On this episode of the In A World Podcast, our host Brad Burrow speaks with Manoa Raine, a creative director/producer who has traveled throughout the country creating incredible films for RallyOn Media, GrubHub, Jason Derulo, and many more! This episode provides listeners with a unique peek behind the curtain of the film world.
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-Transcript-
Brad Burrow (00:00:01):
Welcome to In a World With Real Media. I’m your host, Brad Burrow. In this podcast, we’ll dive into the lives of the most successful people in business. We’ll learn how they overcame adversity, took advantage of opportunities and learned from their experiences. Learn from our experts. Get inspired, then go live your story. It’s in a world with real media. Hello and welcome to the In A World With Real Media podcast. Today I’m with Manoa. Rain Manoa is a director producer that we just recently met actually on a shoot here at Real Media. And we got to talk and, and he’s got a really, really interesting background. I thought, man, we need to do a podcast together. So here it is. He’s a, he’s a director producer used to live in LA and we’re gonna talk about some of his experiences there now lives in, in New York. He was here working with a company called Rally on Media.
Manoa Raine (00:01:00):
M m-Hmm. <Affirmative>.
Brad Burrow (00:01:00):
And we’re doing some pretty cool stuff. Some new technology yesterday, he’s worked with GrubHub. Jason Dlo.
Manoa Raine (00:01:09):
Derulo
Brad Burrow (00:01:10):
Derulo
Manoa Raine (00:01:11):
Mm-Hmm.
Brad Burrow (00:01:11):
<Affirmative> wix.com. Spartan Races. I don’t know what that is. You’ll have to talk about that. Hex clad.
Manoa Raine (00:01:18):
Mm-Hm m. <Affirmative>
Brad Burrow (00:01:19):
Start engine.com is just a few of the of the different places I would say brands that he’s worked with. So, man, Noah, thanks for being on the, on the show. I really appreciate it.
Manoa Raine (00:01:29):
Yeah, man, thank you for inviting me. ’cause We literally met yesterday, <laugh> on the shoot, and you just kind of casually mentioned like, oh, we’ll have to get you on the podcast or something. And, and here we are a day later. And that’s what I love about this, this world, is how quick a connection can happen like this.
Brad Burrow (00:01:48):
That’s right. That’s right. And podcasting is really blown up, you know? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> not, didn’t mean to even go down that trail, but you think about it, man. It’s, it’s becoming in some instances how people get their news.
Manoa Raine (00:02:00):
Yeah. Well, I, I think I do a lot of social media marketing and stuff as well, and I’m, I’m noticing just a huge shift back to authenticity. I think people are so tired of being sold to and seeing ads and branding, and they know, you know, this guy’s only going on Jay Leno to promote his next movie or whatever.
(00:02:19):
Yeah.
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And so a podcast just really gets you to meet the real person behind all of these things and, and have real conversations. Again, I think everybody’s craving that.
Brad Burrow (00:02:30):
Talk about that a little bit. You know, you said authentic. I, I think, you know, as a marketer, that’s almost more important now for brands than, than any other thing. Would you agree with that?
Manoa Raine (00:02:41):
I would totally agree with that. A FA very frustrating thing I keep running into is I work with tons of different brands. Like I have like a few main clients, and then those trickle into different brands and, and all this stuff. And I keep noticing that brands are trying to be something that they’re not. And they’re trying to mimic other brands and other companies so much that they have no identity. And I keep trying to tell these clients of mine when they come in, like, Hey, I understand you want to be professional. I understand you want to come across like, you know what you’re talking about and you’re the best people, but have fun with it. Show people who you are. Show off the team and talk about your struggles and talk about your successes, and just like, share with the world what’s going on. And you’ll be seen as real people. And, and, you know, that goes so far, not only in a business relationship, but just as like a team to say, Hey guys, we’re gonna have fun here. This is work. We’re going to work hard, but let’s have fun. Let’s be authentic to who we are, and let’s show that.
Brad Burrow (00:03:51):
I think that that’s kind of an old school thing that, that people are overcoming now. It’s like, you could never show a weakness Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, you could never show I struggled with this. Yeah. You know, those kinds of things. And I think maybe the younger generation coming up is, is attracted to the transparency of, of that type of approach, as opposed to, well, we’re this, and I, I never, I never make a
Manoa Raine (00:04:16):
Mistake. Yeah. No, I mean, I see that all the time. Something I deal with with my family and stuff too, I’m like, guys, like, let’s open up, let’s talk about this. ’cause This, we’re going through some hard stuff and everybody goes through it. We need to discuss this with each other and figure out how we can help each other and support each other. But if you don’t talk about it, then nothing’s gonna change. Nothing’s gonna happen. And I’m really excited to see that the newer generations continually are adding more emotional empathy and just more like emotional awareness in general. I think that’s only going to help society as a whole.
Brad Burrow (00:04:56):
Do you find yourself having to talk to brands and marketing managers and, and people like that saying You need to, you need to open up, you need to have that same conversation you’re talking about with your family, with the brand.
Manoa Raine (00:05:08):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Absolutely. and they don’t wanna do it most of the time. And, and I get it. There’s a company saying, Hey, you know here’s something we’re struggling with and here’s what we’re trying to do to work on it. I get how that could look to people. And, but I think when you’re genuine about it and you frankly need somebody there who can capture it in a genuine way, I think that’s very important. I think when you add that genuineness, it, it can really help you. And you may have a client who could potentially help you with that. If you’re like, Hey, I am trying to build this podcast studio. We’re running into this issue where like, the lighting’s just not right. One of your friends or a past client may go, oh, I know a lighting guy. I know this guy. Connect with him. He’ll help you out. And it just, it just benefits everybody. But I do un I understand why the brands are scared to showcase that, but as a startup especially, I think you should be taking people on that journey and, and showing people the story of the company. Because what’s a better story than saying, Hey, we struggled and then we overcame it.
(00:06:16):
Yeah.
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Like, that’s, that’s all the best stories in the world, is here’s a massive obstacle, and this person worked their butt off and they overcame it. And that makes everyone feel good.
Brad Burrow (00:06:25):
Talk about films, you know, we’re, we’re that’s a film script.
Manoa Raine (00:06:29):
Yeah, exactly.
Brad Burrow (00:06:30):
It’s like the arc and
Manoa Raine (00:06:31):
Yeah. The
Brad Burrow (00:06:32):
Story arc and all that.
Manoa Raine (00:06:33):
Yeah. Following the, the story arc of a company, the highs and lows. And I think it’s going to be really cool, maybe in 10 years, 20 years from now, when we have a company that is like the new Apple, like just a new massive company and their whole thing’s been documented on social media. Yeah. Like their whole journey and everything is cataloged, and you can really see the evolution of this brand or company or person or whoever. I think that’s a really fun and beautiful thing. And on a marketing side, it just attaches your consumer to you. People get really invested in your story. And and that’s what you want in a, in a customer ideally, is someone who like, believes in you, trusts in you, likes you, and is willing to support you through the highs and lows and, and all of that. That’s the ideal in my opinion.
Brad Burrow (00:07:23):
Yeah, that’s exactly right. So tell me, so you’re a director, producer, been doing this, done some pretty cool brands, you know. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. We, we talked about ’em earlier. Grubhub. Why, why did you get into this as a, you know, as a profession?
Manoa Raine (00:07:38):
Oh, man, that is a very long, long story. The concise thing is I’ve always been artistic literally in and entrepreneurial in school. In first grade, I was selling marbles and candy for profit. I had a pricing sheet and everything. Eventually I started selling my art in school. I would do like custom drawings for five bucks for people. And and so I’ve always been interested in creating, my family was super supportive in that everyone is creative in their own way. My grandma likes to paint. My uncle is a great musician. My mom loves to write. And so they’re very supportive. But I originally wanted to be an engineer. And the reason is I grew up in like a small farm town in Virginia. And when you grow up in an environment like that, you sometimes aren’t shown all of the options that are available.
