December 16, 2024 • 32 mins
What does it take to navigate the ever-evolving world of media and marketing? How does one transition from casting extras in Hollywood to leading marketing at a cutting-edge production studio? Join me as I dive into these questions and more in episode 140 of "Carlsbad: People, Purpose and Impact."
This week, I chat with the dynamic Mary Burt-Godwin, Director of Marketing at Loft 100 Studios. Mary's journey is nothing short of inspiring—from her early days at UC Santa Barbara to casting for iconic films like "Bring It On," and managing entertainment at LEGOLAND. She even took a detour into social media freelancing after a game show win!
Now at Loft 100 Studios, Mary is at the helm of innovative media production, from hosting TV shows like "America Trends" to organizing vibrant community events. We also delve into the transformative power of digital media, discussing its impact on public discourse and political campaigns.
Whether you’re a media enthusiast or just curious about creative careers, this episode is packed with insights and inspiration. Don't miss out—tune in and discover the intersection of creativity, technology, and community engagement!
Mary Burt-Godwin's Bio:
Mary Burt-Godwin is the Chief Communications Officer, Director of Marketing and an On Air Host at LOFT100 Studios. Her journey in the digital marketing space began over 15 years ago as a parenting + lifestyle blogger in 2008 which led to syndication in online magazines like TodaysMama.com and PopSugar.com and a regular weekly Fox 5 News segment called “Ask the Moms.” Eventually she transitioned to working as a social media strategist and account manager for clients like KAABOO Del Mar, Wonderfront Festival, San Diego Tourism Authority, Komen San Diego, and Marriott Hotels. Prior to entering the social media space, Mary worked for 5 years as an event coordinator for the global destination management company, Allied PRA, and for 7 years as an Extras Casting Coordinator at Stu Segall Productions for shows like Silk Stalkings, Pensacola Wings of Gold and the feature film Bring It On. She has spoken at several conferences such as Bloggy Boot Camp and Women Get Social, and is also the author of Dead Dads Club: Stories of Love, Loss and Healing by Daughters Who Have Lost Their Dads. Mary is a native San Diegan, [former] die-hard Charger fan, UCSB Gaucho, pop culture enthusiast and mother of two wicked-awesome daughters.
Connect with Mary:
Website: loft100studios.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:02):
Carlsbad, people, purpose, and impact, an
essential podcast for those wholive, work, visit, and play in
Carlsbad.
Brett (00:15):
Good afternoon, and welcome, everyone. My name is
Brett Schonzenbach. I'm thepresident and CEO of the
Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.I'm your host today, and I'm
excited to have with me MaryBert Godwin. She is the director
of marketing at Loft 100Studios.
Good afternoon, Mary.
Mary Burt-Godwin (00:32):
Good afternoon. I'm so happy to be
here. Yeah.
Brett (00:34):
It's great to have you. I'm so glad you're able to come
down. We've been trying to getthis together for a little
while. I'm excited about this.So
Mary Burt-Godwin (00:41):
Yes. We're just about 5 minutes away.
Brett (00:43):
Yep. Oh, that's
Mary Burt-Godwin (00:43):
very cool. Right around the corner. Yeah.
Brett (00:45):
Very cool. Which is good because you guys, I think, are
hosting our
Mary Burt-Godwin (00:51):
We are January. January 25th? Yeah.
Yeah.
Brett (00:53):
Excellent. Little tease there. I was doing some of my
background investigation and sawthat you are a grad from UC
Santa Barbara. So are you aCalifornia native
Mary Burt-Godwin (01:07):
born and raised? Native, actually. Yes.
So you're native, born andraised. And, there's not a lot
of us Right.
Left. I don't know why.
Brett (01:15):
Right. Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (01:16):
And, my dad actually was really active with
the San Diego Chamber ofCommerce.
Brett (01:21):
Really?
Mary Burt-Godwin (01:22):
And he knew Ted Owens really well. Sure.
Brett (01:23):
He was
Mary Burt-Godwin (01:24):
the president here for many years. And, born
and raised, and then I went upto UC Santa Barbara for school,
just a smaller version of SanDiego, really. Yeah. And then
came back and lived in San Diegofor many years and then moved up
to Carlsbad 20 years ago. I'mcoming up on my 20 year
anniversary of living here.
Yeah.
Brett (01:43):
As the time goes by, man. Doesn't it? Yes. And it looks
like you jumped intoentertainment industry pretty
much right away.
Mary Burt-Godwin (01:52):
Right away.
Brett (01:52):
Yep. And there was a few things in there that I'm gonna
kinda pick on because they'requite fascinating to me. But so
I saw things like you were anextras casting director. You
worked at LEGOLAND, we'll touchon. You were into destination
management and stuff.
So but I wanna if we could, Iwould love to start on this
(02:14):
extras casting director becauseevery show, every movie, you
know, has these various sceneswhere you have people in the
background that we don't thinktoo much about, but somebody's
got to pull that together. Sowhat is that like?
Mary Burt-Godwin (02:28):
That was me. You know, it was fascinating. It
was such a fun job. The companywas Stu Siegel Productions. And
now they're still the thefacility is still there and they
have Studio Diner, which is arestaurant there, and they do
mostly military stuff.
But back in the nineties, hestarted, I believe, in the early
90 nineties, and I started therein 1994 with shows like Silk
Stockings and Renegade withLorenzo Lomas and then,
(02:53):
Pensacola Wings of Gold. And theour big my big claim to fame is
working on Bring It On Uh-huh.With the the movie with Kirsten
Dunst. Yeah. Cheer movie.
And, you know, so right away, Igot into right after college, I
started interning there in thecasting office, and it was,
yeah, specifically the extras.So everyone with with no
(03:13):
speaking line, just the peoplethat would walk in the
background. And what now lookingback, you know, there was no
computers, cell phones,anything. So
Brett (03:22):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (03:22):
We looked through binders, 3 ring ring
binders. We would have monthlycasting calls, and there was
pictures associated with thenames and numbers. And so we'd
go through the script, and theywas there was a scene of a
grocery store or a restaurant ora murder scene, whatever it was.
We'd have to get the cops. We'dget the the, the
Brett (03:42):
The bystanders. The bystanders.
Mary Burt-Godwin (03:43):
Yes. And, it was really fun. And I'm a people
person, so I loved it. You know,I loved talking to people on the
phone and and and going down tothe set and organizing them. But
you don't realize now
Brett (03:57):
I
Mary Burt-Godwin (03:57):
am ruined watching movies forever because
now I watch the background andYou
Brett (04:00):
can see everything.
Mary Burt-Godwin (04:01):
I see and I see, oh, that guy was recycled
from the first scene. He was acop, and now he's a pedestrian,
and now he's a juggler. But, itwas a really fun job and, got to
work on a lot of, you know,crazy movies. It was I will
admit it was mostly b TV shows.But it was it was just really
(04:22):
fun.
So I was there for nearly 7years
Brett (04:24):
Wow.
Mary Burt-Godwin (04:24):
Working on those shows.
Brett (04:26):
So you must have to cast a I didn't mean that as a pun
cast, but you must have to havea pretty broad net because these
various scenes, like what youneed in the background, can vary
quite widely.
Mary Burt-Godwin (04:40):
Absolutely. It was really, a challenge, and we
would go do castings, at barssometimes. We would go to,
different grocery stores withincertain communities. We had, a
TV show called Running Dragon,which was an Asian led the the
the main actor was Russell Wong.And, it was, you know, a lot of
(05:03):
heavily Asian communities wewould need to cast.
And we didn't have a lotregistered with us, so we would
go down to these communities andpark ourselves with a a table
and, you know, get people tosign up Wow. To be extras. And,
yeah, it was very different andvery again, we didn't have a
computerized system. So I hadthese binders of ages and, you
(05:24):
know, all the different things
Brett (05:26):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (05:26):
To go through hand by hand, and we'd have to
call everybody.
Brett (05:29):
Oh my goodness.
Mary Burt-Godwin (05:29):
And then, invariably, the call time would
change. And so at 10 o'clock atnight, I'd be calling 80 people
to say, now you gotta be thereat 11 instead of 10:30.
Brett (05:39):
I mean, now with email and texting and all that stuff,
it's gotta be, I would think, a1000 times easier.
