The Hard Copy Media Podcast
Conversations about creativity, video marketing, filmmaking, and entrepreneurship for the working creative professional.
The Hard Copy Media Podcast
From Biology Degree to Filmmaker: Building Arizona's Creative Community with David Navarrete
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What does a biology degree, a failed military application, and a pretty Nikon saleswoman have in common? They all played a part in making David Navarrete one of Arizona's most creative filmmakers and community builders.
David is the founder of Moneta De Sine — a full-service creative production company specializing in video, photo, and high-end event activations — and the creator of Arizona Filmmakers, one of the Southwest's most active filmmaker communities.
In this conversation, we cover:
- 🎬 How a depressive pivot away from medicine led David to pick up his first camera
- 💼 Running 3 jobs simultaneously (UPS, door-to-door sales, and filmmaking) to build Moneta De Sine
- 🏛️ The mythology-inspired meaning behind the name "Moneta De Sine" (mother of the muses, goddess of memories)
- 🤝 How David built Arizona Filmmakers from a Facebook group idea to 260-person events
- 📋 The community-building principles that actually work: show up on your word, give before you ask, build a flywheel
- 📸 The premium studio-quality photo booth and slow-motion robot activation services David offers at events
- 🔥 Hot take: Solo videographers with big egos are missing out on the best part of filmmaking
- 🛗 The upcoming "Elevator Pitch Show" concept being built for the Moneta Network
If you're a filmmaker, creative, or entrepreneur trying to build something real — this one's for you.
🔗 Follow David:
- Instagram: @monetadesine
- Instagram (personal): @storytellerdavidn
- Arizona Filmmakers: @arizonafilmmakers
📧 Reach the show: hello@hardcopymedia.com
👍 Like, Subscribe & Share — it helps the algorithm gods smile upon us.
What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Hard Copy Media Podcast. Today I've got a very special guest and somebody who's become a pretty good friend of mine over the last couple of years, David Neverett. He is the uh founder, owner, chief, hooligan in charge of Monet Design. Moneta Design. Moneta Design, apologies. Um I was we were just talking about this just before rolling that I was gonna fuck up the name of his company because I read it as something in Spanish on Instagram, and it's not at all that. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00No, it's a common mistake. Everyone thinks it's uh Spanish or my last name. Uh, okay. Yeah. A lot of people think Moneta is like some people say like address emails to you is like David Moneta. This is David Moneta. And then now my family close members say, Oh, Mr. Moneta. That's like a running joke. Yeah. Oh gosh. That's even funny. Even to my wife's like, oh, Miss Moneta, Mrs. Mrs. Moneta. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But is that how you always know it's a spam or like a like a like a cold call?
SPEAKER_00Yes. Like, because people that know you would like they know it's never like a referral or something. But it's like, hi, Mr. Moneta. We uh reaching you because Google's something.
SPEAKER_01Okay. I actually uh I didn't know that design was part of the company name. So uh tell you know, both myself and you know anybody watching or listening, like, how did how did you end up here? What's what's is your story, sir?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'll I'll start with the name because I know a lot of people always wonder. Uh no, it's not a family thing, it's not a name that exists anywhere, you know, in my past. Um when I was trying to figure out what to name my business, I took a game plan from Nike. Okay. Nike is like the god of uh speed or athleticism, something like that.
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, boy, my Greek mythology is something like that. A little rusty, but yeah, the Nike is a god. It's a goddess, actually.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, okay, that's so cool. Like now when you think of Nike, you just think of the brand of the shoes, right? Yeah. You don't think of the so they've they've kind of branded that name as to them. So I wanted something that I could kind of rebrand, re-give it meaning. And so I started looking at like okay, cameras, what do cameras do? What do what what do I actually do? And um I thought we're in the business of making memories. Okay, right? Yeah. We capture memories. So I started looking up what is a god of memories, and uh it popped up on Google, Moneta. So Moneta is the mother of the muses. Okay. Muses are the goddess of inspiration, all that stuff. So the mother of the muses is the goddess of memories. Okay, I got my name. And I didn't know if I was gonna take my business into photography, uh, video or graphic design or anything. Okay. So I was like, what's uh I don't wanna say Moneta films or Moneta productions. And just to uh play off of the Roman goddess of of memories, Moneta, I uh looked up Design, Decine, and uh I thought I made a mistake back then, but Decine is Romanian, not Rome. No one really knows that. Wrong Roman Empire. Yes. Uh I kept it though, because it sounded like design, it's spelled in Romanian, but uh I thought it was Rome. Um and yeah, that's how Moneta design came about. Okay, damn, that's a great story.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they put a lot of thought into that. That wasn't just like you know, you weren't like childish Gambino using like the rap name generator, you know, like which that's a cool name too.
SPEAKER_00I mean, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean it is really cool. Don Glover, shout out to Scambino. Shout out if you've been watching Genie. But yeah, you were freaking rock, dude. He might be, he might be. And you might be, I don't know. Maybe we're that big now. Uh God, I wish. Um all right, sweet. And so then you said just now that like you weren't sure what you were gonna do yet, like design, photography, video. So uh this is something I was just talking uh you know with someone else about. It's like we all had that moment where it's like I picked up a camera and I never looked back. You know, so like uh walk me through like how did you, you know, now now that you've got you know that sick ass name, you know, that I definitely didn't fuck up at the start of the show. Uh honestly you were spot on. I didn't I didn't think uh how did we uh how did we end up here now doing all the dope stuff that you do? Like what was your what was your journey to finding filmmaking? Because I know I know the degree that you have has been a prop on some stuff I've been on. And I know it's not a film degree.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. I have I got my degree in biology, and um I wanted to be a neurosurgeon. That's what I wanted to be. Jeez. So I in in high school I I thought I was gonna join the military like my dad. Um I had some health issues and I need surgery on my back and all this stuff, and so they didn't accept me. And I was like, what am I gonna do with my life now? Like, I have no direction. I was like, I know I'm smart enough to become a doctor, and I would love to just be the person that people look to for help, or like I'm very altruistic. And a lot of people say they're altruistic, but I feel like I really live it. I live it. I actually love to give and I love to if I'm the reason someone else is doing better, it's like the best feeling ever. Yeah. So I was like, yeah, if I can help people, I was going to college, got my, you know, I was interning for neurosurgeons, and literally the neurosurgeon that I was uh interning said, This is why hopefully throughout this intern I show you why you don't want to be a doctor. That's what he told me. Damn, okay. Yeah, and I was like, don't tell me that. I just I'm in $30,000 in debt already. Like, why would you do that? It's the wrong time to tell me this. Like, where were you like on orientation day? Exactly. And uh so yeah, as I was doing my interns, I saw how hard they were fighting with the insurance in the office, calling them, like, no, my patient needs this, all this stuff, and they would be shut down. Like, no, this is all we could do, this is how the business is run. I was like, this isn't help, this is a freaking business, like this. And I I looked at myself, I said, Yeah, if I have to do this for the rest of my life and deny help, that that would that would kill you. It would kill you who you are, yeah. Yeah, I would literally said, I I don't know if I could live with myself. And so I didn't know what to do. My parents were supporting me, my wife, and my son at the time through college. Um my wife was putting stuff on hold because she, you know, I'm gonna be a doctor. And to tell everybody that I wasn't gonna be a doctor anymore and I didn't know what I was gonna be, it was like the sick the most sickening feeling I've ever felt. That was like the most, the worst time in my life, I feel because I was like staying up three days, like three days at a time, studying for the MCAT, studying for all this stuff, and um and uh yeah, out of that kind of depressive state, uh I just picked up a camera and I love telling stories. Like my dad was the original storyteller. I have a short film about my dad out of the his his life could be a movie as well. Yeah, coming from uh living by himself at a young age to making his way all the way to the United States and you know. That whole story. Yeah, that whole story. So I made a short film uh about my dad, and then uh from there people just started wanting to pay me. My f my first camera. Let me tell you this. My first camera was a Nikon.
