On Creative Assembly’s The Spark podcast, our mission is to amplify Nashville’s diverse creative voices, foster growth through shared journeys, and inspire a city that thrives on collaboration.And now, here’s The Spark.Welcome back to The Spark.I’m your host, Mark Scrivner, and today I’m joined by Rob Erickson.He’s the founder, CEO of Massive Mission, a video-based company here in Nashville, Tennessee.You’ve done, uh, work on some of the biggest screens in media, pharma, God, everything else, entertainment.Uh, Rob, welcome to the show, man.It’s great to have you.Thank you so much for having me on.This is, uh, this is a treat, and I’m, uh, looking forward to it.Yeah.You, um, you produce some podcasts.I- I-got before the show, and so this is your first podcast you’ve been on.This is my first as a- As a guestguest on a podcast, so thanks for breaking my podcast cherry.This is, um, a lot of fun.hope I don’t mess up.Well, what a, what an honor, man.I’m glad that, uh, you’d, you’d, uh, take time out to be on our podcast, so thank you, man.Well, thank you.As your first one.Yeah.Um, well, just to kinda get kicked off, maybe just tell the audience a little bit about you.Like, how’d you get into this, and where’d the, where’d the concept come of starting Massive Mission?So I went into school thinking I was going to be an engineer, right?I liked taking things apart, putting them back together.Like, in my, in high school I built a BattleBot with my friends.Like, it was a lot of fun, right?So I’m- I’m going into college, I’m thinking I’m gonna be an engineer, but not really knowing what I wanna do.Um, going to college also was a lot of fun.You know, I was out of the house- Mm-hmmfor the first time, not a lot of oversight.So, um, I didn’t really focus on studies too much.I kinda just had fun with my friends, and then I took a internship with the university doing data entry.Super boring.Um, but one day my boss came to me and said, “Hey, um, how would you like to not do data entry and go work on this television commercial?We’re gonna do the University of Illinois’, uh, halftime spot that plays during basketball- Oohand football games.”I’m like, “That sounds like the most fun ever.”So I went, I joined this, um, this crew out of Las Vegas of former University of Illinois graduates that, um, had started a company doing events and media, and I kinda was hooked.I was like, “Okay, this is what I wanna do.”And that was my junior year of, um, college.They came back the next year, did the next, uh, TV spot.I got on that one as well, and that was my first job out of college was working for that company that had flown in to, uh, make those halftime spots.And- Hmmyeah, I was hooked.Man, well you, um, you got a degree, your MBA at Chapman, um- Mm-hmmafter doing some research, and it was in entrepreneurship and film.So, I mean, you were in the right spot of- Yeahit sounded like you kinda had made that decision.So the first job I got with that company was not actually doing anything media related.They were an events company that also made media for events- Okayand some different things.Um, they’re like, “Well, we have a job on the events side of things,” and I just needed a job, so I took that job.And then what brought me to Chapman is, like, I worked that job for 4 years, got a lot of experience, had a little bit of media experience, um, but I really wanted to, like, shoot my shot and take a stab at breaking into film and television.So quit the job, went back to film and business school, and, uh, that’s what brought me to Chapman.Okay.Yeah.And, uh, I guess as you look back, like, what was that very first project that you got that was the first video thing, maybe start to finish, that you owned?Do you remember that?Um, I mean, there’s a couple that stand out in my mind.I mean, the one, I think, um, that hooked me was working just as a PA on that television commercial when I was an undergrad.That like, “Okay, I see this as a career that I could do for the rest of my life.”Mm-hmm.Um, as far as, like, the first one that I really truly owned, man, there’s just so many that kind of, like, stand out in my mind.Um, it’s really hard to pin down just one.Yeah.Well, we had a, um, we had 4 videos we did, uh, at the very beginning when we started Snapshot, and that was our very first video project.Each one of them were $100 a piece.We made $400-on these 4 coach training videos, so.Changed a little bit since then, I think.Yeah.Yeah.A little bit.So, but, uh, I guess w- at what point in time did you determine, like, “Hey, I’m gonna, instead of building somebody else’s dream, I’m gonna go build my own”?Yeah, so I was working at a, at a pretty great agency up in Chicago, um, um, l- very large.And, um, I got a new boss that came