Interview with Patrick J Kearney (PJK Podcasts)

You know one of the most interesting things about social media is that it puts you in the picture with guys and gals who are at the cutting edge of on-line technology and marketing. These people who have hectic schedules and live by their flight itineraries are suddenly in reach and communicating through channels such as Twitter and Plurk. This is how I met my next guest, Patrick J Kearney, and the following interview is testament to how people always find time no matter how busy they are, as long as you ask nicely.

Me : Hi Patrick, can you please tell us a little about yourself, your company and how you got into digital media?

Patrick : The best way to describe my role is “digital media producer”, but with titles like “VP Technology & Platforms”, “COO” and “Director of Production”, it is easy to see why my mother has no clue what I do. So I just say, “I put things on screens.” It seems to satisfy her, or she at least says, “Oh, I see.” and walks off muttering to herself.

I started out wanting to be a Computer Science major, then when I was failing out of Calculus with a 33% average, decided it was time for a career shift, and went into film school. I wanted to be a director, and the girls were FAR hotter than the ones in the computer labs.

However, upon graduating and working at various post houses, the advent of Avid and Photoshop / After Effects meant I was much more effective on the computer as a producer than behind a camera. I quickly started producing for a number of clients who wanted expensive looking production, but could not afford the higher end stuff.

Today, I am VP Technology and Platforms for Participant Media, a media company specializing in creating entertainment that inspires and creates social change. Our movies include “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Syriana”, among others.

Me : What advice could you offer to someone looking to get into a similar position as yourself?

Patrick : Everyone who wants to be in the film business wants to be the director. No one is looking for a director. You won’t find Warner Bros putting an ad in “Variety” seeking a director for their next Batman movie. You’ll never get in the door that way. Instead, discover what they REALLY need and be darn good at THAT. Once you’re in the door, you’re in. You can go anywhere from there.

If you know Flash, be a great Flash artist and make sure the Creative Directors in every studio knows your work. Do a little freelance for them, and if it works out, these often evolve into full-time once you become ingrained into the team. Then, once you’re in, volunteer to shoot some video shorts for the site, etc. and suddenly, you’re directing for a Hollywood Studio. Go play softball for the company team and walk the head of Theatrical Production to first. Take it from there.

Me : Over the years we have seen the internet expand in terms of delivering information to the people browsing websites. Long gone are the days of flat html files riddled by dodgy animated gif images. What would you describe as the defining moment in the digital evolution? Also did you ever think it would evolve this fast?

Patrick : There are a series of defining moments, all of which involve bringing what was formerly an exclusive capability for big companies, into an affordable means for the average person. Democratizing Big Media has been the biggest game-changer in this industry. Two in particular come to mind…

Processing power and RAM becoming fast and cheap. I remember hocking a $5K engagement ring for 16MB of RAM for my Mac IIsi. It was worth it. Today on my laptop, I have Final Cut Pro, which has ten times the RAM and four times the hard drive storage as the $150K Avid rig I worked on circa 1992.

Affordable broadband reaches mass-market. When I worked for MediaOne, managing content and services for their Western US broadband rollout, I had very smart studio executives scoff at the notion that a consumer would ever pay $40/month for a broadband connection when they have perfectly good dialup access for $20. Those same studio execs are now sweating bullets and whining to the lawyers about Bittorrent screwing up their movie release windows. I certainly know they never expected it to evolve this fast, and both record labels and movie studios got caught with their pants down – but not without plenty of advance warning of exactly where things were going.

Me : I have been highly tempted to produce my own podcasts purely for enjoyment purposes mixed in with a little search marketing banter. Could you give me any tips to make my ideas audio?

Patrick : I would suggest picking a theme you enjoy and making that the focus of the podcast. If you have another theme, make a second show all about it. A frustrating thing about my show (for my listeners as well) is I don’t produce the shows on a regular schedule – rather when I feel I have enough to say about a topic to make a complete show. The other frustration is not being able to talk about much of the things I am working on, as it would violate the NDAs I’m under. So I try to keep the work-related stuff only to what is publicly-released knowledge, while all the cutting-edge things have to stay under wraps.

Before investing in tons of equipment and software, use the built-in mic and any of the multitude of free programs available. I am now using Garageband and a pro microphone.

Me : What is your whole take on social media and its importance in ‘getting the word out there’ ?

Patrick : The idea of interactive media being a participatory experience is one that many traditional content creators and providers are just now getting used to. Their bread and butter is based on being in complete control of the entire experience and brand. When you open that experience up to interpretation, manipulation and sharing, it becomes something new and (either intentionally or unfortunately) outside the control of the creatives. The lawyers especially have a tough time dealing with this reality, as it requires them to be ambiguous on the rights retained by the initial experience creator, and the law hates ambiguity.

Still, when done right, the power of end-user created context is awesome. It can blossom into a completely unintended thing that is often more interesting than the original. (See “The Grey Album“)

Me : Its obvious you are a man who is passionate about his work what pieces are you most proud of and what motivates you to create?

Patrick : I do what I do not to be the best of what’s out there, but to try to set the bar or push the envelope of what is possible. George Lucas doesn’t make the best movies out there, but he sets the bar. Same type of thing, only without Jar-Jar.

Me : Finally, Patrick, what level do you feel that podcasting sits in terms of advertising as in say against online video, blogging or social media?

Partick : Right now, there is a growing need for standardization in terms of audience metrics and measurement. Particularly with podcasting, as the nature of it involves downloading a piece of media to your computer, where it may or may not be synced to a portable device, played once, six times, or never. You also have no idea if the media file is shared, played halfway and deleted, or a particular section has been played repeatedly.

With online streaming video, you can count the streams (with streaming podcasts you can do this as well), with blogs, you have more standardized means of measuring page views, referring links and clickthroughs. Advertisers are looking for quantifiable performance based on the CPM being charged, and these other forms of online media give more tangible and trackable results.

Still, that’s not to dismiss the value of a large podcast audience. Whether that comes in the form of a GoDaddy sponsorship and show-related calls to action/discounts, or the value is more in brand expansion and audience building for a parent organization, like WineLibrary.TV – there is room to experiment. Watching “old media” bumble around in the space while the smaller, faster, less “legally encumbered” brands like Diggnation enjoy wild success is always inspirational. It proves that success in a new medium is not guaranteed to established brands in traditional media.

Patrick runs PJK Podcast and you can also follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pjk.