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hang out there perfect my home brew and um decide you know decide on my next move from
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there but it was then I sort of looked at you know and and social media is is one of the good things about it is is
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it's an opportunity for me to see what people think of the shows and stuff and
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people can't wait for the next series when's your next stuff coming out and I
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realized how much people you after 20 years people have grown up watching the show and I was like it's not right for
00:00:26
me to just go okay well that was great and let it kind of f away you feel like you owe it to the fans I do and I ow it
00:00:33
owe it um and I wanted to do a season where um I wasn't going into the season
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going man I have to make this work to make it right so I can keep my sponsors so the TV network stays interested I've
00:00:46
come into this filming this season with going I don't I nothing left to prove
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I'm just going to have a real good time shooting this last season so I did it
00:00:54
for myself as well um and then last week just putting a post on social media saying well okay we're we're repping up
00:01:01
the TV show number of people say I'm crying I don't know how to break it to
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my kids it's like hang on I'm not died you know I'm still going to be releasing
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content it's just not going to be on it's not going to be on tell so yeah it
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is a um a surreal thing in that but I I certainly don't see the um AIT s or or
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the it doesn't feel like an ending okay well no end of an error in a way but um
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but I I feel like you're you're probably getting out and ch at a good time cuz um
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I think that the medium of TV free to Air TV especially is dying and now there's a way you can do the content
00:01:36
release it on your own sort of um digital platform and uh it can still reach the people even greater audience
00:01:43
yeah so I um we started a um television production company me and my mate Kizer 22 years ago and we um I I liked madfish
00:01:55
TV and kieren liked tight lines television and we so so to sort it out we wrote the names on a Bits of Paper
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and we pulled it out and our company became tit lines television um which I ended up Kieran uh after a few years
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went on find another career path and I stuck with tit lines television eight years ago I looked at that name and had
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the word television in it and I went to the company's office and I changed it to
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tit lines media cuz I could see eight years ago the writing was on the wall for for TV and that's when we started
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ultimate fishing TV which is our own platform where we could post our content straight to the audience but when you've
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got TV contracts they get rights to everything first and we couldn't release
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any of that content so TV was still getting our all of our energy and all of our our best content but that platform
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was slowly chipping away in the background and then if I got time I'd go and I'd shoot something specifically for
00:02:48
our online for our social media and um it just grew and grew and it's still growing by 4,000 followers or
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subscribers a week W what's your what's your YouTube numbers um YouTube is not
00:03:02
great about 200,000 I think okay well I'm sitting here with I just clicked over 3,000 this week
00:03:09
so to me that sounds great yeah yeah um we are go like I mean I I still like we're mid- production on this last TV
00:03:17
series and honestly all my energy is going into that to try and make it the best TV series I've ever made and after
00:03:23
two decades of doing this you deserved this um freedom and flexibility to do things on your own terms but let's go
00:03:29
the way back cuz it's such a fascinating story The Matt Watson Story So you you're sort of raised in like a fishing
00:03:35
environment family of commercial fishes so that's what you always sort of wanted
00:03:39
to do yeah and then you have like a fist fight at a Christmas Day cricket match yeah um well my fist didn't really get
00:03:47
used cuz I got knocked out pretty quick so so how old are you at the time I was 17 17 and and so your uncle gave you a
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hiding or something oh hit me with a cricket B like like accidentally or um you with
00:04:00
so yeah let me establish let me establish this a little bit we're painting a very interesting picture of
00:04:05
the Watson family as a broader group yeah so um we're a very competitive family big family God and we've got this
00:04:12
uncanny thing where we've got an even split of left and right handers amongst
00:04:16
the blogs so on Christmas day that's how the teams would be divided lefties versus righties and uh we'd do
00:04:24
volleyball um touch rugby and backyard cricket and um we the righties we've done pretty well in the touch rugby
00:04:30
which ended up being more like a game of League by the end of it um we lost the volleyball and it came down to the
