Hollywood Is Evolving, But Amelia Dimoldenberg Knows What’s Next | The Big Interview

0:00 I am in the business of making entertainment.

0:03 Yeah.

0:04 And I think that's a distinction from from journalism in a way.

0:06 You know, I study journalism.

0:08 I have a degree in journalism, but I always feel like um I've been

0:11 more drawn to making something within the entertainment space.

0:15 And I think that a lot of creators that are like working the red carpets now,

0:19 I think that that's their approach, too.

0:21 It's not necessarily that they're trying to get a scoop, um,

0:24 for example, but they're trying to make something that is entertaining.

0:28 and and it does like people really connect with those with those interviews.

0:31 Um and and obviously some are stronger than others like in any any situation.

0:36 The first time I did the red carpet was maybe nearly five years ago now um

0:41 for the GQ man of the year awards and I remember at the time it being such

0:45 an exciting moment because I I don't think many

0:47 like non-traditional talent had taken those roles and I

0:51 think since then the space has become quite

0:54 I guess oversaturated but like like how anything would.

0:57 Um so it's I guess it's always been important for me

1:00 to make sure I stand out um in in a crowded space always.

1:05 Um, but yeah, I'm interested in in in creating

1:08 moment a moment um something that people can

1:12 connect to that that kind of stands out

1:16 online because you know there's so much content now see of it.

1:20 So you really do have to be able to make your mark

1:23 and it's actually something that I've always been quite successful at doing.

1:27 Um, so I feel but that's just through the the pre-planning

1:32 of it like the the amount of like I

1:35 watch so many interviews with with said talent that I

1:38 meant to be interviewing to get a sense of their vibe,

1:42 their energy, the type of personality that they are

1:45 and therefore what kind of questions they would respond well to.

1:47 And I think it's through all of that that I'm able to like preempt the moment,

1:54 you know, like for example, Ethan Hawk,

1:56 like the my interview with him like went quite viral

1:59 from the um Oscars this year and that was because I spent

2:02 a lot of time understanding the way that he approaches interviews

2:06 and he has this ability to like say something really poetic.

2:09 Um, and I don't think everyone kind of knows that about him.

2:12 I think you do have to be like in a wormhole of of his interviews

2:16 to kind of know that if you just are a fan of his work for example.

2:19 And so I thought it would be interesting to ask

2:22 him a more kind of philosophical or like uh question

2:26 not deeply philosophical but just something that would provoke

2:28 a kind that kind of answer in it and it worked.

2:30 So yeah

2:31 um in a way I think that's my approach.

2:33 you.

2:34 It's interesting because you you certainly I

2:36 mean you bring the like the academic training

2:38 of a journalist and certainly the obsessive

2:41 need to prepare or overprepare before an assignment.

2:45 You know what I mean?

2:45 Oh my god.

2:46 I couldn't you sound you sound like a bit of an obsessive

2:48 person and I say that as the highest compliment.

2:50 Well, I don't think I could go into anything that I do without preparing.

2:53 And I and and sometimes I I feel like maybe it's unnecessary

2:57 to the level because I think it comes from sometimes with me anyway,

3:01 like maybe a little bit of a lack of confidence in myself or something

3:03 like that that I feel the need to be so prepared for something.

3:07 But at the same time,

3:08 it just makes me feel comfortable because then

3:10 I know I can just feel good about it.

3:13 Even if it didn't go well, I can say, "Well,

3:15 at least I did the best I could beforehand." Yeah.

3:18 and then it's kind of out of your hands.

3:20 But I've definitely been interviewed by people before who don't have any notes,

3:25 you know, don't have anything and it's just completely off the off the dome.

3:30 And I've always been so impressed

3:32 by that level of being able to honestly memorize.

3:36 And maybe it is also a a confidence thing, too.

3:39 Well, maybe they're just maybe they're just winging it.

3:41 Maybe they didn't memorize anything.

3:43 I don't know.

3:43 And obviously that that can work sometimes

3:45 and can be a disaster other times, but

3:49 Well, yeah.

3:49 I mean, I like I would say for this podcast,

3:52 our producer had to like beat out of me the idea that I

3:56 needed to spend like an entire

3:58 Friday researching someone before I interview them.

4:01 And she was like, "You don't have time.

4:02 You have to stop doing this.

4:03 This is out of control." But it is, I think, not to make it about being a woman,

4:08 but I think there is something to that.

4:10 this sense of like imposter syndrome and a lack

4:13 of confidence and that you need to overprepare.

4:15 Yes.

4:16 To go in and do something that that with all love and respect to the men

4:20 in my life that maybe a man could go

4:22 in with 15 minutes of prep and just wing it.

4:24 I agree.

4:25 I cannot do that.

4:26 I agree.

4:26 But are they getting a better interview?

4:27 I don't know.