SPEAKER_01And I wanted to be We have a Nikon sitting right here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you do. I do. You do they've come a long way. They have, they have, man. Should I pick up another my new one?
SPEAKER_01I actually really want that new one. So the uh the what is it, the R or something? Or the Z Z V Z one? Z R or something. I don't know. Whatever the heck the new Nikon red is. Yeah. I hear that the only thing is I hear they overheat. Oh, I'm sure there's way too much, way too much processing power on a tiny body, but like I'm also so intrigued by how much image they're squeezing out of a tiny body. That's true. So that's true. I don't know. But I I need another camera, like I need a hole in the head. So uh and you're not a neurosurgeon, so I can't have a hole in my head around here. So uh I can't help you.
SPEAKER_00No, I I got a uh I'm pretty sure my wife knows this story. She doesn't, and then she's gonna find out. So I went to go buy my camera, and I have no no clue about how cameras work. Zero. I didn't even know how lenses you know projected, yeah, anything. And so I go there, the Best Buy, and then the lady, she was pretty. She's pretty okay, and I'm like, hey, so what kind of uh camera is good for video? I wanted to get into videography, and she's like, Well, a lot of people like canon, but I'm a Nikon girl, and I'm like, I'm a Nikon guy. Trying to build rapport, and yeah, she sold me on a Nikon that was a photography camera, did not have any processing, nothing for video. Like the video was shit.
SPEAKER_01The video Yeah, you can you can absolutely curse on this podcast first off. Um, I mean, yeah, that's like the whole joke was that like the icon was shit for so long, and then they overcompensated and they just bought red. Yeah, you know, they're like, ah, tell us we're shit now, you know.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. I I showed up to shoots, and people would be like, You call yourself a videographer with that camera? It was bad. And I would say, no, this is what I would say though, just wait for the edit. What I would do is I would I would put like a vintage VHS filter on it. You leaned into it. I leaned into it, okay, and I made it very like nostalgic and vintage, and people loved it. And I was like, Yeah, that's just my style. Like, if you want to hire me, you hire that. I love the like showmanship and salesmanship right from the gates here.
SPEAKER_01Like I had to do something because um yeah. It's not like you had any other like you know, pressure in your life to like, you know, I gotta make make some money, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, uh that pressure was real though. Um, I was working three jobs while building Moneta. Good God. Just because I felt like I had to prove myself, you know. Yeah. I did I was I didn't want my family to my parents to support me now that I'm not, you know, gonna be a doctor. So I this is my schedule for almost three years. Uh wake up at 2 a.m. go to UPS, get done at 11. Uh right when I get home, shower, go door to door sells for sprint at the time of sprint.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um get home around three and then a. Uh 3 p.m. Yes. Okay. So 3 2 a.m. Up at 2 a.m. 11 back home. Uh then from like noon to three door to door. In the heat. And that was a little bit though. I could not take that, but it was, it was a it was a good while. And then uh go to a restaurant work as a server. And then come home. Sleep for what, like an hour? It was bad. It was two hours on average for three years. It was it was my mental health. Oh my word. Yeah, sir, that's too much.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. That's too much. I think when like when did you, you know, because like all the entrepreneurs and all the the hustle culture bros and stuff are like, you work your nine to five, but then what are you doing from your your five to nine, right? Like that whole thing. It's like, but with your schedule just now, it's like, when are you supposed to build Monetta? Like, there's like two hours in your day and you haven't slept. Yeah. So like, how the f how?
SPEAKER_00So I'll I'll tell you. Um, obviously, you know, it sounds crazy and it makes it for a great story. But the reality is like you could call off. You could, you know, they were kind of uh looser jobs, yeah.
SPEAKER_01If if if people want to hear the the the hustle story, that was that was that was that was the story, but which is still regardless of calling off, like it's not like you're calling off to go relax on a beach, exactly.
SPEAKER_00You're calling off to just go do different work, exactly. You know, exactly. And so this is what I knew. While everyone started doing weddings, and I did weddings, but as everyone started doing weddings, music videos, or all that other stuff, I knew I need to build a business. So I started targeting entrepreneurs or people who taught how to run a business. They need content, right? You were just cheating your way to learning stuff, weren't you? I dude, I didn't go, I didn't get my bachelor's in in biology and all this stuff for nothing. I had to use my mind to figure out how I'm gonna get to the next step. So uh yeah, I started equipment with entrepreneurs who taught business, you know, coaching and stuff. And I said, uh I I focus on this, I do corporate stuff. Um, so all the courses of these business owners teaching how to run a business, I was shooting on my off time studying. Okay, how do you actually because no one in my family was self-employed or ran a business? Yeah, I didn't know that that was even a possibility. I thought you had to, you know, work an edit job. Work a job for somebody else kind of thing. And I thought the best you could the best you could do is be a doctor. Like, oh, that's the best title.
