For over 30 years, the multi-Emmy Award winners Michael and Neil Mandt have been producing, directing, and writing numerous content in the film and television entertainment field. Their expertise, passion, and drive led to form their own production company the Mandt Bros. Best known for their original series Jim Rome Is Burning for ESPN and Destination Truth for SyFy. The “in real life brothers” have assembled shows for networks including Showtime, E!, Food Network and were the producers behind the Disney feature film Million Dollar Arm. The Mandt brothers, also experts in virtual and broadened reality content creations, are producing this year’s 79^th Golden Globe Awards. Their motto: “Let’s work together to highlight and tell your story.”
You have both been in the industry for decades. What drives you? What is your main focus and how is Hollywood changing?
Neil: In the time and era we live in, there has never been more opportunity in history, for creating content than we have now. I strongly believe, we will see more virtual and augmented reality which will enhance more content whether it’s an article, book, or movie of any kind. We will see a whole new generation of storytellers coming out that will make meaningful 3-dimensional content.
Michael: My brother and I have positioned ourselves very well for growing opportunities, we have done non-scripted, scripted, we have produced live events, live talk shows, digital, social. Having touched every different vertical in content is what is exciting to us, for we know many companies are going to be needing people who are experts in doing a little bit of everything.
With everything everchanging and the world being a bit in disarray, where does going to the movies stand today?
Neil: Look, the cinema experience will always keep existing, but it will be redefined. The theatrical experience where you physically will have to go to someplace, maybe reserved more for art houses. I see a giant reset button, where the cinema experience, the virtual reality, will be participated in the comfort of one’s own home and it will feel as though you are in that environment. It will just have a new spin on it, where you can literarily put these goggles on, look around and see other people with you and have a sense of that community laughter. You get the experience, except you will not have to deal with an entire business, making money on selling eighteen-dollar popcorns. 
You are producing this year’s Golden Globes, what angle did you choose to focus on?
Michael: This is certainly a unique year; we knew the challenges given the timing considering the world’s COVID situation, so we wanted to create a program that didn’t rely on an audience. We focused on storytelling as we both felt, there was a really great opportunity to tell some powerful stories around diverse creatives that are doing amazing great things! To our very pleasant surprise, the HFPA, for years, has supported numerous efforts and storytellers to a variety of grantee programs that empower a diverse set of creators. So, learning that the efforts this organization has been making, thrilled us and really made us feel great. There are some really worthy stories people should know about and we wanted to highlight many grantees and organizations who are accomplishing amazing things. Therefore, we aimed to feature these incredible stories and show what the HFPA has done for so many years. Together with our stellar team, we created some short stories, in each one of them finding the essence of the storyline.
Many critics are fearing awards shows to be in jeopardy. What is your take on that?
Neil: I would not discount or knock out the awards just yet. Especially the traditional award shows, celebrities will always be there, it is untouchable. Of course, time will tell, but I believe, that in the near future, the historic awards shows may not look the same as they have in the past. I predict that in the next couple of years, with all the adjustments and new technologies, more and more people will be able to experience an award show from their own living room. They will feel more immersive and excited as they will be able to sit on their comfy couch and feel as if they are at the dinner table during the show in their own home.
Michael: People will always want to celebrate, communicate, acknowledge one another. We live in a world where there is a demand for content and ‘celebration of the best’ will never disappear.
Are you nervous for Sunday’s show?
Neil: Not at all, we are excited. Look, we have been successful because of a single word, one word which is “yes.” We say yes to opportunities, we take leaps that others wouldn’t take. When someone asks us, on a four-week notice to step in and produce the Golden globes, we say yes and take that challenge 100 %. Why? Because it’s The Golden Globes! throughout my career, I have encountered many people, some will know what we have produced, others don’t have a clue what we’ve worked on. Yet I can guarantee, if we mentioned the brand “The Golden Globes,” everyone will know, period. This was an amazing opportunity for us and we jumped to that.
Michael: We are proud to have built out an incredibly diverse production team that includes producers, directors, writers, and creators representing the African American, Asian, Indigenous, Latino, and LGBTQ communities.  Not only is this a group that brings great representation across a variety of groups but they also bring great expertise, with over 15 Emmy Awards to the crew’s credentials.  We were all excited to get behind this show and support the HFPA’ s mission to continue to grow and show great stories. We have an incredible team and know we will have a fantastic show.