Douglas Nunnally: How did you and Anthony come up with the idea and name for Kayfabe Commentaries?
Sean Oliver: This one is easy. Anthony called me one day while I was working on Wall Street in 2007 and said, "You know, the only idea never done for pro wrestling is recording alternate commentary tracks for the matches and selling the tracks as downloadable mp3s." I thought it was a stroke of genius, but that's Anthony's role here at KC: the idiot savant, boy-genius. I got right on the phone, having never ever had any inside dealings with pro wrestling, and started making calls. I got to an agent in the Midwest who was booking wrestlers who were appearing on the East Coast in the next couple of weeks. I sent him an e-mail.
I wrote a long-ass explanation of the cutting edge concept of the alternate commentary track for historic matches and went to great lengths to explain this high concept. I got an e-mail back saying, "so u wanna book these guys for a 3 hour autograf signing right?" I buried my head in my hands realizing both that:
1. This would be a near impossible business to navigate as a legitimate businessman.
2. This would be a very easy business to overtake as a legitimate businessman.
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Douglas Nunnally: Anyway, how long did it take you to get from thinking up the DVD venture to actually going through with it?
Sean Oliver: It was actually a tough sell for me. It was my idea and others were trepidations about entering the shoot DVD market due to the overcrowding of it. My point was, "They aren't doing shit with it!" You have the shoot interview which hasn't changed at all in fifteen years. Our idea for Guest Booker was so different and our production experience would add an element of visual professionalism that would be untouched. Ultimately, I said to Anthony that I would front all the cash to change the business to a video production company and all I needed was him to come along and commit one hundred percent. Don't second guess me; just come for the ride. I promise I will make this work. So again, I got on the phone and booked Kevin Sullivan to come in and shoot the first episode which, to be honest, I wasn't sure would be a true series. I knew it could.
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Douglas Nunnally: Where did you get the idea for Guest Booker?
Sean Oliver: Well, when we decided to do video, this was the most solid idea I could come up with. I knew the popularity of fantasy booking and I wondered what it would be like to have real bookers have to re-book stuff.
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Douglas Nunnally: How bad would you like to get your hands on Vince Russo then?
Sean Oliver: We actually almost got Russo for an early edition of Guest Booker, but we didn't want to spotlight anyone that controversial in the second or third edition of the show. The possibility of backlash was too strong.
Douglas Nunnally: How did YouShoot come about?
Sean Oliver: We were going to do that format for a Guest Booker like "you make the Guest Booker book the scenario of your choice." But then we thought it should be a series of its own. It was at that point that we realized we could do multiple series beyond just Guest Booker. We started treating the company in the model of a television network with different programming reaching different audiences. The only thing was that we had to guarantee we'd get enough submissions to support a whole two hour show for YouShoot. We decided the guests of that show had to be the most provocative figures in the business to ensure the most audience participation and the best programming.
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Douglas Nunnally: Whose bright idea was it to invite Scott Hall to Ring Roasts?
Sean Oliver: Not mine! I would have given a testicle for him to spontaneously combust that night. He wasn't even invited to the event, but we comped all of the wrestlers and wrestling personalities who wanted to come. He just kind of stumbled in and proceeded to make an asshole of himself.
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Douglas Nunnally: How did you & Tony take that situation?
Sean Oliver: Tony was in charge of the video production so he had his hands full when Hall jumped off the camera platform and tripped all of our power, knocking our cameras out. I was busy with security and promoters trying to decide whether to have him arrested or just dragged away.
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Douglas Nunnally: That is a bit daunting. Do you think Ringside serves as an evolution of the match commentaries and how does it feel to come around full circle with the company then since you started out doing just that and now are doing it again, just re-packaging and tweaking it?
Sean Oliver: I think that might be a good insight, an evolution of the commentaries. As for coming full circle, there's far more to do for me to be looking for any satisfaction yet. Don't get me wrong; in the small time we've been here, the accolades we get from reviewers, writers, wrestlers, fans...it's awe inspiring. But every project is an attempt to create the best product possible.
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Douglas Nunnally: Can you tell me a bit more about the WWE Timeline series or is your brief release supposed to be it for the time being?
Sean Oliver: This is awesome. Timeline: The History of WWE will be an open ended series which will eventually tell the entire history of the world's biggest federation. Year by year and guest by guest, we will compile all the stories, events, & goings-on inside the WWE. The scope of the series is truly remarkable. I'm so psyched. Vince, you'll love it!
To read the rest of this interview, just click here.
Make sure to check out Kayfabe Commentaries for the best in unique shoot interviews & wrestling DVDs
Article posted by Douglas Nunally on 04/14/09 at 12:18 AM. All links to 3rd party websites included in this article were placed there by the reporter and DailyWrestling.com is not responsible for their contents.
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