Inspired with Alexa von Tobel
00:46:10 · Alexa von Tobel, Cristóbal Valenzuela
[00:46:10] S1: I love it. What is a mantra that kind of runs in your head, a saying, a phrase that you kind of swear by? [00:46:21] S0: Figure it out. Just figure it out. We were discussing that a few minutes ago. It's actually a mantra we say at Runway a lot. You might do things you've never done before, and there's going to be a lot of questions, and there's one thing I want to tell you, figure it out. You can figure out everything you want if you just, like, have the right mentality. So, I like the idea of figuring things out. [00:46:41] S1: I love that. I love that a lot. What is the favorite creation you've made on Runway yourself? So like something you made that you're just like, cool, I love this. [00:46:52] S0: This week or this month? I use it every day. I recently made this, there's this, like writer that I really like called, Cortazar, that's like an Argentinian, like it was... He was at the same time that Borges was around. And it's a short story that I really like that I've never, like, have seen into, like, in a video format. And so I made it and just feel great that I could do it in, two days or so. [00:47:17] S1: That's so cool. I wanna ask, what is the most unique way you've seen someone use Runway? I know you mentioned your your siblings, your sisters, your brother. What is the weirdest, quirkiest way that sort of the team was, like, kind of blown away where someone used it?
00:47:17 · Alexa von Tobel, Cristóbal Valenzuela
[00:47:17] S1: That's so cool. I wanna ask, what is the most unique way you've seen someone use Runway? I know you mentioned your your siblings, your sisters, your brother. What is the weirdest, quirkiest way that sort of the team was, like, kind of blown away where someone used it? [00:47:36] S0: I mean, there are many. I recently was having dinner with a famous actress and she was telling me that she was writing her first screenplay and she was using Runway to visualize the scenes she was generating or creating or writing. And then there were objects in the scene that appeared that she didn't prompt to, but then those objects ended up like influencing the script. And she was mentioning this idea of like a red cup. So she was like, I don't know, a dialogue between two people in a table. And then she was using Runway to kind of visualize that idea. And then like Runway just placed like a red cup in the table. And she was like, oh, the red cup red cup became like a trope and an object within the scene. And that's that's great. I never thought you could use a tool for brainstorming your writing, and now you can. [00:48:17] S1: I'm really glad that you shared that example, because that is such a visual way to reimagine even writing. Correct. I mean, that was a perfect example, Cristobal, of just how there's a shift in the future, which is right now we think in our mind and then write it, versus see it and then write it. I mean, that's an entire paradigm shift. [00:48:40] S0: Yeah, that's such a technology limitation that we can fix now.
00:48:40 · Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alexa von Tobel
[00:48:40] S0: Yeah, that's such a technology limitation that we can fix now. [00:48:43] S1: That's incredible. Okay. Last few quick questions here. What is your favorite hack to using AI? Not Runway related, just in general. Pay it forward to us a way that you've improved your life. [00:48:55] S0: By using AI? [00:48:57] S1: Yeah. [00:49:00] S0: I I just, like, try to automate as much as I can. Like, there's many things I think people are underestimating what models can do. And if you just, like, experiment enough... And there's no real rules. Like, these are general purpose systems. You can figure out how to connect into your life in any way you want. And so if you're referring too much on what others are doing, it's like, that might work for them. But like for you, you may do something else because your life is different. And so being very flexible and customizing things, I think, has worked the most... The best for me. [00:49:28] S1: So automating as much as you possibly can. My last question will be just because I'm really... I'm I'm personally just so interested. You are clearly a fabulous entrepreneur. You have built a wildly successful company that is at the paradigm shift of a generational change. What was the biggest pinch me moment for you? Just like on a human level, on a personal level, what was like a day where you went home and told your family and friends you were just like, I can't believe this cool thing happened? Like, what what made you get goosebumps?
00:50:05 · Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alexa von Tobel
[00:50:05] S0: That's a good question. So there's many moments, I guess, just collectively in how we've hired people and who we get to work with every day that feels like a goosebump, to be honest. But, we we know we know how... Host a film festival, I think I was telling you, where we we get, like, thousands of people in, like, the Lincoln Center here in New York City to showcase, like, some of the best films and we get thousands of people and work with like some of the greatest like filmmakers in the world. That that feels like amazing. But if you look back at like the first version that we ever did, like, I don't know, four, four, five years ago, We did it in a very small theater in Chinatown. It was like, I mean, is 2022 ish, I think 2023. We're testing the idea of what happens if we start like just promoting and doing more of like a celebration of art and artists. And look, thought like no one was gonna show up. And, and like, yeah, we, we had a full theater. It was a small theater, but I had a full theater and that was like an interesting moment. I mean, now we're selling out like way bigger venues and it's way more impactful, but looking back, I think the moment where we saw just like people lining up for this small theater to watch the things felt like, oh, oh, it works. You know? People really like this. And so, yeah, maybe maybe it was a good, like, moment in in the history of the company. [00:51:21] S1: Maybe the future Oscar award is a Runway Award. [00:51:24] S0: Yeah. There we go.
00:51:24 · Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alexa von Tobel
[00:51:24] S0: Yeah. There we go. [00:51:25] S1: There we go. Cristobal, first of all, it's been so wonderful to get to know you. I am rooting for you in every way. Thank you so much. And I basically took away from this conversation, but you will... Like, truly beautiful, poetic thinker you are. You are truly an artist at the forefront of technology, and I'm really grateful to have somebody with, like, a real love of humanity at the forefront of building this tool that feels like blessing for all of us. Well, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that. Thank you so much for your time today, and best of luck. [00:52:01] S0: Thank you. I appreciate that. It was great chatting with you. [00:52:06] S1: Thank you all so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate, review, subscribe. We'll be back again with another episode of Inspired with Alexa von Tobel. Thank you.