Mary Burt-Godwin (05:44):
Yeah. And our office had anywhere from 2 to
probably 6 people at one timeworking depending on what shows
we had. And now it could all bedone with one person manning on
a computer. On a
Brett (05:55):
on a computer. Wow. So interesting. And then you had
this stop at LEGOLAND, which is,of course, hyperlocal here. Tell
us about that.
Mary Burt-Godwin (06:04):
I love LEGOLAND with all of my heart.
Yeah. I loved working there. Iloved then when I had kids. A
few years later, I took mylittle kids there.
And I actually Yeah. Did, when Iworked there, I was in charge of
the entertainment. Nice. So allof the shows, if if if any of
the listeners have seen you putthe wet stuff on the hot stuff
like
Brett (06:21):
the I love
Mary Burt-Godwin (06:21):
that show. Yes. So that was my job to make
sure I would do the casting forthose shows Yeah. And then go,
make sure they were runningsmoothly and make sure all the
actors and performers had whatthey needed. And then when I
ended up I worked there for onlyabout 2 years, and I was hired
originally as stage managerbecause when I was doing extras
(06:41):
casting, I also was doingperforming and acting in theater
locally, regionally.
Brett (06:47):
Sure.
Mary Burt-Godwin (06:48):
And then I also got into stage managing.
That was, like, nighttime, Iwould do that kind of thing. And
then I met someone at a show whoalso worked at LEGOLAND, and she
said we're hiring a stagemanager. So that's where I
transitioned up there. And thenwhen I I went into event
management, weird segue, but,then I had kids and, I started
(07:08):
writing the blog as model momMary.
I would go to the park and ridethe rides through the viewpoint
of a mom. Oh. And I would writeblog posts that were specific
about, you know, if you have atoddler, here's how you can
navigate the park. Go to theleft instead of the right. You
know?
If your kids are this age, youwanna make sure you hit this
ride. So that was really fun. Igot
Brett (07:30):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (07:30):
I just and I think it's just such a great I
love the people that work there.I still am in communication with
a lot of people, and I justthink it's such a fun addition
to San Diego and Carlsbad,specifically.
Brett (07:42):
Well, it's been a huge economic boom to San Diego
excuse me, to Carlsbad.
Mary Burt-Godwin (07:46):
And now they have, what, 3 hotels?
Brett (07:49):
2 so far, but they're they're in planning on the 3rd.
The 3rd.
Mary Burt-Godwin (07:52):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Brett (07:54):
But yeah. And just continue to grow and grow. And,
of course, you know from beingon the inside, I mean, it it's a
very competitive business. Andso you can't sit still as a
theme park because yourcompetitors sure aren't, if you
wanna stay relevant andcompetitive. And then, so
destination management.
Mary Burt-Godwin (08:13):
Yes. So that was
Brett (08:14):
in closer to Chamber World, to be honest.
Mary Burt-Godwin (08:16):
It was actually. And, so at LEGOLAND,
our entertainment departmentalso became an entertainment and
events department.
Brett (08:24):
Mhmm.
Mary Burt-Godwin (08:25):
And I had always been really interested in
events, and so that kinda gotthat bug. And then I knew of a
job that opened up at a companycalled PRA, Destination
Management. Patty Roscoe is theowner of that company, and she
was a big player in San Diego, Ibelieve. I know with the chamber
down there, and I knew she knewmy dad. And, anyway, I learned
(08:49):
about this company and a jobopened up, so I I hopped on that
job.
And just to kind of try a newworld, I've just obviously,
you've mentioned I've bouncedaround from jobs. Every 6 years,
I just get a new inkling. Andit's always in the creative
space. It's always in the peoplespace. And, I don't know.
(09:11):
I just really was fascinated bythis world of destination
management Yeah. And corporateevent planning. And, I was an
operations manager there. So wewould get a file and it would be
a corporation coming to SanDiego. And a lot of times,
because since I lived up here inCarlsbad, I would get the the
gigs at La Costa Resort or Mhmm.
At the time, it was the FourSeasons, now Park Hyatt.
Brett (09:32):
Yes. Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (09:33):
And I would, you know, almost move in there
for a weekend when a big groupwould come in, and I'd be in
charge of their transportationfrom the airport to and from or
all of their tours if they had,you know, spousal tours to
Legoland or wherever.
Brett (09:48):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (09:48):
And then, also their on-site events. And so I
got to do all their privatedinners and big corporate
events. And so that was really,really a good time as well.
Brett (10:00):
Yeah. Fascinating. And then you transitioned, it looked
like, into social mediafreelancing. Or maybe that
Mary Burt-Godwin (10:07):
was woven into all
Brett (10:09):
of that.
Mary Burt-Godwin (10:09):
Was that I had kids. Yeah. And I was, if you
really wanna hear I don't knowif it's this is in your notes,
but I was working still at thethe the production company or
I'm sorry, the destinationmanagement company. And I ended
up getting cast on a game showcalled Don't Forget the Lyrics.
Brett (10:30):
I did not find that in my in my background.
Mary Burt-Godwin (10:33):
This is special knowledge. And so I
ended up winning a a good chunkof money on this game show. I
owe $100,000.
Brett (10:41):
Wow.
Mary Burt-Godwin (10:41):
And I was like, you know what? I think I
wanna take a little this yearoff, let's say. My my I had a 1
year old and a 3 or no. I forgetthe exact ages, but oh, no. I
was pregnant Uh-huh.
And then I had a 1 year old.
Brett (10:55):
Okay.
Mary Burt-Godwin (10:55):
And I thought, you know what? When I get this
money, I'm gonna take some timeoff. Yeah. And I did. And I took
time off to raise my little kids
Brett (11:04):
Yes.
Mary Burt-Godwin (11:04):
With this nest egg and kind of, you know, was
more than I was making. So, andthen while I was while I was
home, though, I was needing anoutlet for myself, and I started
working on a blog or I started ablog. It was right when blogs
were kind of hitting the thesphere, and it was before
Instagram even existed. It wasright when Facebook started. And
(11:28):
I kind of got into the space ofI was an an OG mom blogger, and
I became a mom blogger.
And I wrote this book aboutwomen who had lost their dads
because I'd already lost myfather. And I just sort of
started to train myself onsocial media because it was just
Emerging. Working. Yeah. And, Istarted to go to things called
(11:50):
tweet ups because Twitter was areally big thing.
And I met a bunch of moms. We'dgo to tweet ups and we would get
paid to go to restaurants andpromote them or go to Legoland
and promote it. You know, wegot, all these things. I started
going to press junkets for filmsin LA. And I started to just
teach myself how to marketonline.
(12:12):
And it was when it was all kindof happening. And then my kids
got older, and I got separatedfrom my husband. And I needed to
go back to full time work. Andall of a sudden, social media
management was a job.
Brett (12:22):
It was a thing.
Mary Burt-Godwin (12:23):
It was not a thing.
Brett (12:24):
It was a career.
Mary Burt-Godwin (12:24):
A few years prior
Brett (12:25):
and
Mary Burt-Godwin (12:26):
all of a sudden it was. And I said, I
think I could do that. And sothen I started to work in social
media marketing. And I really ita lot of it was self taught, and
then I would I just started tolisten to podcasts about
marketing, online marketing, anddigital marketing. And, one
thing led to another, and it wasjust a thing.
It was it it was a career forme. For many years, I worked at
(12:48):
an agency, and I did, socialmedia marketing for a lot of
hotels, a lot of Marriottchains.
Brett (12:54):
Nice.
Mary Burt-Godwin (12:55):
Or not chains, but, you know, individual
hotels. And then Kaboo MusicFestival. I don't know if you
remember that, but I was thesocial media man on the team for
that Sure. Music festival. And,then all of those jobs have now
converged.
Brett (13:13):
Into this
Mary Burt-Godwin (13:14):
new what I do now at Loft 100 Studios. And
let's
Brett (13:18):
let's let's open that up now. You're the director of
marketing at Loft 100. So telleverybody what is Loft 100
Studios.
Mary Burt-Godwin (13:24):
Yeah. Loft 100 Studios is a production company
where we produce everything frombroadcast TV to small corporate
videos to podcasts. And as well,we are now opening up our
business model to be an eventspace as well. So any chamber
member can come to our our happyhour here, on January, I think
(13:47):
it's 25th, to check it out. Butwe have a very unique space, and
it's got all the built in AVcapabilities.