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backyard cricket and it came down to the last ball and like you know you imagine
00:04:40
hot summers's day everyone's had a few TS on Christmas day and it was me
00:04:44
bowling to my uncle in and he owns the you know he owned the commercial fishing boats I'd been I'd worked all my school
00:04:51
holidays and and weekends for him since I was 14 and I built up enough SE hours to get my Skippers ticket so my plan was
00:04:59
you know basically come straight out of school and go and work full-time for my uncle you know running one of his boats
00:05:06
um I had told Mom I was going to go to UNI she wanted me to be the only male in my family not to be a commercial
00:05:12
fisherman um I think she you I think she wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor or
00:05:17
something and pinned all her hopes on me cuz my brother was a dropkick so sorry Benny was a joke um and um so yeah so I
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I remember feeling so happy that running into That Christmas Feeling my last exam
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is behind me I'm never going to open another book in my life I'm just you
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know my life's going to be out in the ocean catching fish and um so but it all
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come undone with one bowl of a cricket ball so I knew my uncle in couldn't play
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a fast straight Yorker um for those that don't know the Yorkers a high speeed
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delivery aimed at the toes and he was hopeless if you pitched it up fast so I come in all the way back to the closes
00:05:59
line and coming off the long run up and I ripped it in as hard as I could maybe cuz I had a few beers that came out the
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hand wrong and it was a beamer a full toss that just got them B right in the middle of the head like SCA them and cuz
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it was the last ball and we'd already had a big argument about no balls in backyard cricket and the Bloody lefties
00:06:18
had said no there's no no balls in backyard Cricket so we win right and so I'm high-fiving my cousins and
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everything I see can see my uncle running at me with the bat like holding it up like he was going to hit me I
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thought n he won't hit me but he did he did scum me with a cricket bat um that's
00:06:35
like over the arm over the body well I got my arm up and it kind of glanced off my shoulder which was a good thing and
00:06:41
it got me in the jaw and anyone that's being whacked good in the jaw knows and
00:06:45
I thought [ __ ] I can feel my legs going here like and then next thing I oh hell
00:06:50
are falling over my legs are gone and then next thing I I notic is my dad um who is also a lefty um but you see at
00:06:59
the moment my uncle hit me with a cricket bat the teams kind of split we went back to tribal family
00:07:06
routes and right out left and right is out now it was it's War yeah so the old
00:07:11
man come and punch blood uncle in the face I was just like oh my God it's an
00:07:15
all in Brawl it was yeah yeah yeah Auntie Glenn has had the hose out hos trying to
00:07:23
hose yeah it was a horrendous scene for a Christmas day you know family gatherings you know and um yeah I saw my
00:07:30
commercial fishing career disappear as my uncle did a burnout off up the road in his Ute he last parting shot he threw
00:07:37
a coffee cup at my Ute on the way past and I thought oh man guess I'm not going
00:07:41
to be a fisherman but um I had another Uncle um or my auntie Glenn's boyfriend
00:07:46
at the time was uh a roofer and he said oh you want to come work for me and I said yes sweet I didn't even know what
00:07:52
he did it was the same day the same day same one door closes another door open and that's how I became a roofer I so so
00:08:00
I cuz I've heard this story before the unclean one how does he how's the
00:08:04
relationship now how does he feel about you telling the Y does he love it or embarassed yeah I'm I don't know we've
00:08:09
never really spoken about it um I in a lot of ways I've I mean because it's
00:08:14
such a good story right and a lot of way and a lot of ways I feel bad about it because he's a good guy right he's great
00:08:21
guy and like he was my hero growing up you know he was the greatest mullet fisherman in Waymouth he's done
00:08:26
incredibly well for himself but uh I don't what it was it was if you get hit
00:08:31
with hit with the ball like you're you're in a rage and he probably immediately regretted it oh yeah oh
00:08:36
absolutely absolutely but you know we're from that area guys don't talk about
00:08:39
that sort of [ __ ] we just um you know see each other next Christmas the very the very next time I saw him was the
00:08:45
very next Christmas Day we downgraded to a tennis ball for saf no no we see my mom banned banned all sports all sports
00:08:53
were banned for about 4 years and then when it finally came back and it was actually um back at um
00:08:59
Uncle Steven AE Glenn's place again um we we said come on let look we're not
00:09:04
going to get into a punch up again let us play backyard cricket and we'd been
00:09:08
going about five minutes and I jokingly just gestured to throw the ball at my Uncle Ann and my mom pulled the stumps
00:09:15
out of the ground we got another two we got we got another band so yeah I mean yeah I mean it
00:09:21
wasn't on but you know I I do in a lot of ways feel bad cuz he's not a a a
00:09:27
violent man or or anything like that it was um you know it was a and and I don't
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bear any any ill will you know like at all that's a great story you're painting
