July 13, 2026

Six Flags Hires a New COO, Meow Wolf Flips the Disney Model

Six Flags Hires a New COO, Meow Wolf Flips the Disney Model
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Six Flags has appointed Mark Pauls as Chief Operating Officer, an operator who worked alongside CEO John Reilly at both Palace Entertainment and SeaWorld. At Kennywood, Pauls converted Phantom Fright Nights into the hybrid Phantom Fall Fest and expanded Holiday Lights to 24 nights, adding the park's first January operating days. Reilly has board support for now, but not much time, and a partner with shared shorthand and a proven seasonal-events record saves years as they pivot back to the seasonal model. The hardest fight in expanding events is convincing your own operations staff, and that fight goes better with a COO who has run them.

Meanwhile, Universal announced Universal Nights, an after-hours event at Epic Universe on two October Saturdays, with all five worlds open from 9 pm to midnight, character appearances, and unlimited specialty snacks for $179.99. We’ve advocated this model for a while, and this is clearly a test. Although the price is high, it should help validate the model.

Finally, Meow Wolf and animation studio Titmouse announced a multi-year partnership covering original animated series built from Meow Wolf's story universe, as well as animation for the Los Angeles exhibition opening late this year. Three months into CEO Matthew Henick's tenure, the deal does exactly what he promised: screen content built outward from worlds that began as physical spaces, inverting the model on which Disney built an empire.

Listen to weekly BONUS episodes on our Patreon.

WEBVTT

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Okay. From our studios in Los Angeles in Tampa. This

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is Green Tagged Theme Park and thirty. I'm Philip from

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Ganta Mighty and Controls that. I'm joined as always by

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my delightful co host who's sipping his very own spinish

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espresso today, Scott Swinson of Scott Swinson creat Development. On

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Green tag Of course, we look at the top news

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each week and we try and pick the stories that

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matter most to industry professionals in theme park and theme

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entertainment spaces. Just as a quick reminder as well, we

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do have a bonus show where we get a little

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bit more crazy. We're already pretty crazy on the show.

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We get a little bit more crazy on our bonus show,

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which is on Patreon or on YouTube, but you can

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subscribe either way there. But this week we got to

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start off with six Flags because this topic goat.

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We'll get lots of views. We'll get lots of views

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because we're talking about six flags. Yay.

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This topic was requested a few weeks ago and we're

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getting to it late. But that's okay because I don't know,

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because it's our.

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Because it's our show, and you know, we know we

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in all fairness. We do try to get to things

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in the most in the most timely manner possible, but

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we want to stick to our thirty minute format. We

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want to make certain that this doesn't become a just

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a a mire of too much information. We want to

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hit what we feel are the most compelling topics I

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won't even say important, but the most compelling and the

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most important topics for people within the industry versus people

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who are just interested in the industry. You know, we

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we set up the show almost six years ago with

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the intent that this was not going to be a

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fan person podcast. This Now, if you're a fan person

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and you enjoy the inside stuff, great, but we were

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going to focus on the industry side and the trends.

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So that's kind of how we select stories. And before

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we start, like you know, you've heard me say it

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over and over again, Philip does all the heavy lifting

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and does all the research. And you know, I'll send

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him stories every now and then, but it's he does

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all the heavy stuff. We sit down and we chat

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and go, okay, what we talk about what do we

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feel is most important. We quite often will move things around,

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shift things up or down our list. We always have

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more topics than we have time to talk about, So

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just in case we have nothing to say about something,

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then we can just move on to something else. But

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so that's kind of how these things happen, and how

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things don't get handled immediately, but they we do get

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to them, and we find ways to put them together

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so that they kind of make sense and build an

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overall narrative for the show. So just in case you

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were wondering.

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And I think this first story has a good synergy

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between the next few stories, so again by design, as

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Scott said, but we'll start off at six Flags where

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they have a new COO. By the time you're listening

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to this, he should have taken over, because it's taken

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over July fifteenth, so this is week he's coming in.

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So it's Mark Paul's He's going to be the new

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COO of six Flags. And why this is interesting to

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us is that Mark has a history of working with

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John Riley at multiple companies, and also, as we'll talk

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about little bit later, Mark has a history of working

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with events, seasonal events, expanding event coverage. So I think

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this is a trend that we've been seeing with six

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Flags for quite a while. Which I'm very happy about.

