Why Christian Media Matters | Rob Reynolds

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy is joined by Rob Reynolds, founder, president, and executive producer of Christian media company Cross Boss Media. The two discuss his journey going from teaching in New York public schools to founding a real estate company to launching Cross Boss. They examine why Christian media matters and the importance of safeguarding your children when it comes to giving them access to phones. They also talk about the success of Studio 3:16, Cross Boss’ educational comedy program based on Gospel passages. 

Transcript

Jeremy Tate (00:01.899)
Folks, welcome back to the Anchor podcast. We have an incredible, incredible guest today. A guest that I met in person for the first time last week, Rob Reynolds. Rob taught high school biology, chemistry, and psychology in New York public schools. Concurrently beginning in 2005, Rob invested in multi-family real estate as an owner operator. In 2010, he co-founded Avesta, a Tampa-based

multifamily real estate investment and management company and ended his teaching career in June of 2011 to relocate and focus on real estate full-time. He helped grow Avesa to 450 employees and 1.1 billion in real estate assets. He also led the company's culture, resulting in national recognition as number 19 in Fortune's top 100 medium workplaces and regional finalists.

for young international entrepreneur of the year. In 2018 though, Robin left Avesta to pursue a deep conviction and to launch what has become CrossBoss Media with its mission to provide children a genuinely entertaining, secure place to encounter Christ in a way that inspires action. He is passionate about Christianity and his Catholic faith.

rooted in his upbringing and education and reinforced through faith-centered friendships and a regiment in prayer life.

Rob was pre-med in college and graduated from Franciscan University. We love Franciscan here at CLT. In 2004, with a BA in biology and theology, minoring in chemistry. He has an MS in adolescence education from Mercy College and an MS in instructional technology. He co-founded the Society of St. Joseph, a men's Catholic fellowship organization focused on the three pillars of faith formation, works of mercy and family leadership.

Jeremy Tate (01:57.889)
Rob is also the president of the Tampa Bay chapter of LaGottis and recipient of the 2022 Ambassador of the Year Award for LaGottis International. He's been married to his wife, Maria, since 2006 and is a devoted father to six daughters and two sons. Rob Reynolds, thanks so much for being with us.

Rob Reynolds (02:18.392)
Thanks, Jeremy.

Jeremy Tate (02:20.641)
So we met last week in person in Tampa. I got to tour across Boss Media, see the amazing work that you're doing there. You made this massive career change in 2018, I guess it was, from an incredibly successful real estate business to going into something at the time you maybe didn't know a whole lot about.

entertainment and challenging the entertainment industry with a lot of kind of toxic nonsense that they're putting in front of the next generation. Tell us about this wild shift for you.

Rob Reynolds (02:58.84)
Yeah, man. So alright, so why the shift? mean. It's it's certainly not a clear trajectory to go from, you know.

Bio major to high school teacher to real estate guy now to media, you know, Christian media. However, it's amazing how God connects the dots. Just on that note, you know, pulling from, you know, so I own a Christian media company for kids and called Cross Boss Media. And we focus on basically the age of reason until high school. So second through eighth grade called.

seven through 14 years old, more or less.

pulls in my teaching experience educationally. Like there's a lot of components that that pulls in. Certainly having a lot of children of my own and being a teacher for years that target audience like I can at least identify with or have, you know, a lot of empathy for based on my exposure. And then I had a theology, you know, dual major in theology, Christian media company, and then ran a business.

Jeremy Tate (03:50.422)
Mm.

Rob Reynolds (04:15.97)
In real estate for years. So all of those components, you know, as, as like kind of distracted or disoriented, seems it's kind of God found the line in it all. And, and his mercy and Providence has, has, has guided me here. So why did I make that transition? was a drastic transition into media from an otherwise very comfortable position at a, at a real estate company that had grown.

Jeremy Tate (04:28.225)
Mm.

Rob Reynolds (04:46.082)
substantially over the years. so now I was, you know, kind of sitting on top of that as president and could just maintain, you know, growing or at least sustaining, without much challenge. but I think the problem is my, my goal is, is heaven, know, and the service of God. I, I, I have such a sense of urgency, Jeremy, just with

Jeremy Tate (04:48.065)
the

Jeremy Tate (05:15.435)
Hmm.

