The team behind República Hospitality & Co. is expanding on the group’s storytelling through food philosophy with the launch of Todos Media.
In early September Todos Media released a series of short videos on YouTube under the Todos banner that highlight the stories of BIPOC and women-owned businesses and the people who run those businesses. Early episodes include conversations with Ian Williams of Deadstock Coffee, Levi Martinez of Orox and Lisa Nguyen of HeyDay Doughnuts.
Todos Media is the latest evolution of a production and media project by República Hospitality co-owner Angel Medina. Two previous projects were sidelined, first by the pandemic and then by the growth of his restaurants and the then-impending writers' strike.
But the idea of highlighting stories, especially those within the hospitality industry, that aren’t always told has stuck with him. His restaurants have seen business return to more regular levels this year and he has emerged from some of the debt accumulated from that rapid growth. So he was able to get back to his media idea.
One of the projects receiving new life is a series called “Rose City Til I Die,” that as the name implies, focuses on people, their businesses and their community within Portland.
“I started working it backwards as to what this thing would look like and what was missing and for us it was really simple. When you’re a minority, be it BIPOC, LGBTQ or even women, there’s not really a platform that exists for these groups, one that is direct about the intentionality of the content,” said Medina.
Medina’s plan for Todos Media no longer relies on selling the content to an existing platform. At least not right now. The content is short form. There are social media-friendly one-minute hits along with 10-minute to 20-minute conversations.
Earlier this year Medina completed a startup accelerator program for Latino entrepreneurs at Stanford. By July he decided to launch Todos Media on its own. The project is backed by República Hospitality and one angel investor.
Todos Media is a team of six, many of whom also work at one of the hospitality group’s restaurants. Medina is proud of offering opportunities for people interested in learning production skills in addition to the platform offered for those in front of the camera.
Medina is planning to restart investment or partnership talks once the company has traction with the audience.
“We’re going to grow this thing as big as we can. Not necessarily on users but rather on community, the way we did with República Hospitality. Get that engagement, start with the people that are so valuable to us, that is people that are in the hospitality industry that are very much underrepresented, their stories and the work that they do,” he said.
For instance, other shows on the channel include “Cocina Noroeste” with chef Juan Gomez showcasing one of his rotating dishes from restaurant Lilia Comedor, and “El Somm,” which features wine-focused Spanish content — like “3 Wines under $25 from Trader Joe’s” from Beverage Director Don Miguel. There is also a series called "Bad Appetite," that sees chef Olivia Bartruff making vintage, and some might say questionable, recipes from old issues of Bon Appétit magazines.
The team has identified five focus areas it intends to build content around: travel, lifestyle, food and beverage, culture, and health. By early 2025, Medina intends to have longer video content with 30-minute to 60-minute episodes and it will be augmented by essays, galleries and travel guides.
“The end goal is to build this community within our platform and get to a point where by the time we’re ready to release the 30- and 60-minute shows that we say, here’s the option you go one way and you watch it with commercials, which is YouTube, or you could pay a small subscription ... and watch it commercial-free but also have access to all these things,” said Medina.
The beta version of the Todos Media website launches Sept. 26.
