February 27, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode, we sit down with Michael Dobbin, founding director of Quiet Revolution Pictures (Canada) and Peardrop Productions (UK), and founder of JustWatchMe.TV, a platform dedicated to elevating independent films. Michael shares insights on how the platform supports filmmakers by providing visibility and helping them navigate production financing—especially in the often-overlooked realm of Canadian cinema.
We also explore live screening capabilities, where audiences can host their own community-driven viewings, encouraging deeper engagement with stories that resonate. As technological advances shift the focus back to storytelling, parallels between the film industry and the performing arts become clear—both are finding new ways to connect with audiences in a digital age.
Tune in to discover how JustWatchMe.TV is redefining the streaming landscape and how the lines between film and live performance continue to blur, offering new opportunities for creators and audiences alike.
All episodes are also available in video form on our YouTube Channel. All episodes are hosted by Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bowman.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Elizabeth Bowman (00:00):
Hi, I'm Elizabeth Bowman and welcome to
the Scene Room.
Today I have a differentepisode for you.
I am in the film realm.
I have Michael Dobbin here.
He's the founding director ofQuiet Revolution Pictures and
Peardrop Productions, and he hasproduced and co-produced over a
dozen feature films, includingCroatia's Oscar submission this
(00:26):
year.
Michael also produced andco-wrote Mitch Jenkins' sci-fi A
Million Days 2024.
He is the founder of Just WatchMe TV, which is a new streaming
platform and also the focus ofour conversation today.
So let's get to it, Mike.
Welcome to the scene room.
(00:46):
Thanks for coming.
Michael Dobbin (00:47):
Well, thanks for having me on.
Elizabeth Bowman (00:48):
Why don't you tell us a little bit about who
you are and what you're doingand what's happening in your
world?
Michael Dobbin (00:55):
I think we all wonder who we are in the morning
and in the evening.
So my name is Michael Dobbin.
My background is as a producer.
I've produced many featurefilms independent feature films,
international co productions.
A recent co-production I wasinvolved in was the Croatian
Oscar submission this year.
So I'm very active inproduction.
But I also run a distributioncompany which includes Just
(01:16):
Watch Me TV, which is a newstreaming service.
It's a little bit more thanthat, but we'll start with that
in the intro because it's JustWatch Me TV, the streaming
service.
Elizabeth Bowman (01:24):
So let's talk about Just Watch Me TV a little
bit.
You're in competition withplaces like Netflix, Amazon
Prime, that kind of thing.
What makes you stand out fromthose huge companies?
Michael Dobbin (01:41):
Well, first of all, I wouldn't say that we see
ourselves as a direct competitorto Netflix or Amazon Prime or
any of the bigger streamingservices.
We kind of see ourselves askind of an add-on to those right
.
So the kind of content that weare programming we program a lot
of independent film, a lot ofCanadian independent film,
non-english language titles,european titles, south American,
asian.
So we say yes to a lot ofcontent and curate a lot of
content that wouldn't otherwisebe on some of those services.
(02:02):
In some cases we have a titlenon-exclusively, meaning you can
also find it on Prime or AppleTV or whatever, but we will also
have it.
We have films that were onNetflix that aren't anymore.
So in a lot of ways, I thinkmost people that watch their
movies on a streaming serviceknow they can sometimes find it
other places.
So that's sort of the firstthing to answer.
We're not sort of a directcompetitor and in fact within
(02:25):
the platform we link through tosome of those other platforms.
So if you find a title youreally really like and you want
to add it to your Apple library,there's a click through, it'll
take to your store and you candownload it and buy it.
And part of the reason for thatis we want the filmmakers and
the producers to get the saleRight and for us, if we get the
(02:46):
traffic, that's going to helpeverybody.
So we'd love it if people watcheverything on our platform
exclusively.
But we realize that'd be a bitpresumptuous of us to think that
no one else is going to watchany content anywhere else do you
have a mandate to showcasecanadian content?
so we do.
Well, it's sort of aself-appointed mandate, like
we're a canadian based companybut we stream all over the world
and, and we really feel thatwithin Canada anyway, there's a
(03:06):
real gap in the market forplaces to watch Canadian content
.
Some of the broadcast streamersdo, but they don't necessarily
broadcast outside or streamoutside of Canada.
So it does give us a reallygreat opportunity to acquire
Canadian content to show inother territories as well.
And I think, more importantly,as someone who cut their teeth
in the Canadian industry, I loveto be able to say yes to people
(03:28):
, to be able to help people,especially with great projects,
developing talent.
So we don't actually have anykind of imposed mandate by any
third parties, as you have toshow Canadian content.
We're not a broadcaster, forexample.
So it's just because we seethat as a need and a gap in the
market and we hope that we canfill that gap effectively.
(03:49):
One of the interesting things iswe within Canada Just Watch Me
TV is recognized by CAVCO, whichis the Canadian Audio Visual
Certification Office, as aninternet broadcaster, and that
sounds really boring, but whatit means is just when producers
are making Canadian content.
If we license a film or a series.
From them they can get the taxcredits because we're considered
sort of a trigger for that.
And then our parent company,capital Motion, is recognized by
some of the funders as well.
(04:10):
So we can actually helpproducers and creators in early
stages access financing fromsome of those programs.
It's not necessarily ourinvestment but we can help them
access it, which is a hugeadvantage, especially right now.
The international contentmarket is changing very, very
rapidly and broadcasters areincreasingly.