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But anyway, Mark is going to be the new COO.

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Him and Paul Riley, the current CEO of Six Flags,

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have overlapping histories in both Palace Entertainments and SeaWorld Parks.

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Paul served as Vice President of Operations at Palace Entertainment

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while Riley was CEO of Palace, and of course they

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both had senior roles at SeaWorld earlier in their careers.

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Paul's was most recently the SVP of Operations at Herschand,

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where his responsibilities covered operations, engineering, maintenance, workforce management, and

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entertainment events for the regional parks. Paul's was also the

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GM of kenny Wood, which he led from June to

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twenty until the promotion at Palace in twenty twenty four.

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At kenny Wood, he oversaw the park's twenty twenty one

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retirement of Phantom Fright nights and changed it over to

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Phantom Fallfest, which was the hybrid model that paired the

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daylight the daytime family programming with the nighttime scares and

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added fifteen operating nights. He also expanded the Holiday Lights

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event to twenty four nights, so I see this as

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a clear through line and a really good sign because

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we've talked about how much Riley is trying to do

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at six Flags, and now he has someone who he

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works with, and that's always better. It's always better to

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have a team that you can work well with and

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that you have clear defined roles. And this particular team member,

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Mark does bring a background of events and of seasonal activations,

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which is exactly what Riley has been talking about what

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six Flags needs to invest more in. But as Scott

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always says, it's a pendulum because this is basically just

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seasons of fun but or a new name at six Flags,

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which is fine. That's fine because it works, so they

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should do it. So Scott, what do you think? Well,

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I think it makes total sense. You know, all too

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often people will say, well, who is who is the

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most qualified person for the job, And I think the

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qualified most quality in my opinion. You know, I used

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to say, well, let's look at their resume and see

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what they've done and we'll bring in the right people

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blah blah blah, bah blah. But the factor that I

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think a lot of people either don't take into consideration

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or do take into consideration, but often get angry about

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it is working relationship. How easy is it to work

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with the person that you're bringing in? You know, I

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tell my USF students all the time, your resume gets

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you in the door, but you have to get you

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in the door at the interview. But you have to

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be the person they want to work with, you know,

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That's that's the most important thing. There's a there's a

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ton of people who have very similar resumes, there's a

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ton of people who have very similar skill sets. But

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you've got to find the right person, not just the

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right resume. And because these guys have overlapping history that

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has has brought them together and then they've separated and

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come back together again. I think that makes an awful

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lot of sense because you know, think about it with

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your with your best friends or the co workers that

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you work with on a regular basis. You have a

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certain sort of shorthand that you can that you can

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talk to each other so you kind of know where

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the other one's going. This comes in very handy in

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very large corporate meetings. You can set up your your

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co worker for success. You can set up your coworker

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to share the point that you know they want to

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focus in on and if it's someone that you've worked

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with and trust, that kind of of uh, that kind

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of teeing up of a good idea becomes reciprocal and

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it goes back and forth and you both end up

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looking really good and you look like a very cohesive team.

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So over and above all of the things that all

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the things that Paul's brings to the table, I think

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that it's equally as important that he and John Riley

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have a working relationship and have their own sort of

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language and vernacular that they can share. I think that

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will be efficient. I think that will lead to a

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lack of I think efficiency is what's going to probably

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be the most the most important here. Now, you don't

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always want to surround yourself with people who think the

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same way you do. But I think in this case,

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with what's going on with six Flags, I think this

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is a I think this is a good move, primarily

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primarily for stockholders, because when you have this kind of

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working relationship and understanding and mutual trust, you can make

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things happen more quickly, and you can you can turn

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things around more quickly, you can get your plan initiated

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more quickly. And since you know, as we've reported John

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Riley seems to have still seems to have the board support.

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It makes sense that having the right people in place

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to do these things, to implement these things that he

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wants to continue to expand on, as Philip mentioned, festivals

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being a large part of that package. I think it's

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a good I think it's a good move. I think

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it makes total sense. And I know there are going

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to be people who say, well, just bring it in

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your friends. Okay, but if your friends are so super qualified,

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and if you've got five super qualified people for a position,

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if you don't bring in your friends, you're probably making

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the wrong choice if they're all equally qualified. So I

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think the idea of bringing in someone that you have

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a working relationship with is great. It'll be efficient, and

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it will it's right for this time for six Flags.