4:28 I don't I don't know that they are, Amelia.

4:31 I don't I don't know that they are.

4:33 I I'm curious about the Oscars for another beat

4:36 and then I want to talk more about many many things.

4:38 But when we were getting ready for the show,

4:40 not that I was getting ready too much.

4:41 I didn't get ready that much cuz I'm not allowed anymore.

4:44 I'm not allowed to overplay.

4:45 Absolutely not.

4:46 Your Friday you were you were off the clock.

4:47 You were having drinks with the girls.

4:50 I wish um that the Oscars is airing on YouTube for the first time in 2029,

4:54 which when I saw that, my first thought was, what's taking them so long?

4:58 How is it possible that it's going to take them like

4:59 there's a lot of admin involved?

5:01 Three more years to put it on YouTube.

5:03 Like a lot of red tape.

5:04 Put it on YouTube tomorrow, you guys.

5:06 But still a sign of the times.

5:09 The Oscars.

5:10 We're getting there.

5:10 We're getting on YouTube.

5:12 What else would you like to see an award show

5:14 like the Oscars do to kind of meet this moment?

5:17 Right.

5:17 You've talked about four or five years ago it was ludicrous to think

5:21 that there would be like a quote non-traditional person on the red carpet.

5:25 Now it's it's all there is.

5:28 Um but what else?

5:30 like what where where are award shows like the Oscars

5:33 but not exclusive to them still sort of behind the times

5:35 when it comes to the way people actually consume entertainment

5:39 the way they find content for lack of a better term

5:42 that's a good question I mean I think there's still a long

5:45 way to go in terms of um awarding or um or taking seriously

5:50 online content you know I mean last year uh was the first

5:55 oh sorry this year with the Golden Globes they had a podcast category um wild.

6:02 Yeah.

6:02 And I think that was an really interesting move.

6:04 And I think that there's a long way to go as well

6:06 with like other award shows um taking um shows like Chicken Shop Date.

6:12 Like why can't we why can't we win um certain awards?

6:15 Why can't Well, Chicken Shop is going not going to win an Oscar.

6:18 No, no, no.

6:18 But but what what could you win that you

6:20 couldn't like that you couldn't submit yourself for now?

6:22 Like is it an Emmy?

6:23 Like

6:24 an Emmy?

6:24 I I tried to submit for the Emmys and then there was a there was a clause

6:28 because um I didn't have an American production

6:31 company because it was a British production company.

6:33 You have to have

6:34 an American but I've I've figured that out now.

6:36 Okay.

6:36 Um so I'm hoping to be eligible next year for the Emmys,

6:40 but still it's like in a specific category like um and I wouldn't I don't even

6:44 think it would be like within the main um awards that they would be giving out.

6:49 But you can still you can still apply.

6:51 I think it's like short short form category.

6:53 But yeah, I think that there's there's so many um incredible online series

6:58 and again podcasts or content that um is is what people are consuming now.

7:04 And I think that these award shows,

7:05 we know and people could say, "Oh, it's just an award show.

7:08 Who cares?" But actually,

7:08 it people do care and and there's so much out there that people

7:12 do as humans like to be told what is good and what is not.

7:16 And I think that it um also it it kind of condenses

7:20 the amount of things that you have to consume in a way.

7:23 Um so I do think it's people really look

7:25 to those awards and they are really important still.

7:27 Um but yeah, so I think for sure um

7:31 more categories within online online content would be amazing.

7:35 And with the Oscars specifically,

7:37 I think again just like broadening out the the types of of films and and artists

7:43 and and um uh creative people that can

7:46 be eligible for awards I think would be amazing.

7:50 Have you told them this?

7:51 Um no I haven't.

7:52 Um but I will you well maybe maybe you just did.

7:55 Um, I I am curious for your sort of point of view on

8:00 this idea of like the the online creator, right,

8:02 which is if you think about the size

8:05 of the quote unquote creator economy, right?

8:07 Like people making things on the internet and putting them on platforms,

8:11 it's like $250 billion a year, right?

8:13 Like it's massive.

8:14 And it is for many people like the only thing they watch, right,

8:19 is Tik Tok or YouTube or so on and so forth.

8:22 people like you are celebrities to those many

8:26 many millions of people like that it

8:28 is a thing and yet somehow I think from where I sit at least

8:34 it still doesn't seem like it is received with the same

8:38 level of respect and maybe like difference or credibility as like

8:45 Hollywood acting or something more traditional or conventional

8:49 why do you think that is and is that is that something you have experienced

8:52 and how have you experienced that maybe

8:54 change since 2014 when you launched the show?

8:56 Well, it's a great question.

8:57 I think it's one of those things where it's like the changing of the guard.

9:00 I think that it's there's a lot of people in positions

9:02 of power that they grew up watching consuming television and that is kind

9:07 of the be all and end all of what they deem

9:09 to be uh legitimate in terms of um a successful career within entertainment.