We currently film a couplenational TV shows that are, on
cable networks and, videonetworks. It's through biz
something called Biz TV. Andthen we also have a show that's
(14:10):
here locally called On the Airwith Sully and Little Tommy that
airs on KUSI every Saturday andnow on Fox 5 because the 2
networks merged. Yeah.
Brett (14:19):
Very nice.
Mary Burt-Godwin (14:19):
So, we film our own shows, but we have a
full production crew. So we alsoopen up and on our off days
where we're not shooting our ownshows, we shoot, vodcasts video
podcasts, and we shoot corporatevideos. We have a green screen,
and, we are now looking intohosting these, you know, happy
(14:40):
hours or small small corporateevents where people need AV
capabilities. And we have astage there. So it could be, you
know, I'm kind of thinking intosmall acoustic sets.
Our Yeah. We have a full bandthat plays on one of our shows,
so there is capabilities for afull band to play. And, there's
a huge I don't know thedimensions off the top of my
(15:02):
head. I wanna say 12 by 12, but12 foot by 12 foot video wall.
Brett (15:06):
Nice. It's,
Mary Burt-Godwin (15:07):
you know, it could be you could show your
own. I I wanna do it and show mykid my daughters, dance studio,
you know, big showcase on the onthe big screen.
Brett (15:16):
Nice.
Mary Burt-Godwin (15:16):
You got a viewing party for for some sort
of
Brett (15:18):
Very nice.
Mary Burt-Godwin (15:19):
Video. Yeah.
Brett (15:20):
Very cool. We're gonna take a brief pause. We are
talking to Mary Bert Godwin, thedirector of marketing at Loft
100 Studios, and we're gonnacome back. We're gonna unpack
Loft 100 a little more and talkabout, a show that Mary herself
hosts on air. So stick with us.
We'll be right back. So, Mary,before we took a break, you were
(16:45):
just kinda getting us into allthe cool stuff that you do at
Loft 100. I mean, TV, radio,video podcasting, regular
podcasting, all kinds of coolstuff. And you yourself also are
an on air host. I believe it'scalled America Trends?
Mary Burt-Godwin (17:06):
Yes. America Trends. And we are on hiatus for
the moment, but for about 2years. And the show has been
running for several years. Ittook a hiatus, I believe, right
before COVID.
And then somewhere in themiddle, I think, in 2021, Sully
was talking to me about findinga new host, and he had no idea
(17:28):
that my background in inproduction and that I've been on
stage and doing actuallytheater. On stage is my first
thing, I think. Yeah. I wasborn. I came out of the womb
snapping my fingers and was onstage all growing up.
And I said, I could do that. Andhe said, you can? I said, yeah.
Give me a try. So we tried it.
And so for 2 or I can't do themath, but many years, I was the
(17:50):
host of that show. It was a 1hour interview show with
Business Lance, and we wouldinterview small business owners
Sure. All over the country. Imean, a lot of them would be
locally, but we and we would dosome on air I'm sorry, Zoom
interviews. Yeah.
What a great thing you could doZoom interviews now. It's
amazing.
Brett (18:09):
And we're and we're all tuned in. Like, it seems totally
natural to us now. Right? Yeah.Like, if you'd done that in
2019, we're like, this is weird.
What is it? But now it's like,oh, yeah. You don't even bat an
eye.
Mary Burt-Godwin (18:21):
I mean, most of the meetings I do are on Zoom
now. So so that is a show thathad a business slant, but also
had a lot of pop culturemoments. I had someone come in
and talk about cybersecurity.
Brett (18:34):
Is it a weekly well, like a weekly show? It was actually
daily. Oh my goodness. Daily.Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (18:38):
It was it was a lot. Oh. Yeah. So now we would
shoot it, you know, in chunks.Mhmm.
So shoot Tuesdays Thursdays, andwe'd bang out a bunch of shows.
Right. Now I'm cohosting the bigbiz show, which is the show that
Sully has been doing for theowner of Loft 100 Studios and,
(18:58):
Sully Entertainment Group, whichis our umbrella company.
Brett (19:01):
Yep.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:01):
He's been in radio and TV for 25 years here
in San Diego.
Brett (19:06):
Yes.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:06):
And he hosted the show many years with Rusty
Nails, who passed away.Actually, on our show, he passed
away. He was the host of our,Saturday show called On the Air.
It used to be with Sully LittleTommy and Rusty Nails.
Brett (19:19):
I remember it.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:20):
Yeah. So, that was a big loss for all of us.
Yeah. And when Rusty left, nowthere's 3 other co hosts that
all take the place of Rusty.They took 3 people to fill
Rusty's
Brett (19:31):
shoes. Shoes. Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:32):
Yeah. So it's co hosted by, Mike Costa, who's
a sports announcer, local sportsYeah. Sports announcer, and Greg
Todorov, who's our executiveproducer, and myself.
Brett (19:42):
Nice.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:42):
So I'm the only female in the mix, which
can be challenging.
Brett (19:46):
I don't know. I'm not getting the vibe that you have
any difficulty holding your own.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:51):
Well, I'll tell you. It is challenging, but
I get I get my words in where Ican.
Brett (19:56):
I love it. So, and so that show that you just
referenced, though, that is thehow often is that show?
Mary Burt-Godwin (20:04):
So that is also a daily show that's on the
big biz show. I'm sorry. Alsobiz TV, and I believe it's,
being broadcast. It's on armAmerican Forces Radio. It's on
radio, and it's it's part of,you know, networks around the
country that your cable providerneeds to be signed up with.
Yep. Or you can also sign uponline at biztv.com. There's a
(20:25):
bizvod.
Brett (20:26):
And so then for something like that, I'm imagining that
the way that pencils is theadvertisers, the the sponsors of
the show. Is that how you guysget paid to do it?
Mary Burt-Godwin (20:38):
Yes and no. I believe that they have, you
know, some of it could be, youknow, pay to play or, you know,
paid to have some spots on to beon the guest. Nice. Nice. And,
yeah.
I don't know all the innerworkings of that stuff. But,
yes, I believe that some of itis, sponsors and then which
we're you know, we have, somereally great sponsors. And, then
(21:02):
also depending on who it is andwho who Sully is working with
and Greg's working with, theythey get sponsored segments.
Brett (21:09):
Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Very interesting. So being in
this world of content creationand that and, you know, getting
guests and getting topics tokeep people's interest.
Right? And all this stuff. Imean, you've done it in the
world of blogs. You've done it,in the world of TV production
(21:29):
and show production. And now,again, in this vein, you know,
we're in an election season.
I mean, people might not hearthis episode till after the
election's over. But as you andI sit here, we're about I don't
know. 2 I think it's 2 weeks.
Mary Burt-Godwin (21:44):
2 weeks.
Brett (21:45):
Yeah. 2 weeks till, election day. So in that vein of
content creation, electionshelp, hurt. I mean, how does it
all play into, you know, themix?
Mary Burt-Godwin (21:57):
You know, it's interesting. I mean, I love
digital marketing
Brett (22:01):
Mhmm.
Mary Burt-Godwin (22:01):
And I love social media for a lot of
reasons.
Brett (22:04):
Mhmm.
Mary Burt-Godwin (22:05):
There's it's I am one that I I don't mind being
sent ads of things that I like.
Brett (22:11):
Sure.
Mary Burt-Godwin (22:12):
You know, I don't mind getting served ads
for, aviation sweatshirts orwhatever it is because they know
I mean, I don't like gettingdiaper ads because my kids
aren't in diapers anymore.
Brett (22:23):
Not your season of life.
Mary Burt-Godwin (22:24):
Season of life anymore. So, you know, I don't
hate targeted ads. I don't hate,being able to communicate and
have an open dialogue some opendialogue in comment sections and
seeing things. I I I do thinkit's troublesome, the echo
chambers that we can getourselves into and people can
(22:46):
get sucked into. And as soon asI learned that that was a thing
where I realized I was being fedonly content Yeah.
That speaks to my likes, then Ithought I need to go in and
follow other accounts.
Brett (23:00):
I I did this thing.
Mary Burt-Godwin (23:01):
And watch other accounts so I hear what
the other side is saying becauseI want to be open minded. Yeah.
