Longer Reads: Interviewing Paolo Mottola | Divisional Vice President of Brand Marketing REI Co-op Studios

Want to Pitch REI? Here's what you need to know.

Photo: All Images Courtesy Paolo Mottola and REI

In 1938, the Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) cooperative was founded by a few scrappy climbers in Seattle who had trouble finding affordable gear to chase adventures in the Northern Cascades. Membership was $1. Twenty-three people signed up.

Today, REI has more than 190 locations nationwide. A lifetime membership is a one-time cost of $30. And the co-op is a growing community of 24 million lifetime members.

Amid this growth, over the past 12 years REI’s Paolo Mottola has risen from social media program manager to Divisional Vice President of Brand Marketing. Mottola made his mark as one of the masterminds behind REI Co-op Studios, the company’s media production wing. Since launching in 2021, the studios have racked up successes including the poignant Netflix feature “Frybread Face and Me” (executive producer Tata Watiki), a coming-of-age story set on the Navajo Nation Reservation. Co-op Studios is also behind a variety of podcasts and assorted length documentaries addressing racism and sexism in the outdoors as well as environmental affairs.

The efforts helped earn REI a spot on Fast Company’s 2024 list of “most innovative companies.” In the near future, Co-op Studios and Confluential Films will bring to market the feature-length documentary “Full Circle,” about the first all-Black team to summit Everest.

Prior to the holidays, Mottola sat down with Hence Journal contributor Dan Oko to talk about what inspired REI to expand its brand content to entertainment projects, as well as the opportunities he sees in the new media marketplace and the road ahead for REI content. Here is Paolo in his own words.

“At Co-op Studios we’ve got staff that comes from traditional media as well as from the brand side. I studied journalism and have followed a communications leadership path over my career. What really drives our entire team is that we’re curious about innovating in the ways that people see stories, who sees them, and the sources those stories are built upon.

We’re also inspired by the outdoor industry, which has a long history of top-notch storytelling, high-quality journalism, and gripping mountain bike and ski films.”

Finding new subjects that appeal to new audiences, and therefore customers, is of major importance to REI Co-op Studios.

“About a decade ago, we launched a strategic initiative to help find projects that resonated with our members. We looked at what we were doing editorially, launched Uncommon Path as a physical magazine (now a digital publication), and more recently partnered with Shelby Stanger, the host of Wild Ideas Worth Living podcast, which is now a Co-op Studios production.

We look at how people have outdoor experiences. We account for their challenges, their communities, and their triumphs.

But what is as true today as it was at our founding is that REI sees itself as a community of people helping each other out and going further with the best gear. Social media, podcasts, and original storytelling are just a more modern part of that mix. That content lets us provide inspiration and expertise to people so they can discover the best ways to get outside.

As a co-op of 24 million members, we have a very large audience base, and they are consuming media in many different ways. If a story begins as a short film, we can bring that same talent on a podcast to promote the piece or to tell the story a little bit differently. Similarly, if a written-word article finds a big audience we may branch out to a different format.

We also produce free educational articles and videos in-house called “expert advice.” That’s our largest content stream. The focus is on how to get outside and the best gear to use. That’s where you can see our product experts reviewing and field-testing gear, and talking with brand partners about innovation.”

“That content is super valuable. But we found we had another role to play that speaks to the larger outdoor culture. With REI Co-op Studios, you see us elevating underrepresented voices and telling inspiring stories about members that people don’t know about. Our goal is to expand what the outdoors means, and how people see themselves outside.”

“Part of that means looking more closely at who the sources and subjects of stories are. We’ve looked at gender equity. We look at climate change. We look at underrepresented voices and communities. And we’ve told those stories consistently and will continue to do so.

A good example is “Mirnavator,” a short documentary we produced about a plus-size ultra runner—Mirna Valerio—a woman of color who is finding her way in the ultra-running world and dealing with challenges and stereotypes. Is it a running film? Yes, but it’s not just a running film. It’s a story about an amazing individual. A strong character like that can drive a project.”

“We aren’t beholden to a singular aesthetic so long as it’s authentic to the story we’re trying to tell. Across our platforms, we lean into modern, creative aesthetics and embrace time-tested formats. These range from photojournalism to indie narrative film and podcasts to humorist essays with illustrations.

Remember, the goal at REI Co-op Studios is to educate and inspire people to get outside. That’s true whether they are just getting started, or if their latest pursuit is a continuation of their relationship with the outdoors.

We also see a deep need to protect the wild spaces we all recreate in so they can be enjoyed by future generations. Ideally we give our members tools to protect and advocate for natural areas, from local parks to wilderness zones, and support stories that show what’s at stake if we don’t do our part collectively.

That’s why we support stories like “Canary” that show what’s at stake. It’s a feature length documentary about Dr. Lonnie Thompson, an explorer and acclaimed scientist who does glacier core drilling on the world’s highest peaks to help us understand the rate of climate-change globally. Thompson is on the frontlines, and “Canary” takes the audience on a wild ride.”

When an amazing adventure story hits the mainstream, we can see how it inspires audiences in our stores. People see an amazing film, and they come in wanting to be able to hit the trails, or try a new adventure because they saw a video or read a book.

Paolo Mottola DVP Brand Marketing REI Co-op Studios

“We’ll look at projects at any stage—whether it’s a conceptual pitch, or a completed project. We look at the potential life cycle of a story and all its potential uses. How big can this story be at this moment in time? How does the story fit within our priorities?

If you want to pitch REI you need to first look at what we’ve produced across our editorial, audio, and video platforms. See what we’ve done to represent diverse voices and characters. Get a feel for the types of projects we’ve published about protecting the environment and climate change. And recall that everything we do lives within the context of human-powered outdoor activities like hiking and climbing, backpacking, snow sports, and paddle sports.

REI stories are about more than achievement. They are about transformation through our connection to nature. Outdoor sports and outdoor goals are the vehicles for those stories.

How do we know those stories are making a difference? Our members tell us. They are not just reading or watching and liking. They take the time to comment on what inspired them.

The outdoors can help deliver health, wellness, and balance to people who are looking for those attributes. When customers respond deeply, we know we’re onto something. Because then it’s not just us judging ourselves. The reward is when customers tell us: ‘This meant something to me.’”

Paolo has got a great eye for projects, and he really trusts the team to do the rest. And that has really helped me as an interviewer expand the scope of who I speak with. Over nine years ago, I started interviewing mostly surfers and runners since those are the worlds I came from, having spent most of my background in the surf industry. The REI network is so vast and that has pushed all of us to broaden our understanding of how people adventure outside and how interacting with nature has changed them.