SPEAKER_01Now I'm realizing like it's great, but you're still paying a lot in taxes, you're still like you know, you just what you are you saying that when you run your own business, there's more tax evasion resources? I mean not tax sorry, the legal term is tax avoidance. Is that uh not evasion, yes. Sorry, evasion is actually illegal, illegal, but um there are a lot of resources available if you run your own business. Uh make your taxes more friendly. Yes. It's uh a little less straightforward when you're a W-2.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. And see, I I didn't know any of that. And so um a lot of people want to become entrepreneurs because they know the knowledge and they're like, oh, I you know, it's it's really cool. I was kind of forced into it because I had no other choice, you know? It's like people want to pay me, how do I do it? Um so I learned how to be an entrepreneur through filming, through getting paid.
SPEAKER_01I mean, work smarter, not harder, right? I feel like you're like that meme, like you know, like uh it's a I mean it's a great way to learn, period. So like I you're a different path for me. I did get my undergrad in film and media production. I never knew I'm not smart enough to be a doctor. Uh my wife is a uh doctor of physical therapy, and I know about the three hours of studying after spending all day studying and then waking up to study more for three years kind of thing. But um she's amazing and she's much smarter than I am, so she's the doctor. Um, I just like to make cool stuff. So uh I got my undergrad in film and media, I got my master's in management because I've always been uh fascinated in business. So I did five years at ASU, two degrees, one's a master's, and then I went right into working at a startup, and I learned more working at that startup than anything business school could have ever taught me. Yeah. Like having to actually figure out what levers to pull to drive revenue, having to actually run paid ads, track metrics, reporting, deal with C-suites, like all of that was invaluable knowledge to then you know now run my own thing because now I can get on a call with a marketer or a creative director, and I can talk like what what goals are you chasing? What targets are you you know working with? Where in the funnel are you having trouble? Like I can speak that language really well, and then I can now pitch solutions that sometimes are exactly what I do, and other times I'm like, you need a like a fractional CMO, like you need you need a better paid ads guy, you know, like depending on the call, you know. So like it's not I'm also very I think this is why we hit it off so well, and why I remember the first Arizona Filmmakers event I ever went to, I was like, okay, I found my people. Because like I share, I I share the altruism in like you know, there's like the trend of like uh the memes where it's like I I just want all the bros to know that I want them all to make it, you know, like that kind of stuff. Like I really truly feel that way. Like, and I have like since college, like I said yes to so many student projects just because I thought I could help, you know, like and I just wanted everybody's films to be great, and I wanted everybody to be able to like do cool stuff, and I knew I would always learn something through it, and um, you know, I'm not uh I'm not a an overly spiritual or religious person, but like I do believe in karma, uh, kind of, and like what you put into the world is what you get back from the world. So like if you're putting out more good, like one way or another, more good is gonna come back to you, you know, one way or another, you know. It just makes sense. Yeah, it's just like you know, the how you show up for everyone else is how eventually, like in your time of need, like people will show up for you, kind of thing. Yeah, um, and so that's why at the first Arizona Filmmakers event. Um, granted it was on AI, and I'm pretty sure I still have a couple of tabs open on my phone from some of the tools you shared that I just have never returned to look at because I forgot about them. But I don't close tabs, so they're still open. That was years ago. Um, but like that was how I knew, like, okay, this is like this is the right tribe, like community over competition, like everyone's just trying to help each other out. Um I think a lot of that stemmed from kind of what you were saying about like who you are as a person, but manifesting itself in an industry that's uh admittedly usually a little more selfish and not like there's enough pie for everyone, kind of, you know. Like I've definitely I've definitely been uh outbid or lost jobs to folks here in the valley who I know. Uh and I have definitely won jobs from folks here in the valley that I know. Um and it doesn't always feel great in the moment, but like at the same time, like there's still like so much work to go around. Like I never I and half the time I'm gonna need to crew up on something anyway. So I'm gonna call some folks up and be like, hey, I just got this gig. I need this, this, this, and this. And I mean, you know, because you've been on my shoots, and I've been on your shoots, and you know, like I was doing I was doing some thank you emails earlier today, and your name was in both the team member thank you email that I send out just to my my crews, and your name was in the client email that I sent out. It's on both of them. I was like, oh dude.
SPEAKER_00That feels super special.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, but like I think that's part of the fun of in what we do though, is that like we we we very clearly have our own things, but like we we still show up for all the other stuff and all the other people, you know.
SPEAKER_00It I think it's so cool that the competition is just so cool for me. Number one, the more competition we have, the better we all get. I just truly believe that. So that whole iron ship sharpens iron thing, right? Yeah, yeah. And then number two, if you know your competition, it just makes it uh just funner. Like one of the people, I'm sure you Caleb Marsh.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'll get I'll get him in here eventually. He just had a he just had a baby.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, him and his wife just had a baby.
SPEAKER_01I actually didn't text him. Congratulations.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um he is one of the most amazing competitors that I have because not only uh does he make you feel special as a competitor, yeah. Like I literally he was uh uh bidding or just w massaging a client for he said two years. Two years. I mean we do we do work in a long sales cycle line of work, yes. Like it's it is true. And and um I just had a faster and better connection to that client than he did. So I did get that client. And guess what he does? He calls me as soon as he finds out that they went with me, and he congratulates me.
SPEAKER_01What a classy guy.
SPEAKER_00What right love him?
SPEAKER_01I I I absolutely love him. He's a good ironically, and this is just kind of how the web of things work. Um, so I mean, you know, I was part of a mass layoff at my employer, uh, and that's kind of how I got the kick in the seat of the pants to like this was always the plan, but it was like it was gonna be a couple of years down the road kind of thing. I was gonna like coast through my marriage, uh, or not my marriage, but my wedding, I should say, like get to that point and then jump out on my own. Uh happened a little bit before that, but uh he was one of the first people. I don't even remember how I got connected with him, but in the span of me reaching out to Caleb, I went from trying to see if I could get a job working with him to by the time we actually met at a coffee shop, I literally was like, So I'm gonna start my own media company, and like I'm big on like not being intimidated by anybody else, but I don't know you at all yet. So like I just want to let you like clear the air first, and he was like, dude, that's awesome. Like he was like, he made it. He immediately jumped in my corner and was like cheering for me when I told him I was gonna start my own thing, and I was no longer like hitting him up for a job. And like by the end of our like, we talked for like I want to say like an hour and a half, two hours at this coffee shop. By the end of it, he was like, Yeah, no, I wouldn't hire you anyway, not because like you're bad or anything, but because like it is so evident to like you need to go do your own thing. And I was like, bro, how did I go from hitting you up for a job to like you're straight up like kicking me out, yeah, inspiring me and kicking me out the door, like go do your own thing, yeah. Get out there, and like I've I've yeah, I try to catch up with him whenever I can now, but like, yeah, great dude.