9:15 Um so I think that as people um die um things things will change.

9:22 Um but oh yes as they die but more to that I think um since it's

9:28 personally in my journey within my career

9:31 it's always been important to me to kind

9:34 of bridge the gap between um the online world and then more of the traditional

9:38 media because I've always seen the value

9:40 in in people taking traditional media seriously.

9:44 So, um, so it's been it's been a real need of mine

9:49 to to make sure that I kind of straddle both in a way.

9:52 So, taking opportunities within tra traditional media when they seem beneficial,

9:56 but then also making sure that I'm really like planting

9:59 myself on YouTube and on TikTok and doing all those things.

10:02 Um I think you need to be super strategic about about things

10:05 and to understand that there are audiences different audiences for both um

10:11 kind of spheres and you can speak to both of them

10:14 and there's a way to speak to both of them um as well.

10:17 So, I've always tried to do that.

10:18 But, yeah, I mean, there's been different people, I guess,

10:21 throughout um the kind of history of of of online

10:26 culture that have kind of like I

10:27 guess paved the way for like being taken more

10:30 seriously from like people like Emma Chamberlain, for example.

10:32 I think that she's um been someone that people look to who has really

10:37 kind of crossed over and then even people like Mr.

10:39 Beast or people who get to that level of of fame um within uh internet culture.

10:46 I also think these people are all entrepreneurs and they all

10:49 are business-minded um creators and I think that having that aspect

10:54 to their personality and their drive has really also um made

11:00 them more um people in the public be more aware of them.

11:06 Yeah.

11:05 But also with my show for example with Chicken Shop Day,

11:08 I honestly see that as a it's a show on YouTube, you know?

11:11 I'm not vlogging.

11:12 I'm not doing something that's kind of more native to to the online space.

11:17 I'm I'm kind of doing something that tra traditional media has done for decades,

11:24 but I I am interpreting it to the YouTube audience.

11:28 So, in that sense, I feel like because of the format aspect of what I do,

11:32 it's been more easy to translate it to like a wider audience.

11:37 Yeah.

11:37 Yeah.

11:37 Uh, it's interesting this idea of sort

11:38 of like transcending from online culture and sort

11:42 of creator world into maybe more traditional

11:46 or or more sort of conventionally respected entertainment.

11:51 And I think at some point that line has to go away, right?

11:55 Because it's just like online culture and YouTube and Tik Tok like

11:59 that is that is at this point I think conventional entertainment, right?

12:03 But maybe we are just waiting for some people to die.

12:06 like maybe that is just what's happening.

12:08 I also think that I'm from a generation where like I

12:10 grew up watching television and like appointment appointment viewing like that.

12:14 I'm I'm 32 and I think obviously now like 20

12:18 year olds they won't have that at all like they will

12:21 only have grown up watching Tik Tok being uh having

12:24 a streamer um that they they can just watch whatever they want.

12:27 So, I do think it's like a generational shift

12:29 that I'm someone who still values the traditional space,

12:33 but at the end of the day, I also think that movies will stand the test

12:37 of time like that is people are always going to want

12:40 to watch movies and watching a movie and making

12:42 a movie is different to making a Tik Tok video.

12:44 It just is.

12:45 And so, it just a different medium.

12:47 And I don't I don't think that the fact that, you know,

12:50 these new platforms um social media platforms coming up means that, you know,

12:55 they're going to take over that space necessarily.

12:58 I just think that people need to understand

13:00 that they are different platforms that are

13:04 made for different types of content and different

13:07 and the way that you consume it.

13:08 Like you I was speak having a friend the other day and they were talking

13:11 about their favorite podcast um now being

13:13 on Netflix for example and they just they

13:16 just said I don't want to watch it on Netflix and it's like well you

13:20 just have to press a button and they're like I'm not going to do it.

13:24 Where did they want to watch the podcast on YouTube?

13:26 I see.

13:26 Okay.

13:27 And it's interesting.

13:29 That's interesting that like an audience that it

13:33 pressing a different button is like such an effort that you really see the

13:38 you you really see the format um living in a certain echo e echo e ecosystem

13:44 and that is fascinating to me and and I have had conversations with

13:49 streamers before about

13:51 well this was actually a question I'm curious you the show

13:53 has been running on YouTube now for what 12 years

13:58 have you ever given given any consideration to taking it off

14:00 YouTube like what what would that potentially look like for you?

14:03 I have had offers to take it off YouTube.

14:05 I bet you have

14:06 for like much money much money and I've said no because again I

14:11 just believe and think that that is what will happen.

14:15 The audience will be like why is it on another platform?

14:17 I don't want to press the button.

14:18 I want Yeah.

14:19 I I and and I think that that's what I

14:21 love about YouTube is that it's it's you know very democratic.

