Jordan Hayman has sat in almost every seat in this industry. Jumbotron editor for the Lakers during their championship run. Creative executive at Alkemi, working indie theatrical. Client-side at Lifetime under the legendary Bob and Lew. Broadcast division builder at AV Squad. And now, founder of The Shop, the boutique he always knew he'd build from the moment he was running packages around town for Tony Seiniger as a high schooler.

This one goes deep on the career, the grind, and the decisions that don't have clean answers. Jordan talks about what it took to start a broadcast division from scratch, why building relationships from day one at Fox Sports in 1996 was the most important business strategy he never consciously planned, and how working both sides of the table made him a better vendor. We also get into The Last Dance and what it was like to cut over a hundred trailers for the most anticipated sports documentary in years, the Tyson-Paul Countdown for Netflix, and the theatrical sensibility that separates The Shop from most broadcast-focused competitors.

Key Takeaways

The Relationship Is the Portfolio From his first internship to founding The Shop, Jordan's career has run on relationships built with patience and maintained with consistent delivery. Creativity matters, but so does customer service, speed, and knowing what it feels like to be on the other side of the table.

Working Both Sides Changes Everything Spending time as a network executive at Lifetime gave Jordan something most agency-side people don't have: a first-hand understanding of what clients actually need. When he went back to the agency side, he knew exactly what a room like Bob and Lew's expected to see.

Build a Division Like You're Proving It's Possible Starting AV Squad's broadcast arm from nothing was terrifying. Jordan spent months with almost no work and nearly convinced himself he'd be fired. Scott Edwards told him to enjoy the calm before the storm. He was right.

Theatrical Sensibility Is Non-Negotiable Now The line between broadcast, streaming, and theatrical has effectively collapsed. Jordan and his partner Nick Shakarian brought theatrical DNA into every network campaign they touched, and that cross-pollination is now the price of admission for anyone doing serious streaming work.

Surround Yourself with All-Stars The hardest part of starting a company isn't the creative. It's everything else. Jordan's solution was simple: find the best people for every role and get out of their way.

Notable Quotes

"From day one, from Fox Sports, from 1996 — everybody I came in contact with, I tried to be good to them."

"When I was done working for Bob and Lew, I thought to myself, I can do anything. Not everybody made it out of there alive."

"That was definitely my master's degree."

"I am not a business person. I'm a creative person."

"My dad told me not to do it. But I wouldn't want to do anything else, man."

Connect

The Shop — theshoptrailers.com
Corey Nathan — @coreysnathan on all platforms