Interview with Leslie Beattie of Screenplay
MVP: It is March 30th we're in Seattle, W. We're with Leslie Beattie who is the director of content and acquisitions at Screenplay INC. which is one of the country's leading retail pools. So, the first question for Leslie, for those unfamiliar with the definition of a retail pool - can you explain exactly what services you provide?
Leslie Beattie: ScreenPlay - and several other companies in the country - create in store environments. Have you ever gone into a retail store or restaurant or nightclub and wondered where the stuff comes from? Oftentimes it comes from us! We do over 25,000 locations a month - that's over 200,000,000 viewers per month. Everyone from Radio Shack, FYE, Journey's and Steve Madden to Macy's to the nightclubs and bars that you frequent all the time. So our job is to create a compelling audio visual environment that will make shoppers, club goers or restaurant goers feel comfortable so that they'll want to stay - and they'll also be getting some cool music that will be tailored to their environment.
MVP: These retail outlets are paying you to provide content. Do they have any say in what they get, or do you basically have to kind of cater to your clients and get a vibe what it is that will work in their specific retail location?
LB: It's a bit of both. Initially what we do is we approach a client and figure out what their demographic is, and we can do one of two things: there's either a base program - we have 70 programs we do a month, some of them are considered "base" programs that vary based on genre, anything from country to urban or pop, movie trailers, fashion footage, extreme sports, whatever; the second option is to "custom build" which means that we use this information about what their demographic is, we send them a list of suggestions and we let them edit it based on what they feel suits them best. We're generally pitching content to the client trying to fit their demo and/or help labels or bands out based on what we know their demographic to be -- definitely pick something that we think will be the right thing for them. We don't try to force things on them, but sometimes people just don't know all of this great stuff is out there, which saddens me.
MVP: I'm curious if a record label happens to get one of their videos placed on a FYE DVD reel that's showing in their stores, what could that client expect to gain form that kind of exposure?
LB: Well it's a fact that sales in record stores and home videos stores, etc. go up when pertinent content is played in store; it's a very simple principle and that's what our company is based on. Our CEO has a chain of movie stores and he noticed when he just played random movies nobody paid attention, but when he actually played the screeners that had the trailers in the front, he rented more of what people were seeing the previews for. So people are stimulated by, inspired by and influenced by their environment, whether that means that they feel comfortable in a given place they decide to stay and shop and/or if it plants a seed in their mind of a band, movie or a song they might be into. My feeling is -- at least this is how it often works with me -- that you may hear a song on the radio and you're not sure about it or don't notice it on the first coupla listens, but maybe it takes hold the third or fourth time -- it clicks and you get it and love it and it and become an advocate for it. It could be when you're out at the mall, when you're in the bar, when you're at the restaurant and so on...we'd like to think so anyway, and the stats we've gathered seem to back that up. That was a pretty crappy answer.
MVP: No that was actually a good answer. Well the good news left is we send you the interview before we actually put it up on the website. Next question, other than retail outlets, of course when you think of retail outlets you think of record stores, you think of Macy's, you think of Jarvin's perhaps, but isn't it true you guys will have reels playing in places that might not be your first thought, wow, they've got videos playing in there? Can you give us some examples of outlets like that and the kind of response you get back from them as to whether it's working, creating awareness, creating traffic.
LB: Yeah, I think with the major retailers like Macy's, FYE, Radio Shack, Steve Madden, Journey's or Harley Davidson, people kind of understand what it means to be in these programs -- they know those brands and we provide statistics on what the foot traffic in those stores, but of the 25,000 locations we do, a fair amount of them are "one off's" or smaller chains that people might not have heard of, like Gotschalks or Von Maur, Bon Ton. Maybe you are an East Coaster and they are West Coast or Midwest stores, etc. but either way they are out there and serve a great purpose! Most are located in the malls throughout North America - all across America and Canada, and the feedback that we've gotten from them, because we actually sent out a survey last year, was that people do stay because they're comfy and feel happy, because they like the song...in fact that may be what brings them into the store. Maybe they really like, I don't know, Usher, or The Shins or the French Kicks or My Chemical Romance or you know, whoever, Of Montreal, and they hear it in the store and then go to a show, or buy a CD and that's kind of what we build our environment on. It doesn't always have to be in Macy's. Because in cities all across North America you go to your local mall and walk through it (I understand a lot of big city types don't use the "mall," in the suburban sense), bur for those who do, and there are a great many, just about every store has a program by Screenplay or a competitor. If you walk down like, West Broadway in Manhattan (or is it Broadway? I forget which one) you'll see Steve Madden, Jimmy Z's, H&M, blah blah, but It's like Screenplay, RockAmerica, DMX, and so on ... All the way down the street. And those places are crammed with people who are potential customers, not just of products being sold at the retailer, but of those artists they see on the screen! I don't think people realize where the stuff comes from, but it comes from us little guys who are filling in these massive gaps in an increasingly narrow market...So for a label or band that thinks MTV is all there is they are missing out – that's just one (albeit large) piece of an ever larger pie, and we are kind of the unsung rest of the video pie, so to speak. Lovely imagery there.
MVP: I like that. Ok, I'm pretty curious, I get my oil changed at Grease Monkey and they are one of your clients. Did Grease Monkey come to you and say hey it would be great to have music videos playing, or, and I'm guessing this is the case, one of your very talented sales people pitched them and they bit?