14:24 You know you just have to have access to the internet to be able to watch it.

14:26 and my audience really likes consuming it there.

14:28 And I I think it's very difficult to like change

14:31 the behavior of an audience with a show that they already know.

14:35 And that and I would love and am trying to work with streamers

14:39 but on separate projects that I feel like

14:42 would work for the the um platform itself.

14:47 you know, I'm developing um a TV series

14:49 and like for example and I feel like people

14:52 love watching TV series on on on streamers

14:55 and I think that would make sense and you know,

14:57 who knows, maybe the podcasting will um find an audience on streamers,

15:05 but it might just take a few years.

15:08 People are going to have to really think about pressing that button.

15:10 Or maybe it Yeah.

15:11 Or maybe it will just only work with with new podcasts

15:15 that you associate with the Netflix.

15:17 Yeah, I honestly think it is maybe something to do with that.

15:19 I mean, how have you you talked a lot about

15:22 sort of creators as as entrepreneurs and like a Mr.

15:25 Beast.

15:26 You yourself are very much entrepreneurial and you've

15:29 had to be you've had to be entrepreneurial.

15:30 You've had to be strategic.

15:33 This is a a big question and I'm sort of sorry for asking it this way,

15:36 but it's what's coming to mind.

15:38 What have you had to learn about strategy since

15:42 2014 when you you decided to launch the show?

15:45 Okay, great.

15:46 You've now built it into a a real meaningful business for yourself.

15:52 What have you had to learn along the way?

15:55 Um, I guess lots of things.

15:58 Um, I think the main thing that I've learned is how important it is

16:03 and how thankful and happy I am that I own my own copyright that I own.

16:08 Tell me tell me about that.

16:09 Yeah.

16:10 When did you make that decision?

16:11 When did that come up?

16:12 Well, when I started the show,

16:14 so the show started in a in a youth club and I was I it

16:17 started as a column in a in a youthrun publication from when I was 17.

16:21 The Cut.

16:22 The Cut.

16:23 Not The Cut, but The Cut.

16:24 It was called The Cut.

16:25 Um, and and then and then yeah,

16:27 when I was at my first year of university, I went to St.

16:29 Martin, studied fashion journalism.

16:30 I thought, "Oh, this would be great if

16:31 this was filmed because it's funny and awkward

16:33 and and if only I knew someone with a camera

16:35 to help me help me film it." And finally,

16:37 I met someone, started making them on YouTube.

16:39 And um, it then got to a point after making maybe like five

16:43 episodes where I just I just didn't I couldn't ask people for favors anymore.

16:47 You know, everyone was doing it for free.

16:49 I was a student.

16:51 Um, I was even persuading the shops to the shops weren't even closing.

16:55 They were open and we would have

16:57 there were people like eating chicken around you and I and we'd have to pause

17:00 keep pausing intermittently like when people people were

17:04 ordering stuff because I didn't have um enough

17:06 like budget to to to shut the shop.

17:09 I didn't even know that you could even do that.

17:11 I I just didn't know anything about production anyway.

17:13 And then it got to Yeah.

17:14 So it got to a point where I honestly didn't

17:15 have any means to fund an to make an episode anymore.

17:19 And so I thought, okay, how am I gonna do this?

17:22 So I I spoke to a record label um and they were gonna help me do it and I would

17:28 maybe have to do set amount of their artists

17:31 on the show and then I was allowed to do other ones.

17:33 But they wanted to buy the rights from me.

17:36 Um and the deal was quite was really terrible actually.

17:40 And luckily that's when I got a manager for the first time.

17:43 They looked over the contract said you cannot sign this.

17:46 So thank you to them.

17:48 And then I tried to get funding through a media company and they again were like

17:53 we we want the copyright and they wanted

17:56 to buy it for a ridiculous amount of money.

17:59 Like

17:59 how much money?

18:01 £500.

18:03 No.

18:02 Is what they offered me.

18:03 Yeah.

18:04 To buy the to buy the copyright.

18:06 Yeah.

18:06 Can you imagine if you had signed that?

18:08 I know.

18:08 And something just in me like I don't even know.

18:10 I wasn't getting any really other advice.

18:12 Like something in me just I just knew like that is not I cannot do that.

18:16 No.

18:17 So I then ended up getting a brand deal because I

18:22 also came up at the time when being an influencer was beginning.

18:27 So uh brands were understanding that they can go direct to um to the

18:33 the person they can cut out the middleman.

18:34 They can cut out the agency.

18:36 Um they don't have to buy this big billboard.

18:38 The billboard is now on someone's phone.

18:40 Yeah.

18:41 So, I got a brand deal and the brand deal um paid

18:45 for me to be able to never think about um funding it again.

18:50 More than £500.

18:51 More than £500.

18:52 Yeah.

