00:00I'm Kareem Rahma from Subway Takes, and this is Deadline Contenders Television, the nominee's studio.
00:21Yes, I was at work, underground, on the East Broadway F-Train stop,
00:27and I was shooting with a very well-known man named The Rizzler, who is one of my favorite people
00:36in the world.
00:38And on the platform, I got an email, forwarded to me from my team that said that we were nominated
00:43for the Emmy,
00:44and I couldn't believe it. I did a celebration. I told everyone, even the passengers that were waiting for their
00:51train.
00:52And it just felt so amazing to finally have some good news, you know.
00:59Ever since that happened, I mean, I've kind of always taken the show really seriously,
01:05and now I guess I'm taking it even a little more seriously, and just I'm really excited about the future,
01:11and growing the show, and expanding the show, and just believing in my ideas.
01:18Yeah, my first celebrity guest was Olivia Wilde, and I had had, I had been around her before,
01:25so I would consider, I would have considered us friends. I don't know if she would consider me a friend,
01:29but I considered her a friend. And she was just a huge fan of the show,
01:35and like would personally comment to me on every issue, on every episode. And one day she was like,
01:42I'm in New York if you want to do this. And I said, that sounds great. And so that was
01:47the first
01:47time we did it. She was so cool. I already knew she was cool, but she was so cool. You
01:52know, she
01:52said, come pick me up at the hotel. No security, just her, no publicist, no hair and makeup. Like
01:59she was just awesome. And it was such a fun episode, and still one of my favorites. Episode
02:07you have a favorite take so far, out of all your episodes. You know, the takes are like my children,
02:14so it's hard to pick one. So I don't have a specific that I can like really quote. Let me,
02:24I'm going through them right now. And sometimes they're just so, sometimes out of context,
02:31they're not good to say out loud. So that, and those are usually my best ones.
02:37Those are usually my favorite ones. It's all about the context. And the show is really
02:41based on context because someone says something so outlandish and so insane. But then once they
02:47start explaining their thought process, you know, it starts to make a little more sense. I mean,
02:53one of my favorite takes was that we don't talk about dinosaurs enough. One of the rules is that
02:58I don't allow people to bring their own mics. I mean, we have to, you have to use the MetroCard
03:03mic.
03:04Like people have said, can I, can I clip it to something else? Or can I clip it to my
03:08thing,
03:08even like a lav? And I'm like, no, you have to hold the mic. So that's one thing. There are
03:14also,
03:16I don't want to practice. So sometimes people want to practice and they want to do the take with me
03:23in
03:23advance. And I like to hear the take sometimes if they're having a hard time, like developing their
03:29take, I can hear it, but I refuse to go beyond the take or, or they're like, are you going
03:35to agree
03:35or disagree? And I'm like, can't tell you. I have to figure it out in the moment because it's on
03:39the
03:39fly.
03:40Always has to feel spontaneous. And it is spontaneous because I genuinely don't know if I'm going to
03:46agree or disagree until the words come out of my mouth. And it's because it's not that serious,
03:52right? It's, it's really not about me. It's about the person giving the take and getting it off their
03:59chest. For those creators starting out, maybe what's some advice you might give? Because obviously
04:07you've been in this game a while, you know, keep the meter running as well. You've done a lot of
04:13work
04:14in your background in marketing too. Tell us what you would say to YouTube creators.
04:21Yeah. One of the, somebody recently asked me the same question about, about the business of it all.
04:26And I, I, you know, I was like, you're too early, you know, they had been at it for a
04:30month or two
04:31and they were seeing success. But I was like, listen, you cannot fast track it. Just keep doing
04:39what you're doing. People are, it's resonating with people. People are into the idea and the format that
04:44you've created, but it's too early to start thinking about monetizing it. So for subway takes,
04:50it took at least a year and a half. So like over 150 episodes until we finally got some sort
04:57of brand
04:58deal from someone or sponsorship and we keep the meter running. It's kind of the same thing. Like
05:03it, it take, it just takes a while. And I think it's because, you know, we as the audience, I
05:08count
05:08myself as an audience member. My screen time is seven plus hours. So I'm definitely in the audience.