00:09:37
a picture of your family is is it a Bogan family um no South I don't know I mean because it's my family you you're
00:09:45
and it you're just they're your family right yeah um um I mean we we' from all of us from
00:09:55
South Oakland so Way by way I I don't mean Bogan is a derogatory oh no I I would just um say
00:10:04
kiwi working class hardworking um family like and everyone in my family's done
00:10:11
done really well through hard work um you know so I I always had that as not just with my mom and dad but you know
00:10:19
aunties and uncles I I just great role models for people that just got up every day and worked hard you had a party hard
00:10:27
yeah work yeah and and it was the it was the mentor then like literally I think it
00:10:33
was my generation that started saying that but it was our parents that we saw doing that you know they just going to
00:10:40
work and working hard never complaining about it um and then and maybe maybe to be fair probably playing you know in in
00:10:48
the light of 2023 probably playing a bit too hard that was like the the the peak
00:10:53
of kiwi Bing drinking culture era I feel anyway yeah you and I are about the same
00:10:58
age and definitely that generation where you know eating is cheating NOS in the Hydraulics
00:11:04
man all that yeah yeah yeah um yeah it's great there's another another term which
00:11:11
um sounds derogatory almost like the word Bogen kiwi betler I feel like you like a kiwi kiwi betler sounds like
00:11:17
someone that's um has nothing but bad luck after bad luck but I I sort of frame it as differently someone that's
00:11:22
just grinds and works [ __ ] hard and get what they're after I that's a wonderful compliment like I don't I
00:11:28
don't see derogatory at all I um I um see someone that works hard um whatever
00:11:35
their circumstance um whether they manage to get ahead or not hopefully they do um
00:11:41
kiwi B I just see that as a really kind thing to say about somebody oh well that's cool you're you're like you're a
00:11:47
guy and we'll get into the whole at whatson story but you've um like in spite of every obstacle that's that's
00:11:52
coming your way like you you know you've defied the odds and you've made your own
00:11:55
luck yeah like in a big way yeah yeah yeah I mean I I get told I'm lucky all
00:12:00
the time and it used to really annoy my wife would' go out somewhere and people
00:12:05
would come up for a for a photo or to say good day or whatever and they'd say
00:12:09
oh man you're so lucky you got the best job in the world you're so lucky and
00:12:13
would be like why don't you tell them about you know how much bloody stress you're under and all that and I'm like
00:12:18
no that's that's if if they think that I'm out fishing every day and I've got
00:12:22
the best life and and I do have a good life like I'm not complaining about at
00:12:26
all um that means that I'm I'm portraying that dream you know and and of there're watching that man that guy's
00:12:33
got it easy or got it good well I'm doing a good job so I I would you know I
00:12:38
wouldn't want to break anyone's illusion and if I turn around and see them
00:12:42
actually mate I'm just about going broke I don't know where I'm going to find the
00:12:44
money for the next series you know all of this sort of stuff um you know that would kind of ruin that yeah cuz you're
00:12:50
sort of like an unlikely TV star and that TV's always been one of these um Industries where there's there's someone
00:12:56
sitting at the top that either gives you a tech or a cross and deci ID if you're
00:12:59
going to be on the TV or not going to be on the TV and you've just sort of like
00:13:02
penetrated your way through in spite of that gatekeeper and it's remarkable mate
00:13:07
yeah and I've buttered heads with a few Gatekeepers and and there is no way around them like if they decide that and
00:13:12
that's why I've had to switch networks like we and sometimes it felt like the
00:13:17
higher the show rated when when we were just winning like all genres like head to-head with everyone we were just
00:13:24
rating the pants off of things a lot of the people that were working at the TV networks were people that had their own
00:13:30
ideas and dreams about TV shows that failed and I only found out this in sort of retrospect um and I don't know
00:13:38
whether it was professional jealousy they're like who's this guy that was a
00:13:41
roofer who's never been to Media School never done anything who does he think he
00:13:47
is coming in here and getting ratings like that um and the you know I had the words quoted to me from a TV exact which
00:13:54
I thought was absolutely ridiculous you know ratings aren't everything man I'm
00:13:59
kind of like well if we're not rating ratings are everything and you're gone
00:14:02
yeah they live and die by the ratings they get every [ __ ] day so we had to bounce around networks and I was
00:14:08
constantly trying to convince people that it's worthwhile but the main thing
00:14:12
that allowed us to keep going was that they weren't paying us it was no cost so
00:14:17
it was no cost no risk and our sponsors bore that risk we're going to fund the
00:14:23
series and um I know people think they're sponsors but for me like honestly itm fishing show it's got the name itm
00:14:32
in it and it would be just the nothing if it wasn't wasn't for them and um you
00:14:37
know I'm just I'm I'm not here on your show to try and plug itm but as an
00:14:43
independent Creator you can plug them all the [ __ ] you want absolutely and and
00:14:47
I'm I'm well aware of the situation you get like they come on in the early days
00:14:50
when when you've got nothing they come on with good faith and maybe because they like you as a person and then 5
00:14:56
years 10 years 15 years down the track it's easy for one of of their competitors to come on and try and
00:15:00
counter offer um when you've already established but they your day ones yeah