18:52 Um so, and not to say that like set me up for the rest of my life,

18:56 but I mean that it just meant that I could then make episodes

18:59 and then I was making money on the AdSense then and it just like

19:02 just became this returning investment and now I fund the episodes

19:05 with the money that I make from the Google AdSense.

19:09 And and what have you had to learn or like what

19:11 can you tell me about the YouTube of it all, right?

19:15 Like the algorithm of it all.

19:16 I think there's there's the YouTube piece of it,

19:18 there's the Tik Tok piece of it,

19:20 and there's always so much conversation and constrnation around these algorithms

19:23 and what they expose us to and and you know,

19:25 when Tik Tok was was acquired in the United States recently,

19:29 like put under US ownership,

19:30 there was all of this constrnation around will the algorithm

19:33 change and what will it surface and what won't it?

19:36 How do you navigate like the the whims of the algorithm?

19:39 How has that shown up for you and your business?

19:42 I another great question.

19:43 Um we are all at the mercy of the algorithm.

19:46 We are all of us as creators and consumers

19:48 and consumers.

19:49 Um I think that well originally I was just making videos um for my friends

19:56 to as in if they found this funny then I was like great I'm going to post it.

20:01 Um so that was like my barometer of like whether I should upload something.

20:05 I've always wanted to make comedy and I

20:08 think that comedy always cuts through in a way.

20:10 I think that's especially on the internet

20:12 like it's just the home of funny things.

20:15 So I think when you're making comedy online

20:18 um I think you're already kind of set

20:20 up for success in a way because it's just something that people like to consume.

20:24 Um, but I also think that the way naturally

20:26 the way that our episodes have been made now,

20:30 if I'm I'm comparing them to podcasts,

20:33 like I actually hate when people come up to me on the street and they say,

20:35 "I love your podcast." I'm like, "IT'S NOT A PODCAST."

20:38 WELL, I CAN IMAGINE YOU WOULD HATE THAT BECAUSE it's actually not a podcast.

20:41 No offense to podcasts.

20:42 We love them.

20:43 But it's interesting because I think that before I've always

20:46 been making something that now people view as a video podcast,

20:49 you know, before they really Yeah.

20:51 Before video podcasts were a thing.

20:52 Oh, I guess because Hello.

20:54 Everyone's on video now.

20:55 Everything is video and it's somewhat two people sat opposite each other, right?

20:59 So, it's like it it kind of looks similar

21:01 and like you even saying that you uh first

21:04 found found out about Chicken Shop Day via Tik

21:06 Tok and if people are just looking at these clips,

21:07 they honestly might think it is a podcast.

21:09 Um that's a good point.

21:11 I hadn't thought of that.

21:12 Even Even a lot of podcasts now take away the microphones.

21:15 Anyway, just to say my point is that we were editing the show always

21:20 in clip format because of the B-roll that we have that everyone really loves,

21:24 right?

21:24 You are a notoriously like ruthless editor.

21:27 Yes, I love the edit.

21:28 My edits the edit being in the edit is my favorite part of of of the process.

21:32 Um, and so we we have these clips that then we cut to the the fry the fryer.

21:37 We cut to the boss man.

21:38 We also have a social media strategy from the beginning that I built and then

21:42 now I have um my social media manager Ashley who like runs that for me.

21:46 So she will think, okay,

21:49 which clip are we going to lead with and then like how many are we

21:51 going to post over the course of a week and what additional content can we have?

21:55 And so our videos have naturally kind

21:58 of suited the algorithm by accident in a way

22:01 because we were already doing clips.

22:03 Um, but I I don't ever go into making

22:06 something thinking how can we feed the algorithm.

22:09 Um, I just think how can we get an amazing interview

22:13 and going back to what I said with my how I research something.

22:16 How can I use what I know already from what I've consumed of this person and how

22:20 can I create something that hasn't been seen

22:21 before with with them playing to their strengths.

22:25 So, that's kind of my way that I go into it.

22:28 But obviously I when I was starting um the videos got you know

22:33 hundreds of views and I would be like oh god I just I

22:37 I spent I spent seven years nearly I would say probably seven years

22:41 growing the show to when it to until it became known in America.

22:45 And so that's like a long time

22:47 that's a really long time

22:48 to be working on something before you are then like okay

22:52 this is the amount of eyeballs I've always thought it should get.

22:55 Yeah.

22:55 And now I'm there, but it t took years.

22:58 But I also was growing the show as all

23:02 of these things we've been talking about are growing, too.

23:04 Like the media landscape changing, people being more um aware of of content,

23:08 people consuming content, Tik Tok being invented,

23:11 like all of these different things.

23:13 So, I've just grown with the times.

23:15 Well, it's a very very good show.

23:16 But I guess you're right that you had very very good timing.

23:20 Yeah.

23:21 And now everyone's doing it.

