The present and future of the entertainment industry with John Shahidi

In this episode Ryan visits Shots Studios HQ in Los Angeles to chat with the company's CEO John Shahidi (aka @john on Twitter).

John and the Shots Studios team have a unique background. Ryan met John and his brother, a co-founder of the company, nearly five years ago when they were building a social network for teens. The app had no likes, comments, follower counts, or other mechanics that often enable anxiety and bullying. Their mission was to create a more positive and healthy community. They've since pivoted and built a massive network of artists, comedians, and creators that includes Alesso, Anwar, Rudy Mancuso, Lele Pons, and Anitta.

In this episode we talk about:

• How entertainment business models have changed with the evolution of streaming platforms.
• Why Vine had such a major influence on the current generation of content creators.
• The end of the 22-minute-long TV episode.

We also talk about some of John's favorite products and podcasts.

We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also, big thanks to AngelList, FreshBooks and Bubble for their support. 😸

Quotes from This Episode

“Vine changed entertainment… What Vine did that no one else did is it taught a very young audience how to create a story in six seconds — beginning, middle and end.”

“The streaming platforms are in the business of minutes on platform. They care about time on platform and don’t care if it’s an hour-and-a-half movie or ten nine-minute episodes. They don’t care, as long as people open up the app and stay on platform.”

“Now I open up YouTube and it takes me to home, which is not what I subscribe to, it’s not trending, it’s just what the machine knows that I want and they’re almost always right.”

Companies and Products Mentioned in This Episode

Shots Studios — Entertainment company, production studio, and talent management firm.

Snap — A new way to share the world.

Spotify Canvas — Full-screen vertical video artwork for albums.

Vine (RIP) — A community for sharing six-second video clips.

YouTube — The essential video hosting site.