Shannon Malone-deBenedictis

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:20] Speaker B: Welcome back everyone to the Tron podcast. This is your host, Rashad Woods. Today I have a very special guest, a multi talented public speaker, producer, television executive, Ms. Shannon Malone de Benedictus. Thank you so much. Interesting journey. Great to have you on. [00:00:35] Speaker A: I'm thrilled to be here. Love to chat. [00:00:37] Speaker B: Yeah, let's. First of all, you have such a compelling story. You started out as an editor, you've been from dc, Boston, Chicago, in addition to a very interesting background as a child growing up. So please share it with us. I'm really excited. I love your background. [00:00:50] Speaker A: Sure. So I was always a creative kid. When I was little, I think I wrote my first play when I was 8 or 9. It wasn't very good, but I wrote a play and always liked doing things and putting stories together. So when it came time, what I wanted to do in my career, I, I said, you know what, I want to make films, I want to make tv, I want to do that and like old movies, comedies, anything. I was totally into it, absolutely loved it. And so after I graduated from college, though, that was the first bush recession and there weren't a lot of jobs. So I ended up getting a job as a talent agent and lived in Chicago for a while and then moved to Boston. And, you know, it was great. I loved working with artists, I love promoting them, I loved helping them out. But you know, my mother was sick back home here outside Washington D.C. and my siblings and I decided we were all going to come home and help take care of her. [00:01:40] Speaker B: Right, right. [00:01:40] Speaker A: And so I was like, how do I get home? What do I do? So I went drinking with a buddy of mine. [00:01:46] Speaker B: A high school buddy. [00:01:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I saw the story, college buddy of mine. And after a few beers, he said, look, if you're really serious, offer you a job as a nighttime editor at the now booming, starting to boom, Discovery Channel. [00:01:58] Speaker B: Yes. [00:01:59] Speaker A: And I said, oh, okay. Well, if you're serious, fax me again. This tells you how long ago it was. Fax me the offer. And Monday morning he did. And I took a, I took a, I think 30 to 40% pay cut, right up my stuff. [00:02:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:02:12] Speaker A: Move back home and started in the lower rungs of Discovery Channel. But I got to be with my mom. [00:02:19] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly. [00:02:20] Speaker A: Yeah. And you know, so that started my career in tv. [00:02:23] Speaker B: And I thought it was so fascinating when you told that story was that, hey, you're taking a 6pm to 2, 6pm to 2am job, took a 30 pay cut and then the end of the road was you took care of your mother more Importantly, but on the professional side, you won an Emmy in 2012. [00:02:37] Speaker A: I did. I won. I actually won two Emmys. [00:02:39] Speaker B: Yes, you were. Two time. [00:02:40] Speaker A: Sorry, I'll do this and then I'll do this. Yes, I won two. It's, it's actually, honestly, they're there because it's good framing for like the background and podcast. Yeah, exactly. [00:02:49] Speaker B: But so it, yeah, it's, it's a beautiful thing too. And just on a side note, I know what it's like to have a, you know, an ill parent before they pass away. And, and, you know, it's an emotional toll. And so you gave a lot of yourself to do that. And obviously my sympathies go out to, you know, people who go through that because, you know, it's certainly a very trying time in someone's life. [00:03:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that once something, you know, that saying that goes around is you never know what anybody's dealing with when anybody's going through. [00:03:13] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:03:14] Speaker A: And a lot of people when I worked at Discovery had no idea that I was, I was dealing with that. And they just knew that occasionally I would bolt out and I'd have to go someplace and whatnot. But, you know, that's life. Life throws you hurdles and you have to learn your way to maneuver around them, find a way to kind of get through it and, and, and do your best. [00:03:34] Speaker B: Right. And it meant that when you were there, you were about the business at hand, you know, and so, you know, you know, I want to pivot a bit because this is you self describing, not me describing you. You've said that you were a plus size woman, you know, in, in your field, and it took extra steps for you to be, make sure that you were taken seriously, your presence was known and that you were about the business. So how did you go about navigating that? You