I also don't wanna be blindsidedby things, and I want to have to
be, informed, and I want tolearn. So it keeps that going in
me. I don't know that everyonedoes that, though.
Brett (23:17):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (23:17):
So, you know, being fed information that just
speaks to what is going to fuelyour fire and not hear both
sides. I do also I'm very, waryof AI and these the deep fake
content that's out there. I'mseeing videos on both sides of
the aisle that I think, I don'tthink their mouth is matching up
(23:41):
to what they're saying, and Idon't know if I can agree with
or I can believe what I'mhearing. And it's it can be very
disheartening. I do love to seehow creative people can be
Brett (23:53):
Right.
Mary Burt-Godwin (23:53):
With hopping on the trends of what is popular
on social media and finding waysto incorporate that into their
political campaign. Whateverside it is
Brett (24:04):
Right. Right. Right.
Mary Burt-Godwin (24:05):
I find that to be you know, that goes back to
my creative side. It'sfascinating. I know that there's
a very smart, creative contentperson working on their team,
and I'm always like, gosh, theperson that came up with that
campaign is genius. I love this.You know?
Brett (24:17):
Right.
Mary Burt-Godwin (24:18):
How smart. And when they respond also, I love
this isn't necessarily,politically minded, but let's
say it's Wendy's or that's abrand that comes to my mind. But
there's really smart brands outthere that are listening.
Brett (24:32):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (24:33):
Social listening is so important on
these on these, platforms onTwitter or x, excuse me, or
threads or Instagram, whateverit might be. When people are
listening and their name isdropped or something is talked
you know, if it's burgers, Maybea celebrity says something about
a burger and then Wendy's hopsin and says, you know, I got one
(24:54):
sitting here. Here's your couponor whatever. They make a funny
joke. I think that is so genius,and that is staying up with the
times, and that's kind of whatwe all need to do.
Yeah. But, I don't know. I I Ifeel like we're very inundated
with messaging. I did Yeah. Seesomething.
You know, one campaign isslandering the other, but then
(25:15):
this campaign is just talkingabout their their platform.
Brett (25:20):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (25:21):
And it it's interesting to see what people
are choosing, which directionpeople are choosing to go.
Brett (25:26):
Which narrative they're following? Right. Mhmm. It's
quite fascinating. I think eachelection is can be, you know,
studied as a as individual casestudies.
And this one has lots to thatwill be discussed regardless of
which side wins.
Mary Burt-Godwin (25:41):
Yes.
Brett (25:41):
There'll be a lot discussed about this election
for many years and studied, youknow, as best practices and not
to do's. And
Mary Burt-Godwin (25:49):
And there's a lot of pivoting. I mean, that's
the word of the day. Right?That's the word du jour, but
it's true. People have to pivot.
Yeah. And then then a new pollcomes out saying one way or the
other, or you see what someoneelse is doing. And now the
pivoting can happen overnightkind of because
Brett (26:05):
happens so rapidly.
Mary Burt-Godwin (26:07):
Yeah. I mean, these social media managers are
not sleeping right now.
Brett (26:09):
And the social media aspect that, you know, you've
been touching on, it has changedthe dynamic, like, you know,
candidates on what whicheverparty or view don't have to rely
directly on mainstream media toget messaging out anymore.
Right? They can go to thesevarious platforms and speak
(26:32):
straight to the masses who areinterested in listening to them.
Mary Burt-Godwin (26:36):
Right.
Brett (26:36):
You know, it's it's fascinating that, you don't have
to just rely on these newsoutlets or whatever, you know,
the things are. Or even TVcommercial. I mean, I don't even
watch regular TV. Like, Ihaven't for a long time. And so
I don't even see, thecommercials anymore.
And I used to remember beinglike, oh my goodness. Can the
(26:57):
election just happen so we canstop seeing all these stupid
commercials? You know? Yes. But,and I know they still exist.
But, but now, you know, throughthe other, media outlets. Now I
will say you were talking abouthow you don't mind ads being
served up to you. There arethings you like. Uh-huh. But the
part that does creep me out backto listening Yeah.
(27:19):
Is when it's something I'venever searched online for. I've
never typed in anywhere. Just insome passing conversations
somewhere I had, either in myhouse or with friends, Had a
conversation about something,and then I see it in a social
media feed, and I'm like, oh,that just bothers me. Out as
well.
Mary Burt-Godwin (27:37):
Happens all the time.
Brett (27:38):
It does more and more.
Mary Burt-Godwin (27:39):
It happens more and more, and I still think
there's gotta be seriouslistening. I don't know how that
happens because I'm not at theinner workings of that level of
any of it.
Brett (27:49):
I I turned off my Google Home because I knew it was
listening too much. And, like,I'm unplugging this thing and
Mary Burt-Godwin (27:54):
Yeah.
Brett (27:55):
And still and so it happens less, but it was it
still happens a little bit. Andit's like, oh, I don't like
that.
Mary Burt-Godwin (28:02):
Yeah. I mean, the the dangers of it all
because it can it it starts theyall start off all these
technologies start off withsomething usually a good Yes.
Positive outlet. They want to dosomething positive.
Brett (28:16):
Agree.
Mary Burt-Godwin (28:17):
But then it's invariably weaponized in
different ways. And it it is itis scary. Yeah.
Brett (28:22):
So back to the amazing Soli Entertainment Group and
Loft 100 Studios. You guys havethis great capacity, great
capabilities to help people withall forms of media that they
might be interested in. Nowyou're into event space and
event hosting. So, if somebodywanted to learn well, first of
(28:43):
all, we've said it a couple oftimes, but I wanna encourage our
audience to come to our Januaryhappy hour because then they can
see your place, in in all itsglory. But, if they want to if
they miss the happy hour andthey wanna, you know, start
talking to you guys or orinvestigating a possible working
relationship, would thesolientgroup.com website be the
(29:07):
place to start or is thereanother path?
Mary Burt-Godwin (29:08):
It can. Yes. Solient group or I think it's,
actually spelled out SolientEntertainment Group.
Brett (29:12):
Oh. I think
Mary Burt-Godwin (29:13):
you get there both ways, actually. That's the
marketing tip there for it. Ihave them both
Brett (29:17):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (29:18):
Go direct. But there you can get to our loft
100 studios.com.
Brett (29:22):
Loft.
Mary Burt-Godwin (29:22):
Is our studios.com. Okay. On the
landing page right at the top,there's a book a tour that'll
take you to, a form where youcan send. It goes to our
director, Jared Coleman, and tomyself, And we will schedule a
tour for you to come in and andcheck it out and or hop on a
phone call to find out yourbudget, your timing, to, you
(29:43):
know, your capacity. Ourcapacity is about a 100 for a
you know, that's so it's a smallhappy hour type event or small
meeting.
It's not gonna be a big sitdown. It's not big tables. 100
is
Brett (29:55):
not small.
Mary Burt-Godwin (29:56):
That's true. But it's not, you know and
that's little bistro tables.Medium.
Brett (30:00):
Medium.
Mary Burt-Godwin (30:01):
Yes. Small to medium. Yeah. So we have little
bistro tables and some bellybars, high top tables. And, you
know, there are some immovableparts of the set, but it is kind
of cool because you can have thecameras there and it it's just
got a very cool feel to it.
You know, you feel like you'rein a movie set. And then you can
(30:22):
have your food trucks orcatering, whatever it might be.
But again, it's not gonna be asit down dinner, you know, full
serve full service. But, yeah,people should come to our happy
hour or hit us up on loft100studios.com, and we'll book a
tour. Yeah.
Brett (30:39):
Perfect. Perfect. Well, we're, excited. I know, you and
I met, I don't know, about 6, 8months ago, maybe, something
like that. And I honestly didn'tknow anything about your studio.
So I'm really excited to haveyou guys as part of our chamber.
I'm excited to host an eventthere.
Mary Burt-Godwin (30:59):
Yes. We're really excited to have have,
everybody come and see thespace. And we just we moved
locations. We were over we had asmaller studio, about 3 times
smaller, over off Avenida andSienna. And we were we were
there for we opened up duringCOVID, if you can believe it.
Brett (31:15):
Yikes.