23:23 everyone every well you're right actually everyone is

23:26 doing it and now everyone thinks that you have

23:27 a podcast um when in fact unfortunately you

23:32 at least as of now you do not you have

23:34 a very disarming persona I mean your your persona

23:37 on the show is um is is off-putting right

23:41 like that's kind of by design but you do

23:43 disarm them and you get great material out of them

23:47 to what do you account that like why do you think you are

23:50 able to disarm these celebrities to the to the extent that you are.

23:53 Is it the research?

23:54 Is it something else?

23:56 I it's kind of shift changed in my mind as to like what it what it's been.

24:00 I think originally when I started it,

24:02 it was because I just thought it was funnier to play this character

24:06 that was sarcastic and kind of flipped between

24:10 being like totally desperate to then being totally uninterested.

24:16 And that kind of um pairing is just ultimately funny.

24:22 um and catches people off guard and I think that it has just worked.

24:26 But that was me playing up my natural uh personality at school.

24:30 Like when I was at school, I was much more sarcastic and dead pan.

24:33 And I definitely think that was a shield, you know,

24:36 a shield to boys that were mean and um you know, and it did it worked.

24:41 You know, they boys at school sucked.

24:42 They and then they didn't come near me to the point where then I was like,

24:45 "Damn it, but I did actually want you to like me or or be interested in me,

24:48 but I've kind of it's gone too far." But it but it um but it but I think it

24:53 was just like kind of like a self defense

24:56 mechanism that that just kind of ended up being funny.

24:59 But but you combine that sort of your ability to disarm your guests

25:02 and sort of that demeanor with this ruthless approach you take to editing.

25:07 I mean I think I read you take what like 40 minutes or an hour of material

25:11 and you cut it down to eight or 10 minutes.

25:13 Is that right?

25:14 Like that's that's a that's a rigorous edit.

25:17 Do you ever get it to a place where the guest

25:19 on the other side of it is not happy with what you put together?

25:23 Not that I've heard of, but we don't give approvals.

25:26 So, um, but no, I've I've never I've never had it that people have been upset

25:32 with an edit because I'm always trying to edit

25:34 the person to be more charming than they actually are.

25:37 Right.

25:37 More charming, funnier on the I'm doing them a favor.

25:40 You are.

25:41 Yeah.

25:42 So, and and I like that because that's what I want.

25:44 I want people to watch the episodes and to fall in love with this person.

25:47 Like it's a dating show and you know I it's

25:50 meant to be and and yes it's aw it can

25:52 be awkward and that's awkwardness is funny but that's also

25:55 part of life and dating and I I think that's

25:57 what people connect with and and I think me having

26:00 this persona that I've had um that that I you

26:05 know had as a young p younger person and kind

26:07 of I'm kind of kind of growing out of it.

26:10 um uh it it just make it's a point of difference

26:14 that um I think people connect to because it's not so usual.

26:19 I definitely grew up watching a lot of very

26:21 bubbly TV presenters that agreed with everything the person

26:24 opposite was saying to them and that's what I

26:27 thought was okay that that's one way of doing it.

26:30 I'm not like that.

26:31 I don't want to do it like that.

26:32 So I just thought it would be funny to kind of flip it

26:34 on its head and just be like what if I disagreed with people?

26:37 What if I like rolled my eyes at at like

26:40 this celebrity and brought them back down to earth?

26:42 That's kind of what I think.

26:44 But yeah, the edit is is definitely my favorite part of the process.

26:48 Um and um there's so many things you can do within it.

26:53 Like you know, you can have this 40 minutes and you

26:55 can like kind of change it like in a way.

26:58 And and that's the same with any kind of art form.

27:00 even if you're if you're a journalist or if you're a film director, you know,

27:06 I think that it the the the piece is often made in in the edit.

27:10 I want to talk about sort of you've you've been at this a long time.

27:14 You've learned a lot.

27:15 You have a lot of sort of knowledge and expertise

27:17 at this point and you've actually

27:19 created a summer school essentially, Dims, Inc.

27:21 Academy.

27:22 Tell me how that actually works.

27:23 What's the idea there?

27:24 Well, it all started I've always wanted to create a space

27:27 for young people to learn more about the creative industries and be

27:30 able to actually get their ideas out there and meet like-minded people

27:34 because that is the journey that I had with creating the show.

27:37 Um, I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't go to this magazine

27:40 club after school from when I was 16 and uh we were allowed to pitch ideas.

27:46 Um, it was kind of probably like being

27:48 at Condast Publications but but but everyone's miniature.

27:53 Um and um the building isn't as high up

27:56 but um but yeah so we were allowed to you know

27:59 think pitch ideas and write about whatever we wanted

28:01 to and it was this amazing place to to meet people and

28:04 I don't know if that's if that really is reflected

28:07 in cond let's take let's take that away then as not we might keep that in

28:12 think of a different reference but yeah and I I

28:15 got so much out of that and I've always wanted

28:17 to create that kind of space um myself and kind

28:20 of use my what I've learned um to do that.