(00:08:36):
So you don’t even know what is possible. You don’t meet anybody who’s in the film industry in a farm town in Virginia. Yeah. <laugh>. So you don’t even think that’s a possibility. Right. And I was very thankful that my mom before she had me, had traveled the world. And at some point as I got a little older, became more self-aware, she said, Hey, we’re gonna go see the world. Not, we didn’t have money to travel. She’s a teacher. But we went to like New York City, we went to Los Angeles, and she’s like, this is how different life could be. Here are the options.
Brad Burrow (00:09:13):
Yeah.
Manoa Raine (00:09:13):
And and I, I still was focused on being an engineer. ’cause I, I loved building things, which kind of now is what I do as a producer. I see it as like building a story.
(00:09:25):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.
(00:09:25):
But in high school, my art teacher Miss Ransom. And still to this day, I, whenever I mention her, thank you for changing my life,
(00:09:36):
<laugh>,
(00:09:36):
She literally had a moment where she goes, Hey, she sit down with me one-on-one. She goes, what are you gonna do? What, you know, you’ve got two more years and two graduate high school. What are you gonna do? And I said, well, I think I wanna be an engineer. And she had like a grab me by the shoulders moment and she was like, go to an art school. Just try it for a year, maybe two years, just see if you like it, but just try going to an art school. And it just so happened that one of the schools she went to that she really liked was James Madison University in Virginia. And my high school just so happened to be going on a field trip there a week from that moment.
Brad Burrow (00:10:15):
Is that right? <Laugh>?
Manoa Raine (00:10:16):
And she goes, sign up, just go check it out. ’cause I, I was set on going to Virginia Tech for engineering. So I went to JMU. And I, I genuinely had a moment where the second I got off the bus and I like stepped on the campus, I just knew I wanted to be there. ’cause I, I had visited a few other colleges, but I never felt that.
(00:10:36):
Huh.
(00:10:37):
And and yeah, so I went to film school and or film program, I should say. Not an actual film school. And what’s so funny is I actually hated it.
Brad Burrow (00:10:50):
Did you really?
Manoa Raine (00:10:51):
Yeah. I, huh. I’m a person who teaches myself. I watch YouTube videos all day. I take notes, like I’m learning. So what I was learning in college was stuff I felt like I already knew. And my family’s not wealthy. I was helping pay for part of my college. And I’m like, well, what am, what am I doing here if I’m not learning new things, if I’m not being challenged? And so very long story short, there maybe too late for that. I dropped out after my sophomore year. I said, I’m not going back. I am gonna figure out how to do this on my own terms. I had a few instances in college where I fought with my professors. ’cause I was like, what are we doing here, guys? So I left. And
Brad Burrow (00:11:34):
They don’t wanna have that conversation.
Manoa Raine (00:11:36):
<Laugh>. No, no. I literally, I got my first ever gig in Washington DC and I, I was filming a doctor’s office. I was so excited. First time ever getting paid like hundreds of dollars to go film something. Oh my God. And I told my professor, I said, Hey, I’m not gonna be able to make it in class these two days because I’m gonna, I’ve got paid to go film something in DC. And they said, well, we have a strict policy with attendance. Like, we’re gonna have to fail you if you don’t make it. And I had like a b plus in that class, like I was doing all right.
(00:12:09):
Yeah.
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And I said, when’s your office hours? And I went to their office and I was furious. And I don’t like expressing anger, but I was containing it. But I’m like, dude, your film teacher telling your film student to not go get paid to film.
(00:12:27):
Yeah.
(00:12:28):
What am I doing here? What are you doing here? If that’s not the end goal? You know? Yeah. And I said, I don’t care if you fail me or not, I’m, I’m gonna go like, I got you. This is what I’m here for.
Brad Burrow (00:12:42):
And so what happened
Manoa Raine (00:12:43):
He said, he said, all right, that’s fine. You know, here’s, make sure you do these assignments that, which is crazy that that’s all it took, which is like fighting a little bit.
(00:12:54):
Yeah.
(00:12:54):
which was a huge lesson in life of, hey, if you just put a little effort to fight for what you won and what you believe in, you might get it.
(00:13:00):
Yeah.
(00:13:01):
so I went to go on that film shoot. It was by far the worst shoot experience I’ve ever had in my entire life to this day. But it’s taught me a lot. And and, and to fast forward a little bit I found a mentor in Richmond, Virginia who was like about two hours away. His name was Kennedy. I was 21 around there at the time. He was 26, traveling the world like every other month filming the coolest stuff. I going ice climbing, filming weddings, filming like NFL promos. And I met, I basically saw him post a, a thing on our Facebook page, on the college Facebook page. ’cause He went to JMU as well. And he just said, Hey, I need a second shooter for this wedding. I, I don’t care if you have any experience, I just need someone to press record on a
(00:13:53):
Camera. Yeah.
(00:13:55):
And I said, Hey, I’ll do it. Let me, let me do it. And after that experience, I told him, I said, Hey man, I want to learn everything from you. Like I literally used the words, I’m gonna cuss a little bit. I said, I will be your bitch <laugh>. Like, just make me do everything. Just teach me how the heck you did this.
(00:14:13):
Yeah.
(00:14:13):
And he said, all right. And he was so open to sharing his business strategies and his pricing strategies and everything. And, and that’s how I kind of got started as like a professional filmmaker. He taught me the storytelling and how to film and edit better, taught me the business side. And I also am just super thankful to have run into him.
Brad Burrow (00:14:35):
Do you keep in touch with him and stuff?
Manoa Raine (00:14:36):
Oh, all the time. We hire each other constantly.
Brad Burrow (00:14:38):
Oh, that’s good. That’s good. Yeah.
Manoa Raine (00:14:39):
So like every, like, maybe like four or five times a year, we have like a, we get like a really big gig, you know, tens of thousands of, of dollars and stuff. And we’re just like, Hey man, we, we always call each other and go, I go, Hey Kennedy, you wanna make some money today? And he goes, what do you got for me? And we just start working together again. It’s awesome. That’s
Brad Burrow (00:14:57):
Great. I mean, it, it helps having like, this is a hard industry and one of, one of the things I was gonna talk to you about today is there are a lot of people that, you know, have this kind of romantic idea about being a director and a film producer. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and doing all these things that they don’t realize how hard this work it can be. Oh my God. I mean, you go out on shoots sometimes by yourself. Like for years I was one man, one man band. Same shot it, edit it, sold it. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> did the business, you know, all of it. And it’s very hard work.
Manoa Raine (00:15:28):
It is. It’s so demanding. And a lot of companies are starting to realize how valuable it is. But when I started, and I know when you started, it was not as valued. It was just you know, you’re just like, this, the weird creative guy is guess who’s gonna film something? We don’t know what we’re doing with it. You know? It’s not until you get to the higher tiers where you’re actually like, respect and valued, but it’s still stressful as heck.
Brad Burrow (00:15:54):
Y you know, one thing I wouldn’t wanted to talk to you about, you know, is just that, so you kind of referenced that a little bit. There is things have changed.
Manoa Raine (00:16:03):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>,
Brad Burrow (00:16:04):
You know, when I started 27 years ago in, in, and
Manoa Raine (00:16:07):
I’m 28 <laugh>. So it’s crazy that you’re Yeah. You have almost my lifetime of experience. Yeah. It’s awesome.
Brad Burrow (00:16:13):
Yeah. And I, I was self-taught to you, by the way.
Manoa Raine (00:16:15):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>
Brad Burrow (00:16:15):
I didn’t learn, which I made every mistake. I remember. I’ll tell you a quick story.
Manoa Raine (00:16:19):
Please do.