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Right exactly for this time, in particular, because we've talked

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a little bit about the amount of change that has

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happened on the board and the amount of pressure that

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different battles that's going on inside internally trying to steer

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the private equities, trying to steer you know whatever. But

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all of that means that they don't have that much time.

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Actually you know Riley does not actually have that much time.

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He has the support for now because there's always a

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golden window when you bring in new people and they

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have some time where they kind of can experiment. But

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as there as they as the tenure gets longer, they

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can actually experiment less because they have that kind of

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like less capital political capital to do changes. And to

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your point about you know, them being able to work together,

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it's it's that that takes a long time to get

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to figure out how people on a team work together,

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and I don't think that's the time they really have.

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And also, if Riley is trying to expand seasonal stuff,

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you know, I mean sure Scott knows this too. We

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won't talk about this. I think it's our stance on

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the show that seasonal events are great for your attraction,

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but that doesn't mean that they're easy to do. I mean,

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it is our stance you should do them, but it

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doesn't mean that you can take somebody who's never done

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a seasonal event at all, and and it's going to

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take them a few years to learn. So the bonus

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to this is that now you have an operations director

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that is used to managing a robust schedule of seasonal events.

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That's going to help a lot. It's going to save

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you years of training, because it's not as easy as

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you would think, you know, to from an operations perspective

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on just what do you do with Q lines, what

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do you do with phasing guests in and out of

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the park, what do you do with team takeovers and

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all this? All that sits under the operational and it's

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not it's not the same as daytime operations, is what

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I'm trying to say.

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So I think to have somebody and to have somebody

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at the top level of operations who is not only

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comfortable but a big fan of or based on their

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previous actions, have been a has been a fan of

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the seasonal operations. What ends up happening is when you

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have if you've got a park that has never done

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a seasonal event or has only done minimal seasonal events,

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there is a huge level of fear from an operational

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standpoint that you have to over exactly because in essence,

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you're doing two days worth of product in one day

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if it's a nighttime event, for example, and this terrifies

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so many people from an operational standpoint, and to a

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certain extent it probably should, because it's a lot of work.

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As Philip just said, you know, it's hard to do,

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but at the same time, it's well worth the extra

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effort from you know, when you're trying to drive additional revenue.

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I mean, you know the with with nighttime separate ticketed

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events at least refer to Hell of Scream as the

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thirteenth month, we generated as much as much profit in

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eighteen days as we did in a full month of

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regular operations, and we did it on top of a

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full month of regular operations. So when you look at

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that kind of when you look at that kind of reward,

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you go, yeah, it's definitely worth the extra effort. But

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it's very hard sometimes to convince the existing staff, from

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the existing and primarily operational staff, but it's not just

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the operational team, but trying to convince the existing staff

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that it is worth the extra effort. Sometimes it's really hard.

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And when you've got somebody at the top of the

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operational pyramid who is in support of it, that's a

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huge help.

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Huge help, right right. I was gonna ask you to

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talk a little bit about that, which is just the

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idea that sometimes the biggest fight that you're facing with

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seasonal events, especially new ones, especially when you have six

238
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flags brand, you're trying to add seasonal events to it

239
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or expand them. I think a lot of times the

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biggest fight is actually with your team, like the actual

241
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internal team. It's not like with the guests, because I

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think sometimes a lot of guests are thinking, why don't

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they just do this or this line? You know, there's

244
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guests have a lot of frustrations and they think it

245
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should be easy. But then the reality is that a

246
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lot of the staff, especially frontline staff, like they don't

247
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want to do the seasonal event because it's more work

248
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for them and it's more stress, and so it's not

249
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just convincing those staff members. But then if there are

250
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not leaders that are willing to kind of go in

251
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and convince people person by person in the office area,

252
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that is just it's it's not going to happen, and

253
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I don't And Scott, you've dealt with.

254
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That, oh yeah, many many times at many locations and

255
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and still dealing with it, still dealing with it so

256
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that everyone understands exactly what their what their role is.

257
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And it's funny because it's not just the operations team

258
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that that has challenges, and it's not always the same

259
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every location. It's it's I mean, a perfect It can be.