SPEAKER_00I see, I didn't know I didn't know he did that. Well, because he did the same thing to me. Yeah, well I I called him because he knew I was trying to start my thing, like during the time where I was struggling, Billy Moneta working three jobs, is around the time. I met him and uh I called him. I was like, dude, I can't do this anymore. Like it's it's like crippling the the pressure and the anxiety of everything. Can I just work with you? You know I'm good. Yeah. He's like and I was like, I he's like, I know you're good. He's like, but you're just so talented, you see things differently, and you the way I think it is like you you're earlier you said uh people think that there's not a lot of what'd you say, pie to go, what's the saying? There's not enough pie to go around. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01There's only it's a zero sum game. There's only so much pie.
SPEAKER_00And I think what Caleb sees is there's people who think that way where they need to grab some pie, and there's other people like me and you who bake more pies. Yeah. We want some more flavors of pie. Yeah, let's we're not limited to the pie that there is. We're gonna go out and create more pies for everybody.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that's that's definitely something all of us share. I've gotta have I've gotta have Caleb on now that he's come up now really two or three times. Yeah. I gotta have him on. He's great. Uh but that's funny. I didn't know that like we had a similar similar experience with uh with Caleb kind of coming in and being like, yeah, here, get get out there.
SPEAKER_00You do something, damn it. Like it helps. It helps the overall community. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01There's no people like me and you. It absolutely does. And I also think though that like especially in entrepreneurship, period, and as you already said, there can be a lot of stress, stress, pressure, anxiety, you know, self-doubt, let alone the creative imposter syndrome that I don't I don't care who you are, I know you'd be suffering from it. Yeah, like there is there is something to be said for like no matter what, no matter how good you are, you look at your work and it is always going to be your work. No matter what. And like you can't see it the way other people see it, but you can see everybody else's stuff and be like, damn, that's amazing, that's amazing. And like, it's just a complete mind fuck. But yeah, um, you know, where where was I going with that? So uh entrepreneurship can be very isolating, and you know, even even from family at times, because like as much as spouses are there to cheer and support, you know, like they aren't in it in the day-to-day or like they aren't in your head constantly. They don't understand at all times the exact same pressures unless you like painstakingly explain like step by step like the thought process that has led you to like an anxiety spiral. Yeah, um, but like other entrepreneurs, other creatives can, and I think that that's why like the community aspect of it is so important, uh, and certainly why I gravitated to it, because like I mean, like you got in my thank you email today. Like, I am very aware I can't do what I do alone. Yeah, like like film and media, period, is a collaborative community effort. It is like, yeah, there's a lot of one-man band shoots that I do, but like at the end of the day, like there's still an editor involved. There's still somebody doing my LinkedIn outreach. There's still, you know, somebody else like you who's maybe planning another job that's coming up that I can jump on. Like, there's there are always more things moving at once, even if you're the only person in the room with a camera. And that community like helps keep, you know, helps you keep going, helps support you, understands your unique kind of troubles and problems, um, but then also like can be like super frickin' fun to create with too. Like that, yeah, you know, like that's like the the fun part of it is like beyond like the the therapy sides of having like you know, a little community to little tribe to call to, is like it's just fun to like get with a bunch of other creative people and like, hey, we're gonna try and make this, and we have no idea how. Let's figure it out. Yeah, it's work together. You know, and that's uh that's like that's really where the fun starts, you know. Yeah. It's like, okay, cool, I've got my community, nobody's like intimidated or like threatened, I guess I should say, by like the success of anyone else. Like we can all rise together, and now we now that that's out of the way, now we can like build some cool shit, you know, and I think that's like the ultimate win.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I one of the reasons why I love filmmaking, number one, there's two things I think at the core why I like filmmaking. Number one, I'm very creative, and that was like worrisome in the beginning. Like, what am I gonna do? Because uh so many people have told me, and I you know it's hard to believe it for yourself, but when so many people tell you, it's just like I think it's true. Whatever I dive in people say it then it must be true. Must be true. They said, Well, they whatever I dive into, I can be great. Yeah, and that's I feel like I I gotta show you my new song, actually. Your new song?
SPEAKER_01Your songs now? Yeah. Alright. Well uh depending on the song, maybe we'll maybe I'll provide it in the editing notes, maybe I won't. We'll see. I don't know. Sometimes David shares a unique, irreverent sense of humor that I have that occasionally isn't right for the well, it's actually perfect for the internet, but no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00It's it's a it's a great I'm actually really proud of it, but I digress. Uh so uh I needed something that I could do like I could fulfill all my artistic like creative needs. Yeah. Filmmaking is exactly that. You have photography with framing an image, making an image pretty, you have carpentry and set design, you have building things like VFX motion kind of like building things digitally, like understanding how layers and compositing. Or even practically and stuff, you know, with camera, like you have something popping up, like the door thing that I you know that I still love that door thing. Thank you, man.
SPEAKER_01That that I I remember you showed me the finished products because I saw the BTS and then uh you showed me the finished product of this red door, and I was like, damn, that looks so good. It looks so good. Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_00It's and that brings me to my next point. When you have a vision in your head, and for me, the funner it is to have a bigger vision, you need more people to fulfill that. And everybody has to be on their A game in order to execute what you have in your head perfectly. And luckily I've been able to do that quite often. But but it like I said, it requires everyone to be on their A game. And so when you see the final product that is exactly in your head, and it's because of each person putting in all their effort, it is the most magical. I I I it's almost for me, it's almost like the closest thing you could be to God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you created something. I kinda I kind of completely agree, actually. Kind of completely agree. Kind of completely agree. Like it is there there is something to be said for, and again, like I said, I'm not an overly spiritual or religious person, but like what what is what is reaching to the divine but creating something that didn't exist before? Exactly, you know, like and whatever that means to you, you know, like that is still like transcendental feeling ever.
SPEAKER_00Like even our the the the lighting workshop that we did together with um uh pirate. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody just involved and then and I literally wrote that like five days before. Yes, I remember you being like, Yeah, I just wrote this. Yeah, you know, but uh to see the final thing, I was like, wow, that's really cool. We really did a little story, and yeah, yeah, it was in like almost like improv jazz way, yeah, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01Hey, we got this, we got a couple of sets and some lights at a compound. Let's go. And we got a bunch of people that are there to learn something. Yeah, you know. So, real quick, before we dive into, because I feel like we could talk about storytelling and the magic of movies and all this for a long time. I do want to touch on something that I think you're really, really good at, and I think there's like literal statistical evidence to prove this, uh, and that is actually building a community and fostering a community and nurturing a community. Um, so walk me through a little bit about that because like I came, clearly we had similar pals uh I think relatively long before we met. Um, but uh like I found you and came to know you through Arizona Filmmakers, um, which you are the founder of, correct? Like, like Yeah. All right. Um I wasn't sure if there was a co-founder, you know, wife.
unknownI don't know.
