz): Just repackaging it.

1:00:39 - (Dave Burlin): All right.

1:00:40 - (Brian Schulz): Yeah, I love it.

1:00:41 - (Dave Burlin): Well, thanks for coming on the show, my friend.

1:00:42 - (Brian Schulz): Guys, it's been a pleasure.

1:00:43 - (Dave Burlin): This has been great. And then we've got to get something going. I'm sure. I'm sure there's all kinds of stuff.

1:00:49 - (Tawni Nguyen): With pizza.

1:00:49 - (Dave Burlin): With pizza.

1:00:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): That's my manifestation.

1:00:51 - (Brian Schulz): Season four.

1:00:52 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, there you go.

1:00:53 - (Tawni Nguyen): Let it breathe a little bit happen.

1:00:56 - (Brian Schulz): And then eventually let the comments roll in. Guys, if you're liking the show and liking these two great people, should we start OnlyFans?

1:01:03 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

1:01:03 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's just for you, though.

1:01:04 - (Dave Burlin): All right, thank you to our four followers. You're incredible.

1:01:10 - (Brian Schulz): Come on.

1:01:11 - (Dave Burlin): 40.

1:01:13 - (Tawni Nguyen): So funny. Well, guys, that's it for us today. You know how to find Dave and I pursue Vegas slide into our DMs inquiry page. I know how that works now. I didn't know how that works before.

1:01:25 - (Brian Schulz): But you're the data person.

1:01:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): I know. I didn't set it up.

1:01:28 - (Dave Burlin): We're still Frankensteining.

1:01:29 - (Tawni Nguyen): Please slide into Brian's dms. He's very active on Instagram. He's hilarious. We. We're going to grab pizza, so if you want to join us, please let us know.

1:01:37 - (Brian Schulz): Come on out.

1:01:37 - (Tawni Nguyen): We're going to make like, a group outing, some sort of thing.

1:01:40 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, yeah, let's do it.

1:01:41 - (Tawni Nguyen): And connect you with anybody in this town. Don't. Don't hesitate. I was like, feel free to hesitate.

1:01:48 - (Dave Burlin): Click the buttons.

1:01:49 - (Tawni Nguyen): Click the buttons. You know, click up, down, sideways. I don't know.

1:01:54 - (Brian Schulz): You guys are great.

1:01:56 - (Dave Burlin): Boom.

1:01:56 - (Tawni Nguyen): Boom.

1:02:00 - (Dave Burlin): The idea of pursue Vegas was to really highlight the local people that really make Vegas Vegas.

1:02:05 - (Tawni Nguyen): I love that aspect of how these visionaries are actually bringing people together.

1:02:10 - (Dave Burlin): When we hit record, our responsibility is to connect the people of our city so we can show the world who we really are.