in, and I had started as an event producer and a media producer for them, and over the 4 years that I worked there, I kind of had migrated over to primarily just producing content, right?Just going on the road, shooting stuff, uh, driving animated projects through, and not really producing any, um, live events anymore.New boss comes in, and they’re like, “Hey, we really wanna get you back on the live event side of things.”And at this point- You know, I’m in my early 30s, mid- early to mid-30s, and I’m kinda like, “I don’t really think I wanna do that, um, you know, and just be, you know, really on the live event side of things anymore.”So, um, they gave me a couple options to produce more events, exclusively produce video, or, you know, I can take a leave and a severance.Yeah.And I took that, and that’s what I used to start Mass Admission.Hmm.Yeah.And was that in Chicago?That was in Chicago- Okayyeah, back in 2018.Yeah.And so when, uh, where, what, what caused you to wanna move to Nashville, and what got you here then?Yeah.So, um, I’m from Illinois originally.I love Illinois.I love Chicago.Um, but my wife is from Phoenix, and she doesn’t like the cold.Hmm.Um, so we had come to Nashville several times.My, uh, aunt and uncle moved here 25 years ago- Mm-hmm28 years ago.So we would do, like, a rotating Thanksgiving where we’d come down every 4 years to, um, see that.I saw the growth in Nashville.I came here for work.I shot a bunch of sh- uh, spots for Sonic, um, back here in the day before we moved here, and we just kinda liked it.So when the pandemic hit, um, we were living in our tiny little, uh, apartment in Chicago, about 1,000 square feet downtown, and it’s tight, stuff’s shutting down.We’re kinda just sitting in this apartment.So my wife and I are like, “Well, let’s go across the country to your parents’ house in Phoenix.”They have a big house- Mm-hmmland.Um, so we drove 24 hours straight through from Chicago to Phoenix, Clorox wiping the gas pumps-’cause nobody knew what COVID was at the time, when the COVID lockdown hit.Yeah.Mm-hmm.Um, and we didn’t wanna stop at a hotel, ’cause we thought we might catch it.Um, but we spent a full month in Phoenix, and all the video shoots vanished overnight.I’m guessing you experienced- Mm-hmmsomething similar.But then being in the live event media space, everyone’s like, “Well, we still need to communicate with our people.”Mm-hmm.”We still need to do something, so let’s bring a small crew together to film what we were gonna do for the live event.”So then after it went dark for about 2 weeks, everything, boom, the phone starts ringing.And after a month of overstaying our welcome, realizing that I can run the company from not Chicago, we’re like, “Why don’t we just drive through Nashville on our way back to Chicago and just see if there’s a spot we like?”Um, so that’s what we did.We drove from Phoenix after that month, uh, kind of- Hmmreset in Phoenix, uh, to Nashville, bought a house, and drove to Chicago, packed, and came back down.Wow.Did you still have people in Chicago that worked with you, or more like freelance people?So I had a kind of a perma-lancer guy on my team that had started in January of that year.Mm-hmm.Um, when I was in Phoenix, I offered him a full-time job.This is before I knew I was moving to Nashville.Yeah.He took it.I go, uh, by the house, drive back up to Chicago, and I’m like, “Hey, by the way, we’re moving the company to Nashville.”He’s still with the company, and he’s in Chicago now.Oh, wow.Yeah.So- Okayum, he’s been great.Dustin, love you, man.Um- So you’ve still got an office up there or a presence in Chicago.Yeah.And so you travel back and forth with projects, but I’m sure they’re all over the country- Yeah, projects are-and all over the worldall over the place.So, um, yeah, he’s, he’s in Chicago, and, um, most of our team is here in Nashville.We’ve got somebody in the Philippines as well.Um, but yeah.Well, you’ve worked with some very big brands, from Merck to The New York Times to Warner Media and HCA.Like, how do you, how did, early on, how’d you get those kinds of clients?Yeah.So, um, we have done a little bit of work direct with, uh, customers before.Um, but my background, um, at my last company and the company before that and the company before that was basically working at agencies.So, um, a lot of our contacts and connections are with people at big, large agencies, and, um, we kinda come in as their partner, either as kind of the white label partner- Yeahand we are them- Okayor they bring us in and say, “Oh, you know, Mass Admission is our video production, uh, you know, partner,” and we operate that way.So a lot of those connections have come from just the agencies.like, “Hey, we’re working with