260
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It can be something as simple as you get a

261
00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:06.759
team that you know, all of a sudden they say, okay,

262
00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:08.639
we're going to do a more robust Halloween event, and

263
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the internal team goes, this is great. I want to

264
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I can create this, and I can build this, and

265
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I can do that, and I can forgetting completely that

266
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they have to do all of this on top of

267
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their regular job. So so then they decide, okay, well

268
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we'll bring in some extra We'll put it into the

269
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budget to bring in some extra outside help, either from

270
00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:30.919
a creative standpoint or a construction standpoint or a building standpoint,

271
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and then I'll be able to do my own work.

272
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But then they but then there's push back there because

273
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they're like, well, yeah, but I want to do the

274
00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.759
fun stuff. I want to do the new stuff. So

275
00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:44.879
it becomes this this sort of arm wrestling back and

276
00:14:44.919 --> 00:14:48.360
forth of finding the right balance because just because you

277
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start doing a seasonal event, and I'm specifically talking about

278
00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:56.320
an after hours event, but even an overlay event requires

279
00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:01.600
some additional work and some additional thought some time that

280
00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:04.480
most people. You know, if you go to most people

281
00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:07.600
in the industry and say, you know, because you have

282
00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:10.120
so much extra time on your hands in your position,

283
00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:12.679
we're going to do a seasonal event, that never happens

284
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because nobody has extra time on their hands right now,

285
00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:18.360
you know, everybody is Most people I know are working

286
00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:21.679
as hard as they possibly can. And in fact, this

287
00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:25.639
is such an important topic that this year at Iappa

288
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Expo in November, Todd Zimmerman from Oddities and I are

289
00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:33.720
team teaching an edge session. It's called checks and Balances,

290
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and it's how to put together a good creative and

291
00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:42.200
operational team specifically for events, but even for the addition

292
00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:45.720
of new core product that finds the right balance between

293
00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:49.080
your own team so that they feel involved and they

294
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have a sense of ownership, and then finding the right

295
00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:55.360
outside partners who can come in and reinforce what your

296
00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:58.919
message is. And you know, it's interesting because Todd and

297
00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:01.919
I are both outside vendors right now, but I've been

298
00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:05.919
on the inside and recognize, you know, it's not always

299
00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.080
the best to just hand it over to an outside vendor.

300
00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:10.399
And I can't believe I'm saying that as an outside vendor,

301
00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.480
but it's about finding the right balance, it's about finding

302
00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:16.480
the right teams to put together to really sort of

303
00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:20.200
be honest with yourself and assess what can we do internally,

304
00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:24.080
what should we do internally, and what do we need

305
00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.279
help with. But the most important thing I think to

306
00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.919
recognize is even when you bring in outside help to

307
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:32.879
do these kinds of things, as you will most likely

308
00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:37.159
need to, whether that is additional even something as basic

309
00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:41.720
as additional labor. Because you're running your minimal, you're running

310
00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:44.399
your maximum number of hours per person in your attraction,

311
00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:47.480
and then all of a sudden you extend you're operating

312
00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:51.200
hours by three hours a day for twenty days, or

313
00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:53.360
five hours a day or ten hours a day, depending

314
00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.919
on how robust the event is. So you're going to

315
00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:58.279
have to bring in some outside excuse me, some outside

316
00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:02.039
labor sources, even your team. You don't want to burn

317
00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:04.480
out your internal team. You want to find a way

318
00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:09.680
to reinforce it. And and that becomes that becomes very

319
00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:13.759
very important when you're when you're planning out the whole thing,

320
00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:16.160
so that you don't have the kind of pushback that

321
00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:18.519
we're talking about. You don't have the kind of fear

322
00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:20.440
of oh, my gosh, this means I'm going to I'm

323
00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.559
never going to see my home, my dog is going

324
00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:26.000
to starve, you know, all those kinds of fears that

325
00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:29.599
people have. And then the other fear is I'm going

326
00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:32.200
to lose control because I'm going to have to outsource everything.

327
00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:39.319
That's not true either internal internal. Internal leaders always have

328
00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:42.680
the ability to veto. They always have the ability to control.

