Dan March, founder of Dynamic Television and producer of the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ series Drops of God, joins Jeff to help uncork what the wine world can learn from Hollywood about telling a great story.

Dan grew up on Hollywood sets as the son of a five-time Oscar-nominated set decorator, built Dynamic Television from nothing starting in 2013, and turned a Japanese manga about wine into an international hit even though he didn't discover wine himself until his mid-twenties, over an unlikely bottle of Caparone Merlot bought at Trader Joe's.

In this episode:

• Dan's working definition of a story: a character in pursuit of something tangible in the face of conflict.
• How Drops of God pivoted from a one-season competition into a season two mystery after Apple asked for more story, and why that meant building a new show around characters audiences already loved
• The visual trick director Oded Ruskin used to put smell and taste on screen, and Dan's worry that wine's own storytelling can feel too elite to connect with a broader audience
• Why Dan believes today's Bordeaux is some of the best value in wine, and how Oregon's Willamette Valley makes some of America's best Chardonnay while doing "a very poor job marketing itself"
• What's inside Dan's own cellar: Bordeaux, Napa, Oregon Pinot Noir and Chardonnay,

Timestamps:

00:00 – Growing up on Hollywood sets

04:44 – Founding Dynamic Television

09:42 – How Drops of God went from manga to global hit

13:26 – Putting taste and smell on screen

20:58 – What the wine world gets right — and wrong — about storytelling

25:36 – Inside Dan's personal cellar

29:09 – Closing questions: early memory, breakout moment, advice for newcomers

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