this,” and, uh, you know, we come in and, and service- Okayuh, that client.I think we do a pretty good job, and- Yeahthey bring us back.Yeah.I mean, you gotta, you do great work, and man, they, they come back to you, so that’s great.That’s right, yeah.Yeah.What, uh, where did the name Massive MissionI love it.Where did- Where, where’d you get that inspiration?People ask that all the time, and back before I started the company, um, I was feeling, like, the itch.Like, I want to do something beyond what I’m just doing in my day-to-day- Mm-hmmagency job.So I had a bunch of ideas of all of these different things I wanted to accomplish and achieve and get off the ground.I wanted to do a T-shirt company that gave a portion of proceeds to charity.I wanted to do a, um, a series of charity bar crawls.I actually did do the series of charity bar crawls- Niceum, where each one raises money for a different cause.Um, there was a few other ones, like a, a natural food company, um, and one of them was a media production company.But the through line with all of these ideas was really, there needs to be something involved in these things that makes life better for people or, like, makes the, gives back to the community.Um, that was just important to me.Um, and the surviving idea out of all of those things, I don’t do the charity bar crawls anymore, was, um, Massive Mission.And I was like, what’s, like, a name that kind of accompany, accom- encompasses all of these ideas?Massive Mission, the mission being make the world a little bit better along the way.Mm-hmm.So the way we try to do that through the company now is we either do free video or significantly reduced cost video for nonprofit organizations that we care about, and that’s manifested in some documentaries that we have produced for- Wowuh, nonprofit organizations, as well as just, like, some ongoing video support for events that they have.Like, um, you know, they have their annual gala event, and we film that and help, um, you know, push that out to drive sponsorships for the following year and remind everybody that came how much fun it was, so they sign up and buy a ticket for the following year and support the silent auctions and different things like that.So yeah, I don’t know if that’s too long-winded- Noway of how it came about.But, um- There’s a lot of nonprofits that probably watch this show, and so-hopefully you get a, uh, influx of opportunities to help some- Well, we’ve worked with some really great onesnonprofits.Yeah, we worked with, uh, you know, Make-A-Wish foundation, like corporate.Um, on their, they do a big event every 5 years where they, uh, take kids to Disney World, so we did that.Um, we work a lot with American Heart Association, uh, here in middle Tennessee.Um, Cradle for Cranes up in Chicago and Boston and Philly.Wow.Um, kind of just finished a documentary about them and their 20-year anniversary.Man, that’s good.Well, thanks for doing that.I mean, every nonprofit needs to be able to tell their story, so- Yeah, I think it’s importanthaving a company like you.And I mean, just ke- staying on that road, like, you know, as I was doing research, your company’s stated, um, uh, belief is authenticity.And I mean, it’s so important in the storytelling aspect.Like, where did that, where’d that come from?Yeah.I mean, I have done a lot of interviews with people, um, like people that wanna be in a video and people that get kind of volun-told to be in a video.And, like, it’s more, I think, um, I know we’re gonna probably talk about AI today- Yeahbut, like, part of it is like there’s so much AI slop and crap being- Hmmgenerated now that my personal belief is that I think that there’s gonna be the pendulum swing back from, like, the sexy AI, you know, you know, flash and sizzle over to kind of, like, authentic communication.So that’s, like, part of it, and seeing how people show up and deliver what they wanna say, and then how much even more important that is today with, like, the prevalence of AI, and that’s gonna, I think, just wear a lot of people out really fast.Yeah.So.Yeah, I think people see through it, so, um- Yeah, and there’s a place for it, definitely, but, um, you know, you’ve seen these kind of, like, just fully AI-generated videos that are populating Instagram feeds and TikTok and even LinkedIn now, and you know, I’m not fully tired yet, but I’m almost there.Yeah.Hmm.Well, you know, the live event production, I mean, it’s, it’s sometimes can be a challenge ’cause you really only have one shot- Mm-hmmat capturing that main event, you know, that main- Yeahthing that you’re trying to capture.Like, um, what is one of the hardest parts of, like, that business of actually how do you teach the team, “We’ve gotta get this one thing