know, it's better now, but I can only imagine at the time you were coming into your field of work. [00:03:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it's, it was something that, you know, you notice after a while when you go to meetings, you go to events, and suddenly you look around the room and you're, you're the only person over a size 8 and as I like to say, the only woman over a size 8 who's there and, and you feel out of place. And ever since I was a little kid, I've been heavy my whole life. I've, I'm sporty but, you know, still very heavy. And I was always told, you know, one, don't be lazy. We need to work extra hard. Don't be over the top loud and, and don't wear clashing, don't wear black all the time because it makes you thin, it makes you look thinner and whatnot. And so I think in some ways the, the first, first thing not being lazy. I don't think anybody's ever used that word to describe me ever, you know, ever. Because I have. I thought if I just put my head down and I work really, really hard, I'll be recognized. And in many ways I did. But at the same time, the motivation behind it was not just to succeed, but I think was to kind of COVID up the fact I was trying to comp stereotypes that are applied to heavy people. And you know, that's, that's just a stereotype. I mean, it's not true. [00:05:03] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I think it's fascinating too because if you look even at the movies, the comic foil was always the heavier set person. Right. Like John Candy made a career. Right. Like it is brilliant. You know, God bless the guy that he was one of the greatest of all time. But like the niche was the heavier set person was the butt of the joke or the, was the acceptance of the straight man or, you know, sort of perspective that they were supposed to be played off of and they were taken more seriously. They typically weren't depicted with families. They typically weren't depicted as people you would take seriously or if they did something, I hate to say this, like they were eating and it was the funny thing to laugh at. [00:05:37] Speaker A: Oh yeah. [00:05:38] Speaker B: So to speak. Right. You know, and it was a lot of playoff of that and you know, just briefly as a kid, you know, I'm cracking up and then you look at it, you're like, wow, that was, you know, that was out of pocket a little bit. You know what I mean? You know? [00:05:49] Speaker A: Yeah, it's, it's, it's something that, you know, when you go back and you kind of look at it, you go, wait, hold on a second. That's a little, that's a little kind of like over the top. [00:05:58] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:05:59] Speaker A: I'm a history buff. I love history too. One of my. I, I love President William Howard Taft. It's something I like. And I remember a long time ago I was reading an article in Sports Illustrated that was talking about, you know, how he was the fattest president ever. He had a, he had a tub. [00:06:15] Speaker B: He had a special tub. [00:06:16] Speaker A: Yeah, Special tub and everything. This was a man who was ambassador to the Philippines. Secretary of State. [00:06:22] Speaker B: Right. [00:06:23] Speaker A: President. [00:06:24] Speaker B: Right. [00:06:24] Speaker A: Chief justice of the Supreme Court. [00:06:26] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:06:26] Speaker A: Loving husband, loving father and Lived to the age of 74, which was longer than the life expectancy of that time. [00:06:32] Speaker B: Correct. [00:06:33] Speaker A: And you know what it puts out there is what could you imagine what he could have done if he wasn't fat? [00:06:38] Speaker B: Right. He reached the pinnacle of everything that you can. Right, right. [00:06:42] Speaker A: It's like, what do you want? Right. [00:06:44] Speaker B: Obviously. And obviously you're interesting. You're alive and I'm going to get to you. But it's also like Teddy Roosevelt, right? The guy boxed, did judo. Right. Like, he was an athlete. Right. You're just like, hey, like, you know, we. I'm glad society's come a longer way. And obviously, you know, you do public speaking. Let's talk about briefly with your career, because I love history, too. You're obviously way better than I am at this. You did it for a living. But you've also produced some of my favorite programs like Shark Week, Planet Earth, and so, please tell me your experiences. [00:07:13] Speaker A: You know, I, I started doing animal programming when I was at Discovery, working on the network side and collaborating with amazing production companies. So, like, Planet Earth was produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, and, and I work with them and then gradually moved into being at a production company and producing my own shows. I, I've done