Their market share is shrinkingand yet a lot of the funds in
(04:32):
Canada in particular are gearedtowards broadcaster-triggered
projects.
So it means that we can sort ofcome in and help producers with
alternative triggers.
Again, that sounds very boring,but it's exciting when you see
a series or a film that cameabout because of some boring bit
of red tape we were able to cutthrough.
Elizabeth Bowman (04:48):
Can I ask you about performing arts?
Do you stream any liveperformances or anything to do
with performing arts?
Michael Dobbin (04:57):
One of the features of the platform is we
do have a live channel, which iscalled the Fast Channel, and we
will be adding more as ourcontent offerings grow.
We don't specifically streamsort of live performances in a
traditional sense.
We do have a lot of documentarythat feature performing arts.
I think the category is calledsong and dance, for example.
There's also a category calledpopcorn docs which talks about
(05:18):
the arts.
It's more sort of you know,musicians and performers and
things within the platform.
We're not streamingspecifically live performances,
but we do have content thatcaters to that need.
One of the things that we aregoing to be using the live
streaming option for is to beable to promote new movies.
So, for example, we could livestream the red carpet of a
premiere that if you're not inthe city where it's happening,
(05:39):
you can still watch it.
You could then rent the movieor watch the movie on the
platform and then you couldwatch the live Q&A after the
event.
So there's some reallyinteresting opportunities to
kind of bring together livevenues with the streaming
experience.
So we're excited to pilot someof those in the coming months.
Elizabeth Bowman (05:54):
I've been to film festivals.
You know one or two times thatI'm not in that industry, but I
do appreciate those Q&As whengiven the opportunity to listen,
so I think that's great thatyou would offer that as
something that people couldengage with on your platform.
Michael Dobbin (06:11):
It's a huge draw for to get people into cinemas
is when they're the director oran actor someone is from the
production, is going to be at aQ&A.
Festivals obviously do that.
But even with movie premieresof new, new films, when that can
happen, it does bring peopleout and it gets media coverage
and people are discovering that.
That's you know.
Cinema is not dead.
It's definitely like everythingelse is changing and our habits
(06:33):
are changing, but it still is adraw.
Having a human experience,sharing an experience on film in
a dark room with strangers,still has an appeal and still
you really can experience thedifference between watching
something streaming.
And I think one of the examplesI have when, when I was earlier
in my career, I remember seeingone of my favorite films to
this day still uh, force majeure, which is reuben oslund who did
(06:55):
uh, triangle of sadness and thesquare and those sorts of films
.
And I remember seeing forcemajeure in a cinema and people
around me.
I was in europe with a lot ofeuropeans and of course they
were laughing.
It was a comedy, right, but tothe North American, if they were
just watching that kind of darkScandinavian humor without the
sort of cues of an audiencelaughing.
I think a lot of people inNorth America wouldn't know it's
(07:16):
comedy or would feel unsure andthat affects their experience.
But we were in a room full ofpeople and there's a spontaneous
burst of laughter and yourealize, yes, that is supposed
to be funny.
It's not just me, you know.
It can really help.
So anytime we can, especiallywith the kind of offerings we
have that are coming from everycorner of the world.
There's different social cuesand different styles of humor or
storytelling that you're notalways going to know.
(07:36):
It's like going to a newrestaurant with a certain kind
of cuisine.
You don't know.
Am I supposed to eat this withmy hands or is there a special
fork, like I don't know?
Same thing with cinema.
Sometimes you just need thefirst few cues to help you
understand that it's okay tolaugh at this, you know that's
very much how it is at thesymphony or the opera.
Elizabeth Bowman (07:55):
The community likely listening to this podcast
is very aware of that.
So that's great You're payingattention to that within the
film industry and to know thatyou're doing that, because to
people outside the industry wethink, oh well, everyone gets
that because we all watch film.
Michael Dobbin (08:12):
Yeah, it's an inside joke, you know.
But yeah, you're exactly right.
Certainly, with opera or youknow, people see it as fine art
and high art and they don'tconnect the dots.
Yes, it can also be comedy, butI mean, opera in its day was
also pure entertainment, thesame way that movies are today.
If some of the movies we weremaking now, in a hundred years,
people will sit there and notlaugh because they think it's
(08:33):
high art, because it's beenrelegated to the closet and
covered in dust and no onewatches movies anymore, I don't
know, you can cut that out.
That was a very dark place togo.
Elizabeth Bowman (08:42):
Are other streaming platforms doing these
live offerings?
The red carpet, the Q and A'sthat type of offering?
Michael Dobbin (08:50):
To my knowledge, there's no red carpet Q&As and
that kind of thing.
It's not to say it's nothappening.
There's so much going on it'sreally hard to keep track.
There certainly are live events.
I know, for example, primeVideo is starting to stream live
sporting events and things likethat.
We don't have any intentions todo that.
We want to keep it to mostlyscripted storytelling and
documentary.
I think what is interestingabout the streaming world now is
that, you know, 10, 15 yearsago it was about the technology.
(09:13):
It was about the fact you couldopen up your computer or your
phone and watch something andthe proprietary technology, the
platform to be able to give thatto you.
And now it's not about thatanymore.
The technology is everywhere.
There's 30 ways to do the samething or try different things,
and people are constantlyexperimenting.
So it's back to that old sortof expression that content is
(09:34):
king.
People are there to seesomething they haven't seen
before or a film they've heardabout through word of mouth.