Brad Burrow (00:16:20):
When I first started, so I was a full-time musician. That’s how I got started. In
Manoa Raine (00:16:23):
I
Brad Burrow (00:16:23):
Way in, in production, being in recording studios and recording albums and all that stuff. Trying to get signed, did all that stuff. Then realized that I wanted to make money.
Manoa Raine (00:16:34):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.
Brad Burrow (00:16:34):
And I have a degree in marketing. So I paid my way through college playing in bands. But you know, I decided that I wanted it to get into video production. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So I went and, and a guy helped me finance an SVHS camera, an iami head, my gosh, on the camera. And two SVHS decks, one for, for ab roll. Wow. So, well, three, actually I had two, two playback. Well, I think I only had two. I could only do cut edits. So <laugh>, that was the, that’s
(00:17:07):
Crazy.
(00:17:08):
<Laugh>. And so that’s how I went out. And I did it in outta my basement. But I remember I got hired by Sprint here in town, a big brand here in town, you know, just started. And I didn’t even know how to white balance the camera. Oh man. So I’m like setting up and I’m just shooting like somebody speaking or something like that.
Manoa Raine (00:17:25):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.
Brad Burrow (00:17:26):
And I’m like, you know, figuring things out.
Manoa Raine (00:17:29):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:17:29):
And I keep hitting the white balance. I’m like, what is that doing? Well, I probably white balanced about 10 times that thing. So I give them the tape and they’re like why did you white balance so much? And I go, oh, was that what I was doing? <Laugh>
(00:17:44):
<laugh>. So I, you know, and for those who don’t know Yeah. Yeah. If you don’t white balance properly, your whole image is messed up.
(00:17:52):
Oh. I mean, it, it’s white balancing used to be an art in itself. Like, like if you wanted a real warm look, you’d white balance on blue jeans. Did you ever hear that trick?
Manoa Raine (00:18:02):
Mm-Hmm. Yeah. But that makes total sense. ’cause It balances it out.
Brad Burrow (00:18:05):
Yeah. It takes the blue out. Yeah. So it’s yellow. So I’d carry around an old piece of blue jeans in my camera case. <Laugh>. Isn’t that crazy? That’s wild.
Manoa Raine (00:18:12):
Yeah. I would’ve never thought about that. ’cause Now digitally you just manually adjust it to whatever you
Brad Burrow (00:18:17):
Want. Well, like with the red cameras that we’re shooting on now, I mean, as long as you have a, a good basic level
Manoa Raine (00:18:23):
Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>.
Brad Burrow (00:18:23):
I mean, you can go in and do almost anything to the images ’cause they’re shot because it’s raw. Yeah.
Manoa Raine (00:18:29):
Mm-Hmm.
Brad Burrow (00:18:29):
<Affirmative>. So it’s, it’s, it’s a whole different world. But you know, that the whole learning thing Mm-Hmm.
Manoa Raine (00:18:35):
<Affirmative>,
Brad Burrow (00:18:35):
You know, having a mentor like you had that, that’s a big deal because huge. I didn’t have that. And, and I just had to make
Manoa Raine (00:18:40):
Mistakes. Yeah. And,
Brad Burrow (00:18:42):
And learn from the mistakes. I still do.
Manoa Raine (00:18:44):
Yeah. I
Brad Burrow (00:18:44):
Still make a lot of mistakes
Manoa Raine (00:18:45):
All the time still. Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:18:46):
But you, you have to be kind of a learner.
Manoa Raine (00:18:48):
Yes.
Brad Burrow (00:18:49):
You know, I, I kind of see that too. One thing I was gonna say too, I noticed yesterday, I wasn’t in, in with the shoot the whole day.
Manoa Raine (00:18:56):
Mm-Hmm.
Brad Burrow (00:18:56):
<Affirmative>. You know, everybody, we, we were, you know, know and his team were in shooting yesterday a product. But I liked the way that you were handling everybody on set. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And one thing I see directors do, and I’ve seen this quite a bit, is it’s, they come in with an attitude, especially from the West coast. I see this a lot from the west coast.
(00:19:17):
Yeah. Same
(00:19:17):
Here. <Laugh> that it is my way or the highway.
Manoa Raine (00:19:21):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>,
Brad Burrow (00:19:21):
You do what I say, you don’t question what I tell you to do. And you do it now.
Manoa Raine (00:19:26):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:19:27):
And I can tell you another story about that. But what I liked about what you were doing yesterday is that I could tell you wanted everybody to feel good. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> you wanted there to be a cohesive, Hey, let’s work together. Hey, good job here. Oh, that looks great. Let’s move this just a little bit. That is a skillset that I think is overlooked on a film set right now.
Manoa Raine (00:19:50):
I completely agree. And thank you for pointing that out. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Because that, that is genuinely something I’ve really tried to work on a lot. Because you’ve been on sets, I’ve been on sets where you do have to deal with that type of directors my way or the highway and, you know, and it’s, you just feel so invaluable, so disrespected. You just feel like you’re a body there to press a button. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> you don’t feel like you’re a part of a team. And that just, when you’re on a set for sometimes 10, 16, 18 hours a day, you need to feel like you’re a part of something. Right. And that you’re appreciated and respected. And, and something I do before every shoot. And I, I, well, I shouldn’t say that ’cause I forgot to say it to this team, but I hope my action showed, I try to tell people, Hey guys, I’m the director.
(00:20:41):
Yes. That does not mean I have all the best ideas. That doesn’t mean that I know everything and that I’m catching all of these different things that you’re doing. Right. ’cause there’s, there’s so much that goes into video production that you have to keep track of. And I try to make people feel like they can come to me and, and bring stuff up. And I, and I always say, when I give this little speech, if you have an idea of how to do things better, please come talk to me at an appropriate time. You know, don’t stop the shoot, but come talk to me when we’re, when we’re cut or something, and tell me, and if I say no, please make sure I tell you why I’m saying no.
Brad Burrow (00:21:23):
Yeah.
Manoa Raine (00:21:23):
Because then you understand more of the, the vision. And and that’s so important is that people know what the vision is and understand what the expectations are and what to, and what you are looking for if you’re telling them, Hey, this idea isn’t going to work.
(00:21:39):
Right.
(00:21:40):
Right. Yeah. And I don’t know, in, in the West Coast specifically, and just the film industry in general, I just feel like there’s a lot of that old school hierarchy Yes. Of like, you, you are trained. You do that. You do not talk to anyone that is above you unless they talk to you
(00:21:59):
First. Yeah.
(00:22:00):
And the whole concept is like, if you do, you’re probably not gonna work with us again, which means you’re probably not gonna work with anybody else. And that’s horrible
Brad Burrow (00:22:10):
Because I, I agree.
Manoa Raine (00:22:11):
You know people have great ideas and they need to be put in a position where they can present them in like a healthy way. Obviously there’s a time and place when you’re on a very crazy film set. But yeah. I don’t know if you’ve read creative Inc. Mm-Hmm. I forgot the name of the author, but he is one of the guys who helped found Pixar.
(00:22:35):
Okay.
(00:22:36):
And he talks about how he built a creative company and the lessons that they learned highly recommended, even if you’re just interested in the film industry. ’cause It’s crazy to see the history of them developing all this new technology and working with George Lucas and whatnot. But the point is a thing they had every month was something called a Brain Trust. And the Brain Trust was a meeting that anyone who worked for the company doesn’t matter if you’re an animator, a janitor, the secretary, anybody can come to the brain trust and present ideas or give constructive criticism to other people’s ideas and like a healthy environment.
(00:23:15):
Yeah.
(00:23:16):
And how beautiful is that? Yeah, that’s awesome. You know, they’ve, ’cause in the book, like they got great ideas from some, you know, people that others would consider like low level people in the company. Sometimes they had like the best concepts and that’s what made them such a successful company.