right,” ’cause it only happens once?Yeah.Uh, it’s multi-part to that.It’s difficult.And I think, um, step one is acknowledging you’re not always gonna get it.Like, um, we try our best to make sure we’re getting every, you know, powerful moment, and we’ll look at the schedule ahead of time and identify, like, okay, they’re gonna do the, the ribbon cutting here, or they’re going to, you know, surprise acknowledge this guy that’s retiring in the crowd here, um, and really just make sure we’re communicating well about what those moments are and m- make sure the camera’s rolling, right?Mm-hmm.Um, but there’s times when y- you can only be in one place at one time, and you can’t be in 2 places at once, and a lot of these events, um, have, oh, this important thing is happening, and this important thing is happening.Well, you know, kind of just do your best to be rolling and capture what you can when you can, and if you miss it, work on getting the next one.Because ultimately, even some of the important moments that we list out ahead of time don’t make the final cut.You know?Mm-hmm.27 important moments, and, you know, was that one really that important?Um, well, you know, we try to capture everything that we can, butThat used to be the most stressful part for me, when they would ask me to come and help them out, which I’m not a videographer, but it’s like, “Did you turn on the camera?”Oh, my God.You know, 5 minutes into it, and it’s like, that red button’s on.Oh, thank God.So.Yeah.No, it is a little high-pressure, you know, um, when you’re trying to get all those moments, but- Yeah.Mm-hmm.Well, what, as you think of, like, live production, I mean, you’ve done a ton of stuff over the years.Like, is there any one thing that kind of stands out to you?You know, I saw this question in the pre, right?And, um, what still makes me feel really, really good as I, as I think about what goes into a good, I’m specifically talking about- Yeahcandidates videos.Mm-hmm.’Cause we do a lot of candidates videos.We go physically on site.We shoot with teams to make their event look cool and fun,Um, so that they can showcase it next year and, um, make people feel good about the time that they spent there away from their families to travel to wherever it was and, and do it.And, um, it’s not like a specific moment.It’s like a series of moments.When I see pe- Like this guy see this other dude that he hasn’t seen in a year since the last national sales meeting, and they are genuinely excited to see one another, and they go in for that hug or that high5 or whatever that thing is, and I’m rolling and I capture that moment- Mm-hmmI’m like, “Hell yeah.”Like, um, those, those moments make me feel good when it’s about the authenticity of those moments.Like, um, it’s not manufactured fun.It’s like real.Yeah.Make sense?You’re not staging it.Yeah, and there’s multiple of those moments when you’re, you know, capturing one of these, um, capturing one of these events.So I get that little bitty rush.If I’m actually operating the camera, which is sometimes, not often, um, and I’m filming, “Oh, gotcha.”Yeah.Well, you work with some highly regulated industries, like the, uh, pharma or healthcare.And it’s like, you know, you’ve got to tell authentic stories, but you also have a level of scrutiny of what you can capture and say.And- YepI guess, how do you, like, balance that creative instinct and the, that level of, like, scrutiny that maybe comes along with some of these verticals?Yeah, I think I’ve just kind of gotten used to it, and I don’t know if that’s if that’s, like, the right answer, but, um, with any creativity, I think creativity blooms under a certain level of, uh, restriction, right?With no restrictions, and you can, it could be anything, that’s harder to hone in on a good idea than, like, okay, well, these are the guardrails.This is the lane we’re gonna stay in.How much latitude do we have within that path, right?And, um, knowing what those kind of like guardrails are, I think helps the team stay creative about, like, well, how are we gonna, like, inject some creativity into this via, you know, cool transitions or, um, you know, just other ideas that might pop up on the fly.Mm-hmm.You know, there’s a lot of, um, video production companies that we’ve either had on here or that, uh, listen to the, uh, podcast.I guess, how do you find your new business?Do you have like a sales team that goes out, or are you, um, out there actively working it, or is it referrals?How, how do you typically see it coming in?It’s primarily been referrals and kind of just relationship based.Um, I have, I have realized that, like, if I want to continue to grow the company, I need to be doing more in the sales, uh, world.I’ve previously had a