329
00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:47.319
It's just about finding that right, that right balance that

330
00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:49.279
and it's going to be different for everybody. I would

331
00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:51.720
love to say that, Yes, when you're starting a new event,

332
00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:55.480
it should be thirty two point five percent external and

333
00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:59.720
sixty eight whatever the rest of it is internal. There

334
00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.279
is no magic number like that. It's about finding what

335
00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:08.039
your assets are internally, your human assets are, your physical assets,

336
00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:11.039
how can you utilize those and finding a way to

337
00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:15.480
make it as painless as possible, but still recognizing you've

338
00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:19.119
got to if you want that extra that extra revenue,

339
00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:23.759
that extra attention, those the extra attendance, then you've got

340
00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:25.960
to put some work into it. But do it smart,

341
00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:28.640
do it in a way that that utilizes what you have,

342
00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:32.240
and look outside your own organization and see what you

343
00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:37.240
can bring in to reinforce what to either reinforce what

344
00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:39.039
you already have or to fill the holes that you

345
00:18:39.079 --> 00:18:39.480
don't have.

346
00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:45.559
Well, let's move on our second story because it's directly.

347
00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:47.640
Sorry, that's a very important topic to me, so I

348
00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:48.559
just got to dove in.

349
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.359
Yes, well we've resurfaced now for the next stoor. I

350
00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:57.000
don't know that was word transition, but our next story

351
00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:59.400
is something I think we've talked about as an opportunity,

352
00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:04.359
but it is interesting the way they're doing it. So anyway,

353
00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:08.880
Universal Orlando announced that they're going to do an after

354
00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:13.319
hours hard ticket event at Epic Universe in October. It

355
00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:16.319
will be called Universal Nights and it's only running on

356
00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:21.200
two Saturdays, October third and October seventeenth. Tickets will go

357
00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:25.119
on sale next month. They are one hundred and eighty

358
00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:28.359
dollars roughly one hundred and seventy ninet nine, but one

359
00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:31.079
hundred and eighty dollars, and it's going to give you

360
00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:34.240
access to all attractions and experiences across the Five Worlds

361
00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:38.799
from nine pm to midnight, although the guests can arrive

362
00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:41.599
as early as seven pm so they can watch the

363
00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:47.680
new evening show. The ticket includes character appearances, unlimited specialty snacks.

364
00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:51.640
Like berry flavored Solcio popcorn and Krispy kimchibao at Flysto

365
00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:58.160
Park and a Coca Cola Freestyle cup. This is interesting.

366
00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:02.480
I think it is similar in design a little bit

367
00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:08.279
to what Universal does with Universal Premium, the Premium Scream

368
00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:11.599
Night at Halloween Horn Nights, where you get unlimited food

369
00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:14.119
of beverage, whatever. Also same kind of thing we see

370
00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:16.559
sometimes with the Disiland with the Disney after Dark, where

371
00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:18.759
you have unlimited you know, cheap free snacks and you

372
00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:21.680
can eat and wander around. This is also similar to

373
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:24.759
sort of what they did for the Ayapa events and

374
00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:27.319
some of the private sellout events where you have food

375
00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:30.440
stations and people can just wander around and slimited capacity.

376
00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:34.240
I do not think this is going to succeed. I

377
00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:39.359
think this is probably them, as Scott just explained. It's

378
00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:43.279
this is probably them just testing operations, and I'm sure

379
00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:46.680
that that's valid. They do they need. As Scott explained,

380
00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:49.759
it is a complicated thing to add an after hours event,

381
00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:52.640
So I think that this is probably them testing that,

382
00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:55.480
and but it's not going to succeed in the long

383
00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:58.519
term because one hundred and eighty dollars is too much money.

384
00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:01.880
For this ticket price and the snacks are not worth it,

385
00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:06.319
and I think the big fans are going to I

386
00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.960
think that's why there's two nights, Like there's probably enough

387
00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:13.839
demand to sell out for two nights, But the real

388
00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:16.200
success for an a half hours event would be something

389
00:21:16.279 --> 00:21:18.839
that you could do like Halloween hohr nights, where you

390
00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:22.119
want to sell out fifty nights. Not too so if

391
00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:24.440
I want to sell fifty of them, it's going to

392
00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:25.960
have to be a different price point. It's not going

393
00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:28.640
to work because one hundred and eight dollars for three hours,

394
00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:34.119
that's just not that's not doing it. And same problem,