quite a bit of shark shows, more than I ever planned in my lifetime. Someone had said, you're going to be the shark gal. You're going to know sharks. I would have been like, no, okay. No. But the thing about it is, even when it comes to wildlife, there's always a story to be told. There's a fascinating story to be told. You just pull it from the facts and you, you tell their stories in a way that's going. Appealing to the audience. And as someone who's very emotional, I've always been really, really. I love to cry. I cry at the drop of a hat. It's finding those emotional connections that pull you in. So even when it comes to sharks, you know, people do have this kind of, I would say maybe prime, prime, prime, primeval. When I'm checking fear of them because they are the second badass in the, in the ocean, number one being the orca. They're the number two, and that's their home. So you kind of understand the fear. But once you get to them and know them, it puts a healthy respect in them. You know, look, they're not going to get, they're not going to bite you. They don't care. You know, they're just like any other animal. You just have to be, don't, don't be stupid, for sure. So it's. That has been fun. It's been a lot of fun to learn all these incredible facts. I think I'm so privileged that I have a job where I get to learn something new all the time, I think. All the time. [00:08:44] Speaker B: I think the biggest thing, like, for perspective for me when I'm watching programs like that is, like, here I have, like, on my couch. I can pause it to get, like, you know, something to eat, take a bathroom break, grab the kids and the wife. And these are very, very trying elements that these people are doing. You know, your. These teams are in, you know, and you're just blown away. And the camera's clean. The editing is crisp. The narration is fantastic. And what I like about it is the story tells itself. [00:09:11] Speaker A: Right? [00:09:11] Speaker B: Like, you know, there's. There's no protagonist, antagonist, sort of quippy line from a villain or a. Or the good guy, bad guy, so to speak. It's just like, this is what the world you don't get to see every single day. And there's something so beautiful. [00:09:24] Speaker A: And it's also. It kind of challenges us, is out in the wild, there's no good guy and bad guy. It's just, this is. This is life. This is reality. This is kind of what it is. And this is how. How these animals have to survive and thrive. And I think it allows us to kind of think back and actually reflect on us, on our humanity and what we are able to accomplish, what we are able to do. We are able. We are conscious and intelligent enough to recognize good and bad. [00:09:54] Speaker B: Right. [00:09:55] Speaker A: So it's. In many ways, I feel that when you observe nature and you see nature in its kind of pure form, it really reaffirms your humanity. [00:10:04] Speaker B: Absolutely. And it's beautiful. And I'm sorry if I cut you off. I was just saying it's a beautiful thing to watch. And then you're eager to watch the next one. Right. It's cyclical. Right. You're like, okay, you know, and you kind of feel like you're part of the story, too. And it. It's transgenerational. Right. So I can watch it. My kids can watch it, you know, and we don't have those type of animals, you know, in Michigan here. Right. We just don't. Right. So there's something that. Having that in your own living room is very precious and warming to see. [00:10:34] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, It's. It's nice. It's also, you know, I remember when I was in college, I had a professor who. He grew up on the south side of Chicago. And he, he expressed to me the first time he ever saw a cow was at the Lincoln Park Zoo. You know, so, I mean, a cow. [00:10:48] Speaker B: I mean, so that you drive past long enough anyway by default. [00:10:53] Speaker A: And so these films bring you, bring you places that you've always wanted to go and, and mysteries and reveal things that have always been fascinating. [00:11:02] Speaker B: And you also have your own podcast as well, too. We're going to get to a couple legs of the rung of what you've accomplished because, you know, to truncate it is a disservice, but we try to do this as best as possible. So you're a podcast host as well, too, and you're also a public speaker? [00:11:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm not. I'm not a podcast host. I have an interview. I have an interview series that I do that occasionally. And the reason why I want to make that clear is because podcast, Podcast hosts like yourself work really, really hard. And I'm just not willing to work that hard right now on that. Right. But I do. I do an interview series called Life After Television. And it's, it's a lot of it is that