Brad Burrow (00:23:32):
Yeah. That’s awesome. I had a couple things come to mind when you were saying this. I back, oh, probably 10 years ago. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. We were an animation company when we first started, by the way we did.
Manoa Raine (00:23:43):
Yeah. What a pivot.
Brad Burrow (00:23:44):
<Laugh>. Yeah. I mean, we’d really, well we had to because we mostly were working with sports teams.
Manoa Raine (00:23:49):
Mm.
Brad Burrow (00:23:50):
And so we were doing like game opens and interstitials, all kinds of different things like that. I was the voice of the Miami Heat for four years.
Manoa Raine (00:23:58):
No way.
Brad Burrow (00:23:58):
Yeah. So like, black is back, you know, I can do this stuff. That’s awesome. Awesome man. But so The Mets, we did all of the stuff for the Mets for, for years.
Manoa Raine (00:24:07):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>
Brad Burrow (00:24:08):
Chiefs, the Royals I’m trying to think of some of the other teams. A lot of, a lot of college teams. But that’s, that’s how we kind of got started. But one of the things, we were doing a TV spot for a company that made the titanium necklaces for baseball players.
(00:24:26):
Oh, wow.
(00:24:26):
And so they, we got hired to do the spots. And I remember we were at spring training, we’re shooting spots with Josh Beckett, who was the star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox at the time. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> spring training. So we set up and we’re put this big green screen around the mound and we’re shooting him doing this thing where he throws a pitch and then he touches the necklace and Scott Titanium. And he kind of energizes him and then he fires this ball in. And, and I, I walked up to him, I was directing and I said, hi Josh, I’m Brad, I’m the director. And without hesitation, he looks at me and says, you’re not gonna yell at me today, are you?
Manoa Raine (00:25:07):
Mm.
Brad Burrow (00:25:08):
And I’m like, are you kidding? I want you to have the best day you’ve ever had. Yeah. And I said, we’re gonna have fun. And that like, took the pressure off everybody.
Manoa Raine (00:25:18):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.
Brad Burrow (00:25:18):
I mean, I’ve got him doing things like I’ve got a, a camera. Like he comes through and, and the camera’s right here and he’s looking over the camera and we’re holding his foot while, you know, while he’s leaning in. Does it all now his, his agent was a real ass.
(00:25:34):
Typically are. Yeah.
(00:25:35):
jobber Chamberlain, Java Chamberlain, back when he was a star, I dunno if you remember him. He was a Yankees pitcher pitcher. Same thing with him. And then the other thing I was, say, I spent a week with the guy that runs the directing department for the LA Film School.
Manoa Raine (00:25:52):
Oh wow.
Brad Burrow (00:25:52):
And I’m, you know, I’m wanting to get my chops up to be able to direct features Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> and things like that. So I called him and I said, James Pastor was his name. I said, Hey, I’ve directed a lot of different things, but I’m really wanting to get into directing actors and features. And he goes, come spend a week with me. Wow. I’m like, are you serious? So I got to spend a week at LA Film School and literally, you know, sit in on acting classes and, and all of that. And one of the things that you reminded me of him
Manoa Raine (00:26:25):
Mm.
Brad Burrow (00:26:25):
When you said, I’m not the smartest guy. Mm-Hmm.
Manoa Raine (00:26:28):
<Affirmative>.
Brad Burrow (00:26:28):
And one of the things James said to me was that you don’t wanna be the smartest guy on the film set. You wanna be the director. You want people smarter than you in every department and
Manoa Raine (00:26:39):
Exactly.
Brad Burrow (00:26:40):
And then you rely on them to do their jobs. But direct, direct, Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> where that’s going. That’s so true.
Manoa Raine (00:26:46):
I, I agree. And same with business in general. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Right. Like I, I was literally just telling I started dating this girl recently and she’s so fascinated about the whole film thing. Yeah.
(00:26:57):
And
(00:26:57):
I, I told her, I’m like, my job, my, my skillset on set is not being the best person. It’s knowing how to bring together the best people and how to make them all work together. ’cause There’s a lot of times on shoots that I do where this is the first time this whole crew has ever worked together. Maybe one person knows somebody else on set.
Brad Burrow (00:27:20):
Probably all the time, isn’t it? I mean, most of the time, right?
Manoa Raine (00:27:22):
Yeah. I mean, ’cause with my line of work I travel everywhere around the country to film various companies. Yeah. So we’re hiring local people all the time. And but we’re trying to find the great people. But to orchestrate something a full day film set and to make that cohesive with a team that’s never met before. That’s crazy.
Brad Burrow (00:27:43):
Yeah.
Manoa Raine (00:27:43):
And pe and that’s why that like synergy is so important. And I do think that’s one of my best skill sets is bringing that synergy in and, and making them feel comfortable and that this is a team effort and that we’re having fun. ’cause After you do this for so long, sometimes you just show up on a set and you’re just like, God, I don’t wanna do this. You know, <laugh> like, I’m exhausted. This is gonna be a lot. Maybe the client or an actor is kind of being an asshole. Like, I’m gonna have to deal with all this. I think it’s so important to remind the team, like, isn’t this awesome that we’re we’re, that we’re getting to do this? That if, if I told my high school self I was gonna be even just on this podcast <laugh>,
(00:28:25):
I’d be like, that’s cool as hell. What the
(00:28:27):
Heck? Yeah. Yeah. You know?
(00:28:28):
Yeah.
(00:28:28):
bringing that excitement is, is crucial. But one thing I love that you said is you just called this guy up and he’s like, yeah, come, come hang out. Let me show you some things.
(00:28:39):
Yeah.
(00:28:40):
And I feel like from what I’ve seen from people around my age, there’s so many people who just don’t take that leap who’s like, oh, I’m gonna call this person. I’m gonna ask, maybe if he didn’t invite you, I’m gonna ask if I can come
(00:28:54):
Yeah.
(00:28:55):
And, and hang out with him. And that’s something that one of my, my best friends taught me. His name’s Will great VFX artist, but he taught me, you only get in life what you’re brave enough to ask for. And the more and more and more I’ve just asked for things, I’ve been shocked at what I’ve been given.
(00:29:14):
Yeah.
(00:29:14):
Like scary sometimes they’re like, oh, you want a big opportunity Here It is. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it starts planting those seeds for things to work out. As in, in this industry, we’re talking about struggle earlier. You really have to just go for it. ’cause There’s a lot of people who want to be doing this. And so it’s very oversaturated, but there’s not a lot of people who want it so much that they’re willing to to ask for sometimes ridiculous things or to make the sacrifices needed.
(00:29:47):
Yeah.
(00:29:47):
And the, like, the sacrifice of time and family and friends and everything needed to make this work in the beginning. A lot of people aren’t willing to really push themselves to that to that edge. And my friends, I think, kind of know me as an instigator. Like, I love if someone’s like, I think I might wanna do this. I like grab them and put them over the edge. And I’m like, all right, here you go, <laugh>. Like, go do it. You know?
Brad Burrow (00:30:13):
Are you sure you wanna do this?
Manoa Raine (00:30:15):
Yeah. Which is something I think everyone should ask themselves if they wanna do this.
(00:30:19):
Yeah. Like,
(00:30:20):
You do not understand the level of sacrifice that is needed initially to be successful with this. I had to miss friends’ birthdays, family gatherings crazy cool vacations. My friends were going on. Like, I sacrificed a lot for four or five years before I got to a point where I can be comfortable and breathe and relax.
Brad Burrow (00:30:44):
Yeah.
Manoa Raine (00:30:45):
And not, and many people aren’t willing to go that long. Maybe they’ll go a year, maybe they’ll go a few years. But a lot of people don’t make that extended effort. ’cause It’s exhausting.
Brad Burrow (00:30:56):
Yeah. It’s, it looks like a glamorous business. Oh yeah. And there’s times when it’s really cool. I mean, obviously, you know, some of the things that we get to do, you know, every no day is the same. Rarely.