LB: What happens is a lot of times, and I don't know what the actual case is with Grease Monkey, we usually will go to them and see if there's something we can do with them to put it really simply. One of the great things that we do is that there's a whole staff of people who are totally creative and are brainstorming ideas, new niches in the market. Screenplay is especially interesting because we don't just do one thing (videos) - we also do film trailers, game trailers, hi def, kids content, lifestyle footage, fashion, pro sports extreme sports and most of that we offer as streaming media to some of the largest online retailers in the country, like Target, Amazon and even MTV in fact. ScreenPlay is actually the sole streaming provider for Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Any Disney trailer on the web is provided digitally through us! So we have a lot to offer clients in terms of pop culture and services, which is great, we can go in so many different directions and work with a lot of really different, really unique retailers. That is the great thing about customization.
MVP:That's a great answer, actually that's true in any business , you have to prove your value. You live in Seattle, one of the greatest indie rock scenes on the planet. Would you care to comment on this particular city and the music scene, and what seems to be a resurgence of indie rock in a way that none of us could have ever really expected?
LB: Well I have sort of an interesting perspective because I'm from the suburbs in California - an area that to me doesn't have a very rich art culture, and I'm sure there are a loads of artists who would beg to differ because they're trying to carve out a place and I absolutely respsect and commend them, but the city I'm from is so spread out, I mean you roll into town and "art" doesn't jump out at you. It's Silicon Valley and before that it was agriculture. Whereas in Seattle art and activism are very much a huge part of the city's current culture and that jumped out at me immediately, and not just because of Sub Pop and Nirvana and grunge, whatever that means. I think that there are a lot of creative people who kept doing their thing long after the spotlight left Seattle. People have continued to do their own thing and it's bubbling up again, I think, because there's a swelling of interest for independent music that's trickling into mainstream television and now mainstream radio. It's odd, but rad, and I think Seattle is swept up in that a bit. Certainly bands that are a bit Northwest -- The Shins and Death Cab, Sleater Kinney -- are helping with that, but I think that even if they weren't, Seattle would continue to be what it is. Because a lot of the people making the stuff that's exciting aren't really connected to the mainstream in any way, and if they are they certainly aren't influenced by it. I mean, I don't want to take that "indier-than-thou" approach because I'd be false and anyways, most people who do aren't nearly as rootsy as they claim to be and it's unwise to philosophize on things like that publicly, but for me, originally hailing from a really stale city, coming here has been really nice and certainly the creativity here is one of the big reasons. Also, Lucky Lagers with the puzzles on the caps are pretty amazing to me and we don't have many of those at home that I could find... ScreenPlay is a great example - nearly everybody at ScreenPlay has ScreenPlay as their day job, but they're all musicians, artists, graphic designers, writers, screenwriters, filmmakers; they're all enormously creative people. I mean even tonight, here we are in this jazz club, and my friend has a computer job for her day job wants to be a singer and loves music and we're here watching her go for it. Art is just a huge part of the culture here and I'm glad to see Seattle getting attention because there's a loads of talent in the Northwest - I can't really be bothered with whether there is some journalistic term or trend associated with it, but certainly attention being paid to good stuff as opposed to not is always a good thing, isn't it?
MVP: Speaking of bands and singers, please just plug your band - let people know what the name is and how they can find out about you because the band is terrific.
LB: We're a pop band and we're called Cantona, named after Eric Cantona the famous Manchester United player and we have a website and my space page like 13 krillion other bands. We have an EP available and we're going to be recording a full length this summer or that's the hope anyway. You can find us on itunes and at cd baby and No Karma, we're at myspace.com/cantona and Andy Gesner was one of the first folks to ever see us come out and play in New York City baby! And he has always been so kind and supportive, as he has with every band he's ever worked with, we are super lucky to have him as a supporter of ours!!!! He's one of the few with my mom and dad on the list as well as a coupla friends when I can persuade them with drink tickets.
MVP: As someone who receives 1000's of videos every year, are there any do's or don'ts you would like to share with either record labels or independent promoters, people who send you videos, obviously you get so, so many videos is their any advice you might give to people who might want to grab Screenplay's attention?
LB: That's a really good question actually. From a major label perspective the labels that I enjoy working with the most are the ones who write me back! It gets really frustrating to have to beg to be supportive and give free promotion, it can get a little discouraging. But I know that things get quite busy as well... Liz Lewis at Warner Bros. is a good example, she's busy working on huge projects, but she'll call or write to follow up on her videos because she just really cares so much and I dig that. If she has a band that she's excited about or wants something special on she'll call us and let us know and that helps us because we'll try to figure out what we can do for it. I dunno ... I'd say if you are going to pay or even be bothered to have a video made, then let people see it! And let us try to help because we really want to. We just worked with an unsigned band and we got their video in 5 or 6 thousand locations. Lots is possible! Generally, no matter the size of the label or band, I'd say it's a good thing to care.
MVP: Any closing thoughts?
LB: Yes, for any artists who are looking for exposure you should look up us closed circuiters and try to figure out what we're about. There's a huge world for you to get free promotion for from people who really legitimately love music and support it unconditionally. Whether you're on a major label or no label you should consider making a video - it's an exciting medium and can be quite stimulating if/when done well. There are cheap ways to do it and there are tons of people out there to help you and we are some of those people.