right now the television industry is going through massive change and there's a lot of people who are unemployed. And it's. When you, when you have an identity of this is what you do, this is who you are, this is the role you've been in your whole life, I think sometimes it feels very difficult to imagine yourself outside that perspective. And so the interview series is talking to various people who either have been in television and have transitioned into other careers or other spaces, or experts who work with television professionals to help them say, look, you're not just this, you're way beyond that. And this is. This is also part of a course that I teach on thinkific called Sell Yourself Like a TV Show. [00:12:15] Speaker B: I saw that. [00:12:16] Speaker A: It's a way to learn to identify what you're really good at, what your talents and skills are outside of the role or the title that you have. And when you start seeing that for yourself, it opens up a world of possibilities for you. And that's kind of a hybrid of my two careers. As a talent agent, then as a TV professional. Professional. [00:12:34] Speaker B: Well, I find it fascinating, obviously, I've seen, you know, we've all lived, you know, even as consumers, the changing in television dynamics, you know, towards streaming, mergers, acquisitions. I think it's fascinating, though, because obviously for scripted series, AI and, and things like that have really obviously geared things towards unfortunate employment, you know, reduction Costs. But when it comes to animals and documentaries, that's a little. Can I, can I. I'm thinking that's a little bit different only because, like, you can't really script what they're going to do. Right. And you need people still filming there. Right. You still need people in the elements. Like, you can't really green screen something like that. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. [00:13:11] Speaker A: No, but I will say that Disney did advertise the, the Lion King, the most recent Lion King movie, as their first live action. Oh, yeah, Disney film. And you're like, no, lions don't talk. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they do that. And so I remember when that came out and a few of us were like, wait a minute, hold on a second. You know, that's, that's not it. But you're right, you're right. It's, it's something that. I think what you're gonna find is you see this with AI is you see many people embracing it are just like, this is so cool. This is amazing. And then you get something that's just really gritty and real, you know, and people gravitate to that as well. I said, I, I think that the, the future is in the middle. I think there's going to be. AI is going to be used for some. But people want authenticity. People want something that's real and they're going to embrace it. They're going to. I mean, here's one thing that I love is that I just finished watching andor need to start it. Incredible series. Incredible. And there's, there's no Jedi. Woo woo. [00:14:15] Speaker B: Right. [00:14:16] Speaker A: Huge special effects in it at all. It's a drama. And so that, that tells me it's like, look, no, I think we're gonna, we're gonna find a way to make this all work. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. And you know, that's one, that's one of the ones I need to catch. So it's been actually getting a chance to actually embrace and sit down and watch a full series. I actually need to watch season one all over again. Because when you have these gaps and then you're trying to remember what happened, even the recap doesn't really do justice because you're like, man, did I, did I watch or do you? Oh, yeah, it starts to catch up with you. So you also were, you know, with Red Rock Films, you know, you did independent producing. I mean, you just segue from one thing to the next. Yeah, you know, let's, let's dive into that, please. [00:14:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I was at the Network. And the network was really. I enjoyed it. I went from Discovery Channel to National Geographic, and I work with, you know, as a network exec executive, you. You help shepherd companies to deliver the product that's going to work for the audience. And when I was there, I got to work some fabulous thing, but I realized I wanted to get out and get my hands dirty. I wanted to be in the. In the mix. And so I partnered up with the amazing Brian Armstrong at Red Rock Films, and we started the company as like, three and a half people in his basement. And then after 10 years, we won four Emmys. [00:15:25] Speaker B: Unbelievable. Unbelievable. [00:15:28] Speaker A: The outstanding documentary series Primetime Emmy for Secrets of the Whales. And it was great. It was absolutely great. It was. It was wonderful to be able