Mary Burt-Godwin (31:16):
And then, we were there for about 2, 3 years,
I guess. And then we just movedover here to Bressy Ranch area,
and it's a it's a much biggerspace. So now that we're up and
doing our productions, we're upand running. We thought this is
a perfect place to do events. Sowe're segueing into that,
opening up that business model,and we'd love to have people
come by and check it out.
Yeah.
Brett (31:36):
It's gonna be fun. Our, January happy hour is always
very festive because, you know,it's like the kicking off the
New Year. And I I have a feelingyou guys know how to put on a
good party. We do.
Mary Burt-Godwin (31:46):
Yeah. Absolutely. Let's have fun.
Brett (31:47):
Let's do it. Well, thank you so much for coming down
today, sharing all your funbackground and all about Loft
100 Studios. It's gonna be, youknow, 2025. It's gonna be
awesome.
Mary Burt-Godwin (31:59):
Great year. Thanks for having me. This is
great.
Brett (32:01):
It's my pleasure. Thanks for joining us today on our
Carlsbad People, Purpose andImpact podcast. If you got value
out of our episode today, pleasehit the follow button on your
favorite podcast app, and pleasetell a friend. Can't wait to see
you next time on CarlsbadPeople, Purpose, and Impact.
Carlsbad, people, purpose, and impact, an
essential podcast for those wholive, work, visit, and play in
Carlsbad.
Brett (00:15):
Good afternoon, and welcome, everyone. My name is
Brett Schonzenbach. I'm thepresident and CEO of the
Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.I'm your host today, and I'm
excited to have with me MaryBert Godwin. She is the director
of marketing at Loft 100Studios.
Good afternoon, Mary.
Mary Burt-Godwin (00:32):
Good afternoon. I'm so happy to be
here. Yeah.
Brett (00:34):
It's great to have you. I'm so glad you're able to come
down. We've been trying to getthis together for a little
while. I'm excited about this.So
Mary Burt-Godwin (00:41):
Yes. We're just about 5 minutes away.
Brett (00:43):
Yep. Oh, that's
Mary Burt-Godwin (00:43):
very cool. Right around the corner. Yeah.
Brett (00:45):
Very cool. Which is good because you guys, I think, are
hosting our
Mary Burt-Godwin (00:51):
We are January. January 25th? Yeah.
Yeah.
Brett (00:53):
Excellent. Little tease there. I was doing some of my
background investigation and sawthat you are a grad from UC
Santa Barbara. So are you aCalifornia native
Mary Burt-Godwin (01:07):
born and raised? Native, actually. Yes.
So you're native, born andraised. And, there's not a lot
of us Right.
Left. I don't know why.
Brett (01:15):
Right. Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (01:16):
And, my dad actually was really active with
the San Diego Chamber ofCommerce.
Brett (01:21):
Really?
Mary Burt-Godwin (01:22):
And he knew Ted Owens really well. Sure.
Brett (01:23):
He was
Mary Burt-Godwin (01:24):
the president here for many years. And, born
and raised, and then I went upto UC Santa Barbara for school,
just a smaller version of SanDiego, really. Yeah. And then
came back and lived in San Diegofor many years and then moved up
to Carlsbad 20 years ago. I'mcoming up on my 20 year
anniversary of living here.
Yeah.
Brett (01:43):
As the time goes by, man. Doesn't it? Yes. And it looks
like you jumped intoentertainment industry pretty
much right away.
Mary Burt-Godwin (01:52):
Right away.
Brett (01:52):
Yep. And there was a few things in there that I'm gonna
kinda pick on because they'requite fascinating to me. But so
I saw things like you were anextras casting director. You
worked at LEGOLAND, we'll touchon. You were into destination
management and stuff.
So but I wanna if we could, Iwould love to start on this
(02:14):
extras casting director becauseevery show, every movie, you
know, has these various sceneswhere you have people in the
background that we don't thinktoo much about, but somebody's
got to pull that together. Sowhat is that like?
Mary Burt-Godwin (02:28):
That was me. You know, it was fascinating. It
was such a fun job. The companywas Stu Siegel Productions. And
now they're still the thefacility is still there and they
have Studio Diner, which is arestaurant there, and they do
mostly military stuff.
But back in the nineties, hestarted, I believe, in the early
90 nineties, and I started therein 1994 with shows like Silk
Stockings and Renegade withLorenzo Lomas and then,
(02:53):
Pensacola Wings of Gold. And theour big my big claim to fame is
working on Bring It On Uh-huh.With the the movie with Kirsten
Dunst. Yeah. Cheer movie.
And, you know, so right away, Igot into right after college, I
started interning there in thecasting office, and it was,
yeah, specifically the extras.So everyone with with no
(03:13):
speaking line, just the peoplethat would walk in the
background. And what now lookingback, you know, there was no
computers, cell phones,anything. So
Brett (03:22):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (03:22):
We looked through binders, 3 ring ring
binders. We would have monthlycasting calls, and there was
pictures associated with thenames and numbers. And so we'd
go through the script, and theywas there was a scene of a
grocery store or a restaurant ora murder scene, whatever it was.
We'd have to get the cops. We'dget the the, the
Brett (03:42):
The bystanders. The bystanders.
Mary Burt-Godwin (03:43):
Yes. And, it was really fun. And I'm a people
person, so I loved it. You know,I loved talking to people on the
phone and and and going down tothe set and organizing them. But
you don't realize now
Brett (03:57):
I
Mary Burt-Godwin (03:57):
am ruined watching movies forever because
now I watch the background andYou
Brett (04:00):
can see everything.
Mary Burt-Godwin (04:01):
I see and I see, oh, that guy was recycled
from the first scene. He was acop, and now he's a pedestrian,
and now he's a juggler. But, itwas a really fun job and, got to
work on a lot of, you know,crazy movies. It was I will
admit it was mostly b TV shows.But it was it was just really
(04:22):
fun.
So I was there for nearly 7years
Brett (04:24):
Wow.
Mary Burt-Godwin (04:24):
Working on those shows.
Brett (04:26):
So you must have to cast a I didn't mean that as a pun
cast, but you must have to havea pretty broad net because these
various scenes, like what youneed in the background, can vary
quite widely.
Mary Burt-Godwin (04:40):
Absolutely. It was really, a challenge, and we
would go do castings, at barssometimes. We would go to,
different grocery stores withincertain communities. We had, a
TV show called Running Dragon,which was an Asian led the the
the main actor was Russell Wong.And, it was, you know, a lot of
(05:03):
heavily Asian communities wewould need to cast.
And we didn't have a lotregistered with us, so we would
go down to these communities andpark ourselves with a a table
and, you know, get people tosign up Wow. To be extras. And,
yeah, it was very different andvery again, we didn't have a
computerized system. So I hadthese binders of ages and, you
(05:24):
know, all the different things
Brett (05:26):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (05:26):
To go through hand by hand, and we'd have to
call everybody.
Brett (05:29):
Oh my goodness.
Mary Burt-Godwin (05:29):
And then, invariably, the call time would
change. And so at 10 o'clock atnight, I'd be calling 80 people
to say, now you gotta be thereat 11 instead of 10:30.
Brett (05:39):
I mean, now with email and texting and all that stuff,
it's gotta be, I would think, a1000 times easier.
Mary Burt-Godwin (05:44):
Yeah. And our office had anywhere from 2 to
probably 6 people at one timeworking depending on what shows
we had. And now it could all bedone with one person manning on
a computer. On a
Brett (05:55):
on a computer. Wow. So interesting. And then you had
this stop at LEGOLAND, which is,of course, hyperlocal here. Tell
us about that.
Mary Burt-Godwin (06:04):
I love LEGOLAND with all of my heart.
Yeah. I loved working there. Iloved then when I had kids. A
few years later, I took mylittle kids there.
And I actually Yeah. Did, when Iworked there, I was in charge of
the entertainment. Nice. So allof the shows, if if if any of
the listeners have seen you putthe wet stuff on the hot stuff
like
Brett (06:21):
the I love
Mary Burt-Godwin (06:21):
that show. Yes. So that was my job to make
sure I would do the casting forthose shows Yeah. And then go,
make sure they were runningsmoothly and make sure all the
actors and performers had whatthey needed. And then when I
ended up I worked there for onlyabout 2 years, and I was hired
originally as stage managerbecause when I was doing extras
(06:41):
casting, I also was doingperforming and acting in theater
locally, regionally.
Brett (06:47):
Sure.