395
00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:37.279
like I'm already foreseeing the same problem. If you're going

396
00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:39.039
to pay one hundred and eighty, you're going to want

397
00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:42.839
to get on Battle of the Ministry if no matter

398
00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:45.200
what your capacity limited capacity is, if you have three

399
00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:47.759
hours and everybody at that event is in the same line,

400
00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:53.640
it's not going to be good, like unless they sell

401
00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:55.960
it like one hundred tickets, right and then you know,

402
00:21:56.039 --> 00:21:58.680
but I mean otherwise everybody at this event is going

403
00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:01.920
to go the same ride. And that's that is the

404
00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:04.119
problem with the park right large, and it's going to

405
00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:06.160
be compounded by this event. So anyway, that's my thoughts

406
00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:07.559
pretty negative. But Scott, what do you think?

407
00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:13.559
Well, so I'm gonna I'm gonna guess because you're right.

408
00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:17.720
You mentioned IAPA Celebrates. And what's really interesting is IAPA

409
00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:22.039
Celebrates is back at Epic Universe again this year. They

410
00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:23.400
did it last year and they're going to do it

411
00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:28.759
again this year. And I had a phenomenal time at

412
00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:30.759
IAPPA Celebrates. I had a great time. I got to

413
00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:33.160
do exactly what I wanted to do. The food was good,

414
00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:35.039
the park was great. I didn't have to deal with

415
00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:36.920
the blistering heat that we all know is a big

416
00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:40.000
problem with EPIC. And I mean I'm sitting here, you know,

417
00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:43.319
in Tampa right now, and it's, you know, four o'clock

418
00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:49.039
in the afternoon. It's the temperature is ninety five degrees,

419
00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:52.079
the heat index is one hundred and one. I mean,

420
00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:59.640
it's it's unpleasant to be outdoors. So I'm guessing that

421
00:23:00.279 --> 00:23:02.119
somebody looked at this and went, hey, you know, we're

422
00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:05.559
doing these after hours events like IAPPA Celebrates, like uh,

423
00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:10.000
you know, these park buyouts that kind of thing. What

424
00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:12.359
would what would it take for us to do this

425
00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:16.400
for guests? Because they're not stupid. They're seeing that they're

426
00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:21.759
getting yelled at for lack of shade, for oppressive heat.

427
00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:25.519
And I could very easily see their catering team or

428
00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:28.519
their operations team coming back and saying, well, because they

429
00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:32.119
don't want to do it, coming back and saying, well,

430
00:23:32.119 --> 00:23:33.839
in order to do this, we'd have to charge about

431
00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:35.319
this much and it comes out to one hundred and

432
00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:38.880
eighty bucks per person. Oh great, can we can we

433
00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:40.880
be open until two in the morning. No, we probably

434
00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:46.720
got to close around midnight, so then and the people

435
00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:48.640
who were like, Okay, this could have been a good

436
00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:51.200
idea said fine, well then well we can only do

437
00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:53.440
it for two nights, so we don't want to make

438
00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:57.880
I actually think it is a brilliant idea. I agree

439
00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:01.039
with Philip. I think that the price point for this test,

440
00:24:01.160 --> 00:24:05.200
because that's exactly what it is, this test, is too high.

441
00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:07.799
This does not seem that much different to so many

442
00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:11.920
of the things that Universal and Disney have done over

443
00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:16.359
the years where they do some outlandish I mean, you know,

444
00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:22.279
they Disney built a whole flip and hotel, so they

445
00:24:22.359 --> 00:24:23.960
got to test it somewhere. You got to figure out

446
00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:28.240
what the breaking point is from a price standpoint, I

447
00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:33.240
can see this being incredibly popular with international tourists, so

448
00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:36.160
that they could do other things during the day and

449
00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:40.640
be able to say that they did their they did

450
00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:44.799
Epic Universe in a more controlled environment. Like I said,

451
00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:48.799
I've only been to EPIC in buyout situations. I have

452
00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:51.799
never been to Epic as a standard guest, so I

453
00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:55.079
have a very different perception of the park. It is

454
00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:57.880
very possible that that is also why they are doing this,

455
00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:00.519
is so that people will start talking about the park,

456
00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:03.440
about the cool things that are there, and the fact

457
00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:06.720
that the park is beautiful at night. It is you know,

458
00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:08.960
it is so you know, thanks to a lot of

459
00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:14.480
Gantam fixtures, it is a beautiful park after dark. So

460
00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:17.799
I think it is I think there's a little subtext

461
00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:19.640
here that they're trying to switch. They're trying to flip

462
00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:22.400
the switch on the narrative so that it's not just

463
00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:24.240
the park that has no trees and is way too hot,

464
00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:28.160
it's it's the park that is is beautiful after dark,

465
00:25:28.359 --> 00:25:32.319
and when you can control crowds, you have a better experience.