couple salespeople.Kinda didn’t really work out too well.Um, I think overall I sell what we do pretty well.Uh, it’s not to say I wouldn’t want somebody else to come on and, and help me drive sales of the company, but, um, I’m actively working on reducing the amount of time I spend on kind of like administrative tasks so that I can spend more time having conversations with clients, ’cause, like, what we do isn’t necessarily cheap, but there is a lot of value in it.Mm.And, like, having done as many videos as I have for clients all over the world, like, I truly believe in the value of what we do, right?And I know that, um, we’re giving clients something that, like, can make a real impact with their audience and with their people.And, um, yeah.So sales-wise, it’s just about sitting down with folks- Mm-hmmhaving real authentic conversations about like, well, tell me what you really need.Like, let’s get to the, you know, let’s cut to the chase.Yeah.What do you need your audience to think, feel, or do after this?And then, well, how can we get there?And sometimes it’s not media, too.You know?And I try to be forthwith about that if I don’t think that, like, we’re the solution.Um, Yeahsometimes we are.And sometimes I think we can help.That’s a good lesson.I mean, and I, um, you know, anytime you can do a video, I mean, a video you can tell a story and you make the CEO or the C-suite look very, very good.Mm-hmm.And it just, I have always seen over the years that that turns into additional business.You know, if you don’t, it- Yeahturns into no business.But man, for the great, you know, people out there, the great agencies- Yeahthat tell great stories and high-quality video content, man, it could just turn into a big-time referral network.Yeah, definitely.Well, I’d, I’d love to make more connections.Yeah.Yeah.Well, um, I guess, you know, how have you seen the video world, like, since you’ve been in business- Mmhow has it shifted from early days- Yeahto where you’re at today?Um, I’m sure you know this.It has shifted so drastically, faster than I could have ever imagined.Um, when I first started doing it, people were still shooting on tape.Um, it wasn’t really digital.so the digitalization of it and not shooting to tape or film was one big jump.You know, nonlinear editing kind of was just becoming very popular, I guess, when I started- Mm-hmmto do this.But, um, the barrier to entry is so much lower than it used to be, would be number one before we get into the AI stuff.It’s just like, you know, you used to have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on gear in, in, to get in the game, right?Um, but now, I mean, you can go out and get a really good camera and a really good lens for a couple thousand bucks, couple decent lights on Amazon, and pretty decent microphone, and you’re doing talking head videos, like right there.Mm-hmm.Or, you know, you buy a gimbal, you stick your camera on the gimbal now, and now you’re doing B-roll for live events.Um, and it just doesn’t cost as much, and the training on all of these things is also so much more easily accessible.Um, you know, I taught myself editing on YouTube.Yeah.And, um, I watched a lot of YouTube videos to teach myself how to shoot because before this company, I didn’t really shoot.I, uh, I was a producer- Okaydirector, interviewer.Um, thanks, YouTube.Yeah.Here we are.That’s so funny, Rob, ’cause, like, when we started the company in 2010, I used to say that same thing.It was like, you know, we’re competing against the traditional production companies that had $100,000 Avid editor bays and $50,000 cameras and- Yeahnow we can buy $10,000 cameras.But- Yeahnow you’re saying, you know- You can buy $2,000 camerasmaybe now you can buy 2,000.Yeah.And it’s like, you know, we’re shooting, we were editing on, you know, Adobe and we’ve got an iMac- Mm-hmmand it’s the same asSo- Yeahyeah, it just keeps, it keeps, uh, getting more and more efficient- Yeahand cheaper to- And then it-get intoit allows more complexity, and that’s where, like, an agency has, like, a leg up on maybe just, like, a freelancer, is that, um, you know, the complexity of what we’re doing is typically, you know, a little bit higher, right?Like, we make multi-screen candidates videos, um, and custom aspect ratios.Like, we did one, 13 simultaneous screens with content going, synced up to all 13 at the same time.Wow.Um, it’s just a little bit different ballgame than- Yeah16:9 box, and I mean, we still do that as well, but, those tools getting cheaper has allowed cooler things to happen is I guess- Mm-hmma little bit of the point- Yeahof that.Hmm.Well, you know, um, I, I wanna get into your podcast ’cause I really- Oh, surewanna hear about it, but before that, let’s talk a little