to tell stories, work with amazing people, come up with just the craziest ideas. And sometimes I sold them. [00:15:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:43] Speaker A: There was one idea, my favorite idea that I sold was I was looking at my dog one day, and I'm like, he was a mutt. And I said, what are you. Wait, that's a show idea? [00:15:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:53] Speaker A: It ended up becoming a pilot called who's your doggy? About guessing what breeds mutts are. And so when you have these ideas, it's great. It's. It's wonderful to be out there and. And do it. So it was a great time when I left Red Rock. I still love them. We're still incredibly close. It was. I decided I wanted to move beyond just doing producing and do some things just kind of on my own. And that got into public speaking and workshop facilitation. [00:16:16] Speaker B: Nice. You know, I always loved when I would watch. You know, I think Planet Earth was at. Atten. Who was the voiceover? [00:16:22] Speaker A: Yeah, well, Attenborough. No, Attenborough was. Planet Earth was. Attenborough was the. Was the British version. And in the US Version, we worked with Sigourney Weaver. [00:16:29] Speaker B: Okay. I did not hear the Sigourney Weaving version. I always heard. I've tended. Whenever I turn it on, I always end up getting the British generation. Oh, yeah. [00:16:36] Speaker A: They show it a lot on BBC America. [00:16:38] Speaker B: Right, right. And that's a great network, too. It really, truly is. So you also do public speaking as well, too, and you also do consulting as well, too. And you help companies as well, too, through your. Your company. So please speak on your company as well. [00:16:52] Speaker A: Sure. My company is Padlin Creative P A D L I N. It's a. The name comes from. It's a hybrid of my mother's nickname and her real name, Beautiful and Patty and Lina and And so I work with small production companies on their ideas, help them kind of approach it. What's the best way to move forward? Should they move forward? Should they develop it even further? I also executive produce a few things. I'm working on an indie film based out of Baltimore and eight part series based out of Yellowstone. [00:17:17] Speaker B: That's awesome. [00:17:18] Speaker A: And then I like doing public speaking, like doing talking to people about not only my experience and the joy of doing it and the joy of the natural world, but also, you know, as motivational of not letting how you feel and not saying I'm sorry all the time. Not letting insecurities or like societal pressures kind of hold you back and unapologetic, like you say. Yeah, to be fully unapologetic. And it's. And you know, there's a study that shows that women apologize a lot more for men because of things that they think they have to apologize for, you know, and many ways that diminishes your status. And that's from the amazing book called Likable Badass by Alison Fragali. And it's great. It's just a great thing. So you don't have to apologize for not sending an email back in 20 minutes. You know, you don't have to do all that. And I enjoy kind of mentoring and helping people and hopefully, you know, help them feel a little bit better as they face this cold, cruel world that we're in. [00:18:13] Speaker B: Right, so, so you're helping companies with startups, right? And I thought, and I thought, that's really great. So do you find a generational difference when they start, when people are starting companies versus, you know, you almost have to tame people's ambition, I'm sure, because they think that, you know, they want to go 100 miles an hour when they haven't even got past the, the conception phase. You know, even when I was doing this podcast, for instance, right? I'm like, I want to do all this, all this, all this. And then you actually have to stop and find out what exactly you're looking to accomplish because you cannot eat, you know, the entire dinner plate all at once, right? You have to. Okay, can I, can I get people on? Can I get people who actually sync with me, you know, in a concise manner? Or do people want to talk to me? Are they going to think that I'm an awful interviewer? Right. And so it comes. It has to kind of come organically. So what team sizes do you work with? [00:18:57] Speaker A: I work with, first off, you're excellent interviewer, so don't Worry about that. Right. You're an excellent interviewer. I work with mostly companies are like one to three people and they're in the startup phase now, particularly in television or media creation. You have someone who's a creative person, they have ideas, they know how to produce, they know how to, to put the story together, or they're an excellent DP or they're excellent this. But what they're not as familiar with is