Manoa Raine (00:31:07):
Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> get to meet new people all the time. See new things,
Brad Burrow (00:31:11):
New things go different places. You know, being unique situations. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, you know, all, all those things happen in this, this industry. It’s really cool. But there’s a lot of other things that are really hard.
Manoa Raine (00:31:23):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:31:24):
You know, the hours, the, the you know, just humping gear, you know,
Manoa Raine (00:31:29):
Around that cycle. Yeah. Hundreds of pounds of gear a day.
Brad Burrow (00:31:32):
You know, I’ve gone, I’ve been on shoots where, by myself, where, you know, like I’ve gone out, flown, this is back in the day, but flown with probably four or five cases of gear. Put it on an airplane, got to the airport, loaded it all up in a, in a car. Drove set up, shot for two days, then came home with all that and did that all by myself.
Manoa Raine (00:31:55):
Yeah. It was no break in between. No. It’s just go, go, go, go, go.
Brad Burrow (00:31:58):
And, and it’s like, it’s exhausting.
Manoa Raine (00:32:00):
Mm-Hmm.
Brad Burrow (00:32:00):
<Affirmative>. But, you know, that was to Napa Valley, by the way. Napa Valley.
Manoa Raine (00:32:04):
Oh, beautiful.
Brad Burrow (00:32:04):
And it was a, it was a really cool thing. I mean, a neat experience.
Manoa Raine (00:32:08):
What was
Brad Burrow (00:32:08):
That job? It was for a construction company here in town or Cool. Or an engineering company called Kiewit. And they would do these events where they would, you know, bring everybody out to a resort and Oh, amazing. You know, so we would shoot stuff for ’em. But, but I literally did all that by myself, you know, so there’s, there’s a lot of, you’re right. A lot of sacrifice and a lot of hard work. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. But there are also a lot of really cool things that can happen too. Oh. Being around people. And we did a spot for the Chiefs probably, I don’t know, seven or eight years ago.
Manoa Raine (00:32:41):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>
Brad Burrow (00:32:42):
Longer than that, but I directed Trace Atkins for the open,
(00:32:45):
So Cool.
(00:32:46):
And that was done right here where you guys were?
(00:32:48):
Yeah.
(00:32:48):
And I remember he was so tall. I mean, that guy’s like seven foot tall. Oh my God. And so I have pictures of me looking up at him. Okay. Mr. Atkins, I want you to say this line. <Laugh>, you know, <laugh> this kind of thing. But, you know, it’s pretty cool you get to hang out with people like that and do things like that.
(00:33:04):
Yeah.
(00:33:04):
You know, we’ve, we’ve worked with all kinds of, you know, sports teams, a lot of you know, different types of sports personalities. Mm-Hmm.
Manoa Raine (00:33:13):
<Affirmative> the
Brad Burrow (00:33:14):
Heat, you know, I get to do stuff for them. One of the fun voice jobs that I did, ’cause I was doing the voice stuff for them, was when Dwayne Wade was leaving. Oh, wow. So Pat Riley asked the, the guy that runs the Heat Television Network Network, which is a really good friend of mine
Manoa Raine (00:33:34):
Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>
Brad Burrow (00:33:36):
To put together three short videos to convince Dwayne Wade to stay.
Manoa Raine (00:33:41):
Oh my gosh. That’s such a fun project.
Brad Burrow (00:33:43):
Yeah. So, so my buddy Ed calls me and he says, Brad, I need you to voice these for me. I’m like, are you serious? And he’s like, yeah, I want you to do it. Oh my God. And the, and so I did it. And that, that ended up being, I was the voice of what Dwayne Wade heard when he was considering staying with the heat or not.
Manoa Raine (00:34:04):
That’s crazy. Can, can you talk about what was the pitch to get him to stay? Do you
Brad Burrow (00:34:10):
Remember? Well legacy was one of ’em, you know, talking about, you know, you’ve got a legacy Dwayne <laugh> and you know, the people of Miami love you, you know that now I’m not doing it as good as I did. But, but you know, that, and then, you know, they got into one point, I think it was talking about going back to Chicago, actually the land in Miami is much, you know, worth much more <laugh>. I mean, it was stuff like that. So
Manoa Raine (00:34:38):
That’s like a fun project. Yeah. Like, it wasn’t taken super seriously. You got to have fun
Brad Burrow (00:34:42):
With like, well, it was serious for them. Sure. Yeah. But for me, it’s like I get to be the voice that, I mean, nobody else heard that video except for a few people in the, in the production Yeah. Side for the Heat and then Dwayne Wade. Gosh,
Manoa Raine (00:34:55):
That’s so neat.
Brad Burrow (00:34:56):
Yeah. So, I mean, it’s just cool stuff like that. We did, we did the open for the Super Bowl in
Manoa Raine (00:35:02):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:35:02):
2018.
Manoa Raine (00:35:03):
You told me about that. What, what specifically was it?
Brad Burrow (00:35:05):
Well, so we used to be an animation company. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. I mean, that was all we did. I had five full-time animators on staff, which doesn’t sound like that much, but in the Midwest it was a
Manoa Raine (00:35:13):
Oh yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:35:13):
More of a big deal. But so I had relationships that I’d built with different sports teams.
Manoa Raine (00:35:19):
Mm-Hmm.
Brad Burrow (00:35:19):
<Affirmative> and a, a guy that I worked with a lot was ran Baylor University’s, you know, sports production side.
Manoa Raine (00:35:29):
Cool.
Brad Burrow (00:35:29):
So we did all their opens, game, opens all kinds of stuff for him. And he ended up leaving there and went to work for Ross, which actually has a piece of gear that when you watch a football game, and it looks like a 3D object sitting on the field.
Manoa Raine (00:35:44):
Yeah, yeah. The overlays that they put on.
Brad Burrow (00:35:46):
Yeah. But it’s tracking.
Manoa Raine (00:35:47):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.
Brad Burrow (00:35:48):
So if the camera moves, it looks, it’s moving with the field, like it’s
Manoa Raine (00:35:51):
There Yeah. In real time.
Brad Burrow (00:35:52):
So it’s called augmented reality is kind of the term VRAR type thing. Well, he called me and said, Hey, we want to add real football players to this, and they use Unreal Engine.
Manoa Raine (00:36:07):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>
Brad Burrow (00:36:07):
A gaming engine. And I’m like, okay. And it turned out that my, an one of my top animators at the time was really into un unreal engine. Like Oh, perfect. We were building TV spots in Unreal Engine.
Manoa Raine (00:36:20):
That’s so crazy. So crazy that a gaming engine completely unrelated ends up being one of the best things. Like that’s what they use in the volume now, where they shoot Yes. Star Wars and everything. They use Unreal Engine Right. To, to generate these crazy, beautiful images in real time.
Brad Burrow (00:36:36):
Yeah. I mean, we’re gonna be adding that capability to our a virtual set capability that with tracking and everything. So the camera moves in the background.
Manoa Raine (00:36:44):
I can’t, I’ll come back for that
Brad Burrow (00:36:45):
For sure. Yeah. We, we need to anyway, so so he calls me and says, Hey, if we get you scans of the players the week of, well actually less than the week, the week of for the Super Bowl. For the Super Bowl, can you turn them around? You know, we had a motion capture system, so we added motion capture. Can you turn ’em around and get it back to us so that we can project them on the field for the opening of the Super Bowl? Wow. And I’m like, yes. And then I’m like, oh, crap.
Manoa Raine (00:37:22):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:37:23):
We gotta figured this out. We got one week
(00:37:25):
That would normally be, well, we tested, we tested it, so we learned how to do it. But we literally got the scans of Tom Brady and Nick Foles that were the two starting quarterbacks. Like a couple, well, I think it was four days before, or five days before, which is
Manoa Raine (00:37:40):
Not a lot of time people No. If you don’t know, like,
Brad Burrow (00:37:43):
Well, and here’s the interesting thing about it, and you can see all this in our YouTube channel. I, I did a case study on this.