bit about AI.Um- Let’s.What, umLike, how are you guys utilizing it today?Like, where, what’s helping to make you all more efficient with it or are- Yeahyou using it?So we are using it, and I kind of have, um, a company mandate.I don’t wanna replace anybody with AI.What I want is, I’m thinking about AI as, like, Adobe Creative Cloud or, like, nonlinear editing.This tool came in and made what we were doing on the editing side so much faster than what it was before, right?So if we can take AI and integrate it into the systems and processes that we’re doing, we should be able to do exactly what we’re doing today but faster and more efficiently.And that also cr- increases our volume capacity of how much work we’re able to take on.So I think there is a place for that company out there that’s just like, “We won’t use AI for anything.”And some, that’ll resonate with some clients, a few of them.I don’t think- Yeaha lot of them, a few of them, and there’s a place for that.But I think for everyone else, it is a tool that you need to learn how to use or you’re gonna get left behind.Mm-hmm.So, um, we’re integrating it on what we’re doing for, you know, edits to, you know, help a little bit with shot selection, clean up audio, um, brainstorming.You know?We take some ideas, throw it in chat or Gemini or whatever, and it spits back out some other things and, like, we’re obviously curating and cleaning things up, but, um, you Getting further faster- Mm-hmmI think is, um, how we’re trying to use it.Yeah.So it’s important.It’s a little bit the Wild West right now, trying out a lot of different tools.Some of them are garbage, some of them are great, um, and we’re still figuring out which is which.Yeah, which- And I think a lot of people are, too.Yeah.What tool isWhat’s one that you’ve kinda seen, man, there’s some opportunity here?Hmm.ElevenLabs, like, um, that’s one a lot of people are familiar with.But, like, what that can do on the voice side of things to, you know, auto-generate a VO that you’re working on, um, is prettyIt’s cool.It’s also pretty scary.Um, another one I think would be just, like, the generative video ones.There’s some stuff with Higgs Field, and, uh, even Gemini.Google Gemini- Mm-hmmwill spit out videos now, like, based on, you know, a seed image.So, um, we did one not that long ago where a client didn’t wanna pay for a full, like, After Effects animation thing for this race car thing that they were doing.So we generated a bunch of race car images, and we stuck their logo on it, and we slapped it into a bunch of different- Yeahgenerators and generated, like, the B-roll shot we needed of, like, the money shot, which was their, uh, race car with their logo speeding down the track to the finish line, right?Mm-hmm.Um, and we didn’t have to put that in After Effects at all.Um, and the cost is a lot cheaper.And there’s definitely, you know, still, we’re still doing After Effects and w- ’cause a lot of our clients still want really, really custom stuff.But for the times when it just needs to be a shot of a race car, yeah, well- Yeahit’s a lot easier than going out and shooting it yourself or, uh,Man, I, um, you know, I saw, I saw a project that w- a creative director here in town, big agency, uh, he shared a spec video that they did for a client just to win the pitch.Yeah.And it was basically like what you just said about the race cars.But I mean, they put this video together, and it looked really good.Mm-hmm.And had the voiceover that was AI voiceover.And they told the client, “Hey, this has all been done in AI.However, this is the look and feel that we could go get when we come down and we shoot your folks on this.”And, uh- I can only guess what they said.They ended up landing the project.Right.I mean, it saved, like, tons of time and energy.Yeah.And the clients loved it ’cause they didn’t have to pay a bunch to, “Hey, show me a spec piece.”Yeah.”And now it’s gonna take couple weeks-” Proof of concept already there”to get this done.”Yeah.Yeah.That’s awesome.And so I’ve seen it used in that way- That’s a great use case for it right therewhich, which, I mean, in the old days, I mean, you couldn’t do that.I mean, you’d have to go pitch based on other video content that you’d done in the past.Yep.And so.I love that.How about, like, with your, um, I mean, probably operationally- Mm-hmmsince you came from the producer world- Yeahlike, just some of the paperwork and all that that goes into- Yeah, so we’re also using it to, um, create the first drafts of production schedules.I say first drafts of production schedules, not production schedules.Yeah.Um, but, like, you put the key details in there, and it spits out 80%, right?But if you’ve ever sat down and done a complex production schedule, which