05:12Uh, we, as the audience are seeing things as they happen in real time, but advertisers and sponsors,
05:19it takes a year, you know, something's cool. And then a year later they started going, Oh,
05:25this is pretty cool. Why don't we put our money into this? So I think the number one thing is
05:31staying focused and being consistent.
05:36It's hard when no one has an attention span anymore, right?
05:39Yeah, it is hard, but you know, you, the things that are good, you like,
05:43like people like the things that are good. I'm kind of like a regular at restaurants. I don't
05:48really need to go somewhere new. So I think it's kind of the same thing. Like if it's good,
05:52people will come back. So my co-creator Andrew and I were on our last couple of bucks and we
06:00wanted
06:00to make the show and, uh, we had no money. I had already done keep the meter running, which wasn't
06:07a cab. I loved keep the meter running, but it was a little too expensive because the cab itself is
06:15cheap, but the ride is not. And you know, he was like, would it, would it bother you if we
06:22did it on
06:23the subway? And I was like, well, the subway is technically $2 and 90 cents. So that's not too
06:29expensive and we can stay on there as long as we want. So it was really based out of this
06:34necessity
06:35to get studio space for cheap. Like it was never like, Ooh, this show is going to be great because
06:41it's on the subway. You know, I think the show would be great anywhere. I think the name is great.
06:46Subway takes good name, but I don't know if it being on the subway aside from kind of like
06:52stopping you in your tracks. I don't know if it is the thing that makes it good. I think it's
06:59the
06:59people. I think it's the guests. I think that's really what it is. The, the concept itself, I guess
07:05it always would need to be in a public setting because that is the energy that it brings. I just,
07:11I, I always think about kind of like, would the show be successful without the subway? I don't
07:16know. You know what? I rescind my answer. I think the subway is extremely important to the show.
07:21I knew it. I know. Cause I haven't like thought about it so much. Cause I just do it.
07:26Do you know what I mean? Like, I don't think about the show. I don't think about what makes the
07:30show
07:30great. I just know that it's good and I just do it exactly how I always do it. But I
07:34think you're
07:35absolutely right. Is that the subway makes it, well, number one, it's a live talk show. There's
07:41an audience in every episode and anything can happen. The spontaneity of it, like whether it's
07:46a mariachi band or a clown in the corner juggling tomatoes, which happens, or a standup comedian
07:52in a hot dog costume, uh, telling jokes while we're making the show, it makes it really special.
08:00You did have a whole thing about keep the meter running and TV as in traditional television.
08:08And you kind of have said that that put you off ever doing that. Is there anything that would
08:12change your mind? Yeah. I love traditional Hollywood and I have a reverence for everything that's
08:20happened before, uh, this new age of whatever you want to call it entertainment. I was going to say
08:27content, but just, uh, and I agree with that. I actually think that what we do is more than
08:33content. And if it is content, then everything's content, including books and music. So we're either
08:40everything's content or it's entertainment or it's something else. But, um, it did that specific
08:46experience turned me off and I'm having experiences now that are turning me on. And you know what I mean?
08:52Like it was, it was, it was that specific experience where I did not want to do it anymore.
08:58I wanted to make the show. I already knew that the show was good. That's the difference. It was
09:02already proven concept. So I felt like, why do I have to prove it more? Why do I have to,
09:05why do I have to keep proving myself when I already, I already have a format, I already have an
09:11audience
09:11for this specific show. And, and at the end of the day, I'm having a lot more fun making it
09:16with people
09:17that I love and people, you know, every time we go on a shoot, it feels like a vacation and
09:22it's
09:22just so much fun. But in the future, I mean, if someone makes it a little bit easier, I'm happy
09:27to
09:28work, uh, in, in the traditional industry. Well, with that, congratulations. So well deserved.
09:35Thank you so much for being here. Thank you very much.
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