Manoa Raine (00:37:49):
Mm.
Brad Burrow (00:37:49):
So we do all this. We, we get them ready on Friday night, they’re gonna have a rehearsal on Saturday. We get ’em, you know, get ’em uploaded to, to unreal Engine. And the director hadn’t seen any of it yet. And he looks at it. And so we’re doing like football stuff, you know, and shaking out your legs and stuff like that. Yeah. He goes, they look like they have ants in their pants.
Manoa Raine (00:38:10):
<Laugh>. And we’re
Brad Burrow (00:38:10):
Like, what? <Laugh> what,
(00:38:13):
What <laugh>? Yeah. It’s like, oh God, the intention. That’s so,
(00:38:17):
Yeah. So, so we actually like, well, if we want this to be on the Super Bowl, we gotta redo the, the motion. So we put the motion capture suit on, redid all of the motions, had him ready Saturday morning and he approved them. And, and that went on the super Oh my God. So we, we did six players and nobody, we couldn’t even tell anybody that we did that.
Manoa Raine (00:38:41):
That’s the worst part, right? Yeah. Because you sign all these NDAs Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. And you work on the coolest stuff and then can’t post it anywhere. Can’t talk about it. That’s,
Brad Burrow (00:38:49):
But it’s like a cool little feather in our hat, you know, that we did that. And you know, that’s the kind of things when you’re talking about sometimes you gotta just say yes and dive in and do it.
(00:38:58):
Oh, yeah.
(00:38:59):
Well, we have, that’s how we’ve managed to stay around so long as we say Yes. Probably too much. Actually,
Manoa Raine (00:39:06):
I, I have the exact same problem, but I think that’s what, like you said, this what’s needed, because how you also have to be a little insane because how crazy is it that they hit you up, give you these assets a week before they need to be ready for the biggest television event in that year.
Brad Burrow (00:39:25):
Yes.
Manoa Raine (00:39:25):
And you have to just go, well, we’ve never really done this before, but I think we can do it. Yeah. So let’s try. And, and so many people probably would’ve said no to that because of that fear. Yeah. And that uncertainty and and frankly could not be career ending, but like, you’re in the sports industry at that point, if you guys messed up that could be game over Yeah. For like, your whole business. But you had that confidence of, I don’t know how we’re gonna figure this out, but we will, we we’ve got this.
(00:39:58):
Yeah.
(00:39:59):
And that, it’s crazy to me how some of these opportunities come through so last minute and you just figure out how to pull it off what other people would consider like impossible. You’re like, well, we have to make it possible somehow we’ll find a way.
Brad Burrow (00:40:14):
Yeah.
Manoa Raine (00:40:15):
And, and it works most of the time,
Brad Burrow (00:40:18):
<Laugh>, I tell you, it was fun though. It was fun seeing, you know, your work in front of that many people. And
Manoa Raine (00:40:22):
I can’t imagine,
Brad Burrow (00:40:23):
You know, it was that, that was a, that was something I’ll never forget, honestly. Seeing, seeing the animations that we had been working on and
Manoa Raine (00:40:31):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:40:31):
The movement and all that stuff. There’s funny, the the motion capture suit. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So, you know, when we heard that we’re gonna have to change everything, it’s a suit that there’s, it used to be a technology after being in a room like this with the cameras all around, and it would track the, these little reflective balls that you would wear. Well, now they have suits that have, you know, your
Manoa Raine (00:40:51):
Fingers it’s built in Yeah. To the
Brad Burrow (00:40:52):
Suit, like a ecto skeleton type thing. Well, that’s what we were using. So we were actually doing the movement right in front of the computer as it’s capturing. That’s so, so I, I called up my buddy and I said, Hey, I am gonna send you this quick little video. So I had Carlos, the guy that was doing the animation, put on the suit, and, and we said, we just wanna see what you think about this movement. So Carlos is like this, and he goes like that, <laugh>. And there’s fingers. So you see the, you see the Ecno skeleton actually doing that. And we all start laughing. Oh, I love it. And apparently Fred, the guy that actually was the director for NBC, saw it and laughed so <laugh>. So we, we had a little bit of fun with it. But yeah, I mean, that was really fun. Talk about some of the project. I mean, you’ve got out of all of these. Tell tell me about some of the, the most fun memories you have working on some of those projects.
Manoa Raine (00:41:42):
Oh my gosh, there’s so many. Gimme a second to think Grub. Well, just off Grub, the top of my head, grub. Well, GrubHub was really cool because it was a very unexpected thing. Covid happened.
(00:41:56):
Yeah.
(00:41:56):
you know, clearly every business suffered videos and stuff, especially because if everyone’s suffering, no one has a budget for marketing and content. Right. But I was working very closely with rally on Media led by Alex and Brian. I’ve worked with them since before they started the company. Great guys Random connection that I made that like, changed my life again. But but they had,
Brad Burrow (00:42:23):
I, I don’t see you as a guy making connections with people very easy.
Manoa Raine (00:42:26):
Yeah. Not at all. No. Which which I appreciate you saying that too. I used to be incredibly shy and nervous and like, didn’t talk to anybody. That’s another, like, just training and practice over and over and over again. And now I, I love talking to people, but when you’re so nervous and scared to be genuine and just open, you can’t really connect, you know? But
Brad Burrow (00:42:49):
Sorry, I interrupted
Manoa Raine (00:42:50):
You. No, you’re good. You’re good. But GrubHub was really nice because it was just lifesaving at the time. Alex and Brian at Rally on got the opportunity because they made a random video that went viral about delivery drivers and like what their day-to-Day life is. And GrubHub saw it and was like, can you make more of these for us? And they’re like, sure, why not? Became a huge part of Rally On’s business and my business for a while. And so I got to fly all over the country during Covid and capture very short documentaries, like three minutes long about a restaurant and the history behind it. And what was really nice through covid is there was a lot of incentives for small businesses and also for, you know, supporting your community and culture. So I was getting to go meet people a lot of them who were immigrants, who moved here to escape sometimes a horrible life.
(00:43:51):
Yeah.
(00:43:52):
And just wanted an opportunity and found a way to make the best out of it. And built a restaurant. They were happy and it was just a really beautiful experience to get to talk to these people. And I was a one man army the whole time. Brian produced it, so he just got the things together, told me where to go. We had like a rough general
Brad Burrow (00:44:12):
Script. Would you shoot it and everything?
Manoa Raine (00:44:14):
Yep. I would direct film and edit
Brad Burrow (00:44:16):
The whole thing. Really? Wow.
Manoa Raine (00:44:18):
And I was flying sometimes to five cities a week, and it was going back to the stress of time. Wow. I would literally flying to a city film, maybe stay the night and then fly to the next city in the morning film, maybe fly to the next city, get five hours of sleep, go film again, just back to back to back to back to back. But we, I was getting paid very well, thankfully. And honestly, COVID was very good for my business specifically because of that and, and a few other opportunities I got. But but yeah, I, I love talking to people. I love meeting new people and interviewing them and capturing their stories. Like when you come from a small farm town in Virginia where frankly most people are exactly the same, same ideals, same hopes, dreams, whatever, to get to meet new people who have lived a whole different life.
(00:45:13):
Yeah. I, I love learning from that. So that was a beautiful experience. And another one that also happened during Covid was I got connected to Nas Daily, who isn’t that big in America, but internationally he has 60 million followers. He was kind of the guy who created the concept of a one minute video and got viral on Facebook for being the one minute video guy. Hmm. Like, that was what he became known as. And he tells a lot of very interesting stories about different cultures and different societies and like what they’re doing to better the world. And a lot of people wanted to learn from him, how do you make these videos? You know, we would love to do this for ourselves. So he started an international like education academy to teach people his whole process. And I was very fortunate to be invited to be one of the first 10 admins of that team and help flesh out the video course that was already kind of prepared. Really.
