Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
Sitting in the studio in front of me is Larry Bass, founder and CEO of Shinna. Well, he is joining me for today's What Made Me. You're very welcome to the studio, Larry. And well, you're looking.
Thanks, Ciara.
The company just a couple of years off 30 years in business, which is no mean feat for any company in Ireland, but is definitely no mean feat for a media company.
Chapter 2: What inspired Larry Bass to start his career in media?
What's the secret?
Starting on radio. I started when I was 13 in pirate radio and a career that went into doing sound and then eventually decided to go to college as a mature student and study film and broadcasting and set up Shin and Will soon after that.
When you started in Pirate Radio, was that more the sort of DJ and presenting end of things? And were you a very confident, outgoing kid?
Confident, outgoing, probably not in primary school, certainly secondary school at all. I think things changed. A lot of things changed in my life around that time. I was presenting. I was Paul Goddard. Back in the day, as we all had our different names, my brother was Rick Davenport.
Why Paul Goddard?
Because I was a West Ham fan, picked up the newspaper to just sign Paul Goddard and I needed a name because I was rushed on air. As you do.
Ah, right. OK, now I know your school actually seems to have been extremely creative in that it had this radio station for you to go and work in if you wanted or to try out.
Well, we were on air actually in a radio station in what was then the Victor Hotels and then the Rochestown Lodge Hotel, which was across the road from where I lived. And that was pre the school having like an internal mini radio thing. But it was very much it wasn't on air. It was an internal school thing. But we had a very creative school, creative outlets.
I was more creative driven than I certainly was academically driven. I was certainly challenged when it come to linguistics and language. Even my English wasn't great. So I was OK on maths and tech drawn and things like that. But when it came to getting the head down into the books, I wasn't great. But I was very good at retaining information.
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Chapter 3: How did Larry's early experiences shape his confidence?
Absolutely. I think I wouldn't have been an entrepreneur had I not had that requirement to make decisions, get on with things. So, you know, when I started doing DJ and then doing DJ in hotels and for functions and hiring other guys to do it. I mean, I was employing, you know, people while I was still in school and running disco bars and running various things. And I was just doing it.
There wasn't a filter stopping me. It was just get on with it. And yeah, I certainly wouldn't have been as independent of mind without that sort of change at home.
I've heard from other people who have lost their mother at that stage in their life that it does inform their thinking. It does inform their character because you think, what's the worst that can happen? The worst has happened. So I'm just going to do this. I'm going to take this risk, take this chance. I'm going to push myself because ultimately I know I can survive anything.
Well, it wasn't as critically thought out like that for me. It was just, we just did it. There wasn't a, like, what's the worst? It was just get on with life. And that's what we did. It wasn't like a moment of, like, this is going to be a clear strategy. It was get on with it.
I know you've said in previous interviews, Larry, when I was reading about you last night, that meeting your wife was one of the most pivotal events in your life, one of the most influential relationships. And you met her in hospital.
Yeah. Well, I was working in the hospital because I picked up work. I needed to work. I had given up touring and everything else and wanted to go to college and do all those sort of things. I worked in Loughlin Sound Hospital. She was a nurse in the intensive care unit and it took a while. It was a slow burn. But once we went out, I asked her to marry me a week later.
And thankfully, she said yes.
I was just about to ask. Was the answer immediate?
Yeah. And we've, you know, we've had a fantastic life. She has been my rock ever since. And we've four beautiful kids and life is a full circle. Our eldest daughter just got engaged on Monday. So, you know, it keeps going round.
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Chapter 4: What pivotal life events influenced Larry Bass's journey?
Was that in Galway or in Derry?
Derry.
Okay. The Mickey Hart one.
The very one. The very one. Mickey Hart beat me, but that's okay. I mean, he well beat me. Let's be clear, I didn't get too far. But you seem to have moved the company now, haven't you? You know, there's a real pivot into other formats and other genres.
Yeah, we set up a scripted division. We've focused on developing feature film and TV drama series, I suppose, to give us a reach into the broader global landscape. But we're not giving up doing entertainment television. We're also creating new original TV shows. We're in the middle of a brand new format for RT at the moment, shooting it right now. It'll be on air in September.
So lots of good news about that to come. I'm constantly looking to grow the business because it's a business first and it has to keep going and keep growing. We opened the studio, the first studio in Dublin. That's where we shoot Dancing with the Stars. And we're adding another wing. Now we're going to a different side of the entertainment business.
We're opening a stage musical created and written by Brian Warfield from the Wolftones. It opens on the 22nd of January, 22nd of July, even, should I say, in the round room, the mansion house called Celtic Exodus, a beautiful love story set in the famine. And it's incredible, the music that they've created for that show. We're so looking forward to bringing it to the Irish people.
Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Larry Bass. Lovely to meet you. And best of luck with the pivots, with the musical and with everything else. And before we go, a reminder to check out the latest episode of Clare's Never Have I Ever podcast with thanks to O'Brien's Wine. This week, Clare met with Vanessa Ogbona. She was a winner for the first season of The Traders in Ireland.
And the big question, does Clare think she could survive two weeks in the castle and all that pressure at the round table? I think she'd do quite well, actually. Search for Never Have I Ever on the Go Loud app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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