What is 'Talent'?
And Who's Got It?
We are back with another edition of Duplex Deli Sandwich Club. We’re emerging from the Sports Equinox, the best time of year for (American) sports. Football is in full swing, the NBA and NHL are back, and we’re still on a high from an incredible wrap to a historic WNBA season and the most exciting MLB playoffs in years. It’s a good time to be a fanatical sports fan. Speaking of which, please take a second to share this newsletter with one fanatical sports fan in your life. We really appreciate it, and they will too!
We’ve got some exciting work to share, some of it a step outside Duplex Deli’s usual sports comfort zone. Which is something we’re generally up for if it involves uniquely compelling talent. After all, you only need to glance at your Netflix queue to see that it’s a talent-driven business, with celebrity docs dominating. And this is not necessarily a good thing if you’re looking for quality storytelling, given the control that celebrity talent increasingly exercises over these projects. We would posit that, the definition of ‘talent’ in the context of film/TV and marketing has gotten fuzzier.
With that being the case, how do you identify talent with a story and personality that people want more of? There are a ton of potential signals out there, and just as much noise. For marketers considering who to enlist as endorsers and ambassadors, or filmmakers looking for the next breakout documentary star, having a more nuanced understanding of how to pick talent is more critical than ever. Those who crack the code find massive arbitrage opportunities in partnering with underrated talent and bringing their stories to a larger audience. Today’s newsletter is all about unlocking those opportunities.
THE BREAD
There is a certain type of famous person who wears their ostensible lack of ‘talent’ like a badge. The archetype is Rick Rubin, who was famously quoted on 60 Minutes saying "I have no technical ability and I know nothing about music [but] I know what I like and what I don't like and I'm decisive about what I like and don't like." And yet he’s perhaps the most in-demand record producer of the modern era. There’s something undeniably magnetic about the guy. When he touches something, whatever it is, it generally turns to gold. There isn’t a definitive Rick Rubin doc (yet), but his book (which we highly recommend) was a #1 New York Times bestseller.
We recently worked with another ostensibly talentless hitmaker, Benny Blanco, who once said, “I'm not even good at making music; I'm just good at having comfy chairs and good snacks.” Yet he’s won eight Grammys (including Producer of the Year in 2023), he’s produced 30 songs that have hit #1 on the Billboard charts, and he’s written or produced songs that have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide. Benny might not be a household name, but like Rick Rubin, when he touches something it also generally turns to gold (or platinum, or in the case of “Moves Like Jagger,” diamond.)
Everyone in the film and TV world is chasing A-list celebrities. We encounter this dynamic again and again when we pitch story-driven ideas to streamers: “this is great, but can you find a way to attach one of the most famous people in the world?” Brands often have more risk tolerance since they usually aren’t trying to reach every possible consumer with each piece of content or campaign, but we’d be lying if we said this dynamic didn’t get us down sometimes.
Because we know that for every Beckham doc, there's a Federer doc. For every Drive to Survive, there's a Break Point. A-list celebrity access isn’t everything, and fame doesn’t always equal talent. The industry hasn't caught up to this yet. In the rush to book the biggest names, folks have lost sight of the fact that the most compelling characters are the ones who combine real talent with real vulnerability, and whose stories and experiences can authentically connect with viewers and teach them something about themselves and their own lives, regardless of their level of fame. That’s why Hoop Dreams is arguably the greatest documentary of all time.
“You have so many streamers and so many networks looking for the ‘sure thing.’ We all know that there’s no such thing as a sure thing. The things that break out are the things you don’t see coming.” – Chris Smith [source: IndieWire]
Understanding that dynamic is how the Duplex crew originally built VICE Sports into a million-subscriber YouTube channel. We didn’t chase the biggest names, we found the best stories. Sure we worked with Joel Embiid and Christian Pulisic, but we also worked with the millionaire pitcher who lived in a van, the craziest special teamer in the NFL, and the best bull rider of all time. Those stories did numbers because they featured talent that was both sensational and relatable. Combine that with the right approach to capturing their story – one focused on creating the space for them to be their authentic selves and capturing real, raw human moments with polish – and you have a recipe for hits.
That’s still the type of talent we like working with today, and we still take the same approach in working with them – whether we’re capturing the coming-of-age stories of top soccer prospects in We Are King (dropping next week!), the redemptive journey of Ryan Sheckler, or the creative genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda. Our subjects aren’t always the most ultra-mega-world-famous, but they have stories that need to be told, and that’s when the real magic happens.
“It’s not going to go away, but I feel like we are emerging from what was peak production of all things… which was like every band, every celebrity, had to have a documentary. When it started to become something that people and their handlers felt like, ‘This is going be good for our new album, tour or brand.’ That’s when a documentary was seen as an extension of a brand, and that’s when you should run away.” – Morgan Neville [source: Variety]
Duplex Deli encourages brands and streamers alike to do the same. Stop chasing the obvious, and start looking for real stories that will truly connect. There are riches in those niches, and we’d love to help you find them.
THE SAUCE
By the way, and despite what he says, Benny Blanco is very good at making music. And he’s not just one of the greatest producers of our time, he can also play an instrument pretty well too. Check out Benny on the keys in this acoustic version of Justin Bieber’s "Lonely."
**sniffles**
THE MEAT
Onto that new work with Benny Blanco we mentioned up top. There are a few reasons why this project was especially fun:
First, we got to work with Adobe, a brand and product suite that is critical to our work at Duplex Deli. We’re in Premiere, After Effects, and Photoshop pretty much every day – those tools are the backbone of the work we do.
Second, we got to step out of our sports bag for a second. Working with Benny and diving into the music world was a reminder that storytelling transcends categories. Whether it’s an athlete like Trinity Rodman or a musician, at the end of the day it’s about getting the best out of someone, capturing their essence, and telling a story that resonates.
Third, we got to support an amazing family-owned restaurant in LA called Mariscos 4 Vientos, and eat roughly ten thousand of their incredible shrimp tacos in the process. Supporting local businesses and the unsung heroes that define communities is a special kind of privilege.
This is the "Create Anything with Benny Blanco and his Friends at Adobe Express" show. Shoutout to our amazing crew, the fine folks at Adobe, and our brilliant partners at Modern Arts and MAMA for bringing this all together:
#IRLSANDWICH
My goodness, those shrimp tacos. Before you ask “is a taco a sandwich?” know that it doesn’t matter. They’re that good. These are the Dorados Tacos at Mariscos 4 Vientos: special shrimp-and-veggie mix inside of a deep-fried corn tortilla shell, topped with avocado and salsa. FLAWLESS. If you’re in LA, go eat now.
This wraps another Duplex Deli Sandwich Club. Please do like, share, subscribe, send us your #IRLSANDWICHES, or tacos, and definitely reach out if you’re a brand that wants to identify or utilize talent the right way, especially (but not exclusively in sports. Outsized returns await. We’re here to help.