organizational structure, business aspect, legal, production, management, making sure all the contracts are signed and keeping, keeping charge of budgets. And that's an area that kind of helps. Say, hey, look, you should look at this, you should make sure this. Or you know, one of my favorite things is like, they really want to do X, but they only have money to do Y. And I'm like, well, you only have money to do this. [00:19:42] Speaker B: Right, right, do this. [00:19:43] Speaker A: So what are you going to do? [00:19:45] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. [00:19:46] Speaker A: And make sure you don't over promise and under, under deliver. I think another thing, I don't think it's a generational thing. I say that because I'm actually working with someone who's a gen zer who's kind of helping me focus my creative energies. I think when you're, when you're creative, you have lots of ideas and lots of, or entrepreneurial spirit. You have lots of ideas and you want to do it and it's like popcorn in your brain. It's just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And I think it's good to have someone who's helps you just kind of say, you can look, step back and go focus on that, focus on that, focus on that for sure. And that is we all need that, we all need someone who's kind of doing that because you don't want that entrepreneurial or creative spirit to be tamped down. You don't want to stuff it into a box, but you also don't want it just going absolutely crazy. And so a lot of the people that I work with, individuals or small companies, that's what I bring. And there's, there's even times I, I, I have a client I work with right now things are going very, very well for him. He's doing great. He's making the donuts. He's doing it right. But now the challenge he has to face is he's getting offers to do more and more and does he have the bandwidth to actually handle it? Good problem to have, fantastic problem to have, great problem to have. And in fact, there was a recent project where he's like, I don't Know if this is going to be good. And I'm like this, you know, my advice, that's going to take a lot of work and a lot of time and I don't think you have the bandwidth to handle it, you know, So I think that's part of it. It's good to have people who are kind of helping you out and make sure not to rein in your creativity or your energy, but just bring in a little bit of pragmatism. [00:21:24] Speaker B: Just be like, absolutely right. Instead of doing the 50 city tour, you might need to do a 15 city tour. [00:21:29] Speaker A: Right, exactly. Look at the data, look at the, where the data is going to bring you. I'm, you know, my career has been built on doing a lot of research on different topics and then telling the story about that. I am all about doing research and what, what the data tells you. Follow the data, chase it. [00:21:44] Speaker B: I gotta be honest, like, so when we typically, when documentaries, and I say this the most respectfully, typically it was like your grandparent watching the documentary. [00:21:51] Speaker A: Right. [00:21:51] Speaker B: But it seems like at least since streaming has been, you know, the one thing that it's been more open and more people watch them. Did you see any demographic changes from when you started doing documentaries where it was like the grandfathers watching it, the grandparents are watching to like, you know, youth and other people that were tapping into it that you maybe didn't expect or you saw trends of different demographics and areas that were watching things like that? [00:22:15] Speaker A: I think the one trend. Well, first genres come and go and you know, right now you can't turn on a channel without seeing true crime. It's. It's a story. [00:22:23] Speaker B: Right. [00:22:23] Speaker A: You know, it's a story. People are fascinated by it. People love mysteries. [00:22:26] Speaker B: Briefly, to interrupt it's. I always tell my wife I feel guilty watching it because I'm like watching entertainment while somebody had an awful thing happen to me. [00:22:34] Speaker A: Them. [00:22:34] Speaker B: Right. You know. [00:22:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:37] Speaker B: So I'll let you. Right, right. [00:22:39] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, I mean it's, it's the same guilt that I feel like I, despite working in wildlife predation upsets me when I see something killed and it's like, but that's life. Okay? That's it. So. Okay. But I think that genres come and go. [00:22:53] Speaker B: Right. [00:22:54] Speaker A: And I think that what's been interesting on genres is you have documentaries that really make you think. And then I think you have documentaries that are just comfortable. And YouTube and some streaming has shown that younger