Telling Stories w/ Jason Wise, SOMM TV

With an outsider's perspective, Jason Wise, director of the SOMM movies and founder of SOMM TV, has been able to find stories in the world of wine that interest a broad audience. In order to control more of the content pipeline and how the shows are distributed, Jason founded SOMM TV. Using "Somm" as more of a curator, SOMM TV has wine at its core and covers food, travel, and other alcohol, making it appealing to a broad (and younger) audience. Learn more about the business of wine films in this episode of XChateau! If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon.Detailed Show Notes: Jason's backgroundFormer bartender, went to film school, started as a filmmakerHe got into wine because he loves history, there were lots of stories that he could make films about, and his (now) wife's father loves wine, and he wanted to impress himHe did a travel show and learned about wineSOMM movie (2012)The genesis of the movieMade when he was fresh out of film school (where he didn't focus on documentaries)Met Brian McClintic, who asked him to watch their tasting practiceFound the practice similar to a sporting eventMet Ian Cauble and found his determination to become a Master SommelierThe success of the filmThe obsessive personalities made the filmBuilds to an actual event (the MS exam)The wine industry was ready for something like the movieNot a "wine film," a different way of looking at wineIntroduced a new group of people who can tell you what to drink (vs. magazines)Documentaries became popular with NetflixNot made by wine people, the outsider perspective made it enjoyable to outsidersWine needs storytellingOther wine filmsSOMM 2 - a"  "wine fil"", SOMM 3 - the"  "bullshit facto"" of wine, SOMM 4 - more history drivenAuction 288 (to be released June 2022) - a movie about a bottle of 1874 Perrier-Jouët Champagne, more of a history, business storyMedia business modelMovies usually have a distributorTheaters are a big marketing arena for wineiTunes - make a % of revenueNetflixpays distributor a fixed fee, if put on the 1st page can reach millions of peopleOften pays based on what it costs to makeCan own rights outright or rent the filmAmazon - get paid 6+ months after it's up and receive a minimal cut of incremental revenueYouTube - doesn't make any money on Created SommTV to control more steps in the business model - more control of content pipeline, partnerships, place to premiere new films (e.g., SOMM 4)Before Covid - events were a big part of the businessMedia platformsHulu - Jason's favorite, takes the most significant swings in contentStars - has the best moviesNetflix - very careful, content is very similar to each other; often licenses something then makes their own version if it works (e.g., Uncorked is a similar series to Somm)Cost of making filmsBig range - SOMM 2 ~$100k vs. ~$850k for another wine film made by someone elseDocumentaries - can be millions, when there's real music, at least $500kDo not pay people usually to be in the filmSommTV business modelEmployees on salary, which is unusual in film90% original contentIt started with originals, now trying to license other contentFocused on wine, food, and alcohol; food is going to be a big partStarted the streaming service because it's an underserved audience and wanted to super-serve themContent pipeline - would ideally love to have new content every dayHundreds of thousands of subscribers (as of Jan 2022) - believes the potential audience is in the millions"  "Som" is defined by Jason as someone who curates - wine at the center, but food, travel, etc…surrounding itPricing - $6/month, $50/yearDid a series of testing to determine pricingCurrent entertainment content wars - other services are losing money to add subscribers (except for HBO Max)Lower cost doesn't necessarily mean more subscribersTechnology - a mix of own developed and 3rd party apps, goal is to bring technology in-houseSommTV subscribersYounger, usually 24-37 years old (~70%), middle classScreenings/events - more varied audience52% male, 48% female - women growing fastKey markets - US largest by far, UK, Brazil, Nordic countries (not allowed in Iran or China)Sparklers - new cooking and wine pairing showIt covers various sparkling wine regions with cooking challengesIt has a "perfect bite" - a meal on one spoonContestants have to judge each otherNo one would have predicted the ending - the final episode aired Feb 8, 2022Podcasts part of SommTV didn't have a marketing budget, so made podcasts which drawback to SommTVGuests feed into each other's showsNot expensive to makeFree, don't have to subscribe Get access to library episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.