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Interview: Goldenboy Talks His Move To G4 & Esports During A Pandemic

Published Thu, 29 Apr 2021 14:13:10 -0500

One of the major esports names to join up with the relaunched G4 network recently was Alex Mendez, better known to viewers as Goldenboy. The always ecstatic caster has become a picture over the past few weeks, bringing his knowledge and personality to The BLEEP Esports Show, as well as other programs on the network's YouTube channel as they prepare to launch broadcast content again. We had a chance to chat with Mendez about joining up with the network, the projects he's working on with them, as well as trying to do esports casting during the pandemic.

BC: Hey Alex! How's it going lately and how have things been going the past year?

GB: Things have been great! Just like everything, the Pandemic had an impact on our daily lives but I'm grateful to be able to work in a field that was able to instantly transfer what we do online.

I last saw you in LA just before everything got shut down and it sounded like you were about to have a crazy year. What was it like for you going through that transition of having multiple gigs to everything getting nixed?

It was jarring! My team and I were fortunate to be able to book things up to August at the time which was a great change of pace for me considering esports work could be sporadic at times but it felt great to have something set up for the year and then it vanished. It was incredibly scary at first but thankfully my wife and I were able to keep our heads straight and power through the uncertainty.

It seemed like you bounced back pretty quickly through online commentary and your own channel. How was it for you maintaining content during the pandemic?

It was very freeing, actually. While I love working on events as a host and commentator it felt good to get back to making content for myself again. Since then I've been dedicated to streaming on Twitch while also casting games like Valorant, Halo, Knockout City, etc. It's been fun!

Getting right to it, what were your initial thoughts on the announcement of G4 coming back?

Excited! G4 was such a massive part of my childhood and seeing it return, as well as the hype around it, was amazing to see. G4 has a special place in the history of video games and its contributions are felt to this day. Getting video game shows on TV was no small thing and it legitimized the medium, in my opinion.

Did you enter the hosting contest or make inquiries like everyone else or were you more or less playing it cool to see what was happening?

I was already in talks with them when they announced the G4 Needs Talent contest but I was glad to see something like that come about because we need to get fresh perspectives and new blood in this business. That's something that the new G4 could take advantage of and I'm happy to see them identify that early on.

How did the opportunity come about to start doing stuff with the B4G4 content?

I saw what they were doing with B4G4 and thought it was genius. Obviously, something as massive as G4 coming back could be daunting for the audience so to ease in like this is incredibly helpful. They reached out to me just before I signed and asked me if I wanted to do some stuff with BLEEP Esports and considering how amazing Frosk and Ovilee are it was a no-brainer.

At what point did you guys officially start talking about you hosting your own esports show on the network?

Very early on. When the conversations were first starting up G4 had already approached me with some ideas and they were just looking for more guidance on how to make it unique. There's still more work to be done but I'm looking forward to it. As for BLEEP Esports, this was well established before I got there and it's a credit to the team as well as Frosk and Ovilee for being so darn good at what they do that this show felt like a natural inclusion in the coverage of esports but with a comedic twist.

How did the concept come about for this particular show with a bit of the G4 twist to it?

I wasn't present for the initial planning of BLEEP Esports but the general idea is to take the news in esports and put a comedic spin on it. Anyone can report the news but what makes BLEEP Esports special is that it's all done with humor in mind and some simple fun. I think it's something we need more from in esports. When I hosted the Overwatch World Cup at Blizzcon that was our mission. We know that the die-hards would dive into the stats but for the people in the arena who lost interest in between games, we wanted to put a show on for them. It's the same idea for BLEEP Esports.

What's it been like working with Ovilee May and Froskurinn to get the feeling of the show locked in before you start making episodes?

As I said before, Frosk and Ovilee are amazing people and I've wanted to work with them for a while so this was a match made in heaven for me. It's also amazing to work with our production team to have general ideas and scripts ahead of time which makes the filming process very painless. Our writers are some of the best in the business and know-how we talk and write with our individual voices in mind. It's so impressive!

Do you have a plan for the format yet? Will it be mostly talk and debate? Will you have guests? How many Fourth Walls are you planning on breaking each episode?

With BLEEP Esports and the B4G4 format, we're trying out new things all the time to test the waters and see what the viewers enjoy. As for my personal project I haven't gotten that far in the planning process but I think what we make will be exciting and fresh for fans of esports and video games.

Are you covering everything under the sun in esports or will you be selective with the games you'll cover?

If anyone knows me and follows my career they know that I'm not a one-trick pony. I have so many games that I like and so many games that I want to talk about and shed light on their communities. While we like to laugh and have a good time our coverage will always be different, and that's what makes G4 so unique, but all the outlets cover the same 3-4 games. Ideally, I don't want to do that and I hope that those communities that aren't covered as often see what G4 is doing and support our content because we want to speak to everyone.

We both know there's a lot of player drama and team controversies in esports. Will you be tackling those topics or will you be veering more toward just general news?

We've been covering a fair amount of topics and discussions surrounding esports and we'll also cover the not so controversial stories. If it's happening in esports chances are our team knows about it!

There have been a few really great esports shows with different companies that have come and gone the past two years for various reasons. Making TV is always unpredictable, but what are you guys and the network doing to assure BLEEP Esports won't head down the same path?

As I mentioned before, what makes this show different from every other esports news show is that we have fun with it. We throw jokes in there to lighten the mood and not just feed you the news all the time. The truth is that in the age of social media you can get this information anywhere but what we provide is something that no one else can provide and that's the expertise of three people who have lived within the world of esports for a combined total of over a decade and not just folks who are on the outside looking in. Our writing and production team is second to none and our way of telling you the news is simply built differently. I think we have something special here and I'm looking forward to the future.

Is there anything else you'd like to chat about that we didn't get to?

I'm also excited about what else G4 is bringing me on board to do. Every Monday at 2pm ET join me, Adam Sessler, and Kassem G for our Monday Show where we discuss all the latest in gaming news and pop culture live on the G4 YouTube and Twitch channels. It's been amazing to be able to work with both Adam and Kassem like this and it's something that you'll see more of with the relaunch of G4. More collaborations between talent from different worlds make for some interesting content.

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