Brad Burrow (00:46:15):
That’s
Manoa Raine (00:46:16):
Awesome.
(00:46:16):
And I, yeah, and I helped like, you know, add my notes and figure out how to teach this the best way. And then I was actually asked to lead the development of the photography and social media courses for him. And so through Covid OI got to not only fly around the country, fill myself with GrubHub, but I got to teach international students who, some i, in one class, I would have like a 14-year-old student in Malaysia, and like a 50-year-old business owner in South Korea who have very different lives, very different understandings of the English language.
Brad Burrow (00:46:54):
Oh, yeah.
Manoa Raine (00:46:54):
And, but were all there to learn the same thing. And so I had to, that taught me a lot about communication of like how to communicate to an individual based off of their needs and their understanding. And also how to boil down very abstract concepts, like creating something, how to boil that down to a more like formula of if you want somebo, if you want an image to invoke sadness, what colors would you use? You’d probably use blue or purple. What type of angle would it be? Maybe you’re shooting them from the top down to make them feel like, help teaching them how to think creatively in a formula base. And that was hugely influential to my skillset and, and led me to help now consult for a lot of small businesses who are starting to develop a media branch. Because pretty much every business should be a media business at this point.
(00:47:52):
And and it taught me to how to train their team where I’m like, Hey, I’ll come in and based off of your wants and needs, I will train them specific skills and how to use their camera, how to use Premier Pro to edit in how to post and all that stuff. So that, that was incredible. But both opportunities that also popped up so randomly and that I was not prepared for. I had, I was 24 at the time, I had no Right to be teaching international courses on the these things. Yeah. But I was like, why the hell not?
Brad Burrow (00:48:27):
Let’s, that’s awesome though. That’s, that’s awesome. You know, one of the things so I noticed yesterday when the, when we were wrapped, you were talking to one of the one of the clients about, Hey, I’m gonna send you this video and you’re gonna be able to stop it and put a note in. I’m assuming it was Frame io or Frame io. Yeah. Yeah. And explaining him, I, I was just kinda listening how you were explaining that to him.
Manoa Raine (00:48:50):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>,
Brad Burrow (00:48:51):
You know, and to the average layman, they don’t understand how frame IO works. Yeah. Vimeo has a similar setup now where Yeah. You just stop it, click on the screen, make a note about that little part, you know, what can we do about this? And how you explained that to him. I thought, well, you really did a good job of like, kind of getting down to their level
Manoa Raine (00:49:12):
Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>,
Brad Burrow (00:49:13):
You know, and, and, you know, we could talk high level about something like that, but getting down to their level, like he’s an engineer, probably the guy that you were talking to.
Manoa Raine (00:49:21):
Yeah. He doesn’t understand how this new thing works.
Brad Burrow (00:49:24):
Yeah. So you’re gonna hit this and you can type in your note here, and then I’ll get that note and,
Manoa Raine (00:49:28):
You know, <laugh>, and now I know what thought you had when you had it.
Brad Burrow (00:49:32):
Yes.
Manoa Raine (00:49:32):
And that helps me understand how you’re thinking and how you’re seeing things. And
Brad Burrow (00:49:37):
But you have a knack for that. I mean, not everybody has the ability to, or the patience.
Manoa Raine (00:49:43):
Yeah. There’s a lot of patience sometimes especially in those classes where, you know, again, different understandings of the English language and I’m like, how can I explain this in a different, more simpler way?
(00:49:54):
Yeah.
(00:49:54):
but it’s a knack. Most of my skills and what people, people who have met me recently, they’ll be like, oh, you’re a natural at this or that or that.
(00:50:04):
Yeah.
(00:50:06):
I, I really try to emphasize like, I was never a natural at this. It’s, it’s just practice in, in training myself. And I truly think most people have the capacity and capability to do this with the same type of training and intentionality that I had. And I always just want to emphasize that. ’cause Especially in the creative field, there’s so many people young kids I see. And they’re like, I wish I could do this as good as you, or I wish I could be like this person. I’m like, Hey, you can, it just, you know, Michelangelo didn’t pop out as a baby and paint this teen chapel. Yeah. He was drawing stick figures and, you know, drawing the sun with the little you know, the squiggly lines for heat. Like, he just practiced and practiced and practiced and eventually got there.
Brad Burrow (00:50:57):
I think one of the biggest things that, that I see in you as you’re learner,
Manoa Raine (00:51:02):
Huge learner, I love it. And that’s,
Brad Burrow (00:51:03):
You’ve gotta be in this industry. If you wanna be successful. You gotta be willing to learn and listen. You know, I, and I see a lot of the opposite of that, opposite of that in, in some people in the industry, like there’s egos involved and stuff that
Manoa Raine (00:51:17):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:51:18):
Are hindering them
Manoa Raine (00:51:19):
And hesitancy to change, right? Yeah. Like when vertical, I remember when vertical video became just a standard in like most deliverable packages now for social media. There were so many people in Los Angeles who were like, this is so stupid, I hate it. And I’m like, I get that you don’t like it. But that’s the future now, at least for what the course we’re currently on. So just do it. Like, stop complaining about it. That’s what’s needed. We need to adapt. Especially it’s like in a field Yeah. On the phone. Like, everyone can film on their phone now. Like now videographers have to adapt to that. And I think a lot of people in this industry forget that video specifically is one, one of the newest art forms that humanity has ever created. We’ve had writing, we’ve had music, we’ve had theater, all this for thousands and thousands of years. Videos like past hundred, maybe 120 years. This is brand new. And this is such a technology based industry. And technology is only getting better, only getting faster. You have to be adapting to this. Yeah. Or you’re gonna be left in the dust.
Brad Burrow (00:52:32):
Yeah, that’s right. We’re, we’re shooting stuff with our reds now.
Manoa Raine (00:52:36):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:52:36):
Like this turned sideways
Manoa Raine (00:52:38):
Crazy. Right?
Brad Burrow (00:52:39):
You, you’ve got a red camera and it’s eight k and you’re, you’re, you know, you’re shooting like this, like,
Manoa Raine (00:52:43):
Just weird. Yeah. You, you bought like a $80,000 camera to put it vertical for social
Brad Burrow (00:52:48):
Media, for a phone,
Manoa Raine (00:52:50):
<Laugh>. Yeah. Like how crazy is that? But but again, if it’s what’s needed, if it’s what’s wanted go where the market is going, yeah. You’re not gonna beat the market <laugh>, you know, like it doesn’t matter what business you’re or
Brad Burrow (00:53:04):
Go outta business.
Manoa Raine (00:53:05):
Yeah. <laugh> like you got two options. Yeah. Like try, you either try to beat the market and go outta business, or you roll with what your customers and your consumers want from you.
Brad Burrow (00:53:15):
Yeah, that’s right.
Manoa Raine (00:53:15):
You know, that’s the only way to survive as a business owner, really.
Brad Burrow (00:53:18):
Yeah. Well, that is true. So we’ve got a couple more minutes here. Talk a little bit about Rally On, let’s give them a little love since you’re the, they’re the reason you’re here. Yeah. Talk about them a little bit. Tell me a little bit about them, what they do.
Manoa Raine (00:53:31):
Yeah. So I love Rally on Media. I work with a few different, like media agencies, but Rally on, I’ve worked with the longest and kind of at the, a higher level than these other agencies as their lead. One of the producers rally on’s incredible because it started by Alex and Brian who had no interest in going into media at first. I, I believe they were in like, business or finance school together. And they went on this international trip and started filming videos just for fun and posting them online. And eventually someone found them and was like, Hey, we’ll pay you to continue filming, you know, around your, your travels and your adventures. And they’re like, whoa, that’s crazy. You know, this was 10, 15 years ago. That wasn’t that common back then.