28:25 And so last year we did um a oneweek program for young people who don't ne

28:31 wouldn't necessarily have um access to the creative

28:33 industries um from a real diverse range of backgrounds.

28:37 Um and they had to had one week to create

28:40 a pilot of an online format that they came up with themselves.

28:45 And it was so they was I was so impressed.

28:47 They had 5 days to go from ideulating on the idea to then shooting

28:50 it to then um showcasing it and making a marketing plan around it and it

28:56 was just um incredible and uh this year we're with the help of Adobe who

29:01 are supporting the program um I can

29:03 we're extending it to four weeks over summer.

29:05 Oh wow.

29:06 It's really important to me to also be able to provide the right support,

29:09 but also the tools that these young people

29:12 will need to actually create uh pieces of work.

29:15 And we're we're partnering with Adobe this year,

29:17 which is amazing because I've always been

29:19 using Adobe products from Photoshop to Premiier Pro.

29:23 And it it's going to be incredible to be able to give

29:25 those pieces of software to the young people for free during the academy.

29:30 And then with Premier Mobile, which is the Premier Pro version on the mobile,

29:34 it's that's just such an easy way for young people

29:37 and anyone to create work when they're on the go.

29:40 Thank you um Adobe for helping me with this as well.

29:44 You talked a minute ago about maybe sort of growing out

29:48 of that persona a little bit that you had developed many years ago.

29:52 I'm curious about what that means for you in your career

29:56 and where you see yourself going next in that context.

30:00 Well, I'm always been someone who's very interested in doing so many

30:03 different things and I think I've again back to your point about strategy.

30:06 I've always felt like it was really important for me to define myself

30:10 beyond chicken shop day and beyond that persona and make sure that I'm seen,

30:15 you know, doing other things and able to like talk freely like this.

30:18 Like this is actually who I am.

30:19 I'm someone who's who's more human being,

30:22 a human being, like someone who's serious,

30:23 takes their work seriously and and thoughtful and all those things.

30:26 And back to the idea of like storytelling, it just seems like such a corny word,

30:31 but it's the only word I can think of.

30:33 That is something that has always been my interest.

30:36 And with chicken shop date, I always feel like I've been telling the story

30:39 of the girl who wants to fall in love and is unlucky

30:42 in love and and keeps going on these dates and maybe

30:45 one day they'll it will be she'll get a second date.

30:48 And I I think that's what has really kind of pushed

30:50 me through like having the show for so long is because

30:53 I've really understood that narrative and I've really loved developing other

30:59 scripted projects that I've been doing for like numerous years now.

31:02 But you know those things take so long

31:03 and it's been incredible to be able to like work

31:06 within the online space and be able to have

31:08 an idea and not have to wait to be commissioned.

31:10 I think that's one of pro I think that's

31:12 probably the best thing about the democratization of the internet

31:16 is it's allowed for so many more ideas

31:18 to become realities and bypass all of the gatekeepers.

31:24 Um now your only gatekeeper is the algorithm but um

31:28 but yeah so um I'm developing a TV series

31:30 with the with the BBC which is kind of been

31:34 an ongoing project for many years that I'm so excited about.

31:36 And then I have a movie in development

31:38 as well with Amazon MGM and Ryan Pictures.

31:42 Um, and that's kind of like my own romcom.

31:45 Um, and you play the lead, right?

31:47 Yeah.

31:47 Yeah.

31:48 I'm going to be playing myself.

31:49 It's like the chicken shop date movie.

31:50 And do you find love at the end?

31:53 Well, you have to watch Find Out, and I'll have to get We'll have to I hope so.

31:56 I hope so.

31:57 I I hope so, too.

31:59 I hope so.

31:59 I mean, it's a romcom, so I mean, terrible romcom.

32:03 I mean, if it's not happening in real life,

32:04 you better bloody make it happen in the movie.

32:07 Fair enough.

32:08 So, yeah.

32:08 And then, you know, I I I directed a music video earlier this year,

32:11 and I love that experience.

32:13 Well, I'm sorry to be a 40-year-old, but I am.

32:15 What music video?

32:16 It was for an amazing artist called Maisy Peters,

32:18 and I just loved the experience.

32:21 And I obviously direct Chicken Shop Day, and I always have,

32:24 but it's very different when you are really

32:26 turning your hand to directing something with a narrative.

32:28 And I I I just love the experience so much of being part of a team,

32:33 collaborating with different heads of department and understanding how um how

32:40 many parts are involved in creating something and I loved it.

32:44 So I can't wait to direct more.

32:46 I would love to do that.

32:47 I have an idea for a short film I want to do.