466
00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:38.559
I am fascinated by how this this test is turning out. Yes,

467
00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:40.559
the price point is too high, I do not see

468
00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:45.960
that as sustainable, but I think the concept because they

469
00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:48.000
know how to do it when it comes to after

470
00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:51.400
hours events, Actually, Universal is superior to Disney in so

471
00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:57.079
many ways because I've been at both and their their

472
00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:01.920
culinary is stronger, their organizational ability to move people around

473
00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:08.640
is better. So if they've got the team in place already,

474
00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:11.000
this is when I talk about assets. If one of

475
00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:13.440
your assets is we've got a great events team that

476
00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:16.119
knows exactly how to do this after dark, that's an

477
00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:19.839
asset that's being underutilized. If you're not having events, sell

478
00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:24.519
out events every weekend through the year, why not open

479
00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:29.759
it up to guests. Now, again, it's that Stickler price

480
00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:34.799
point of one hundred and eighty. You know, that's rough

481
00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:39.480
for three hours five if you count the seven o'clock entrance.

482
00:26:40.680 --> 00:26:45.440
That's tough. But is it something that is the product?

483
00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:48.920
Is the product going to be workable and viable and

484
00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:50.799
then all they have to do is pare down the

485
00:26:51.240 --> 00:26:54.480
price point. If that's the case, then this is a

486
00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:58.880
very successful test. So I'm curious to see. I think

487
00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:02.920
it's I think it's we're smart, I really do, but

488
00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:05.519
it is not sustainable in its current form. And we'll

489
00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.359
have to see where it goes from here and what

490
00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:11.079
it's clearly a test. Two nights is not an event.

491
00:27:11.480 --> 00:27:15.559
Two nights is not a rollout. Two nights is a test, right,

492
00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:18.680
So let's see where it goes, right.

493
00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:22.519
We will be watching yep, and we will also be

494
00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:26.400
watching a new series that is going to be created

495
00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:31.119
using Meowolf original Ip. It's a good transition.

496
00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:37.319
So who does the clever verbal transition? Well, the verbal

497
00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:40.400
they're not only clever, but the verbal transitions. But good job, Philip,

498
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:41.160
nice transition.

499
00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:44.400
Thank you. This is actually the most important story of

500
00:27:44.440 --> 00:27:46.799
the week, but we put it at the end. I

501
00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:49.960
don't know why, but for reasons, but because six flags

502
00:27:49.960 --> 00:27:52.200
are sexier to our audience. But this, in my opinion,

503
00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:54.599
this is this is the news of the week, and

504
00:27:55.000 --> 00:28:01.039
it is basically that Wolf is partnering with a film student, Titmouse.

505
00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:06.000
That there's kind of a lot here, but basically it's

506
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:09.039
a multi year creative partnership with the studio. It covers

507
00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:12.160
the code development of an original animated series based on

508
00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:15.279
male Wol's Store universe and animation for ma coming Los Angeles.

509
00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:18.119
Have been so two things here which kind of get

510
00:28:18.119 --> 00:28:22.359
a little confusing. So those of us in the industry,

511
00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:25.200
industry should know that Mao Wolf is expanding into Los Angeles.

512
00:28:25.240 --> 00:28:27.240
It's going to be an enormous exhibition they have here

513
00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:30.799
planned for Los Angeles. So this partnership covers two aspects

514
00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:33.880
of it. First, it covers the creation of artwork and

515
00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:37.359
a lot of the help creating original characters and ips

516
00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:41.079
and stories that are going to be featured in this exhibition.