SPEAKER_01I don't know. I don't know how the credentials credentialize.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Stefan helped me build it. He's co yeah, he's co-founder.
SPEAKER_01Um so you know, that that that community, like I said, is like kind of like how I found, you know, like when I was like my people, and you know, obviously that's something that you have built and fostered and nurtured. So like walk me through that because it wasn't enough that you were gonna start a company, you know, it wasn't enough that you were gonna be this crazy entrepreneur and and go down that rabbit hole. Then you're like, oh, let me also like build this other thing and like run all these dope events and don't ask me how. And then the fourth job came about. Um when when when David unlocked the 25th hour in the day. Uh it's a little closet in the back of my opening. Yeah. Okay. Uh, but like seriously, like walk me through that. Like, what have you learned in building a successful community and and keeping it together beyond like a flash in the pan?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, so first off, it it all starts with intention. Uh you know, all intention, human intention is selfish to begin with. It's it's just natural. But then when you uh include that with making sure that everyone is winning, that that's when you can build something sustainable and something that's that's great. So uh selfishly, I just wanted to make friends in this industry. I didn't have any because all my net network and everything was in in either entrepreneurship starting or or medical. Yeah, in the medical. Um, and so I was like, I I need to reach out. I reached out to like all these different people, and some of them I've called out as I met them. Yeah, I was like, hey, you remember when I reached out to you? Yeah, and then they're like, Yeah, yeah, but I was you know, I didn't know who you were. I was like, you know who I am now? You know who I am now um and we had a good we have good times with that, but uh um yeah, I just wanted to meet people, and so I actually um not like people know, but I helped uh start Arizona Entrepreneurs. Oh, I didn't know that either. Yeah, do you know Arizona Entrepreneurs? I know other than yes, yeah. So Devin, one of my best friends too, he had this name, Arizona Entrepreneurs, and I was like, oh I reached out to him on Facebook. He just had a little Facebook group and an Instagram. I was like, bro, I know where this can go. Let me help you brand it out and just just brand it. I'm really good at branding. And so we did some calls, I did some, you know, my branding session with him, and then uh it started to blow up. The community started to get together, and I was like, okay, do I know what I'm doing, or was this luck? So I started working on Arizona Filmmakers, the name, and no one took it too. I was like, oh shit. Which is it's crazy.
SPEAKER_01Talk about SEO optimization from the get-go, man. From the get-go. I got some lady in my inbox all the time trying to sell me Arizona Filmproductions.com. Yeah. So Rob's sure the same thing happens to you. Sometimes I don't I don't want to pay $500 for this domain, but thank you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I was like, I already got Arizona Filmmakers, I'm good. Um, and and so I started working on how I want to build it, all this stuff, like you know, how I want to start it, how the strategy behind launching it, everything. That was two years before I actually even started Arizona Filmmakers. Jeez, okay. Two years. Uh, then two years after I met Stefan, and then I told him about my ideas. And originally it was supposed to be five of us that were gonna do it. And everyone started falling off, except for Stefan. Stefan is one of the people that you you can't find people like him. He's such a loyal person. Yeah, like, and and actually, this I'm gonna make this comment about you too. Uh, you two are the people you want by your side when you're walking into hell. Damn! That was bold, that was bold praise, but I appreciate it. No, I feel like I just I feel that from you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like it's that altruism sees altruism, like the every we want to see everybody win. Yeah, you know, and I I I agree. I think Stefan's very like, I said I was gonna do something, I'm gonna do it. Yeah, which is like a straight, like, I don't know if it's a love language or it's like it's just like like instant respect from me. Like you said you were gonna do something and then you did it, like done. Say no more, like you're in, come here. Yeah. Like, you know.
SPEAKER_00So the what you just said is a crucial part of building community is your word. And Stefan knows this. We had I this one of our rules in within our in within the business is uh once we announce something or once we say something, you cannot go back. Yeah. So we've had events where I've been scared or or we're like, oh shoot, we're not ready for this. And too late now, we said we posted the flyer. So that's one of the things. Um, as soon as the community feels like you go back on your word or you're not un you're unsure, you start to lose people. Okay. So, and that's something I told Stefan when he when he came on board and stuff like that. I said, if we say something, we do it. Second is uh you give as much as you can before you ask. So um the first three months, uh, me and Stefan were interviewing as many filmmakers as we could for no, you know, no reason, just to highlight them on Arizona Filmmakers. Uh we were giving all that, which I want to just start doing that back. You know, I want to do that again. Uh but then that's why 260 people showed up to our event. Because we were just doing that. We were just giving and giving. Um obviously storytelling is a big portion of getting people's attention and wanting them to follow you. Yeah. Uh that's a whole different conversation. This is just crazy. Uh short the short um short story about that or short, you know, kind of summary is storytelling is about um creating creating f familiarity in the beginning, um, uh grabbing your attention, establishing a problem, and the solution to that problem. Yeah. That's that's if you can follow that, yeah, you got a good story.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Obviously, there's story elements and all this stuff that you can uh imply uh implement, but that formula though, that's applicable to movies, to advertisements, to social media content. Like you can take like those four key steps and apply it to anything.
SPEAKER_00Even songs. Yeah. Everything everything. Uh anyways, yeah. I I love storytelling, and I hope that I'm remembered for that.
SPEAKER_01I mean, your your handle is storytelling. So we'll go don't worry, we'll plug socials at the end, but you know. Um no, I think and and well, I'll have to have you back to for a deep dive on stories. I'm also really passionate about storytelling, and I I mean it's part of like my stated mission at Hard Crappy Media is to build a more connected world through storytelling. Yeah. Um so that's I think that's a whole topic we could probably fall down a long rabbit hole on. We should, um, we definitely should. But so building community though, to kind of come back to that. So uh integrity is crucial. Like you, you know, make sure, make sure you're showing up uh when you say you're gonna show up to the community. Um, give before you ask. And collaboration.
SPEAKER_00Collaboration. Okay. Find ways that you're not. And this is something I told Devin too. Is like uh, you know, find ways that the community can build the community for you. You know what I mean? It's very flywheel-esque. Flywheel-esque?
SPEAKER_01Oh, you know the you know the marketing term, like a flywheel, you know, once you once you start the thing in motion, it stays in motion, you know.