Mary Burt-Godwin (06:48):
And then I also got into stage managing.
That was, like, nighttime, Iwould do that kind of thing. And
then I met someone at a show whoalso worked at LEGOLAND, and she
said we're hiring a stagemanager. So that's where I
transitioned up there. And thenwhen I I went into event
management, weird segue, but,then I had kids and, I started
(07:08):
writing the blog as model momMary.
I would go to the park and ridethe rides through the viewpoint
of a mom. Oh. And I would writeblog posts that were specific
about, you know, if you have atoddler, here's how you can
navigate the park. Go to theleft instead of the right. You
know?
If your kids are this age, youwanna make sure you hit this
ride. So that was really fun. Igot
Brett (07:30):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (07:30):
I just and I think it's just such a great I
love the people that work there.I still am in communication with
a lot of people, and I justthink it's such a fun addition
to San Diego and Carlsbad,specifically.
Brett (07:42):
Well, it's been a huge economic boom to San Diego
excuse me, to Carlsbad.
Mary Burt-Godwin (07:46):
And now they have, what, 3 hotels?
Brett (07:49):
2 so far, but they're they're in planning on the 3rd.
The 3rd.
Mary Burt-Godwin (07:52):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Brett (07:54):
But yeah. And just continue to grow and grow. And,
of course, you know from beingon the inside, I mean, it it's a
very competitive business. Andso you can't sit still as a
theme park because yourcompetitors sure aren't, if you
wanna stay relevant andcompetitive. And then, so
destination management.
Mary Burt-Godwin (08:13):
Yes. So that was
Brett (08:14):
in closer to Chamber World, to be honest.
Mary Burt-Godwin (08:16):
It was actually. And, so at LEGOLAND,
our entertainment departmentalso became an entertainment and
events department.
Brett (08:24):
Mhmm.
Mary Burt-Godwin (08:25):
And I had always been really interested in
events, and so that kinda gotthat bug. And then I knew of a
job that opened up at a companycalled PRA, Destination
Management. Patty Roscoe is theowner of that company, and she
was a big player in San Diego, Ibelieve. I know with the chamber
down there, and I knew she knewmy dad. And, anyway, I learned
(08:49):
about this company and a jobopened up, so I I hopped on that
job.
And just to kind of try a newworld, I've just obviously,
you've mentioned I've bouncedaround from jobs. Every 6 years,
I just get a new inkling. Andit's always in the creative
space. It's always in the peoplespace. And, I don't know.
(09:11):
I just really was fascinated bythis world of destination
management Yeah. And corporateevent planning. And, I was an
operations manager there. So wewould get a file and it would be
a corporation coming to SanDiego. And a lot of times,
because since I lived up here inCarlsbad, I would get the the
gigs at La Costa Resort or Mhmm.
At the time, it was the FourSeasons, now Park Hyatt.
Brett (09:32):
Yes. Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (09:33):
And I would, you know, almost move in there
for a weekend when a big groupwould come in, and I'd be in
charge of their transportationfrom the airport to and from or
all of their tours if they had,you know, spousal tours to
Legoland or wherever.
Brett (09:48):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (09:48):
And then, also their on-site events. And so I
got to do all their privatedinners and big corporate
events. And so that was really,really a good time as well.
Brett (10:00):
Yeah. Fascinating. And then you transitioned, it looked
like, into social mediafreelancing. Or maybe that
Mary Burt-Godwin (10:07):
was woven into all
Brett (10:09):
of that.
Mary Burt-Godwin (10:09):
Was that I had kids. Yeah. And I was, if you
really wanna hear I don't knowif it's this is in your notes,
but I was working still at thethe the production company or
I'm sorry, the destinationmanagement company. And I ended
up getting cast on a game showcalled Don't Forget the Lyrics.
Brett (10:30):
I did not find that in my in my background.
Mary Burt-Godwin (10:33):
This is special knowledge. And so I
ended up winning a a good chunkof money on this game show. I
owe $100,000.
Brett (10:41):
Wow.
Mary Burt-Godwin (10:41):
And I was like, you know what? I think I
wanna take a little this yearoff, let's say. My my I had a 1
year old and a 3 or no. I forgetthe exact ages, but oh, no. I
was pregnant Uh-huh.
And then I had a 1 year old.
Brett (10:55):
Okay.
Mary Burt-Godwin (10:55):
And I thought, you know what? When I get this
money, I'm gonna take some timeoff. Yeah. And I did. And I took
time off to raise my little kids
Brett (11:04):
Yes.
Mary Burt-Godwin (11:04):
With this nest egg and kind of, you know, was
more than I was making. So, andthen while I was while I was
home, though, I was needing anoutlet for myself, and I started
working on a blog or I started ablog. It was right when blogs
were kind of hitting the thesphere, and it was before
Instagram even existed. It wasright when Facebook started. And
(11:28):
I kind of got into the space ofI was an an OG mom blogger, and
I became a mom blogger.
And I wrote this book aboutwomen who had lost their dads
because I'd already lost myfather. And I just sort of
started to train myself onsocial media because it was just
Emerging. Working. Yeah. And, Istarted to go to things called
(11:50):
tweet ups because Twitter was areally big thing.
And I met a bunch of moms. We'dgo to tweet ups and we would get
paid to go to restaurants andpromote them or go to Legoland
and promote it. You know, wegot, all these things. I started
going to press junkets for filmsin LA. And I started to just
teach myself how to marketonline.
(12:12):
And it was when it was all kindof happening. And then my kids
got older, and I got separatedfrom my husband. And I needed to
go back to full time work. Andall of a sudden, social media
management was a job.
Brett (12:22):
It was a thing.
Mary Burt-Godwin (12:23):
It was not a thing.
Brett (12:24):
It was a career.
Mary Burt-Godwin (12:24):
A few years prior
Brett (12:25):
and
Mary Burt-Godwin (12:26):
all of a sudden it was. And I said, I
think I could do that. And sothen I started to work in social
media marketing. And I really ita lot of it was self taught, and
then I would I just started tolisten to podcasts about
marketing, online marketing, anddigital marketing. And, one
thing led to another, and it wasjust a thing.
It was it it was a career forme. For many years, I worked at
(12:48):
an agency, and I did, socialmedia marketing for a lot of
hotels, a lot of Marriottchains.
Brett (12:54):
Nice.
Mary Burt-Godwin (12:55):
Or not chains, but, you know, individual
hotels. And then Kaboo MusicFestival. I don't know if you
remember that, but I was thesocial media man on the team for
that Sure. Music festival. And,then all of those jobs have now
converged.
Brett (13:13):
Into this
Mary Burt-Godwin (13:14):
new what I do now at Loft 100 Studios. And
let's
Brett (13:18):
let's let's open that up now. You're the director of
marketing at Loft 100. So telleverybody what is Loft 100
Studios.
Mary Burt-Godwin (13:24):
Yeah. Loft 100 Studios is a production company
where we produce everything frombroadcast TV to small corporate
videos to podcasts. And as well,we are now opening up our
business model to be an eventspace as well. So any chamber
member can come to our our happyhour here, on January, I think
(13:47):
it's 25th, to check it out. Butwe have a very unique space, and
it's got all the built in AVcapabilities.
We currently film a couplenational TV shows that are, on
cable networks and, videonetworks. It's through biz
something called Biz TV. Andthen we also have a show that's
(14:10):
here locally called On the Airwith Sully and Little Tommy that
airs on KUSI every Saturday andnow on Fox 5 because the 2
networks merged. Yeah.
Brett (14:19):
Very nice.
Mary Burt-Godwin (14:19):
So, we film our own shows, but we have a
full production crew. So we alsoopen up and on our off days
where we're not shooting our ownshows, we shoot, vodcasts video
podcasts, and we shoot corporatevideos. We have a green screen,
and, we are now looking intohosting these, you know, happy
(14:40):
hours or small small corporateevents where people need AV
capabilities. And we have astage there. So it could be, you
know, I'm kind of thinking intosmall acoustic sets.
Our Yeah. We have a full bandthat plays on one of our shows,
so there is capabilities for afull band to play. And, there's
a huge I don't know thedimensions off the top of my
(15:02):
head. I wanna say 12 by 12, but12 foot by 12 foot video wall.
