Big Ideas That Might Change The World: “An interactive stage where performers can interact with fans who are safely at home” With Bubba Ginnetty of InCrowd
Success is for the doers. Success comes from turning ideas to tangible things. Never be afraid to fail, it takes 100 terrible ideas to get to the great one that changes everything. Also being successful requires a team and that requires being a good leader. As leaders, we take good care of your people and I’ve always been dedicated to making sure that our crew is taken care of and feels appreciated
I had the pleasure of interviewing Bubba Ginnetty. With tours cancelled, stay at home orders issued and social distancing changing the landscape of live concerts and comedy shows/performances for both fans and performers, one man is introducing a solution. Ryan “Bubba” Ginnetty (director/production manager) launched a Los Angeles-based immerse innovative experience — InCrowd, an original multimedia concept that creates an interactive stage where performers can interact with fans who are safely at home. This allows the performers to see, feel and laugh with the audience which is a key element to stage performances.
Each LIVE virtual event can hold up to 50,00 General Admission attendees and 300 VIP Wall participants who will be displayed on screen and heard virtually anywhere in the world. Ginnetty’s pandemic proof solution was to combine his stage and lighting design skillset to create “The Wall.” VIP fans are shown to the performer via a 360-degree video wall during their performance, streamed LIVE. Ginnetty designed ‘The Wall’ so that it is curved around the performer to simulate a surround-sound audience. The Wall projects up to 300 VIP participants who can see, hear and interact with the talent and other members of the audience. Each show is directed live and controlled by an in-studio broadcast and production team allowing for an ultra-high-quality multimedia stage show.
When Ginnetty has time off from traveling around the world producing shows for DJ Snake, French Montana, and Zeds Dead, he is also a stand-up comedian. InCrowd Entertainment unifies the latest technology in live streaming and stage production with comedians, musicians, theatre productions and more that thrive in a live audience setting. From live studio performances and talk shows to concerts and theatre, InCrowd is the new way to experience live entertainment from the comfort of your home.
Thank you so much for doing this with us Bubba! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you please tell us a story about what brought you to create InCrowd Entertainment?
Thank You for having me. For over 10 years I have been stage designing and production managing for some of the biggest music acts in the world, and at the same time I was writing and performing Comedy. I would go from the main stage at Coachella, to a dive bar in West Hollywood to do stand up all in the same weekend. My journey here has been quite unique and InCrowd is really a culmination of my life’s work.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
To me the most interesting part of my career is that I have gotten to travel the entire world and learn about their culture and eat their local food. The most fulfilling part of that is that I have gotten to work with people hand-in-hand from these countries and I have built strong friendships and bonds that I will have for life, with people so different than me, that I would have never met in any other way.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
“Say what you mean and mean what you say”. To me is about accountability and business ethics. I believe I have been successful because everyone I have worked with in some way or another knows that they can count on me and that I can be trusted with their project, artist, and budget. Also, I believe in staying present and allowing creativity and hard work to manifest new projects and opportunities. The biggest piece career wise is to collaborate with others and be willing to take direction and criticism from your peers. I work directly with very skilled and talented people that are experts in what they do. As much as I believe in myself and my vision, listening to them and staying open has led to some of the biggest creative accomplishments in my life and career.
Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?
My biggest idea I am entrenched in currently. My partners and I coined it “InCrowd”. InCrowd is an interactive audience experience that was spawned in the midst of the pandemic. While it is current, we believe it is still ahead of its time! InCrowd brings comedians and musicians directly into the homes of their fans, where they can interact with each other live and in real time! This wasn’t possible before now and we have made it possible and everyone that experiences it wants to come back! When have you ever been able to talk directly to your favorite artist from your couch while they are on stage performing live? It is a really special experience to have. This is the future of live entertainment, there are so many unique new elements this platform brings to both the fans and the artists themselves. We believe this is just the beginning for InCrowd, we have so many avenues we are pursuing with live ticketed shows as well as programming for existing streaming platforms and television. We are beyond excited for what the future holds for us.
How do you think this will change the world? Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this idea that people should think more deeply about?
