Revision3 CEO: “Discovery Wants Us to Keep Doing What We’re Doing”

It’s official! After a day or two of speculation in the press, Discovery Channel today announced it will acquire San Francisco-based new media studio and distribution network Revision3.

You can get acquainted with the details of the deal here, but this is the kind of news that begs more questions and information than whatever’s offered in a standard issue press release. That’s why I got on the phone with Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback to ask him some specifics about the news. Below are the highlights from our conversation (not including the things Louderback couldn’t comment on, like the purchase price):

Tubefilter: How’d your relationship with Discovery Channel start?

Jim Louderback: We first started talking with Discovery almost a year ago. What happened was the guys from  their team came up to Silicon Valley and talked to a bunch of different companies about expanding. They had connected with Greylock Partners, which is one of our investors, and then Greylock said talk to Revision3. We all got together and had our first meeting in May of 2011.

Tubefilter: So what happened after that? Was it love at first site?

Jim Louderback: I think at that time they were grazing. I think they looked a tons of companies and gradually over time we spent spent more time together. Like lots of these things, it started with talks about about how we could work together from a business perspective. We discussed things like, “Are there Discovery properties we can bring over to the internet side of entertainment?” or “Are there Revision3 properties we can bring to Discovery?” (Editor’s Note: You can watch both Scam School

You start doing a little bit of business together to see if your’e compatible. It’s like dating. First there was a blind date, then started going steady, and now we’re hitched!

Tubefilter: What does the deal give Revision3? 

Jim Louderback: It gives us a great parent that really understands what we’re doing, wants to be in the space, and is super excited about where we’re going. Discovery clearly sees the opportunity to build big, dominant preseneces with original web video. And they see us as a way to help them to that. They want us to keep doing what we’re doing.

Tubefilter: Will there be any crossover of Revision3 stars on Discovery programs and vice versa?

Jim Louderback: There are a lot of opportunities for collaboration, but we haven’t started talking about it yet. I’m sure we’ll soon get started to figure out what those collaborations may look like, and what online original iterations of their content we could help them create.

As we start to work more with Discovery, there will be a lot of opportunites to develop programs and cross promote. But Revision3 will still operate the way it’s been. Discovery’s real goal here is to just keep us focused on what we’re doing.

If you have any of your own questions for Louderback, you should ask them to him in person. He’ll be presenting at our Multi-Screen Mixup on May 16 in New York CIty. You can RSVP here.