And the technology again, theycan go to 20 different places
with different streamingexperiences from the point of
pointing and clicking, but thatnovelty is gone.
It's about the storytellingagain, I think.
I hope that's notwithstandingwhat AI is going to start doing
for things.
How?
Elizabeth Bowman (09:52):
how does one submit a film to a streaming
service like yours?
Michael Dobbin (09:57):
Okay, to submit a film to our streaming service
is probably a lot easier than toothers.
I don't want to get inundated,so I'm not going to give away
all the secrets, but basicallyyou can find us, you know you
can find my team.
You can connect with us onLinkedIn or find a find an email
address.
Like you know, we do respond tothings definitely.
You know, pitching is a wholeart form that you could do an
(10:18):
entire season of pointers oflike how to pitch in different
industries.
But in any case, for us, youknow, sometimes we just start
with a trailer.
Some people can send us atrailer and say this is
something we'd like you toconsider.
That's sort of the simplest way.
Definitely, bigger streamingservices they have a much more
kind of closed.
You sort of have to know whothe right contact is and you
have to do a bit of sleuthing tofind out who that is.
(10:39):
My team and I have a very activepresence at international
markets, so we'll go toconferences and markets and
we'll meet these people.
So that's how we get theirdetails is.
We have conversations and weall know who each other and that
kind of thing.
So that's how that happens.
But it's yeah, it's reallytricky.
I mean the other.
The other thing is through adistributor.
If you have a distributordistributing your film, they
have those contacts and theyknow how to place those those
(11:01):
things.
So in fact a lot of our contentdeals in the last six months
have been with distributors.
So we've signed deals with anumber of Canadian distributors,
including the national FilmBoard of Canada.
So if you want to see stonecold classics like Project
Grizzly do you remember that theguy who builds the bear suit,
you must know that.
Anyway, you know we have oldfilms like Mon Enclantoin, which
(11:21):
was a defining film in Quebeccinema, through the National
Film Board.
So those titles came through adistribution deal.
Elizabeth Bowman (11:28):
I don't know if I'm allowed to ask this, but
you were telling me in aconversation prior to this
podcast about selling one timeencrypted rights to watch a film
, like with your group offriends or hosting.
Michael Dobbin (11:43):
Oh yes.
Elizabeth Bowman (11:44):
Like you know, with a new film that has just
come out.
Michael Dobbin (11:47):
You can ask about that.
Yeah, so we have a featurewithin the platform is live now
and we're going to be developingit further and it's called pop.
Just watch me pop up cinema.
And the way it works is lizzie.
You could find a film on theservice maybe it's a new release
, maybe it's an old movie andyou think you know what.
I'd love to host a screening ofthis and you're an exhibitor.
(12:08):
You could either be a bricksand mortar cinema or you could
run a film appreciation society,or you could just do like
Tuesday nights at a local barn,like it doesn't matter, you're
an exhibitor.
If you have a projector, youcan be an exhibitor.
So basically, what it means isyou can get a license to show a
film and charge tickets for it,like a cinema would, so you can
actually make money showingmovies legally.
(12:28):
Imagine that people don't.
You don't need to pirate stuffanymore.
You can actually do it legallyand make money.
And we work with a third-partycompany who has this technology
that's phenomenal and has reallymade things easy, and I
encourage anyone to look at it.
It's called Artini and we linkthrough to their platform.
So the way it works, lizzie,you want to book the film.
You either get in touch with usdirectly or you can go through
(12:50):
the platform.
You download a third party app,the Artini player.
It's free.
You register it on the system.
We can then see you on thesystem.
We can then program the license, like if you want unlimited
plays for a week or three playsover a month.
Whatever we send you thatlicense, what it does is it
encrypts the file and pushes itdirectly to your player and it's
a real player so you can can.
(13:11):
You could drop in, like yoursponsorship messages or trailers
for next week or whatever.
It's just a media player but itplays these particular files.
You need an internet connectionto receive the file but not to
play it, so you could do yourscreening in a cave if you
wanted to, and then when, whenyour license is used up, it just
deletes off your system.
So there's the print traffic.
You know the way.
A lot of cinemas still usesomething called the DCP or a
(13:32):
digital cinema print.
This is sort of an alternativeto that in some ways, for
definitely for smaller venues,where it's all done digitally
online.
It's incredibly easy and italso means that for independent
producers, distributors,creators, you can run a
screening somewhere and it'ssuper easy, like.
All you need is a projector andan HDMI cable.
Elizabeth Bowman (14:04):
It's phenomenal.
Like all you need is aprojector and an HDMI cable.
It's phenomenal and we do sendfilms to cinemas this way, but
also to again pop upentrepreneurs.
A local mixologist havecomplimentary cocktails.
You could even pair up in termsof the audience, possibly
listening to this podcast Ifyou're you have a string quartet
(14:29):
and you know what types ofmusic is played in that film
score you could play.
You know you could havecomplimentary music that is
within the theme of thatproduction.
They're just ways to sort ofcross over and have a real, like
all encompassing event, so Ireally love that idea of hosting
in different spaces andreimagining the film experience.
Michael Dobbin (14:48):
Absolutely, and especially for organizations or
groups that are very active withother things.
I mean, film is a very easy oneto deliver.
You get a file, you play itright, whereas a live
performance, you know there's alot of work involved and a lot
of rehearsal and all that kindof thing.
But if you wanted to have anextra event, that's just a movie
based on the kind of stuffyou've been doing, it's sort of
an easy little extra thing youcan do.