Some may say this is a supplement for the times or that InCrowd will take away from ticket sales in future physical events. I do not believe either to be true, for a few reasons. The InCrowd experience is unique and offers elements that an in person live show doesn’t. We believe the two can co-exist and in fact complement each other. There are so many reasons InCrowd is here to stay, from people living in smaller markets, to sobriety, to budget to park and overpriced tickets, disabilities, I could go on and on. To be honest these contrarians to me are just holding onto old ideas. Evolving your habits and ideas is tough. Changing business models and structures are even tougher. InCrowd is a perfect representation of Vertical integration.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
InCrowd is honestly serendipitous, the pandemic hit, myself and my crew were on tour with a musician and that tour was cancelled. We were pondering what was next and what was possible to pursue to create, innovate, and continue to feed our families. My creative passion and artistic craft have been standup comedy and it’s been a real outlet for me between living the life of a professional production manager and touring. I saw immediately how live music was changed by this, but I also saw how live comedy was being hit even harder. Comedy can’t happen without the audience’s reaction so I thought about a solution and me and my team here at InCrowd created a creative solution by designing an interactive stage that brought the audience in and allowed us to re-create a live performance environment that feels real, and connected, and it works.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
We are in the process of working on that each day reaching out to performers, managers, and many different agencies about several show concepts and options for their talent to take advantage of this medium. And more and more of them are learning about us and our capabilities and see the vision and possibilities for themselves. Ultimately to be the most widespread we are working towards being an application on your apple TV or Roku, a network of sorts that you rely on for the best in interactive programming where you can jump into the audience and be part of the live show right from your home. We also are gaining ground in collaborating with some of the biggest names in live music and comedy, producing their own shows on the InCrowd platform and reaching wide audiences and the numbers really tell the story for us.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each).
As a comic I wish someone told me that just being amazingly funny and a great personality is no longer the barometer for success. So many people rely on the popularity of their socials. But as someone who is a writer, comic, and stage designer/producer I do the work each day, and so therefore the talent is in my work not on how many blue check marks follow my accounts. I’ve figured it out on my own but the entertainment industry of all kinds and especially in Hollywood is a marathon, not a sprint. I moved to LA from Boston 15 years ago and I’ve been working on so many projects since, that have both contributed to experience and creativity, but most of all relationships. None of these things would be possible if it wasn’t for a strong team that I work with every day and knowing what it takes to produce a quality show of all kinds. It requires time, dedication, process, and development. If you would have told me that the pandemic would put touring and live performance on pause around the country and the world but myself and my team would still figure out ways to do live performances and bring relief to both audiences and the artists, I wouldn’t have thought it was possible at a time like this. We refused to quit, and our creativity is at an all-time high. We are working just as hard if not harder now to figure out solutions daily. Lastly, If you said I would pitch this platform and company to Jamie Foxx and he would see the vision immediately, just like I do, I wouldn’t have believed you, but I did and he does, and so do many more well-known performers and artists that I admire and respect. I’m a father of a 10 month old beautiful baby girl and I’m just as motivated as I’ve ever been about my profession and creativity and I wake up every day with a new purpose, I believe that one of my times is now.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
Success is for the doers. Success comes from turning ideas to tangible things. Never be afraid to fail, it takes 100 terrible ideas to get to the great one that changes everything. Also being successful requires a team and that requires being a good leader. As leaders we take good care of your people and I’ve always been dedicated to making sure that our crew is taken care of and feels appreciated, and we work so hard for the artists that we work for to achieve their visions of their show that they respect us and we all have a real relationship working towards a common goal.
Some very well-known VC’s (venture capitalists) read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them. 🙂
Ahhhh, the elevator pitch. Here you go. InCrowd is what the future of Live Performance will be but it’s right now. The opportunity of talent from all aspects of entertainment to produce their own shows, tours, and specials where their fans participate from their own homes. This isn’t a concept or an idea, we are doing it now, and the numbers and the possibilities are endless. We can do a show for 50,000 fans today, and see VIP fans interact with their favorite talent in a way that they didn’t even know was possible. This is a different kind of experience and on the business side this is a different kind of model. An artist can schedule in one day a World Tour from LA, a show in Sydney, a show in London, and show in Japan, then in close it out NYC, having reached all those markets and those fans in a unique way that fulfills that fan base and it all happened from one stage in one 24 hour period. You do the math, but we have done it, the ticket sales are there, the ad and brand opportunities are there, and we can change and personalize the art direction all in house with our InCrowd animators. The InCrowd is moving towards being something you see on television and streaming platforms, through high concept shows and recorded live performances. This will be a platform everyone knows and loves, that they will engage in for decades to come. InCrowd will be one of companies in the article we read in 10 years about the companies and brands that exploded during the most difficult and trying time in American history. Reach out directly, we’ve got the investment deck ready for your viewing. There is existing interest, and this is an exciting and fast moving medium with so much star power and several revenue streaming opportunities.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
We are on Instagram : @incrowdcomedy & @incrowd.studio . Our company website is: Incrowd.studio
Big Ideas That Might Change The World: “An interactive stage where performers can interact with… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
