Happy holidays Reader,
Many of you don’t know this story...
Years ago, I was in LA to introduce my studio Impossible Pictures to Roger Hyde, the SVP of Marketing at DirecTV (along with a dozen other studios that same day).
It was a quick elevator pitch moment, nothing fancy. But before I could even finish my opening one liner, he interrupted my spiel:
“I just gotta be honest. You guys all suck at marketing… why would I trust you to market my brand?”
&*%$#!
No, we didn’t land DirecTV. Despite Impossible being a perfect fit.
Opportunity blown. Ego bruised. Lesson delivered.
That moment fueled me on the trip home to Denver. And to this day. Because it revealed something uncomfortable and important:
We sounded exactly like everyone else…
Even though we weren’t.
That single interaction sent me down a long path—into positioning, onlyness, expertise, and why so many talented creative studios/prodcos struggle to stand out with serious buyers. Not because the work isn’t good—but because our story isn’t clear.
Fast forward more than a decade, and here’s how the story has unfolded:
I didn’t solve this riddle alone.
We’re solving it together.
Over the years, I’ve worked closely with hundreds of studio and production company founders around the world—inside the private founder community Forum.
Different shops. Different disciplines. Same ambition. Same friction.
The shared goal? Stop showing up as interchangeable order-takers… and start leading as experts.
Right now inside Forum, we’re doing something deliberately uncomfortable (and incredibly useful):
I’m “roasting” the positioning of a small number of member studios—using a new internal tool we’ve built to stress-test how clearly a studio stands for something, how easily it’s compared, and where it’s vulnerable.
It’s candid.
It’s constructive.
And yes, it can sting a little—in a good way.
If you want a friendly roast of your website, messaging, and positioning... just hit reply and type the word ROAST.
It's free. And only for the brave at heart.
Why else am I telling you this? Because this work is directly connected to what’s coming next.
In my next email, I’ll share what we’re rolling out inside Forum in Q1 2026—and why it represents a shift from insight to leverage for studio founders who want to lead, not chase.
Stay close.
— Joel