And again, we're trying tointegrate it and use it as a way
(15:09):
to promote films and certainlyfor releasing new movies.
When there's a, you know, anational campaign for a title
and it's only playing in sixcinemas, it's much harder to
kind of justify the expenditureof advertising and promotion.
But if it's in six cinemas andit could be anywhere in the
country, could be in a townwhere there's no cinema, it
becomes a wider offering withmore potential to earn revenue,
(15:30):
because artists need to be paid,let's face it.
Elizabeth Bowman (15:32):
Yes, Ideally the struggle is real.
Can I ask how much it costs tohave the exhibition rights for a
film in your own space?
Michael Dobbin (15:41):
So the rights to book a film, if you want to do
a screening, are going to vary alittle bit.
It depends on the title, hownew it is, that kind of thing.
I think some titles might be aslow as $75, you know, and if
you're charging 10 bucks aticket, you know you can do the
math.
You don't need a lot of peopleto kind of have that pay for
itself.
Some newer titles might be, youknow, in the $250 range If you
(16:03):
book directly with us.
Sometimes, if you're in, youknow we have a relationship we
could do box office splits aswell, where you, you know you
pay a minimum screening fee andthen if you do super well, the
box office will take a higher, ahigher share that we can then
share with the distributor andthe filmmaker.
So yeah, the short answer itvaries, it depends, but you can
have a look and you can pokearound and we certainly
(16:24):
encourage nonprofits or peoplethat are just starting out.
If they have a pitch for usthat well, we're doing a
fundraiser for something, let usknow, because we can sometimes
negotiate on the price for goodcauses and things.
But less than you think is theshort answer.
Elizabeth Bowman (16:36):
Love that.
Can I ask you about advertisingon your platform?
Obviously that's got to be animportant source of revenue for
you.
How does that work?
Do you have like a tieredsystem where memberships that
include advertising and thenothers that don't?
Michael Dobbin (16:50):
That's a great question.
So there are several differentways users can access content.
The simplest is the livechannel.
You can just log in eitherthrough the browser or through
the app.
We're on various apps,including Android, mobile, apple
, roku, apple TV, samsung, abunch of them so you can just
have the app or browse and justwatch whatever's streaming live.
You don't have to do anythingother than that.
(17:11):
If you register for free withan email, you can watch movies
on demand and that'll be withads, but most of our titles are
free.
You can watch them with ads,which that is how you know.
Obviously we're paying for that,generating revenue from that
view.
If you subscribe, you get morecontent and no ads, and we're
keeping it at essentially $5Canadian a month for now Because
(17:31):
, again, we want it to be anadd-on price, we want it to be
attractive, too cheap to cancel.
So there's different ways.
Obviously, we love it whenpeople get a subscription,
because every subscription weget is is sort of showing that
people are willing to support usin that way and gives us a more
of a longer term ability toplan with revenue what's next.
But yes, you can if you justwant to check out the platform,
(17:51):
just so to see the kind ofcontent we have.
You don't have to pay.
You know we're inviting you tocome and poke around, have a
look.
In Canada, most 100% of ourcontent is live in Canada.
In the US it's probably about60% of our catalog, because at
the moment most of our rightsare for Canada only.
In other countries you'll seeless.
So I'd never condone using aVPN, but those who can access
(18:12):
the Canadian market will see wehave most of our titles live in
Canada.
Are this much wider offering?
Elizabeth Bowman (18:17):
And what's the five 10 year vision for this
platform?
Michael Dobbin (18:21):
So the long-term vision.
I think my team and I have donea good job.
It's sort of embeddingourselves in the funding
ecosystem of Canadian production, financing and development,
which means that I think withinthe next year or two you're
going to start to seeessentially for lack of a better
term, just watch me originalsshows that are airing with us
first, that we've been able tohelp get off the ground.
(18:45):
I'd like to do more of that.
I'd like to see us go intoother markets and I I think the
model that we have, which we'restarting in canada, is the idea
of stream local, like haveaccess to your local cinema,
your local content.
There's no reason we couldn'tapply that to other territories
as well.
So you could be in the czechrepublic and watch a lot of
Czech films and people in Canadacould also watch those Czech
films.
But as a means to sort of bringin local content and have
people that are essentiallyscouting that local content, I
(19:06):
think would be great and I thinkwe definitely want to move to a
model that's going to find waysto again pay the rights holders
a little more or help themmonetize more, because the more
successful content providers arecontent creators, the better
content we're going to get andwe'll have those relationships
over the longer term.
We want to keep working withthe same people as much as we
can.
(19:26):
So 10 years.
I don't even know what theworld's going to be like in 10
years.
I don't think any of us do atthis point.
It's happening so quickly.
How about this In 10 years?
I'd like to still be here andthat may be ambitious.
Elizabeth Bowman (19:41):
Who knows still be here, and that that may
be ambitious.
Who knows?
There'll be a robot sittinghere.
Michael Dobbin (19:43):
No, I hope we're still here too.
Elizabeth Bowman (19:44):
Watch my latest film, created in four
nanoseconds, for your pleasurewith that, I get a thank you for
having this conversation withme well.
Michael Dobbin (19:53):
Thanks for the opportunity.
I really appreciate it yeah, andhopefully I'll check back in
and see how it's going do and,uh, you know I love talking
about movies, so if there'ssomething on there you want a
recommendation, you let me knowand I'm gonna send you some.
I think there's one title, Ithink it's called oh, what is it
called?
