By Mark Silver
The podcast currently has 38 episodes available.
Our latest guest on The Backstage Project podcast comes to us from the world of Canadian television. TBP was thrilled to have a chance to visit and catch up with marblemedia’s Mark Bishop. Mark is an accomplished entrepreneur, brand-builder and trusted media industry advocate. In 2001 Mark and Co-Founder Matt Hornburg founded marblemedia, one of Canada’s leading independent production, distribution and digital media companies.
The marblemedia team is responsible for award-winning successes like Netflix Original series Blown Away; CBC original competition series Race Against the Tide; and award-winning family game show Just Like Mom and Dad — just to name a few.
Join Mark Bishop and Mark Silver as they discuss the state — and future — of the TV and production business in Canada.
The post The Goldilocks of Canadian Production Companies – Mark Bishop in Conversation with TBP Podcast EP 037 appeared first on The Backstage Project - Sports & Entertainment Podcast.
Many of us – at one time or another – dream of being professional athletes. Most of us realize in high school that we won’t be making it to the big leagues – unfortunately. The lucky among us flirt with the minor leagues in hopes of that big break.
But what happens when that big break isn’t what you expect. It’s your hand. To make matters worse, you are dealing with the tragic death of your mother. That’s exactly what happened to Kevin Porter when he temporarily abandoned his dream of becoming a professional hockey player.
Fast forward 20 years and Kevin is giving his big-league dreams another shot. Not only that, he’s documenting his journey for our vicarious pleasure. The show is called Relentless and you can find it on Hollywood Suite. A little about the series:
“Against all odds, firefighter and paramedic Kevin Porter is determined to do the seemingly impossible – become a professional hockey player in his 40s. Against the backdrop of an old-school hockey community filled with detractors who say he should give up, he’s put himself through a brutal training regimen with a clear focus on his singular goal and gone through a journey that is passionate, painful and inspirational.”
In this episode join Mark Silver and Kevin Porter for a fascinating chat about what it takes to chase your dreams.
The post Chasing a Dream – Kevin Porter in Conversation with TBP Podcast EP 036 appeared first on The Backstage Project - Sports & Entertainment Podcast.
You would be given a free pass if you forgot that before the rise of the social media influencer there were already pundits and personalities on TV, radio and print. There’s just been that much exponential change in the media business over the last 15 years. Yet today, those who were formerly the audience are now capable of reaching more fans than even the show itself, just think TikTok.
From micro to macro, big stage to small screen, to draw and maintain an audience is not easy. Now that change is the norm, authenticity in all its forms is what we demand of our idols, as we from Richard Crouse in this episode. Throughout the last 25 years, Richard has been authentic to a fault, which has kept him in the spotlight, and a source of light for all who believe in the magic of filmmaking.
The post Being your Authentic Self – Richard Crouse in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 035 appeared first on The Backstage Project - Sports & Entertainment Podcast.
The commercialization of streaming audio is not a new phenomenon. Going back 100 years, it was simply known by another name, broadcasting. With the launch, rise and now transition to digital and apps, the business models of audio-preneurs have generally been the same, mostly because of the challenge of measurement, a problem audio’s cousin television overcame long ago.
Transitioning radio broadcasters into audio streamers is still in progress, and not near being completely solved by SiriusXM, Spotify, or iHeartRadio, as we learned from SOCAST Founder Elliott Hurst in this episode.
The post The Business of Radio – Elliott Hurst in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 034 appeared first on The Backstage Project - Sports & Entertainment Podcast.
Over a 20+ year span, as the Toronto pro sports scene evolved from older venues and stands filled with blue and white (Leafs, Blue Jays, Argonauts) to a more intense red (Raptors, TFC), and grand coliseums that define the city’s skyline, there is one sports executive in particular who ownership looked to.
We’re of course talking about Richard Peddie, who we had the chance to speak with about the current state of Toronto sports, the importance of social justice, and a safe return to fans in stands.
Richard’s current passions are Thrive Amherstburg and his bookstore River Bookshop.
For more episodes click here.
The post The Custodian of Toronto Sports – Richard Peddie in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 033 appeared first on The Backstage Project - Sports & Entertainment Podcast.
In today’s everything-on-demand world, it may be hard for anyone born post-Y2 K to answer a simple question, “where do you watch music videos?” A reasonable answer would be YouTube, Apple Music, or maybe even Tiktok. Prior to the dawn of YouTube in 2005, the answer was easy. MTV if you’re American, and of course MuchMusic for us Canadians. If there’s anyone who understands the rise and fall of music TV, it would be David Kines who worked his way up from a Friday night editor for the iconic The New Music show, to being the head of a network. Today, David remains influential in the content distribution business as co-founder of Hollywood Suite, as we learned in this episode.
The post The Ultimate Backstage Pass – David Kines in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 032 appeared first on The Backstage Project - Sports & Entertainment Podcast.
People yearn for live experiences that they can share with others. Though fan and crowd-based events such as sports and concerts may be the source of most of our FOMO, movie theatres are even more appealing.
Although the film may be the main attraction, movie theatre owners are constantly looking for new ways to maximize your spend while keeping you focused on the big screen entertainment. We finally find ourselves in our seats after playing a few arcade games and purchasing our snacks, which is where TimePlay comes into the picture, as we discovered in this episode.
The post Gamifying the Movie Theatre Experience – Aaron Silverberg in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 031 appeared first on The Backstage Project - Sports & Entertainment Podcast.
Well behind the scenes in the media business lurks smart folks who really know their way around a spreadsheet. They’re the ones who have charted out and flighted all the commercials, billboards, features and other innovative forms of sponsor integration. We’re of course referring to… revenue management. If you’ve never heard of this career path, there’s no need to apologize. As you’ll learn in this episode, it’s a highly specialized part of the business that you’re groomed for from early on in your career, as was the case with our guests: Derek Myers, Christos Nikitopoulos, and Kevin Worsley.
The post Revenue Architects… Beyond the : 30-second spot – Derek Myers, Christos Nikitopoulos, Kevin Worsley in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 030 appeared first on The Backstage Project - Sports & Entertainment Podcast.
Sports fans today can watch more games and global competitions than we could have possibly imagined, even 20 years ago. For those of us that can remember, which generally means Boomers and Gen-X, there really weren’t many sports to watch until the advent of pay-TV in the mid-80s, which saw the dawn of specialty channels like CNN, MTV, and ESPN, plus TSN and MuchMusic up in Canada.
As specialty channels found their way into more and more homes, the business really took off, which is where Phil King comes in. As a top executive at TSN and later CTV, Phil oversaw a portfolio of conventional and specialty channels that afforded him an enviable position in rights negotiations with the biggest sports and entertainment properties on the planet, as we learned in this episode.
The post King of the Deal – Phil King in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 029 appeared first on The Backstage Project - Sports & Entertainment Podcast.
For several years, the legalization of single-event sports betting and the planned provincially controlled roll-out has been a hot topic. During that time, Woodbine Entertainment‘s astute executives have been watching and waiting while investing in the media and digital technologies that will be needed in a Canadian landscape where offshore behemoths are permitted to operate legally.
Woodbine is led by Jim Lawson, who comes from a family whose history is as steeped in sports as any in Canada, as we learned in this episode.
The post Leading the pack in the Sports Betting Race – Jim Lawson in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 028 appeared first on The Backstage Project - Sports & Entertainment Podcast.
The podcast currently has 38 episodes available.