Rob Reynolds (05:15.534)
the gift of time in general. And I'm like, man, I want, it's like, you want to shake people and be like, do you realize, do you know about Jesus? Like, do you, do you realize like how he, how much he can just not just transform your life here and bring so much joy and peace, but I mean, the eternal ramifications of living with or without him is just, how could you not see this? You know? So in that context, I felt called to do it. I was on an eight day silent retreat.

And, you know, long story short, I just had a powerful encounter with Christ in adoration. And that led me to leaving my company to drop my nets and come catch men. And then I discerned for the next, after leaving, I discerned for the next few months to figure out where are you calling me Lord? And was in, into, you know, combat the harmful media with wholesome content.

Jeremy Tate (06:11.745)
Rob, let's talk Franciscan University for a minute here. I had this joke, and whenever I meet anybody in Catholic Youth Ministry, I always say, how was your time at Franciscan? And they go, how did you know I went into Franciscan? And it's like nine times out of 10, it's right. But Franciscan graduates, they have a sense of urgency. And how formative was your time at Franciscan for kind of the man you are today and what you've done over your career so far?

Rob Reynolds (06:21.752)
Hahaha

Rob Reynolds (06:25.568)
hilarious. that's good,

Rob Reynolds (06:41.09)
Yeah. So I think the, the main formation I had, you know, praise God was really through my, through my own family, through my parents, in particular, my dad, who was in Jesuit formation for eight years and discerned out and ended up marrying my mom, who was, the sister of a close Jesuit priest friend of my dad's and,

Jeremy Tate (06:55.937)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy Tate (07:10.025)
Hmm.

Rob Reynolds (07:12.408)
We grew up around a dinner table, you know, talking philosophy. My dad would always be very Socratic. You know, whenever we'd ask him questions, he's like, well, why do you think, you know, and then he would just make us think through things, which was annoying at times, but really developed our thought process. And he just, you know, it was very Thomistic and just loved philosophy, loved, loved God, loved theology and just challenged us with this.

Jeremy Tate (07:38.763)
Hmm.

Rob Reynolds (07:40.088)
We had prayer routines, the rosary and the chaplet of divine mercy as a family on a daily basis, things of that sort. And, but, so I went to Franciscan with a strong foundation in those things. And I think by the time I got there, I had already owned my faith, like just the reason, like it made sense what Franciscan did for me, to really solidify.

me and who I am and kind of what I'm doing right now is

After going there, Jeremy, was like, I felt going into Franciscan, transferred in, going in, was like, man, I'm like the only person who cares about this. know, Catholicism stuff, this Jesus in heaven stuff. There's no peers of mine that really care about this. And I felt alone, man. I'm like, the evil one can really play.

Jeremy Tate (08:25.749)
Hmm.

Rob Reynolds (08:42.478)
play a lot on you feeling isolated and alone, you know, like a one man mission. So after Franciscan, I never felt alone again. I was like, man, there are people my age out there, even if I don't see them, even if they're not in my community at all, they're out there fighting this fight. And I got to fight it too. And I've never wavered since.

Jeremy Tate (08:46.389)
Yeah.

Jeremy Tate (09:04.597)
Wow, that's beautiful. I think in terms of casting a vision, giving young people a taste of what Christian community is intended to be. In so many ways, nobody does that better, I think, than Franciscan University. And then...

Rob Reynolds (09:18.52)
I also found my wife there. I met my wife there. that's, mean, probably the best, I mean, that's the best decision I've made in my life. You know, all, all jokes and exaggerations aside, I mean, it very, very much is, and we were so aligned. Franciscan, you know, attracts people that are aligned with this. You know, there's no, there's no compromising there.

Jeremy Tate (09:40.513)
Beautiful. Rob, give us the, you know, kind of the pitch, the argument here. You know, students are young people, they're consuming a lot of junk all the time. Some people may say, just turn the TV off, you know.

Rob Reynolds (09:55.48)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy Tate (09:55.79)
Let's go unplugged. I think we hear a lot of big advocates for unplugged, a lot of the classical school movement as well. Tell us kind of that, make the case for what you're doing there at CrossBoss Media and why it matters.