Which you might appreciate.
It's about this music festivalin eastern europe.
The guy who runs it is a littlebit unconventional.
(20:14):
Okay, I'll send you the link.
I'm trying to remember NoseLandand you can watch the trailer
and you'll see what I mean.
And I think maybe in yourexperience in the performing
arts over the years, you mightfind something in it that's a
little bit amusing.
I certainly found that oneamusing.
Elizabeth Bowman (20:27):
Awesome.
Hi, I'm Elizabeth Bowman and welcome to
the Scene Room.
Today I have a differentepisode for you.
I am in the film realm.
I have Michael Dobbin here.
He's the founding director ofQuiet Revolution Pictures and
Peardrop Productions, and he hasproduced and co-produced over a
dozen feature films, includingCroatia's Oscar submission this
(00:26):
year.
Michael also produced andco-wrote Mitch Jenkins' sci-fi A
Million Days 2024.
He is the founder of Just WatchMe TV, which is a new streaming
platform and also the focus ofour conversation today.
So let's get to it, Mike.
Welcome to the scene room.
(00:46):
Thanks for coming.
Michael Dobbin (00:47):
Well, thanks for having me on.
Elizabeth Bowman (00:48):
Why don't you tell us a little bit about who
you are and what you're doingand what's happening in your
world?
Michael Dobbin (00:55):
I think we all wonder who we are in the morning
and in the evening.
So my name is Michael Dobbin.
My background is as a producer.
I've produced many featurefilms independent feature films,
international co productions.
A recent co-production I wasinvolved in was the Croatian
Oscar submission this year.
So I'm very active inproduction.
But I also run a distributioncompany which includes Just
(01:16):
Watch Me TV, which is a newstreaming service.
It's a little bit more thanthat, but we'll start with that
in the intro because it's JustWatch Me TV, the streaming
service.
Elizabeth Bowman (01:24):
So let's talk about Just Watch Me TV a little
bit.
You're in competition withplaces like Netflix, Amazon
Prime, that kind of thing.
What makes you stand out fromthose huge companies?
Michael Dobbin (01:41):
Well, first of all, I wouldn't say that we see
ourselves as a direct competitorto Netflix or Amazon Prime or
any of the bigger streamingservices.
We kind of see ourselves askind of an add-on to those right
.
So the kind of content that weare programming we program a lot
of independent film, a lot ofCanadian independent film,
non-english language titles,european titles, south American,
asian.
So we say yes to a lot ofcontent and curate a lot of
content that wouldn't otherwisebe on some of those services.
(02:02):
In some cases we have a titlenon-exclusively, meaning you can
also find it on Prime or AppleTV or whatever, but we will also
have it.
We have films that were onNetflix that aren't anymore.
So in a lot of ways, I thinkmost people that watch their
movies on a streaming serviceknow they can sometimes find it
other places.
So that's sort of the firstthing to answer.
We're not sort of a directcompetitor and in fact within
(02:25):
the platform we link through tosome of those other platforms.
So if you find a title youreally really like and you want
to add it to your Apple library,there's a click through, it'll
take to your store and you candownload it and buy it.
And part of the reason for thatis we want the filmmakers and
the producers to get the saleRight and for us, if we get the
(02:46):
traffic, that's going to helpeverybody.
So we'd love it if people watcheverything on our platform
exclusively.
But we realize that'd be a bitpresumptuous of us to think that
no one else is going to watchany content anywhere else do you
have a mandate to showcasecanadian content?
so we do.
Well, it's sort of aself-appointed mandate, like
we're a canadian based companybut we stream all over the world
and, and we really feel thatwithin Canada anyway, there's a
(03:06):
real gap in the market forplaces to watch Canadian content
.
Some of the broadcast streamersdo, but they don't necessarily
broadcast outside or streamoutside of Canada.
So it does give us a reallygreat opportunity to acquire
Canadian content to show inother territories as well.
And I think, more importantly,as someone who cut their teeth
in the Canadian industry, I loveto be able to say yes to people
(03:28):
, to be able to help people,especially with great projects,
developing talent.
So we don't actually have anykind of imposed mandate by any
third parties, as you have toshow Canadian content.
We're not a broadcaster, forexample.
So it's just because we seethat as a need and a gap in the
market and we hope that we canfill that gap effectively.
(03:49):
One of the interesting things iswe within Canada Just Watch Me
TV is recognized by CAVCO, whichis the Canadian Audio Visual
Certification Office, as aninternet broadcaster, and that
sounds really boring, but whatit means is just when producers
are making Canadian content.
If we license a film or a series.
From them they can get the taxcredits because we're considered
sort of a trigger for that.
And then our parent company,capital Motion, is recognized by
some of the funders as well.
(04:10):
So we can actually helpproducers and creators in early
stages access financing fromsome of those programs.
It's not necessarily ourinvestment but we can help them
access it, which is a hugeadvantage, especially right now.
The international contentmarket is changing very, very
rapidly and broadcasters areincreasingly.
Their market share is shrinkingand yet a lot of the funds in
(04:32):
Canada in particular are gearedtowards broadcaster-triggered
projects.
So it means that we can sort ofcome in and help producers with
alternative triggers.
Again, that sounds very boring,but it's exciting when you see
a series or a film that cameabout because of some boring bit
of red tape we were able to cutthrough.
Elizabeth Bowman (04:48):
Can I ask you about performing arts?
Do you stream any liveperformances or anything to do
with performing arts?