SPEAKER_00Because it's for them, and there's nothing better than them building something for themselves. Yeah. Like it feels good, and you want to be a part of that. If you know you're the reason why the wheel is moving, you want to keep it moving. So, I mean, we've done like uh like our events, even like the promotional stuff, the community's helping us sell the the event, or uh the community partners, you know, like you and everyone else. Um there's more stuff that we had planned um that hopefully we can we can start doing. Uh one of them being, I'm really excited for this, is the Arizona Arizona Film Raisers. Yeah, it's it's a giving group to help fund our community. So every business owner, every person that wants to be a part of the group each quarter gives a hundred dollars. If we if we get like a hundred people, that's ten grand. I thought I have to make some that's enough. So then we have ten grand. Well, then we have uh uh people in the community pitch their ideas or their projects, and then the board will decide who how we allocate the money to them. I love that. Right? I love that. That's sick. So uh that'll be each quarter, so ten thousand dollars each quarter, and that's just a hundred. We have six thousand people in our community. Seven plus actually. Seven? Is it seven now? Oh shoot, it's growing. Um, so uh I don't think a hundred is far off. No, I don't think we we can increase that by two, three, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01And you're not counting people that would probably give a little bit more together. Exactly. So yeah, no, that's that's a super cool thing. I mean, I'm I was fortunate enough to be a beneficiary of a similar grant with State 48, yeah, and that made a real big difference in my business last year. So, like, no, community support, again, coming back to the importance of community, like being able to lift people up from within that and leverage, you know, like you said, like ten thousand dollars for a single person might be a lot, but a hundred bucks from a thousand people is a lot different. Like that's so that's like the power of community is like multiplication and amplification by also like dividing like financial pain or hardship. So uh there's an adage um that I I've stolen from an old coach of mine, uh, where uh joy shared is joy multiplied, and like burden shared is burden divided.
SPEAKER_00Oh shit.
SPEAKER_01And so very true with community though, is like you know, the community is who's gonna celebrate you, who's gonna lift you up, who's gonna support you, who's gonna help you, but they're also who like you can go to and be like, bro, this entrepreneur thing is hard, or like trying to make a movie is hard. Yeah, like and people will get it, and that like like you'll be seen, you'll share that burden as well. So that's uh that's a super cool aspect.
SPEAKER_00Well, one thing I want to share with the events, because I mean I've me and Seven don't know how to run events. I would beg to differ, but I would still I will die on the hill, is I we don't know how to run events. I think you do, I think you've run a few successful events, but you know, who am I? This is what we keep doing. Um we create a safe space for people to explore wonder. Hmm, okay, Walt Disney. Nah, that's honestly that's honestly what I keep trying to do with each event is like how do you walk in and you're just like, whoa, like and I hope that that's the feeling that you get.
SPEAKER_01That actually is a perfect segue too, because I do want to talk about how you handle events, because you do, if I'm not mistaken, a lot of events. Yeah. I'm not talking for Arizona filmmakers though, I'm talking like for your clients.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like you do do, I feel like I see a lot of BTS of you at some pretty dope events doing some pretty awesome activations. So I've got some questions there. Yeah. All right. But um I will say, as someone who's been to a couple of different uh Arizona Filmmakers events in my time, uh, I do think you succeed on that through your topic selections and the way that you present stuff. Um, you also tend not to allow people to like meander back, like things are still structured enough where there is like that entrance moment. Whereas like if if things just kind of aren't guarded or nobody cares or whatever, like people are just moseying in, like they lose that like special oh there's a special thing that's supposed to happen kind of thing. Yeah. Um but no, I think you know, I I just want to tip my hat to you on what you've done with Arizona Filmmakers. I think it's very important for Arizona, the creative community, everything. Uh you know, privileged and happy to be even a small part of any of it. And I can't wait to fucking do some more shit because it's been a quiet year after our busy start. Um They're all busy people. Um but segueing from there into events for clients now. So, dude, you've got a robot, you've got sparkle curtains, you've got a photo booth, you like dude, you have done a ton of really awesome media-based event activations. So I'm not talking like, you know, we've all covered events, we've all shot a sizzle reel or a recap video or you know, set up a tripod at the back of the room and recorded the entire thing because somebody asked for it. Um we know you're not using all seven hours of that footage that never sees the letter. Yeah, sometimes you're never gonna edit that. But anyways, uh, no shade to the clients. We know a lot of times there is a lot of money, a lot of branding, a lot of effort that goes into running an event. Might as well when you're getting to five, you know, to hire the video or photo team for it. You want as many photos and videos as possible. Yeah. We've actually talked about it on this podcast before. Like when you're shooting events, make sure you pay service to branding and design elements because those probably cost a lot of money, and somebody somewhere is going to be really happy that you featured it or got it. Um but that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about like the crazy, I don't want to call them activations that you do for your clients because you've got some really cool stuff. So talk to me about how you got into some of these more creative, like on location activations at events.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I'll talk about the photo booth first. Uh my wife had the idea, and um Shout out wives everywhere, man. Good ideas.
SPEAKER_01Behind every behind every creative is a woman far too good for us.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh yeah, she's she's amazing. She um she loves, she's very, I don't want to say old school, but old soul, just like me. She loves just holding a picture in her hand. And she said, we we should uh we should have a photo booth that prints it out, and not just a little strip, but an actual photo you can frame at home. And I took it a step further and I was like, we should provide something that they'll probably never see. You'll get the classic photo booth with the key light that flashes you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But when do you get studio level like fashion photos? You know, the fashion lighting. I mean, outside of JCPenney, like never. Right? And even JC Penny is like a standard, you know, you have your JCPenney photos, or I mean that was a whole trend.
SPEAKER_01But it was a trend last year. It was like a whole trend, the bad JC photo. That might have been this year. It might have been this year. It all plays together.
SPEAKER_00Uh but so yeah, we want to bring that to uh events, and it every not people even understand what when I'm trying to pitch it. Uh huh. They're like, uh, okay, so I'm like in my head, I'm just thinking like a portable, like those white portable around it. I was like, no, if you want your brand to stand out, and the big reason why I got into activations is because we had such success with Arizona uh filmmakers. People love these activations, and so I was like, why don't I just make it a service for other like event you know, business events and stuff like that? But I would tell them if you want something, if you want your brand to stand out, do something that they've never seen before, and which is you're literally having a photo shoot, a studio photo shoot at your event, and you're getting it printed. So um, you know, I bring my lighting expertise and set up the lights with a really cool backdrop. I put a star filter, I put the softening, you know, like all these filters on, and it's printed, and they see it, and everybody's just been like loving it, yeah, going back to back. So that's that. Uh that's my wife's kind of side business there. Okay. And then uh the the robot, which is really cool. I've been obsessed with Cole Walsner and his Glambot and all that stuff since I first saw it. Uh, it started with honestly me trying to replicate it with my gimbal. You did admirably shoulders of steel. I was training for that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was nuts. It was like four hours straight of just like robotic gimbal moves, one-handed.