Rob Reynolds (10:11.972)
Yeah. So yeah, look, I would start with, I'm a big fan of unplugged as well. do you really think the majority of people are just going to unplug because we say it's a good idea or because evidence shows that it's a better idea? I don't think so. So you have the other 99.5 % of kids out there that are like, okay, well, what are we going to look at?

and their answer is anything you want. So then my question to that was, okay, how can we make the truth appealing to them? So when I got into media, I realized like, look, these kids are getting sucked in by all this harmful stuff and these ideologies that are sewn in with it, know, and even formerly good things becoming bad. I'm like, all right.

Jeremy Tate (10:43.713)
Yeah.

Rob Reynolds (11:10.048)
If they can make this crap attractive, like we have truth. we, know, God, God puts, puts himself on our hearts, you know, and over time dust collects and we bury it. But I mean, it's, there. It doesn't, it's an indelible mark. It doesn't, he doesn't leave. so how do we, how do we excavate that? How do we, you know, awaken that desire, that flame? So that's, that's kind of the.

the hurdle that we're like, okay, there is, we can produce things at a Hollywood level, you know? And by that, I'm implying the quality of production, right? Like, wow, it just draws you in. You're like, wow, that's Hollywood level, right? We can do that. And then the more I learned, Jeremy, about like, was, when I got into media, I knew very close to zero. I mean, aside from like watching movies and enjoying movies, but it wasn't a bucket list item. wasn't like,

Jeremy Tate (11:50.623)
Yep, okay.

Jeremy Tate (12:09.025)
Mm.

Rob Reynolds (12:09.944)
man, I used to do filmmaking when I was a kid or whatever. like, no, like I didn't know anything. I just knew there was a need like, and I wanted to respond to that need. and I was like, I can either keep complaining about this or I can do something about it. so I get in and I'm, reading anything I could watching whatever I could listening to courses on filmmaking and, you know, cinematography and production, whatever, and storytelling and then storytelling and storytelling and

I mean, what it came down to is storytelling, great storytelling and, you know, great storytelling has, has been around forever. And it's probably the most powerful place is around a fire. You know, I mean, it doesn't, there's, it doesn't have to be formal, but it carries, it carries truths or lies or whatever generation to generation because of, because of its power. I'm like, man, if we can be great storytellers, that's

Jeremy Tate (12:54.667)
Yeah.

Rob Reynolds (13:07.746)
That's how we can win the day. And that's how you can engage kids, right? And if they're, if, if most all kids are either on their phones or on T and watching TVs or whatever, let's meet them there and draw them deeper. and I, really think it ties with the message of the gospels, which is, you know, when they say meet them where they're at, I think it's been, kind of abducted.

If you will, from it's true meaning, you know, meet them where they're at nowadays kind of means, just compromise and, you know, hide all your identity, you know, and then just stay there. But Jesus didn't do that. Jesus met people where they're at. He made it. He, but, but what he did was he developed a relationship and then he said, okay, I'll meet you where you're at now. Come follow me. You know, and that's what we're doing here is we want to meet them with great storytelling, with entertaining content.

Jeremy Tate (13:50.443)
Hmm.

Jeremy Tate (14:00.107)
Yeah, yeah.

Rob Reynolds (14:06.926)
But then we want to really draw them in to Jesus and say, follow him.

Jeremy Tate (14:11.455)
Yeah. So you've got a show that now is extremely popular with a ton of Catholic schools, a ton of non-Catholic Christian schools. I think the show is John, is it John 316 or Studio 316? Yeah. mean, kids are going nuts for this and it's so good. So tell us about this show that's kind of already taken off for y'all.

Rob Reynolds (14:23.556)
Studio 316, yeah.

Rob Reynolds (14:32.388)
Yeah, Studio 316. just think music studio, John 316. I guess Revelations 316 comes to mind too. was just yesterday's first reading. The lukewarm, right? the premise is this, know, picture a Holy Spirit filled fresh Prince of Bel-Air takes over Mr. Rogers' neighborhood, you know, inspiring kids to imitate Christ.

The whole premise of this show and it views like a sitcom, Jeremy. So the whole premise is this Catholic recording artist named Shevin, his job is to write, record and release a song based on a Sunday gospel. So every, every episode, every lesson is based on a Sunday gospel and how that gospel relates to our lives today. You know, we're all called the universal call to live, live the gospels. Well,

If we don't know how the gospels relate to our lives today, and we just think it's this 2000 year old history book that's, you know, outdated and doesn't apply, then how are we supposed to, how are we supposed to live that? You know, so we want to, he has to show how this relates to our lives today and release this, this song. The problem is he doesn't get it himself. He doesn't, he doesn't understand it. He disagrees with it. You know, how's Jesus going to say, we got to do this, whatever it is. So he can't write a song.