demographics love watching a car being made. [00:23:11] Speaker B: Yes. [00:23:11] Speaker A: Love watching things like that. And YouTube has, has kind of found that and like interesting science tests or interesting science experiments and doing that. That to me is generation. It kind of covers all of it. It's, it's, it's goes from the. It's not old, it's not new, you know, young, etc. And, and I think it's also fascinating, like wildlife documentaries. Wildlife documentaries tend to be a lot of. There's also, like, people sit and watch them with their kids. And so it's, it's. I think you just follow kind of the way the genres are flowing, what people are responding to. And. But to add on to that, what's been going on with. Let me start this. Cut. This, if you can, sorry. Is with Discovery. With the launch of Discovery and History Channel and everything, what has happened is people became. There was more access to it, so people became more familiar with it and it became kind of an everyday, accepted form of watching, whether it's Dirty Jobs or Mythbusters or Ancient Aliens, you know, not my thing. But yeah, yeah, it's more accepted. It's become kind of an accepted form of viewing. And so that it's now the norm for everybody. It's now normal television. And for that, I'm great. I'm grateful. That's fantastic. [00:24:23] Speaker B: It's so funny. Like, being a geek now is, like, socially accepted, right? So, like. [00:24:27] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. [00:24:27] Speaker B: Absolutely. You used to, like. I always laugh when I see like the, you know, the comic book movies. I'm a big comic book movie head, you know, I almost want to tell, like, the audience, you weren't there. In the 90s when I loved this, you weren't there. You were watching football, basketball and baseball. And I didn't. And I did to a degree, too, but I was the geek that was watching it. Now you want in on what I loved. Because now. So, you know, and it's just like. It's kind of territorial. It's. I laugh about it, but I was kind of ahead of the curve because I already knew what was coming on the screen. Yeah. [00:24:55] Speaker A: Because it was precious. It was precious to you. Without question, precious because you loved it and now everybody loves it. Like, no, wait a minute. I was. I. That was mine. [00:25:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:03] Speaker A: And I get that. [00:25:04] Speaker B: So, you know, and, you know, obviously, I. Really appreciative of your time. I know your schedule is very concise and tight and so one thing I wanted to share with the audience, they don't need me to find you. You are more than successful, but just to, for, for pure openness. Where can people find you? What you've done and the services that you offer. [00:25:22] Speaker A: Sure. Go to my website, Padlin P A-L I N creative dot com. You can. You can drop me an email. You can book a consultation appointment. There's also a link to the courses I offer on Thinkific. One is, like, I mentioned, called how to Sell Yourself, like a TV Show. The other one is from Idea to Pitch. If you have an idea, if you think it's a good documentary or good television show idea, kind of walk you through all the analysis you should do before you dive in and start trying to make that pitch deck. [00:25:48] Speaker B: Yeah, that's awesome. And, you know, and for the record, I'm that geek you talked about, like, I'll watch, like, the building of the Isthmus Canal, you know, or, you know, the channel, how they did the channel locks, you know, in. In ancient. Ancient Rome and ancient Greece, how they get a water source and then bring it to a city. And then they all did it by hand, ladies and gentlemen. You know, primitive tools like, you know, with no measurement. [00:26:10] Speaker A: And they're still standing. And they're standing. That's the incredible part. [00:26:13] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then they use, like, real, you know, molten, you know, volcano lava to, like, make, you know, it's. I could go down that. You know that better than I do. I'm just. [00:26:22] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:26:22] Speaker B: I'm just a consumer and viewer who gets the chance to. To, you know, you know, watch it. So, you know, I gotta tell you, like, out of all the people that I get a chance to talk to, I mean, you're at the top of the. Top of the food chain. So this has been great for, like. I can't even describe, like, the humbleness that you've carved out your busy schedule to talk to me. So this is. [00:26:39] Speaker A: No, this one. Anytime, anytime. It's been fun. [00:26:42] Speaker B: This is awesome. Thank you so much for being on the Tron podcast. Thank you much. Appreciate it. Have a great one. [00:26:47] Speaker A: You too, Sam.