I’m sure you have done hundreds of them, uh, they can take forever.Like, it’s such a time suck.But, um, now, you know, what, uh, an average production schedule for us might take an hour, you know, um, you can do it in 15 minutes probably, you know?put the information in that you have, spits out the draft, you edit it a little bit, and there you go.And those things have to be r- you know, revised and updated all the time, so being able to, you know, do that more quickly is- Mm-hmmis great.Shot schedule as well.Here, take this script, give me all the shots.You still have to go in and curate it and redline it- Mm-hmmbut,But it gives you a heck of a headstart.Heck yeah.Yeah.Mm-hmm.Well, um, you know, before we leave the episode, I wanna talk a little bit about your, uh, The Weird Side project- Sureand, uh, this podcast that, uh, you’ve created.Tell, tell the audience a little bit about, like, your thoughts behind it, what it is- Yeahw- what you, uh, what you’re talking about, and what, how you came up with it.Totally.So, um, I have a personal interest in all things strange or weird, okay?So, um, this c- and where did that come from?Uh, it came from my dad.My dad was super interested in aliens and UFOs and, like, you know, um, telekinesis or telepathy and just some of these, like, you know, more out there ideas, right?Um, one of the things he did, and I m- I might be misquoting it a little bit, but, um, my dad is a chiropractor but also a, uh, licensed hypnotherapist.Mm.Um, and one of the projects that he worked on, uh, back in the ’90s was there was a guy, um, at Harvard doing a study on hypnotic regression for people that had alleged alien abductions, and somehow my dad got on the list of, like, people across the country to interview these people.So I think this is when his interest went from here to here, is he started, you know, hypnotizing these people and seeing what they said.Hmm.And he’s like, “Holy crap, there’s really something here.”So he’s coming back, he’s, you know, talking about all theseHe’s reading these books.We’re watching, you know, I don’t know if Ancient Aliens existed at the time.We’re watching, you know, all of these, you know, specials.Um, and part of that just stuck with me.I’m interested in this stuff.I’m, I’m actively going on these subreddits, like the aliens and UFO ones.So as we wanna keep it fresh at our company of, like, we do corporate work every day, and we’re really good at it, but it’s nice to flex the creative muscles, you know, a little bit differently.And, um, this was a project that we talked about a few years ago, never really brought to fruition, so this summer in some of our downtime, since summer’s typically our slow season, “Hey, let’s, let’s actually put this thing into production.”So, um, we started looking for guests.I found some guests, and, um, we are a little over halfway through filming season one, and we’re gonna launch it in October, right around Halloween season, so.How many episodes in a season?I’m thinking 8.Okay.Yeah.And you’ve found how manyHow many have you already produced up to this point?We’ve produced 4.Is there any one that you’ve produced up to this point that, like, you’re like- There’s a couple that are, that are-“I can’t wait for the audience-” Yeah”to hear this”?They’re pretty interesting.Um, yeah, I don’t wanna, like, give too much away, but yeah, we talk, you know, to an alien abductee, talk to, um, some people that have had some very strange paranormal experiences in their homes, and then, um, a little bit of the hitchhiker effect where it follows them.Hmm.Um, and then, uh, a woman who has kind of these, um, telepathy style downloads of information that has later been verified time and time and time and time and time again.Mm-hmm.Too many time agains.Um, but yeah, I think, yeah, there’s, there’s a few that I’m pretty excited about.Well, I’m certain that you and your, your dad probably have watched that movie, uh, I, I can’t remember the name of it.I think it’s, like, 5th Element or something.It was shot, uh, it was, like, um, a real life story that was shot in, uh, it was based on a town in Alaska that’s the most visited town by aliens and- Okaythe, the person hypnotized the alien abductees, and they acted out.I don’t know if I’ve seen this one, so, uh- You haven’t?I’ll have to, uh, send you a copy.If you, if you find what the title it, yeah, hit me up.We’ll, we’ll drop it in the show notes too.Okay.I’m sure the audience is gonna love to see this.So, but that’s awe- What have you learned up to this point by having that podcast?Um, so we do some podcasts for clients, but I hadn’t ever hosted a podcast before, so, um, I have been on camera.Yeah.So I think it’s just the cadence and the flow of some of these