And through the course of each episode, he kind of backs into the fullness of the truth of the gospels through like unsuspecting collaborators that pop into his studio for whatever, you know, list of reasons. And then he's, it it clicks and he's able to, he's able to write his song. And so we end with a music video of his song and followed by kind of a one to two minute Mr. Rogers-esque.

one-on-one, serious one-on-one with the viewer of the lesson there.

Jeremy Tate (16:29.697)
I've seen videos of Chevon, the main character, actually going to the schools where they currently have all the students watching Studio 316. And it was full rock star. The students were going nuts. Full celebrity status. It was really cool. as someone that yeah, these are the kinds of people. We don't have Hollywood celebrities. I mean, there's a few. I definitely love Mark Wahlberg and others that are kind of worthy of imitation.

Rob Reynolds (16:37.219)
Hmm.

Jeremy Tate (16:59.521)
So I just got such a joy from watching the students, how excited they were when he visited.

Rob Reynolds (16:59.694)
Mm-hmm.

Rob Reynolds (17:07.744)
Yeah, I mean, we do too. Shevin above all is so elated by that. We all took a lot of risk from a worldly perspective risk. I mean, the real risk is salvation and not doing God's will. But we took a lot of worldly risk in starting this. And we didn't know it was going to succeed. I just knew I was called to do it. And I knew there was a need and a demand. But frankly, Jeremy, I've

Jeremy Tate (17:12.48)
haha

Rob Reynolds (17:37.686)
Oftentimes question like, sure you got the right guy here? You know? But so when when we produce something like this and then see how the kids are reacting, I mean, as you mentioned, I mean, it's when Shevin goes to these schools, he's like a celebrity. We're in about 450 schools throughout the country, Catholic schools, really. Second through eighth grade. I mean, the kids react. Whether they're second graders or eighth graders, I mean.

Jeremy Tate (17:40.757)
Haha.

Jeremy Tate (17:52.533)
Yeah.

Rob Reynolds (18:06.244)
They're reacting very similarly. mean, you know, obviously the second graders a little more expressively giddy, but I mean, the eighth graders are, are stoked to meet him. And, yeah, I mean, for us, we're like, holy cow. Like the only way they, the, their only, exposure to chevin is through this program that they use in their religion class. And this is how they're reacting to him. Yeah, it's, it's very,

Jeremy Tate (18:30.719)
Mm-hmm.

Rob Reynolds (18:35.502)
consoling for sure.

Jeremy Tate (18:38.849)
Yeah. A lot of folks in the classical ed movement, people read Jonathan Haidt's new book, The Anxious Generation, and it really kind of chronicles what happened to an entire generation and the difference of students who essentially had a smartphone during their formative years. What is your advice to parents trying to, they've got their seventh or eighth grader asking them every day.

I need a smartphone, need a smartphone. What is your advice for those parents trying to navigate this world?

Rob Reynolds (19:13.764)
I mean, my advice is not very delicate. It's love your kids, protect your kids, man. And I don't think they should be having cell phones. This is how it works in Silicon Valley. There's a huge movement away from cell phones, particularly with those folks that work in these social media companies that have kids.

Jeremy Tate (19:41.697)
What I hear, they've got their own kids playing with wooden blocks and they're totally alone.

Rob Reynolds (19:45.188)
Yeah, look, there, there is a, yeah, there's a, and look at, mean, yeah. So, and there's a substantial, a, a statistically significant enough number of people and families electing opting out of their kids having cell phones that you don't, you know, your kids don't feel outcast. Now I say, look, that's, that's the hard line that the trick it's, it's hard as a parent. So as a parent, we have, we have not given our, any of our children's cell phones until my, my oldest.

has a cell phone. was 16. Still kind of debated back and forth with that. And you know, it's it's highly restricted. It's there. It's it's kind of a Pandora's box, right? But we didn't do it. And we were I mean, pretty much the only you know, among her peers that did not have a cell phone for that long. And my freshman in high school only

only kid in class doesn't have a cell phone. So there is, you have to weigh this, like your kid gets alienated. Is that going to cause them to resent and like whatever, but then it's like, yeah, but look at the option of when they're in. And my kids have, have admitted that they've been left out of conversations that have actually bubbled up into all sorts of drama and unhealthy, you know, kind of

Jeremy Tate (20:47.019)
Hmm.