SPEAKER_00Out Yeah, that was rough. Um, but it actually started like maybe five years ago with Arizona Entrepreneurs at their events. I didn't have any lighting or anything, I just had my gimbal, and I was like, I want to recreate these videos. Can you stand here? I'm gonna direct you, and I would just go for it. Yeah. And then um, when we had our event, I knew I wanted something like that. Real bros had the robot. I was like, we gotta meet real bros. I went over and I said, uh, the robot's so sick. What do you think about having it at the event? And I just said showcase, but then they had the idea. Why don't we do like a glam bot? And I was like, that's that's what I wanted. Yeah. And so they had it there. And then um what happened was that they started blowing up. I mean, they were already big.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they they've they've really poured fire uh or gas on the fire over there in the last like 12 months. Yeah, 24 months. I don't even know now.
SPEAKER_00It's been yeah. So they for our events, uh, they were scheduled to be there, and then they got busy, and I'm like, you know what? They're literally putting Arizona on the map. I'm not even mad about that. Yeah, like they're doing some huge things, and the fact that they're from Arizona, I'm like, can't can't be mad, but now I need a glam bot. Now I need a glam bot. Yeah. Because we promised, and what I said, if we say we're gonna do it, comes back to the community thing, we said we were gonna have a glam bot. And the first event, the first event where they weren't able to show up, like you said, I did it by myself with my arm. If I'm gonna do something, if I say I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it, and that's that's what we had. Uh and then you had a consult with an orthopedic surgeon, and they said, Hey, never do that again. Uh the second time, uh, same deal. Real bros is blowing up, can't be mad at that. Uh, but you know, I had the I had the extra investment. I was like, let me get one for myself. We do these often. Uh not at the level that Real Bros has, but there's a smaller one for our events.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's that's also the nature of technology now, is that like Real Bros were early adopters, they got one of the like the marquee models that you know, a six-figure plus robot. Uh, but now these are getting smaller and smaller, lighter, cheaper, relatively speaking. I mean, it's still a big investment, but like yeah, it's not it doesn't it doesn't have five zeros in the price tag anymore, you know.
SPEAKER_00Like uh so yeah, I I I got that, and then um I knew I could sell it, you know. Your landing page for it is sick. Oh, thank you. Yeah, thank you. I oh my gosh, LA Page. I am actually really proud of it. Yeah, it's a it's a dope landing page. Um and yeah, so now now uh my goal every time I do an activation with the robot is how close can I get it to Cole Walsner's Glambot. I feel like I'm getting closer and closer. I am in the talks to have the glam bot bot at a celebrity tournament. Hell yeah. So if I get it, I'm gonna start marketing. You know, I have this celebrity on the my red carpet experience, this one, this one.
SPEAKER_01Be sick, dude. I will I was when I was at Phoenix Fashion Week doing some stuff, I was like, that would be and I mean They would eat it up. They would eat it up. Like they had no shade to Phoenix Fashion Week, but the step and repeat needed some lighting love. They needed some light love. They needed some lighting love, if nothing else. But then I was like, you had all these gorgeous human beings in these amazing outfits walking through, and all I could think was like, damn, how dope would it be if like you get your badge, you round the corner, and the first thing you do is your red carpet walk, and then you do the you know the step and repeat photos afterward, and then you round the corner and go into like the vendor booth and then the runway and all that, and I was like, it would be perfect for that crowd because they're already there to showcase all the you know crazy fashion that they're you know pioneering. Yeah, and yeah, I was anyways, that's a whole separate thing. But like, yeah, Phoenix Fashion Week, man. I'm telling you, next year they need a glam bot. Next year we've got your glam bot.
SPEAKER_00They do, they do. Uh yeah. And then um, yeah, we're just we're just trying to think of more activation stuff. I mean, events are big. Uh I actually didn't know how big they were until after COVID. Because I didn't I didn't really I didn't I liked it.
SPEAKER_01There were a lot of events in a famously notorious uh don't go on top of the lockdown age. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh but yeah, I fell in love with events actually, attending them and stuff. And uh so yeah, just creating an experience, like I said, of of just wonder, like, wow.
SPEAKER_01I think that that's probably what I think drives the success of your activations is that commitment to like how do I make someone feel? Yeah, how do you make someone feel? Yeah. Not like it's not the product necessarily, or even the function of how, but it's like how often does someone get to walk a red carpet and then like see them see yeah, be in slow motion like they're like a celebrity at like the Grammys or something. Yeah. Like that doesn't happen.
SPEAKER_00And it goes it goes back to my business name in the business of making memories.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, that's like that's like poetic, uh poetic place to segue into the last couple of segments here. So uh one thing you might have seen on the sheet, and this might be hard for someone as kind-hearted and altruistic as you, but I do want you to share a hot take on the creative industry that you might have. Something that uh might be controversial or you know might get the people going.
SPEAKER_00A hot take that I think, and uh it relates to a lot of like those solo videographer kind of one one man bands. One man bands, the ones that they get hired for. I'll just say I think that there's a lot of ego and that they want to be the star. You know, they're they're out even down to their outfits when they go shoot a concert or they're following a an influencer or something like that, they almost feel like they want to be the influencer. Yeah. You know? I know the type. You know the type? I know the type. Everybody does, and and it's I think it's a lot out there in LA and even here in Arizona, it's like uh you see their BTS, they're posting, they're in their um, they're in the the private jets and all that stuff. I think a lot of that comes um not from a place of service, and I think they're missing out on the actual beauty of our industry, of the collaboration, of the cause because a lot of them they they keep to themselves and they're like I'm I I am this because who I am. Like they don't share the gatekeep and stuff like that. But I wish I met more of them and they would be open to the world of filmmaking, the collaboration part of it.
SPEAKER_01That's an interesting one. I do think that like there there is definitely like some scarcity mindset that plays into that. Like I'm having this experience and I don't want to share my secrets because I don't want to lose my experience. And that comes from a place of scarcity, but I also feel like you know, it it's social media is so hard these days because like you you really only ever see people's best sides in social media. Yeah. So, you know, and frankly, there's a lot of stuff that's really easy to like fake or rent or you know, make it appear as if on social media, you know, there's a whole that that kind of game too. Um but I think that yeah, what you're what you're saying is really the travesty there is like you're you're missing out on a greater experience uh in the collaboration than doing it all yourself.