517
00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:45.079
But it also covers the development of an animated series

518
00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:48.960
that will then be broadcast out and it covers expansion

519
00:28:49.480 --> 00:28:56.039
in going and renovating other venues. So it's not like again,

520
00:28:56.200 --> 00:28:59.640
it wasn't explicitly stated in the press release about their

521
00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:01.480
stratg Like they didn't talk about how this is a

522
00:29:01.480 --> 00:29:03.960
bigger strategy point. But we did because we talked about

523
00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:07.039
previously with their new CEO and their new CEO having

524
00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:12.680
a background in this idea of extending content, and he

525
00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:16.119
said at that time when he was when he was

526
00:29:16.200 --> 00:29:18.200
hired as a CEO of this that he thought that

527
00:29:18.359 --> 00:29:22.319
the that film, TV and games would be built outward

528
00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:24.920
from the physical experiences. And then we're like three months

529
00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:27.599
later and this is what's going on. So there's going

530
00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:30.960
to be a series. But like I said, they're going

531
00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:33.720
to bring in directors. And it's interesting when they did

532
00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:36.400
a story with the La Times, and what they told

533
00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:39.400
the Times is that the approach that they're doing here

534
00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:42.480
echoes the early days of Warner Bros. Animation when directors

535
00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:45.759
like Chuck Jones and Tex Avery each put a distinct

536
00:29:45.799 --> 00:29:48.680
stamp on the same Laney Tunes characters. Because the idea

537
00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:53.039
here is they're going to have character driven protagonists that

538
00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:55.599
are going to then get inspiration from different directors to

539
00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:58.240
happen throughout the world there and then lead into the animation.

540
00:29:58.359 --> 00:30:01.440
So this is the most important story, I think, because

541
00:30:01.480 --> 00:30:06.920
it's an inverted Disney maybe, or it's all this.

542
00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:08.720
Is what we've been talking about. We've been talking about

543
00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:10.680
this for quite some time already. We've been talking about,

544
00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:14.279
you know, maybe it's time to stop having the live

545
00:30:14.359 --> 00:30:21.279
experience be based on the on the film or television experience.

546
00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:26.119
But flip it, flip the script, and quite honestly, knowing

547
00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:31.119
me al Wolfe's respect for artists and embracing the artist's

548
00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:37.799
view and vision, it makes total sense. It makes total sense,

549
00:30:38.359 --> 00:30:42.519
and it's it kind of as you say, Philip, it

550
00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:44.599
is sort of flipping the Disney model on its ear.

551
00:30:45.480 --> 00:30:48.319
But that's because the Disney model isn't working anymore. You know.

552
00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:51.920
There's people aren't going to the movies as much and

553
00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:59.279
they aren't as hooked into the video content. But by

554
00:30:59.319 --> 00:31:03.319
making it a this seems almost this seems almost like

555
00:31:03.480 --> 00:31:10.000
a bit more seamless integration between the live experience and

556
00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:15.359
the animated experience. And I think, first of all, I'm

557
00:31:15.400 --> 00:31:19.839
thrilled that it's it's meil Wolf because I think their

558
00:31:19.960 --> 00:31:23.039
history and their way of doing things will embrace this

559
00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:27.799
the most. And secondly, I think that if they can

560
00:31:28.200 --> 00:31:31.400
test this with the with the Los Angeles with the

561
00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:36.200
LA installation, and then expand it to the others, I

562
00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:42.359
think this has such incredible potential from a branding standpoint,

563
00:31:42.359 --> 00:31:47.240
from an entertainment standpoint, from a merchandise standpoint, this could

564
00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:50.720
be This could be huge. Actually, it's so huge that

565
00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:53.160
it's made us go over our regular thirty minutes by

566
00:31:53.160 --> 00:31:55.960
about two. So we're gonna have to We're gonna have

567
00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:58.799
to move on. Actually, we're going to start recording right now.

568
00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:02.599
As Philip mentioned earlier, Green tagged Unhinged, which is our

569
00:32:02.599 --> 00:32:05.039
Patreon show. So if you'd like to hear us go

570
00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:08.119
even further into the weeds and a little bit crazier.

571
00:32:08.839 --> 00:32:11.200
Please join us there. It'd be a lot of fun. Otherwise,

572
00:32:11.319 --> 00:32:12.880
hopefully we will see each and every one of you

573
00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:15.119
next week. This is green Tag Theme Parking thirty. Thank

574
00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:16.000
you so much for listening.