Michael Dobbin (04:57):
One of the features of the platform is we
do have a live channel, which iscalled the Fast Channel, and we
will be adding more as ourcontent offerings grow.
We don't specifically streamsort of live performances in a
traditional sense.
We do have a lot of documentarythat feature performing arts.
I think the category is calledsong and dance, for example.
There's also a category calledpopcorn docs which talks about
(05:18):
the arts.
It's more sort of you know,musicians and performers and
things within the platform.
We're not streamingspecifically live performances,
but we do have content thatcaters to that need.
One of the things that we aregoing to be using the live
streaming option for is to beable to promote new movies.
So, for example, we could livestream the red carpet of a
premiere that if you're not inthe city where it's happening,
(05:39):
you can still watch it.
You could then rent the movieor watch the movie on the
platform and then you couldwatch the live Q&A after the
event.
So there's some reallyinteresting opportunities to
kind of bring together livevenues with the streaming
experience.
So we're excited to pilot someof those in the coming months.
Elizabeth Bowman (05:54):
I've been to film festivals.
You know one or two times thatI'm not in that industry, but I
do appreciate those Q&As whengiven the opportunity to listen,
so I think that's great thatyou would offer that as
something that people couldengage with on your platform.
Michael Dobbin (06:11):
It's a huge draw for to get people into cinemas
is when they're the director oran actor someone is from the
production, is going to be at aQ&A.
Festivals obviously do that.
But even with movie premieresof new, new films, when that can
happen, it does bring peopleout and it gets media coverage
and people are discovering that.
That's you know.
Cinema is not dead.
It's definitely like everythingelse is changing and our habits
(06:33):
are changing, but it still is adraw.
Having a human experience,sharing an experience on film in
a dark room with strangers,still has an appeal and still
you really can experience thedifference between watching
something streaming.
And I think one of the examplesI have when, when I was earlier
in my career, I remember seeingone of my favorite films to
this day still uh, force majeure, which is reuben oslund who did
(06:55):
uh, triangle of sadness and thesquare and those sorts of films
.
And I remember seeing forcemajeure in a cinema and people
around me.
I was in europe with a lot ofeuropeans and of course they
were laughing.
It was a comedy, right, but tothe North American, if they were
just watching that kind of darkScandinavian humor without the
sort of cues of an audiencelaughing.
I think a lot of people inNorth America wouldn't know it's
(07:16):
comedy or would feel unsure andthat affects their experience.
But we were in a room full ofpeople and there's a spontaneous
burst of laughter and yourealize, yes, that is supposed
to be funny.
It's not just me, you know.
It can really help.
So anytime we can, especiallywith the kind of offerings we
have that are coming from everycorner of the world.
There's different social cuesand different styles of humor or
storytelling that you're notalways going to know.
(07:36):
It's like going to a newrestaurant with a certain kind
of cuisine.
You don't know.
Am I supposed to eat this withmy hands or is there a special
fork, like I don't know?
Same thing with cinema.
Sometimes you just need thefirst few cues to help you
understand that it's okay tolaugh at this, you know that's
very much how it is at thesymphony or the opera.
Elizabeth Bowman (07:55):
The community likely listening to this podcast
is very aware of that.
So that's great You're payingattention to that within the
film industry and to know thatyou're doing that, because to
people outside the industry wethink, oh well, everyone gets
that because we all watch film.
Michael Dobbin (08:12):
Yeah, it's an inside joke, you know.
But yeah, you're exactly right.
Certainly, with opera or youknow, people see it as fine art
and high art and they don'tconnect the dots.
Yes, it can also be comedy, butI mean, opera in its day was
also pure entertainment, thesame way that movies are today.
If some of the movies we weremaking now, in a hundred years,
people will sit there and notlaugh because they think it's
(08:33):
high art, because it's beenrelegated to the closet and
covered in dust and no onewatches movies anymore, I don't
know, you can cut that out.
That was a very dark place togo.
Elizabeth Bowman (08:42):
Are other streaming platforms doing these
live offerings?
The red carpet, the Q and A'sthat type of offering?
Michael Dobbin (08:50):
To my knowledge, there's no red carpet Q&As and
that kind of thing.
It's not to say it's nothappening.
There's so much going on it'sreally hard to keep track.
There certainly are live events.
I know, for example, primeVideo is starting to stream live
sporting events and things likethat.
We don't have any intentions todo that.
We want to keep it to mostlyscripted storytelling and
documentary.
I think what is interestingabout the streaming world now is
that, you know, 10, 15 yearsago it was about the technology.
(09:13):
It was about the fact you couldopen up your computer or your
phone and watch something andthe proprietary technology, the
platform to be able to give thatto you.
And now it's not about thatanymore.
The technology is everywhere.
There's 30 ways to do the samething or try different things,
and people are constantlyexperimenting.
So it's back to that old sortof expression that content is
(09:34):
king.
People are there to seesomething they haven't seen
before or a film they've heardabout through word of mouth.
And the technology again, theycan go to 20 different places
with different streamingexperiences from the point of
pointing and clicking, but thatnovelty is gone.
It's about the storytellingagain, I think.
I hope that's notwithstandingwhat AI is going to start doing
for things.
How?
Elizabeth Bowman (09:52):
how does one submit a film to a streaming
service like yours?
Michael Dobbin (09:57):
Okay, to submit a film to our streaming service
is probably a lot easier than toothers.