(00:54:20):
Yeah.
(00:54:20):
And so they were just filming their everyday adventures. And that eventually turned into the Nowhere Men their first, I believe, their first business. And that was a Facebook page focusing on really cool New York City based stories. And they went very viral. They had hundreds of thousands of followers, which 10 years ago big deal. Hundreds of thousands was big Deal.
(00:54:44):
Yeah.
(00:54:44):
Now that’s like, you know, the standard, which is crazy. Yeah. and and eventually they just started getting so much business. So many companies wanted them to tell their stories that they started Rally on Media. So Rally On Media is very much like a story focused media company. And they also have an equity crowdfunding division for start engine.com. So it’s kind of separated in two things. There’s the equity crowdfunding, which is like, if a business wants to get funding to scale and whatnot, but they can’t find venture capitalist or angel investors, you could get signed onto the start engine platform and promote your business and say, Hey, you can get equity in my company. We’re looking to do X, Y,
Brad Burrow (00:55:30):
And Z. Great idea, great
Manoa Raine (00:55:31):
Concept. Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:55:31):
Yeah.
Manoa Raine (00:55:32):
And so when a client signs on to StartEngine, StartEngine immediately recommends Rally on Media as, Hey, if you need any marketing materials and whatnot, hire Rally on. So what we do is the second they onboard with Rally On Media, that gets handed to a producer, which is me, or we have like five or six other people, and we write the scripts. We film direct, edit everything for them and go through a whole legal process to make sure that like everything we’re saying and doing is fine for the investors. Right. And then we make these marketing materials, which is why I was here yesterday was to to work with one of those clients who I can’t talk about under NDA, but but it’s incredible because as a producer we get to work with some really like leading edge companies that no one has ever heard of and that you probably won’t hear of for another five or 10 years. And we get to be at the forefront of a lot of cool businesses. And what I really like about Rally On is they have this mentality that we only work with companies that we believe are going to help the future and help others.
(00:56:47):
Yeah.
(00:56:47):
I literally remember at one point we found out that a client of ours had done some things we thought were unethical as a team. And the CEOs were like, Hey, we’re not working with them again. Like, we’re gonna drop them. We, we, we do, we do not support this. And I think I just love that, like that value based system of like, let’s just help people.
(00:57:10):
Yeah.
(00:57:10):
And that really helps a lot of your projects not feel so mundane sometimes. Yeah. Like my grandma recently was diagnosed with cancer for the third time. She is a fighter. I, I’m genuinely shocked. She’s still kicking and still cognizant and everything. And what was crazy is right after I visited her, I was heading back home and I get a call from Rally on, they said, Hey, they didn’t know my grandma had cancer. They said, Hey can you produce this project? It’s for a new form of cancer treatment that is supposedly 400 times faster than our current methods and 40% less collateral damage to the body. And I’m like, what the hell? Like, I get to
Brad Burrow (00:58:00):
Help. Yeah. That’s amazing.
Manoa Raine (00:58:00):
I get to potentially help these people help the world, like of course. Yeah. I would love to do that. And, and you know, you hear numbers like that and you’re like, that’s insane. But you see the teams behind it, like world leaders in so many fields that came together for this cancer treatment and it’s like, wow, this could be a very real thing. And then I feel like I’ve been rambling, but a lot of great projects with, with Rally On, highly recommend looking into them for just any production needs. We work all over the country. We tell a lot of different stories and also work on high-end commercial productions. We’ve done national commercials for GrubHub and a number of other companies.
(00:58:42):
Yeah.
(00:58:42):
we’ve done international commercials for, for other companies. I don’t remember their names off the top of my head, but if you go on their website, you’ll see they’re reel. I edited that reel and Okay. Awesome. Very proud of it, <laugh>. So go check it out. You’ll get a great overview of what Rally on does.
Brad Burrow (00:59:00):
Yeah. That’s awesome. Well man, we really appreciate you. We’re getting close to an hour here, but
Manoa Raine (00:59:05):
Oh wow.
Brad Burrow (00:59:06):
I appreciate you coming. I hope you had a good experience yesterday. We sure enjoyed having you here and
Manoa Raine (00:59:11):
No, it was great, man. This team, I’m sorry to interrupt, but genuinely I, this team was so relaxed and easy to work with and, and so kind the entire time.
(00:59:22):
Yeah.
(00:59:22):
You know, like I felt like if I asked them of anything, it was just like Yeah, of course. And you didn’t get, there’s no of that attitude. Yeah. You know, that that we were talking about earlier. So this has been great and I’m genuinely shocked with how much cool stuff you have here. You know, like this is one’s very small part of this whole operation. It’s amazing.
Brad Burrow (00:59:43):
We have you know, I was, all of this has come ’cause I can’t say no.
Manoa Raine (00:59:48):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>
Brad Burrow (00:59:48):
<Laugh>, you know? Oh yeah. We can do that.
(00:59:50):
Yeah, why not?
(00:59:50):
Let’s figure out how we can do that. You know? But we’ve kind of added, you know, onto our, our whole, you know, offering. Yeah. Everything from the higher end down to podcasting, so, and everything in between. So we do say yes a lot, but I think in the Midwest you have to do that a lot more than Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> than being really segmented as just one part of
Manoa Raine (01:00:09):
Production. Yeah.
Brad Burrow (01:00:10):
You know, you could probably make a living just being a grip company or you know, a camera company or producers or whatever on the coast. But in the Midwest you have to kind of be able to do a lot of different things. So that’s what we’ve had
Manoa Raine (01:00:23):
To do. Yeah. Well, to, to your benefit. That’s why you get to work with on super Bowl commercials and get to do a bunch of cool things is because of how versatile you and your team are. And I personally prefer that for my own life is to just have that versatility and because of the places it takes you to, like the two year documentary you guys have been
(01:00:43):
Working
(01:00:43):
On and stuff like crazy stuff. But when you’re so versatile as a creative company that shows how skillful ever everyone is.
Brad Burrow (01:00:53):
Yeah. Yeah. A lot of fun too. Alright, so the last thing before we, before we go, I always have everybody do the movie voice. So you have to, you have to do the,
Manoa Raine (01:01:03):
Let me get my voice ready.
Brad Burrow (01:01:04):
Yeah, go ahead and take a drink there. ’cause I want you to say in a world with real media like that. All right,
Manoa Raine (01:01:11):
Here we go. So, in a world with real media, <laugh>
Brad Burrow (01:01:18):
<Laugh>. All right
(01:01:20):
Man. You might wanna get an agent.
Manoa Raine (01:01:22):
Hey, maybe yeah. Next time you see me, I’ll, I’ll change careers and everything, but this has been awesome. Thank you so much.
Brad Burrow (01:01:28):
No, thanks for being on. I, I was, after talking to you yesterday, I was like, we gotta just do this. So
Manoa Raine (01:01:32):
I’m so glad we did. This was a great conversation. Yeah.
Brad Burrow (01:01:35):
I appreciate it. So be sure to subscribe like us share the podcast with your friends play it at dinner parties, you know, whatever you need to do. And, you know, I’m good with all that. This is
Manoa Raine (01:01:46):
Great dinner party
Brad Burrow (01:01:47):
Material.
Manoa Raine (01:01:47):
Put on some smooth jazz and our beautiful voices and call it
Brad Burrow (01:01:51):
A day. Yeah. In the
Manoa Raine (01:01:52):
World. In the world.
Brad Burrow (01:01:52):
So we appreciate you guys look, checking us out and we’ll see you the next time in a world of real Media. Manoa Raine. Thank you so much. Alright, thanks. This has been in a World with Real Media. Thanks for joining us. And be sure to subscribe on iTunes and follow real media on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. So you never miss an episode.