Brett (15:06):
Nice. It's,
Mary Burt-Godwin (15:07):
you know, it could be you could show your
own. I I wanna do it and show mykid my daughters, dance studio,
you know, big showcase on the onthe big screen.
Brett (15:16):
Nice.
Mary Burt-Godwin (15:16):
You got a viewing party for for some sort
of
Brett (15:18):
Very nice.
Mary Burt-Godwin (15:19):
Video. Yeah.
Brett (15:20):
Very cool. We're gonna take a brief pause. We are
talking to Mary Bert Godwin, thedirector of marketing at Loft
100 Studios, and we're gonnacome back. We're gonna unpack
Loft 100 a little more and talkabout, a show that Mary herself
hosts on air. So stick with us.
We'll be right back. So, Mary,before we took a break, you were
(16:45):
just kinda getting us into allthe cool stuff that you do at
Loft 100. I mean, TV, radio,video podcasting, regular
podcasting, all kinds of coolstuff. And you yourself also are
an on air host. I believe it'scalled America Trends?
Mary Burt-Godwin (17:06):
Yes. America Trends. And we are on hiatus for
the moment, but for about 2years. And the show has been
running for several years. Ittook a hiatus, I believe, right
before COVID.
And then somewhere in themiddle, I think, in 2021, Sully
was talking to me about findinga new host, and he had no idea
(17:28):
that my background in inproduction and that I've been on
stage and doing actuallytheater. On stage is my first
thing, I think. Yeah. I wasborn. I came out of the womb
snapping my fingers and was onstage all growing up.
And I said, I could do that. Andhe said, you can? I said, yeah.
Give me a try. So we tried it.
And so for 2 or I can't do themath, but many years, I was the
(17:50):
host of that show. It was a 1hour interview show with
Business Lance, and we wouldinterview small business owners
Sure. All over the country. Imean, a lot of them would be
locally, but we and we would dosome on air I'm sorry, Zoom
interviews. Yeah.
What a great thing you could doZoom interviews now. It's
amazing.
Brett (18:09):
And we're and we're all tuned in. Like, it seems totally
natural to us now. Right? Yeah.Like, if you'd done that in
2019, we're like, this is weird.
What is it? But now it's like,oh, yeah. You don't even bat an
eye.
Mary Burt-Godwin (18:21):
I mean, most of the meetings I do are on Zoom
now. So so that is a show thathad a business slant, but also
had a lot of pop culturemoments. I had someone come in
and talk about cybersecurity.
Brett (18:34):
Is it a weekly well, like a weekly show? It was actually
daily. Oh my goodness. Daily.Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (18:38):
It was it was a lot. Oh. Yeah. So now we would
shoot it, you know, in chunks.Mhmm.
So shoot Tuesdays Thursdays, andwe'd bang out a bunch of shows.
Right. Now I'm cohosting the bigbiz show, which is the show that
Sully has been doing for theowner of Loft 100 Studios and,
(18:58):
Sully Entertainment Group, whichis our umbrella company.
Brett (19:01):
Yep.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:01):
He's been in radio and TV for 25 years here
in San Diego.
Brett (19:06):
Yes.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:06):
And he hosted the show many years with Rusty
Nails, who passed away.Actually, on our show, he passed
away. He was the host of our,Saturday show called On the Air.
It used to be with Sully LittleTommy and Rusty Nails.
Brett (19:19):
I remember it.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:20):
Yeah. So, that was a big loss for all of us.
Yeah. And when Rusty left, nowthere's 3 other co hosts that
all take the place of Rusty.They took 3 people to fill
Rusty's
Brett (19:31):
shoes. Shoes. Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:32):
Yeah. So it's co hosted by, Mike Costa, who's
a sports announcer, local sportsYeah. Sports announcer, and Greg
Todorov, who's our executiveproducer, and myself.
Brett (19:42):
Nice.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:42):
So I'm the only female in the mix, which
can be challenging.
Brett (19:46):
I don't know. I'm not getting the vibe that you have
any difficulty holding your own.
Mary Burt-Godwin (19:51):
Well, I'll tell you. It is challenging, but
I get I get my words in where Ican.
Brett (19:56):
I love it. So, and so that show that you just
referenced, though, that is thehow often is that show?
Mary Burt-Godwin (20:04):
So that is also a daily show that's on the
big biz show. I'm sorry. Alsobiz TV, and I believe it's,
being broadcast. It's on armAmerican Forces Radio. It's on
radio, and it's it's part of,you know, networks around the
country that your cable providerneeds to be signed up with.
Yep. Or you can also sign uponline at biztv.com. There's a
(20:25):
bizvod.
Brett (20:26):
And so then for something like that, I'm imagining that
the way that pencils is theadvertisers, the the sponsors of
the show. Is that how you guysget paid to do it?
Mary Burt-Godwin (20:38):
Yes and no. I believe that they have, you
know, some of it could be, youknow, pay to play or, you know,
paid to have some spots on to beon the guest. Nice. Nice. And,
yeah.
I don't know all the innerworkings of that stuff. But,
yes, I believe that some of itis, sponsors and then which
we're you know, we have, somereally great sponsors. And, then
(21:02):
also depending on who it is andwho who Sully is working with
and Greg's working with, theythey get sponsored segments.
Brett (21:09):
Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Very interesting. So being in
this world of content creationand that and, you know, getting
guests and getting topics tokeep people's interest.
Right? And all this stuff. Imean, you've done it in the
world of blogs. You've done it,in the world of TV production
(21:29):
and show production. And now,again, in this vein, you know,
we're in an election season.
I mean, people might not hearthis episode till after the
election's over. But as you andI sit here, we're about I don't
know. 2 I think it's 2 weeks.
Mary Burt-Godwin (21:44):
2 weeks.
Brett (21:45):
Yeah. 2 weeks till, election day. So in that vein of
content creation, electionshelp, hurt. I mean, how does it
all play into, you know, themix?
Mary Burt-Godwin (21:57):
You know, it's interesting. I mean, I love
digital marketing
Brett (22:01):
Mhmm.
Mary Burt-Godwin (22:01):
And I love social media for a lot of
reasons.
Brett (22:04):
Mhmm.
Mary Burt-Godwin (22:05):
There's it's I am one that I I don't mind being
sent ads of things that I like.
Brett (22:11):
Sure.
Mary Burt-Godwin (22:12):
You know, I don't mind getting served ads
for, aviation sweatshirts orwhatever it is because they know
I mean, I don't like gettingdiaper ads because my kids
aren't in diapers anymore.
Brett (22:23):
Not your season of life.
Mary Burt-Godwin (22:24):
Season of life anymore. So, you know, I don't
hate targeted ads. I don't hate,being able to communicate and
have an open dialogue some opendialogue in comment sections and
seeing things. I I I do thinkit's troublesome, the echo
chambers that we can getourselves into and people can
(22:46):
get sucked into. And as soon asI learned that that was a thing
where I realized I was being fedonly content Yeah.
That speaks to my likes, then Ithought I need to go in and
follow other accounts.
Brett (23:00):
I I did this thing.
Mary Burt-Godwin (23:01):
And watch other accounts so I hear what
the other side is saying becauseI want to be open minded. Yeah.
I also don't wanna be blindsidedby things, and I want to have to
be, informed, and I want tolearn. So it keeps that going in
me. I don't know that everyonedoes that, though.
Brett (23:17):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (23:17):
So, you know, being fed information that just
speaks to what is going to fuelyour fire and not hear both
sides. I do also I'm very, waryof AI and these the deep fake
content that's out there. I'mseeing videos on both sides of
the aisle that I think, I don'tthink their mouth is matching up
(23:41):
to what they're saying, and Idon't know if I can agree with
or I can believe what I'mhearing. And it's it can be very
disheartening. I do love to seehow creative people can be
Brett (23:53):
Right.
Mary Burt-Godwin (23:53):
With hopping on the trends of what is popular
on social media and finding waysto incorporate that into their
political campaign. Whateverside it is
Brett (24:04):
Right. Right. Right.
Mary Burt-Godwin (24:05):
I find that to be you know, that goes back to
my creative side. It'sfascinating. I know that there's
a very smart, creative contentperson working on their team,
and I'm always like, gosh, theperson that came up with that
campaign is genius. I love this.You know?
Brett (24:17):
Right.