I don't want to get inundated,so I'm not going to give away
all the secrets, but basicallyyou can find us, you know you
can find my team.
You can connect with us onLinkedIn or find a find an email
address.
Like you know, we do respond tothings definitely.
You know, pitching is a wholeart form that you could do an
(10:18):
entire season of pointers oflike how to pitch in different
industries.
But in any case, for us, youknow, sometimes we just start
with a trailer.
Some people can send us atrailer and say this is
something we'd like you toconsider.
That's sort of the simplest way.
Definitely, bigger streamingservices they have a much more
kind of closed.
You sort of have to know whothe right contact is and you
have to do a bit of sleuthing tofind out who that is.
(10:39):
My team and I have a very activepresence at international
markets, so we'll go toconferences and markets and
we'll meet these people.
So that's how we get theirdetails is.
We have conversations and weall know who each other and that
kind of thing.
So that's how that happens.
But it's yeah, it's reallytricky.
I mean the other.
The other thing is through adistributor.
If you have a distributordistributing your film, they
have those contacts and theyknow how to place those those
(11:01):
things.
So in fact a lot of our contentdeals in the last six months
have been with distributors.
So we've signed deals with anumber of Canadian distributors,
including the national FilmBoard of Canada.
So if you want to see stonecold classics like Project
Grizzly do you remember that theguy who builds the bear suit,
you must know that.
Anyway, you know we have oldfilms like Mon Enclantoin, which
(11:21):
was a defining film in Quebeccinema, through the National
Film Board.
So those titles came through adistribution deal.
Elizabeth Bowman (11:28):
I don't know if I'm allowed to ask this, but
you were telling me in aconversation prior to this
podcast about selling one timeencrypted rights to watch a film
, like with your group offriends or hosting.
Michael Dobbin (11:43):
Oh yes.
Elizabeth Bowman (11:44):
Like you know, with a new film that has just
come out.
Michael Dobbin (11:47):
You can ask about that.
Yeah, so we have a featurewithin the platform is live now
and we're going to be developingit further and it's called pop.
Just watch me pop up cinema.
And the way it works is lizzie.
You could find a film on theservice maybe it's a new release
, maybe it's an old movie andyou think you know what.
I'd love to host a screening ofthis and you're an exhibitor.
(12:08):
You could either be a bricksand mortar cinema or you could
run a film appreciation society,or you could just do like
Tuesday nights at a local barn,like it doesn't matter, you're
an exhibitor.
If you have a projector, youcan be an exhibitor.
So basically, what it means isyou can get a license to show a
film and charge tickets for it,like a cinema would, so you can
actually make money showingmovies legally.
(12:28):
Imagine that people don't.
You don't need to pirate stuffanymore.
You can actually do it legallyand make money.
And we work with a third-partycompany who has this technology
that's phenomenal and has reallymade things easy, and I
encourage anyone to look at it.
It's called Artini and we linkthrough to their platform.
So the way it works, lizzie,you want to book the film.
You either get in touch with usdirectly or you can go through
(12:50):
the platform.
You download a third party app,the Artini player.
It's free.
You register it on the system.
We can then see you on thesystem.
We can then program the license, like if you want unlimited
plays for a week or three playsover a month.
Whatever we send you thatlicense, what it does is it
encrypts the file and pushes itdirectly to your player and it's
a real player so you can can.
(13:11):
You could drop in, like yoursponsorship messages or trailers
for next week or whatever.
It's just a media player but itplays these particular files.
You need an internet connectionto receive the file but not to
play it, so you could do yourscreening in a cave if you
wanted to, and then when, whenyour license is used up, it just
deletes off your system.
So there's the print traffic.
You know the way.
A lot of cinemas still usesomething called the DCP or a
(13:32):
digital cinema print.
This is sort of an alternativeto that in some ways, for
definitely for smaller venues,where it's all done digitally
online.
It's incredibly easy and italso means that for independent
producers, distributors,creators, you can run a
screening somewhere and it'ssuper easy, like.
All you need is a projector andan HDMI cable.
Elizabeth Bowman (14:04):
It's phenomenal.
Like all you need is aprojector and an HDMI cable.
It's phenomenal and we do sendfilms to cinemas this way, but
also to again pop upentrepreneurs.
A local mixologist havecomplimentary cocktails.
You could even pair up in termsof the audience, possibly
listening to this podcast Ifyou're you have a string quartet
(14:29):
and you know what types ofmusic is played in that film
score you could play.
You know you could havecomplimentary music that is
within the theme of thatproduction.
They're just ways to sort ofcross over and have a real, like
all encompassing event, so Ireally love that idea of hosting
in different spaces andreimagining the film experience.
Michael Dobbin (14:48):
Absolutely, and especially for organizations or
groups that are very active withother things.
I mean, film is a very easy oneto deliver.
You get a file, you play itright, whereas a live
performance, you know there's alot of work involved and a lot
of rehearsal and all that kindof thing.
But if you wanted to have anextra event, that's just a movie
based on the kind of stuffyou've been doing, it's sort of
an easy little extra thing youcan do.
And again, we're trying tointegrate it and use it as a way
(15:09):
to promote films and certainlyfor releasing new movies.
When there's a, you know, anational campaign for a title
and it's only playing in sixcinemas, it's much harder to
kind of justify the expenditureof advertising and promotion.
But if it's in six cinemas andit could be anywhere in the
country, could be in a townwhere there's no cinema, it
becomes a wider offering withmore potential to earn revenue,
(15:30):
because artists need to be paid,let's face it.