Jeremy Tate (20:55.829)
Yeah.

Rob Reynolds (21:15.032)
backlash. So they see the value, but they're also missing out. So it's tough, man.

Jeremy Tate (21:22.027)
Rob, we talk a lot about books on the Anchor podcast. I'm wondering if there have been some books that have been formative to you, maybe a book that you come back and read or re-read every year or two.

Rob Reynolds (21:33.602)
Yeah, so this is the seems cliche, but I mean, the Gospels for sure have been forming. mean, it seems like it too obvious an answer, but I think. I think Catholics can tend to to read a lot, a lot of books, you know, many different books, a lot verse scripture, not enough. And there's there's not even a comparison right between the word of God and the word of anyone else. I don't care how.

how great of a saint you are and what you're writing. mean, it's great stuff, but man, go to the source. mean, especially people in classical ed and, and, know, great books programs. mean, they love going to the source. Like let's, let's spend more time in the, the gospels and I mean, scripture as a whole, right. But if I had to pick a book outside of that, I mere Christianity, thought was fantastic. There was a book called Jesus shock by Peter craved, which was like a theological book as opposed to most of his.

philosophical books, which really had a huge impact on me. Man, I've read a lot of books. mean, on business, mean, Good to Great has been an influential book for me. Appointment with God, I've probably given out by Father Michael Scanlon. It's, yeah, it's really nice and not thick. Definitely, yeah. mean, the Holy Spirit, of course, but...

Jeremy Tate (22:53.658)
he's great. Yeah. Is he the one who kind of turned Franciscan around? Is that right?

Jeremy Tate (23:02.389)
Yep. Yep.

Rob Reynolds (23:02.414)
Father Michael leading, you know, following the call. I think that's the university, the Holy Spirit, by the way, that's, that's kind of what it should be called in my mind. appointment with God is such a powerful book. Father Michael Scanlon wrote it. It's, just, it's incredible, but the whole concept of you need to have an appointment with God. You think, you know, the business appointments, the doctors, all the other appointments you have, like you have to secure an appointment with God. And I've done that for years on my calendar, even in real estate.

Jeremy Tate (23:21.407)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy Tate (23:30.251)
Hmm.

Rob Reynolds (23:31.492)
I'd have an appointment and sometimes people would try to knock me out of it with other meetings and like, yeah, I mean, there's already an appointment on there. They're like, yeah, but you could move that. like, well, you're not going to have the meeting with me. Like you can have it, you know, you can have it without me. So, yeah.

Jeremy Tate (23:39.905)
the

Jeremy Tate (23:44.033)
Rob, love that. The Chosen, our whole parish watch of Chosen, very popular, an example of kind of new media in a way that the production value is high. I think my favorite episode was the wedding at Cana. And even now, doing those sorrowful...

mysteries like you think of the wedding of Kena and you think of the miracle there. Yeah, tell us about, is that something that has been inspirational? We're gonna see a new wave, cross-past media and others kind of coming into this space.

Rob Reynolds (24:27.448)
Yeah. So I love the chosen as well. I think, I mean, they're, just a great case in point of what happens when you put high quality storytelling and high quality production behind the truth of the gospels, you know, the impact it could have. And I mean, of course they've done a heck of a job marketing as well and got the right talent. but that's what it, that's what Hollywood level production is, right? you can't force your.

Jeremy Tate (24:55.262)
Mm-hmm.

Rob Reynolds (24:57.482)
viewers to Mercy Watch just because it's Christian. I mean, you can do that. You're just not gonna, you're not gonna move mountains that way. Yeah, there's there's certainly a wave. mean, look, when I was, I felt called to do this. So so I got into it. After 2020. Everybody's like, man, great timing. Like those, those really cool. You know, time to like that. I'm like, I didn't time it like this. I didn't see 2020 coming. I didn't see how how obvious this riff would be in media like it was it was less obvious than frankly, Jeremy.