32:48 But yeah, I a chicken shop day has taken up a lot of my time

32:51 and um but I've always tried to make

32:53 sure I can do other creative pursuits alongside it.

32:56 And obviously red carpet interviews have been a great thing for me

32:59 to show that I can do I can turn my hand to different things,

33:03 but I just want to be able to make things that resonate with me that kind

33:09 of come from some kind of personal passion

33:13 or story of a way to kind of represent myself.

33:16 And I think um that's kind of what I'm going to continue to do.

33:20 And I think also like the academy is something that takes up

33:24 a lot of my time too and it's something that I love.

33:26 I'm really passionate about and I'm very

33:28 excited to kind of carry on building that.

33:30 Who knows?

33:31 Who knows what I'm going to do?

33:32 I'm going to do it all.

33:33 It sounds like you're doing it.

33:35 Sounds like you're doing enough.

33:36 It's doing enough.

33:37 It sounds like you're doing God for that.

33:38 Well, on that note, I would love to end with a little

33:41 game that we play at the end of every episode.

33:43 I'm sure you love love games.

33:45 You're going to love this.

33:46 It's called control altdelete.

33:47 Yeah.

33:47 And I want to know what's a piece of technology you would love to control.

33:52 What's one you would love to alt?

33:53 So alter or change?

33:54 And what would you love to delete?

33:56 What would you love to eliminate from planet Earth if you could?

34:01 Technology I'd like to control.

34:03 Yeah, I'm really bad at quickfire questions.

34:07 Sorry.

34:08 Um technology I'd like to control.

34:18 There's so many technologies in the world.

34:22 Yes, it's very open-ended.

34:23 Someone once answered this question.

34:25 It was a man.

34:26 But he said, um, sorry, I feel like I'm coming off very anti-men.

34:30 I love men.

34:31 We all love men.

34:31 We love men.

34:32 He said the weather.

34:33 And I was like, well, that's not technology.

34:36 That's mother nature.

34:37 I know.

34:37 But it was a very God complex.

34:39 Oh, right.

34:39 Um, control technology.

34:41 I'd like to control Pro probably.

34:47 Okay, there's two answers here.

34:48 I mean, like I always wanted to work on the tube.

34:52 Okay.

34:52 And like maybe in another life.

34:53 In another life, like I'd always like to be

34:55 in the control room of like the tubes.

34:57 So, I would say maybe like the technology of of trains.

35:00 Um I'd be able to control.

35:02 I just think it would be so fun like stop, start, speed up.

35:05 Yeah.

35:05 And just like there's always so much going on and I

35:07 I definitely am someone who is a control freak.

35:09 And so like to be for your job to be in a control room.

35:14 Perfect.

35:14 What could be better?

35:14 Um so maybe that.

35:17 Okay.

35:17 Um what was the next one?

35:19 Alt.

35:19 Alter or change.

35:20 Alter or change.

35:22 I'd like to alter the way some cooking appliances are made

35:31 because I can't cook and I would like them to be easier.

35:35 Like you know in spite I don't know if you remember in Spy Kids you

35:37 just like put something in like a little

35:38 packet in the microwave and then it pops and it creates the food.

35:44 Okay.

35:45 There's a lot of alteration happening in that answer but I will accept it.

35:49 Oh well what's the next one?

35:51 Delete.

35:51 Oh okay fine.

35:52 I thought it was going to be like create your own invention.

35:54 No you just did that.

35:55 That's totally fine.

35:56 I just did that.

35:56 Well Spy Kids did that and I'm just like owning it.

35:59 And then delete.

36:01 Yeah.

36:01 AI.

36:02 No I'm joking.

36:02 Um, you would many people many people would like to delete it.

36:06 There's so many positives to AI actually.

36:10 Um, are do you have one for me?

36:11 Isn't it curing cancer?

36:13 One day maybe.

36:14 Yeah, there you go.

36:15 Depends who you ask.

36:15 It depends who you ask.

36:16 Okay.

36:17 Um, delete probably maybe uh like the Facetune app

36:25 because I do think it's probably very damaging to people.

36:29 I think that's in all seriousness probably correct like the idea that you

36:33 and who is it helping really who it me sometimes honestly.

36:39 Sure.

36:39 But I just think like even when I'm using

36:41 it I'm just thinking God like what is going on?

36:43 This is so depressing and dark and the fact that so many so many

36:47 young like so just so many people in general just are just so comfortable now.

36:51 are so normalized to like completely alter your face um in this way

36:56 and then it obviously translates into actually getting real life surgery.

36:59 So I I would just say that looks maxing

37:02 looks maxing is out but feeling good about the way you

37:06 you yourself um being being hot as a state of mind.

37:11 Being hot as a state of mind is in Facetune is out deleted.

37:16 Goodbye Amelia.

37:17 This was so fun.

37:18 Thank you so much.

37:19 Thank you so much.