Dustin Furman
Over the course of the last 5 years, the world of games media has been evolving drastically. A field that was once driven by megalithic websites has now taken on a more personality-focused direction. One such personality is Dustin Furman, the newest member of the incredibly popular Sacred Symbols podcast produced by Last Stand Media.
Speaking to Pario in between his daily duties Dustin talked us through his journey to becoming Executive Producer of Last Stand Media & a co-host on Sacred Symbols.
As a child, Dustin grew up with either a video camera or a video game controller in his hand. However, it wasn't until Dustin discovered IGN's podcast Beyond! that he suddenly realised it was possible to make a career out of playing & talking about video games. Serendipitously one of the hosts on that show, Colin Moriarty, is now Dustin's boss & mentor at Last Stand Media.
Given Dustin was a longtime fan of Colin it is never lost on him how special the opportunity to join Last Stand Media was.
"I wake up every day & think 'Don't screw up, you made it'," said Dustin. "You have to have the mindset that getting your foot in the door is great, but you don't want to give anyone any excuse to push you back out."
Obviously, all of Colin's expectations have been met or exceeded, as Dustin's role within the company has continued to expand. This move fostered more drive within Dustin as he says he now feels a personal connection to the brand.
"Colin has been kind enough to bring me on in a way that saw Last Stand Media transition away from being Colin's Last Stand in a very intentional manner. The company is no longer just Colin's brand, he has let me also make it my brand or Chris [Ray Gun]'s brand or MrMattyPlays brand... Colin is still my boss, so I want to make the company better for him but it's also for me now too. It feels like we are all building something that we can be proud of together."
According to Dustin, his success wasn't by chance. It was the product of years worth of experience.
"Podcasting for literal years prepared me for this role," explained Dustin. "I've been there making a podcast for 10-20 downloads per week, so I get that it can be so discouraging trying to do this but you've got to persevere so that you can develop those skills & get better. I would have never been properly equipped to do this job in 2015 when I started my first gaming podcast, it would have been horrible."
Given the industry-wide shift to podcasts & YouTube Dustin has some poignant advice, "people aren't really looking for opinions & reviews in written form anymore. Writing isn't dead but if are looking for a long-term career option you definitely want to get behind a mic & learn some basic editing stuff."
Keep up with Dustin on social media at: @DustinCanFly
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