SPEAKER_00And it's not like you it's not like it's not even like that they're doing it themselves, it's just a mindset. Like I've been I've worked with some of these people and and you could just tell, like, it's not collaborative. They are like more worried about how you how good you are, are you gonna outshine them, or do you even look I mean I never look better than anyone else, but I do feel like I've seen you clean up pretty good. Thank you. I don't I mean, I don't try to, you know, but uh I feel like when I'm in that group with these like influencer videographers, they're looking at each other like, do am I still better than him or am I still like there's just this level of like I get that, I get that.
SPEAKER_01There's like a I don't know, it's not uh you don't want you don't want the ego to ruin the the creative process and I think that the greatest thing you can do no matter what your role is on a creative set is hire people that are smarter than you or better than you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because guess what? Your name still goes on at the end of the day, and if their work was better than what you would have done on your own, you're still getting some credit for that. Like, you know, I'm just saying, like I will happily, any day of the week, take a slight pay cut for a better grip truck or a better gaffer or a first AC or you know I I think a lot of them don't even don't even know all that, you know? That's true. There's a whole generation of folks that don't like a grip truck know outside of creative, like content creator exactly.
SPEAKER_00You know, exactly. I I hope that they get a chance to see how beautiful filmmaking is as a collaborative onset.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's very that's poetically altruistic of a hot take for you, friend. Yeah, because you're like, here's my hot take. You're missing out on some cool shit, guys. Like you could be doing you could be doing bush stuff.
SPEAKER_00It's it just sucks to be here, like, yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Well, that rolls almost perfectly into something I'm sure you're gonna crush, which is uh what are you currently either watching, reading, uh, you know, taking a course? Is there something that is inspiring you or educating you that you think that people should check out?
SPEAKER_00I I almost want to share the next thing that I'm doing. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, that's fine. Okay. Well, I mean, we're getting to plugs next, so perfect.
SPEAKER_00All right, cool. I I always like to think ahead and where things are going. One of the things that I I've always I've been like preaching is that creating shows on social media. Uh-huh. Things that people follow already, they're successful, but having something where a lot of business owners can replicate and not crash when they're just constantly creating content every single day. How do you create a show that people want to watch? So uh one thing that I'm working on is uh a show for a couple different uh distributions. For a show to be successful, you need to have valuable content that people want to watch. High enough, high enough quality production and a distribution, somewhere that people a lot of eyeballs, right? Yeah, I think I can write something really good. I think I my productions can be decent enough to have um to look good. The only thing I'm missing is uh distribution. Uh-huh. So what I've planned is I'm gonna partner up with channels or things that already have a lot of eyes on it and create a show for them. I still own the show, but it's distributed exclusively to those channels. Oh, okay. So uh I'll tell you one with Arizona Entrepreneurs that I we're already working, is and it goes back to the elevator.
SPEAKER_01Friend, this is that we had a conversation, David got here and he's like, so I need to build an elevator, and I'm like, I love building stuff. Uh so like the door thing was something, he called me and was like, hey man, I gotta build a door, and it's got in like this, and he like explained it to me, and I'm like, wrote up a napkin, that napkin, save that shoot. So like he walks in today before we start recording, and he's like, I gotta build an elevator. I have I need some thoughts.
SPEAKER_00So okay, comes back to the elevator. Yes. So we're we're selling a package to entrepreneurs, and the package is like a content creation, and inside of that package is actually to be on a show that we're building. Uh-huh. So in the front end of things, like in the beginning of things, it's gonna seem like you're just getting content for your business, but we're actually building slowly a show where you've seen like um School of Hard Knocks where he goes up to people, hey, uh can I interview you? You're a business owner, all this stuff, how'd you get rich? Or the other one, it's like see diaries of CEO where you just sit aro across from a entrepreneur and they teach.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Ours is you're in an elevator with a really important CEO and you're having conversation. So you gotta be quick, you gotta be like almost elevator. Elevator pitch show, like quite literally. Yes. And so it's literally in an elevator, and so uh eventually business owners can or entrepreneurs can pay to be on the show and then pitch their stuff in the elevator. Yeah, I love that. That's gonna be super fun. I I'm excited for it, and hopefully, uh this is a start of building the Moneta Network where I own a bunch of shows and almost I don't know yet, but almost become like a PR agency where, hey, do you want to be featured on this show? It has show or that show or this show or that show.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, dude, that's dope. That's that's some that's some vision and strategic planning for sure. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Um there's one thing is I just I'm visionary. Self-proclaimed. Self-proclaimed. Self-proclaimed, yes.
SPEAKER_01As all good visionaries are. No, um, seriously, though. Like that's that that is rad. I definitely want to help build the elevator too. Thank you. Uh, I already have ideas on how you can fake different floors and stuff, also. Um anyways, we'll we'll we'll noodle about that. I love you, man. I love you. Uh, where where can everybody find you? Where where should they follow you? What's your where should they go to follow the building of the Moneta Network?
SPEAKER_00Uh Moneta Network, you can follow at Moneta Design, uh M-O-N-E-T-A-D-E-S-I-N-E. And then uh if you just want to follow me in general, you can go to Storyteller David uh on Instagram. And uh yeah, you can I'll be playing. Arizona Filmmakers too. Oh yeah, and Arizona Filmmakers. Arizona Filmmakers. Arizona Filmmakers, two M's in there. So yeah, look that up.
SPEAKER_01I didn't know there were two M's in there either, but I'm a little dyslexic, so that's that's not that surprising. I I had to look it up too.
SPEAKER_00Uh Arizona Filmmakers, Moneta Design, Storyteller David N.
SPEAKER_01Awesome, awesome. Well, David, thank you so much for coming and hanging out with me for a little bit today. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Uh every time I get to just sit and chat, and whether we're talking about building something crazy or storytelling or this, that, or the other thing, it's always a good time. But uh everybody, thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with us here today. Whether you watched or listened, we appreciate it. Of course, if there's a guest, a topic, an industry, uh, any sort of subject matter that you'd like to see us discuss, please let me know down in the comments below, or shoot me an email at hello at hardcopymedia.com. And of course, you know, we got to keep the algorithm gods happy. So, you know, like, share, subscribe, you know, this is you know how the content grows. So, you know, if you did find anything informative or helpful, uh, please consider giving us a subscribe, uh, a like, a share, any of those fun engagement metrics that help keep the Almighty Algorithm Gods happy. But thank you so much for watching and uh or listening, and we'll see you in the next one.