Elizabeth Bowman (15:32):
Yes, Ideally the struggle is real.
Can I ask how much it costs tohave the exhibition rights for a
film in your own space?
Michael Dobbin (15:41):
So the rights to book a film, if you want to do
a screening, are going to vary alittle bit.
It depends on the title, hownew it is, that kind of thing.
I think some titles might be aslow as $75, you know, and if
you're charging 10 bucks aticket, you know you can do the
math.
You don't need a lot of peopleto kind of have that pay for
itself.
Some newer titles might be, youknow, in the $250 range If you
(16:03):
book directly with us.
Sometimes, if you're in, youknow we have a relationship we
could do box office splits aswell, where you, you know you
pay a minimum screening fee andthen if you do super well, the
box office will take a higher, ahigher share that we can then
share with the distributor andthe filmmaker.
So yeah, the short answer itvaries, it depends, but you can
have a look and you can pokearound and we certainly
(16:24):
encourage nonprofits or peoplethat are just starting out.
If they have a pitch for usthat well, we're doing a
fundraiser for something, let usknow, because we can sometimes
negotiate on the price for goodcauses and things.
But less than you think is theshort answer.
Elizabeth Bowman (16:36):
Love that.
Can I ask you about advertisingon your platform?
Obviously that's got to be animportant source of revenue for
you.
How does that work?
Do you have like a tieredsystem where memberships that
include advertising and thenothers that don't?
Michael Dobbin (16:50):
That's a great question.
So there are several differentways users can access content.
The simplest is the livechannel.
You can just log in eitherthrough the browser or through
the app.
We're on various apps,including Android, mobile, apple
, roku, apple TV, samsung, abunch of them so you can just
have the app or browse and justwatch whatever's streaming live.
You don't have to do anythingother than that.
(17:11):
If you register for free withan email, you can watch movies
on demand and that'll be withads, but most of our titles are
free.
You can watch them with ads,which that is how you know.
Obviously we're paying for that,generating revenue from that
view.
If you subscribe, you get morecontent and no ads, and we're
keeping it at essentially $5Canadian a month for now Because
(17:31):
, again, we want it to be anadd-on price, we want it to be
attractive, too cheap to cancel.
So there's different ways.
Obviously, we love it whenpeople get a subscription,
because every subscription weget is is sort of showing that
people are willing to support usin that way and gives us a more
of a longer term ability toplan with revenue what's next.
But yes, you can if you justwant to check out the platform,
(17:51):
just so to see the kind ofcontent we have.
You don't have to pay.
You know we're inviting you tocome and poke around, have a
look.
In Canada, most 100% of ourcontent is live in Canada.
In the US it's probably about60% of our catalog, because at
the moment most of our rightsare for Canada only.
In other countries you'll seeless.
So I'd never condone using aVPN, but those who can access
(18:12):
the Canadian market will see wehave most of our titles live in
Canada.
Are this much wider offering?
Elizabeth Bowman (18:17):
And what's the five 10 year vision for this
platform?
Michael Dobbin (18:21):
So the long-term vision.
I think my team and I have donea good job.
It's sort of embeddingourselves in the funding
ecosystem of Canadian production, financing and development,
which means that I think withinthe next year or two you're
going to start to seeessentially for lack of a better
term, just watch me originalsshows that are airing with us
first, that we've been able tohelp get off the ground.
(18:45):
I'd like to do more of that.
I'd like to see us go intoother markets and I I think the
model that we have, which we'restarting in canada, is the idea
of stream local, like haveaccess to your local cinema,
your local content.
There's no reason we couldn'tapply that to other territories
as well.
So you could be in the czechrepublic and watch a lot of
Czech films and people in Canadacould also watch those Czech
films.
But as a means to sort of bringin local content and have
people that are essentiallyscouting that local content, I
(19:06):
think would be great and I thinkwe definitely want to move to a
model that's going to find waysto again pay the rights holders
a little more or help themmonetize more, because the more
successful content providers arecontent creators, the better
content we're going to get andwe'll have those relationships
over the longer term.
We want to keep working withthe same people as much as we
can.
(19:26):
So 10 years.
I don't even know what theworld's going to be like in 10
years.
I don't think any of us do atthis point.
It's happening so quickly.
How about this In 10 years?
I'd like to still be here andthat may be ambitious.
Elizabeth Bowman (19:41):
Who knows still be here, and that that may
be ambitious.
Who knows?
There'll be a robot sittinghere.
Michael Dobbin (19:43):
No, I hope we're still here too.
Elizabeth Bowman (19:44):
Watch my latest film, created in four
nanoseconds, for your pleasurewith that, I get a thank you for
having this conversation withme well.
Michael Dobbin (19:53):
Thanks for the opportunity.
I really appreciate it yeah, andhopefully I'll check back in
and see how it's going do and,uh, you know I love talking
about movies, so if there'ssomething on there you want a
recommendation, you let me knowand I'm gonna send you some.
I think there's one title, Ithink it's called oh, what is it
called?
Which you might appreciate.
It's about this music festivalin eastern europe.
The guy who runs it is a littlebit unconventional.
(20:14):
Okay, I'll send you the link.
I'm trying to remember NoseLandand you can watch the trailer
and you'll see what I mean.
And I think maybe in yourexperience in the performing
arts over the years, you mightfind something in it that's a
little bit amusing.
I certainly found that oneamusing.
Elizabeth Bowman (20:27):
Awesome.
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