things that aren’t necessarily gonna be cut quite as much as, like, some of the more polished content and seeing where the conversation flows and, yeah, it’s been kind of fun- Yeahyou know, doing it.I’m excited for people to see it.I hope people watch it.If they don’t, I still, you know, have made friends along the way.You put the keywords in there, UFOs, abductees, I think you’ll get an audience.Oh.So put that on YouTube, you’re gonna be all set.I’m, I’m excited about it, so.Yeah.That’s awesome.Well, you know, after growing this company, you’ve worked with some major brands in Nashville, all across the Unit- United States.Like, what is next for you all?Like, what are you the most excited about?Yeah.A couple things.Um, I think strategically for our company, um, we had chased, like, shiny objects for a long time.Like, well, we wanna make, we wanna make TV commercials, and we wanna make, um, brand things.We wanna make all this, and I kind of boiled it down a year, year and a half ago.What are we really, really good at?We are really, really good at corporate communications content and live event media, filmed on-site and then pre-recorded and pre, uh, created for live events.So that’s where the focus is for us as a company.We are the live event media partner for you.Hmm.Um, and then outside- That’s-of that, um, we’ve had a lot of fun doing, stretching our creative muscles doing things that aren’t necessarily corporate communications.We worked on a feature film a couple years ago.Um, co-produced it.It’s, it’s on streaming now, just starting to make some money.So, um, I think we wanna continue to, um, take some risks on projects that we just care about, um, and see what happens there, right?Mm-hmm.And if they make money and turn into rev gen, that’s great.If they don’t, I kinda don’t really care.Like, ’cause- We’re learning things as we go along the way.Mm-hmm.Um, and people have fun doing it, and I have fun doing it.And if you’re not having fun along the way, then, like, kinda what’s the point, right?Well, since you’ve been here in Nashville, I mean, what have you experienced from the agency world?Like, you know, are you, do you work with other video production companies, other agencies in town?Is- Yeah, so we don’t have too many clients here in town, actually.Okay.Um, I joined EO looking to, you know, meet more people.Yeah.But, um, yeah, most of our clients are agencies out of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, um, and their clients are all over the world, so we just go where the projects are.Um, I’d love to do more work closer to home, um, but, you know.You travel a lot?I, I do travel quite a bit, yes.Um, my wife would like it to be less.We’ll see when that happens.Um, but yeah.I mean, this is, this is how we make the donuts.Totally, yeah.Yeah.Well, Rob, thanks so much for being on the show.Is there, as we’re starting to wrap up, like, is there anything maybe that I didn’t ask you that you’d wanna share?Um, I appreciate you inviting me on the podcast.I think that one of the things I’ve, I’ve, uh, noticed about moving down to Nashville is that people are friendly, and in general, people kinda wanna help, help you out.Um, and I like that.I like that a lot, and I like, um, I’ve liked getting to know people down here, and it makes me feel, feel warm and fuzzy to be invited on your podcast.Wow.Um, so I, I wanna thank you for that.Appreciate that.Well, man, thank you, and thanks for all you’re doing for your clients and for the Nashville community.You’ve got a team of people that are dependent on you, and as an agency owner and a video production company, it’s not always the easiest thing, and so- Sometimes it’s hard.Yeah.So appreciate what you’re doing for the, uh, community as well.And thank you all for joining us again.This has been a great episode with Rob.Enjoyed learning a lot more about Massive Missing and, uh, everything he’s into.So, uh, if you would, though, please help us out by subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show, just so we can get the word out to more creatives that, uh, need to hear it.Um, until next time, we’ll see you on The Spark.And that’s a wrap on this episode of The Spark from Creative Assembly.Thanks for spending time with us and exploring the minds shaping Nashville’s creative future.If you’re walking away more inspired, connected, or energized, that’s exactly the point.A big thank you to our sponsor, Snapshot, and the incredible team behind the scenes who make this show possible.Your support fuels every conversation and keeps collaboration alive.So if you haven’t already, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review.Thanks again for tuning in.Until next time, stay creative, stay curious, and keep that spark.