Mary Burt-Godwin (24:18):
How smart. And when they respond also, I love
this isn't necessarily,politically minded, but let's
say it's Wendy's or that's abrand that comes to my mind. But
there's really smart brands outthere that are listening.
Brett (24:32):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (24:33):
Social listening is so important on
these on these, platforms onTwitter or x, excuse me, or
threads or Instagram, whateverit might be. When people are
listening and their name isdropped or something is talked
you know, if it's burgers, Maybea celebrity says something about
a burger and then Wendy's hopsin and says, you know, I got one
(24:54):
sitting here. Here's your couponor whatever. They make a funny
joke. I think that is so genius,and that is staying up with the
times, and that's kind of whatwe all need to do.
Yeah. But, I don't know. I I Ifeel like we're very inundated
with messaging. I did Yeah. Seesomething.
You know, one campaign isslandering the other, but then
(25:15):
this campaign is just talkingabout their their platform.
Brett (25:20):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (25:21):
And it it's interesting to see what people
are choosing, which directionpeople are choosing to go.
Brett (25:26):
Which narrative they're following? Right. Mhmm. It's
quite fascinating. I think eachelection is can be, you know,
studied as a as individual casestudies.
And this one has lots to thatwill be discussed regardless of
which side wins.
Mary Burt-Godwin (25:41):
Yes.
Brett (25:41):
There'll be a lot discussed about this election
for many years and studied, youknow, as best practices and not
to do's. And
Mary Burt-Godwin (25:49):
And there's a lot of pivoting. I mean, that's
the word of the day. Right?That's the word du jour, but
it's true. People have to pivot.
Yeah. And then then a new pollcomes out saying one way or the
other, or you see what someoneelse is doing. And now the
pivoting can happen overnightkind of because
Brett (26:05):
happens so rapidly.
Mary Burt-Godwin (26:07):
Yeah. I mean, these social media managers are
not sleeping right now.
Brett (26:09):
And the social media aspect that, you know, you've
been touching on, it has changedthe dynamic, like, you know,
candidates on what whicheverparty or view don't have to rely
directly on mainstream media toget messaging out anymore.
Right? They can go to thesevarious platforms and speak
(26:32):
straight to the masses who areinterested in listening to them.
Mary Burt-Godwin (26:36):
Right.
Brett (26:36):
You know, it's it's fascinating that, you don't have
to just rely on these newsoutlets or whatever, you know,
the things are. Or even TVcommercial. I mean, I don't even
watch regular TV. Like, Ihaven't for a long time. And so
I don't even see, thecommercials anymore.
And I used to remember beinglike, oh my goodness. Can the
(26:57):
election just happen so we canstop seeing all these stupid
commercials? You know? Yes. But,and I know they still exist.
But, but now, you know, throughthe other, media outlets. Now I
will say you were talking abouthow you don't mind ads being
served up to you. There arethings you like. Uh-huh. But the
part that does creep me out backto listening Yeah.
(27:19):
Is when it's something I'venever searched online for. I've
never typed in anywhere. Just insome passing conversations
somewhere I had, either in myhouse or with friends, Had a
conversation about something,and then I see it in a social
media feed, and I'm like, oh,that just bothers me. Out as
well.
Mary Burt-Godwin (27:37):
Happens all the time.
Brett (27:38):
It does more and more.
Mary Burt-Godwin (27:39):
It happens more and more, and I still think
there's gotta be seriouslistening. I don't know how that
happens because I'm not at theinner workings of that level of
any of it.
Brett (27:49):
I I turned off my Google Home because I knew it was
listening too much. And, like,I'm unplugging this thing and
Mary Burt-Godwin (27:54):
Yeah.
Brett (27:55):
And still and so it happens less, but it was it
still happens a little bit. Andit's like, oh, I don't like
that.
Mary Burt-Godwin (28:02):
Yeah. I mean, the the dangers of it all
because it can it it starts theyall start off all these
technologies start off withsomething usually a good Yes.
Positive outlet. They want to dosomething positive.
Brett (28:16):
Agree.
Mary Burt-Godwin (28:17):
But then it's invariably weaponized in
different ways. And it it is itis scary. Yeah.
Brett (28:22):
So back to the amazing Soli Entertainment Group and
Loft 100 Studios. You guys havethis great capacity, great
capabilities to help people withall forms of media that they
might be interested in. Nowyou're into event space and
event hosting. So, if somebodywanted to learn well, first of
(28:43):
all, we've said it a couple oftimes, but I wanna encourage our
audience to come to our Januaryhappy hour because then they can
see your place, in in all itsglory. But, if they want to if
they miss the happy hour andthey wanna, you know, start
talking to you guys or orinvestigating a possible working
relationship, would thesolientgroup.com website be the
(29:07):
place to start or is thereanother path?
Mary Burt-Godwin (29:08):
It can. Yes. Solient group or I think it's,
actually spelled out SolientEntertainment Group.
Brett (29:12):
Oh. I think
Mary Burt-Godwin (29:13):
you get there both ways, actually. That's the
marketing tip there for it. Ihave them both
Brett (29:17):
Yeah.
Mary Burt-Godwin (29:18):
Go direct. But there you can get to our loft
100 studios.com.
Brett (29:22):
Loft.
Mary Burt-Godwin (29:22):
Is our studios.com. Okay. On the
landing page right at the top,there's a book a tour that'll
take you to, a form where youcan send. It goes to our
director, Jared Coleman, and tomyself, And we will schedule a
tour for you to come in and andcheck it out and or hop on a
phone call to find out yourbudget, your timing, to, you
(29:43):
know, your capacity. Ourcapacity is about a 100 for a
you know, that's so it's a smallhappy hour type event or small
meeting.
It's not gonna be a big sitdown. It's not big tables. 100
is
Brett (29:55):
not small.
Mary Burt-Godwin (29:56):
That's true. But it's not, you know and
that's little bistro tables.Medium.
Brett (30:00):
Medium.
Mary Burt-Godwin (30:01):
Yes. Small to medium. Yeah. So we have little
bistro tables and some bellybars, high top tables. And, you
know, there are some immovableparts of the set, but it is kind
of cool because you can have thecameras there and it it's just
got a very cool feel to it.
You know, you feel like you'rein a movie set. And then you can
(30:22):
have your food trucks orcatering, whatever it might be.
But again, it's not gonna be asit down dinner, you know, full
serve full service. But, yeah,people should come to our happy
hour or hit us up on loft100studios.com, and we'll book a
tour. Yeah.
Brett (30:39):
Perfect. Perfect. Well, we're, excited. I know, you and
I met, I don't know, about 6, 8months ago, maybe, something
like that. And I honestly didn'tknow anything about your studio.
So I'm really excited to haveyou guys as part of our chamber.
I'm excited to host an eventthere.
Mary Burt-Godwin (30:59):
Yes. We're really excited to have have,
everybody come and see thespace. And we just we moved
locations. We were over we had asmaller studio, about 3 times
smaller, over off Avenida andSienna. And we were we were
there for we opened up duringCOVID, if you can believe it.
Brett (31:15):
Yikes.
Mary Burt-Godwin (31:16):
And then, we were there for about 2, 3 years,
I guess. And then we just movedover here to Bressy Ranch area,
and it's a it's a much biggerspace. So now that we're up and
doing our productions, we're upand running. We thought this is
a perfect place to do events. Sowe're segueing into that,
opening up that business model,and we'd love to have people
come by and check it out.
Yeah.
Brett (31:36):
It's gonna be fun. Our, January happy hour is always
very festive because, you know,it's like the kicking off the
New Year. And I I have a feelingyou guys know how to put on a
good party. We do.
Mary Burt-Godwin (31:46):
Yeah. Absolutely. Let's have fun.
Brett (31:47):
Let's do it. Well, thank you so much for coming down
today, sharing all your funbackground and all about Loft
100 Studios. It's gonna be, youknow, 2025. It's gonna be
awesome.
Mary Burt-Godwin (31:59):
Great year. Thanks for having me. This is
great.
Brett (32:01):
It's my pleasure. Thanks for joining us today on our
Carlsbad People, Purpose andImpact podcast. If you got value
out of our episode today, pleasehit the follow button on your
favorite podcast app, and pleasetell a friend. Can't wait to see
you next time on CarlsbadPeople, Purpose, and Impact.
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