Jeremy Tate (25:21.729)
Hmm.

Rob Reynolds (25:26.788)
than post 2020, but I just did it, you know, just because I felt called to do it, but you're seeing it a lot on Amazon, for instance, they just struck a hundred million dollar deal with, I forget the name of the company, but to produce this whole series on David, I think it's called house of David. And yeah, I mean, now the mainstream is starting to get into it because they realized Christianity sells and starting to sell pretty well after they've

Jeremy Tate (25:47.454)
okay.

Rob Reynolds (25:56.526)
force fed us with all this other nonsense. So there'll be more and more, you know, competition, so to speak out there, but it's, there's going to be a lack of authenticity for many of these things, because they're just trying to capitalize on, on God. But there will also be some great, great producers and filmmakers that are, that are going to really impact things. So it's kind of the result of the dark night.

Jeremy Tate (25:58.817)
Hmm.

Jeremy Tate (26:06.87)
Yeah.

Jeremy Tate (26:20.513)
Rob, lots of Catholic school administrators listening to this podcast. What is the next step? They want to get Studio 316 or some of your work into their school.

Rob Reynolds (26:34.702)
Sure, so I mean, I would back up a step and just say, there's a couple of nuances I wanted to mention. So for one, the cell phone problem where I stand on, it's a major problem. Our approach is not to make our content in big picture to be particularly appealing for quick use on a cell phone.

Jeremy Tate (27:02.603)
Hmm.

Rob Reynolds (27:02.712)
Now, if they, if they tend to watch movies or shows, entire shows on a cell phone, okay, that's a little different thing, but hopefully they're not doing that while they're walking to and from places. Maybe they are. but it's not like we're not trying to get into the Tik TOK world and like, let's just keep them on here and keep them sucked in and compete with the classroom. how, so, so that's one thing. And then as far as schools go, we, we have a whole curriculum around this program. the typical program you have in religion.

Jeremy Tate (27:19.179)
Good, yeah.

Rob Reynolds (27:32.588)
in religion class is not near the standard in terms of production, you know, programs with production, not near the standard as in ELA, like English language arts or science, you know, math or science. You think brain pop, that's one of those big things that have videos and stuff, and they're very well produced. It makes sense, right? Because they can appeal to the public sector as well. So there's a much bigger pool, much more money in it and so on.

But man, religion gets neglected. They go to religion class and they're watching kind of this, you know, stuff that's just not nearly on par with even what they're seeing in other classes. So what's implied there, you know? yeah. And then it leans too much on a lot of the teachers that are hired to do English or science. And then they're like, and you're going to teach religion too. So not even called theology, but you know, religion and whatever it's.

Jeremy Tate (28:16.321)
Totally. Yeah.

Rob Reynolds (28:30.956)
It's what it is, right? So it's like, how do we, how do we help that group of people? the way we do it, we, built a curriculum around this. So it starts with prayer. Every lesson starts with prayer and actually starts with praying with the gospel and journaling with the same gospel that that lesson video, that episode is going to be about. Then they watch the episode, the lesson video, then they have reflection questions and then application questions to challenge them and.

Have them commit to living the gospel in a particular way that matches with that particular Sunday gospel. So yeah, so I mean we, you know, our website we can contact through there. We usually do a demo. We train teachers. We want to make sure that it gets used. It's not about for us. It's not about just getting in in schools. It's getting it in front of the kids. And in that regard, you have to win over the principles to buy into the importance of

of our Catholic faith as I would say the number one, mean, it's the number one principle of Catholic school. Like if that's primary, this program really takes that seriously to really compliment the core curriculum, because we don't replace the core curriculum, the textbooks, that's doctrinal based, we are relationship based, we're based on scripture.

Jeremy Tate (29:55.371)
Beautiful. Again, we're here with Rob Reynolds, founder of Cross Boss Media, the popular show Studio 316. Rob, you're doing amazing work challenging an entertainment industry that has needed to be challenged for a very long time. So thanks for being with us. Come back on the Anchor Podcast in the future. I love having you.

Rob Reynolds (30:17.582)
Thanks for having me, Jeremy. And you're doing great work as well, man. I'm personally inspired by what you do. Extraordinary boldness and courage.

Jeremy Tate (30:25.921)
Brother.