00:15:04
exactly and so um not just itm a lot of the sponsors that we had at day one um I
00:15:10
get head up particularly like you know fishermen like um fishermen are passionate about their gear and
00:15:15
everything they use and a lot of them will look to me and they'll like um and
00:15:19
I'll get hit up at a boat show or even at a a pub or something okay Matt like
00:15:24
if you weren't um sponsored by staby Craft What boat would you actually have
00:15:28
and you know what what wagon would you be toying it with what what tackle would you use and I say to them you know what
00:15:33
before IID even thought of the idea of a TV show I had a stab Craft boat I had a
00:15:38
Toyota I had Shimano tackle I had F I had all of those Brands and I paid full retail for them and I've still got them
00:15:44
to this day and yes all the competitors have come along some have offered me some crazy money um but um I I'm a loyal
00:15:53
person and um um don't get me wrong if the gear was rubbish it would be a different story but you know I was I was
00:16:00
that um Enthusiast wanting to do my research and buy the best geare and I felt I did and I've stuck with them and
00:16:07
they've stuck with me and it's and that has been a massive part of the success
00:16:12
of the show um and um loyalty um can be hard for some people I think in terms of
00:16:19
commercial terms when you're being offered a lot of money in the long term it pays off um because it's not only I
00:16:24
mean let's say um uh opposition to staby craft comes along and they offer me um a
00:16:30
bunch of money and I go yeah I'll take it that's a good bunch of money and one
00:16:34
day I'm saying I love these staby Craft boats next day I'm saying H Hunter yeah
00:16:39
exactly I'm saying that that doesn't just affect um staby craft that affects
00:16:44
all of my sponsors because they rely on um the end user getting my honest opinion and all of a sudden they're like
00:16:51
hang on Matt wen't you saying this maybe you're just saying what you're being
00:16:54
paid to say and I've always prided myself on if if one of our sponsors bring out a product that I don't think's
00:17:01
that good I'll try it I'll just say look you best not for me to use this on the
00:17:04
show because I I won't plug it if I don't think it's good sometimes I'll
00:17:08
even go back and and tweak it with my recommendations which is incredibly um flattering yeah so yeah so um to anyone
00:17:15
that's doing anything um in any kind of business I would say if you're in it
00:17:19
really in it for the long haul um be loyal um you know you might think in the short term that Jesus isn't going to pay
00:17:26
off but but it will m okay so let's go back so there's um the punch up with Uncle Ian and then another
00:17:33
Uncle offers you a job as a roofer yeah so you become a roofer this is where where you have the um the testical
00:17:39
injury yeah yeah the Epiphany as I call so how long had you been Roofing at this
00:17:44
point um I'd been Roofing at that point so this would have been I would have
00:17:48
been roofing for almost six years five or six years and so this is your lot in life you think this is well um or did
00:17:55
you did you still like have um were you missing the ocean so I I'd become um more of a recre recre
00:18:04
I mean I always recreationally fish when I even when I was doing my commercial fishing with the family but once the
00:18:10
commercial fishing door closed um it open up this you know this thing called weekends um whereas you know I could
00:18:16
work all week as a roofer and then on the weekend i' hook my boat on um and I
00:18:21
would tow it and I could go up to hoort um up north one weekend to chase Maron I'd be down fakat the next weekend
00:18:28
chasing tuna be great I just going on these weekend adventures with my mates and I was just like man this is awesome
00:18:36
um but I and I knew I was going to get back to fishing I had to it was in it was in me it was in my blood I wanted to
00:18:41
be a fisherman and my way of being a fisherman again was I was going to be the hardest roof Ty Tyler ever I was
00:18:47
going to squirrel all my money away and one day I was going to buy a big game fishing boite I was going to move to the
00:18:52
Bay of islands I was going to take people out on fishing charters and that was my way of getting back to this
00:18:57
full-time dream of of being on the ocean every day um and that was exactly what I
00:19:03
was doing and then the more successful the roofing business got the less fishing I was doing cuz I found myself
00:19:09
you know I got up to 11 staff at one stage and I was working weekends and I'd worked I know must have
00:19:18
been close to three months straight it was in March anyway and it was a most awesome day perfect it was a Sunday
00:19:24
perfect day for fishing and of course I wanted to be out fishing but you know Flex flexure construction needed me to
00:19:30
put more roofs on so and I had the contract so I was doing that and I was just I was on the roof um only one of my
00:19:38
workers had turned up because it was a Sunday young guys you know and um I was thinking about what it would be like to
00:19:44
be out on the ocean and that's cuz my mates had rang me just as just before I
00:19:48
went up the ladder and said mate it is the calest day we've ever seen across
00:19:52
the Monaco bar you could water ski across here and they're saying there's
00:19:55
guys on the radio hooking up on Marlon and I was like man I wish I was out there I was just looking around there
00:20:00
was not a breath of wind and I was sitting the roof out and I was walking backwards and I was thinking thinking
00:20:05
about being on the ocean and maybe I should have been thinking about where I was stepping cuz stepped over the gutter
00:20:12
one leg either side of the gutter and it was a um a sharp midle edge on the inside and wearing the old rugby short
00:20:19
shorts don't afford much [Music] protection [Music] m