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Gary Sheng, Zachary Smith & Zachary Levi - Wyldwood Ranch Visit

July 12, 2025 - Bastrop, Texas​

Event Overview​

Gary Sheng and Zachary Smith visited Zachary Levi's Wyldwood Ranch in Bastrop, Texas, for an extensive conversation covering Levi's ambitious film studio project, entertainment industry insights, personal philosophies, and potential business collaborations. The visit provided deep insight into Levi's vision for preserving human creativity in the age of AI.

Key Participants​

  • Gary Sheng: Visitor, AI educator, potential strategic partner
  • Zachary Smith: Connector, All-In podcast creative director, mutual friend
  • Zachary Levi: Host, actor, Wyldwood Studios founder

Wyldwood Studios: Vision and Development​

The Factory Town Concept​

Zachary Levi outlined his comprehensive vision: "I'm building a factory town like the days of old where industrialists like Hershey - Hershey wanted to make a bunch of chocolate. He needed the factory to make chocolate. There weren't enough homes for the amount of workers he needed. So he's like, well, I guess I gotta build a bunch of homes and I'm gonna need to build schools for their kids. It's an industrial town. The difference is that we're not - the factory is making movies and TV shows and games and music and all of the things within the umbrella of the arts and sciences of entertainment."

Funding and Scale​

Current Investment Requirements:

  • $40 million equity raise needed
  • $65 million total budget including debt financing
  • First phase: 42 cabins on 75 acres
  • Long-term vision: Billion-dollar intentional city

Banking Support: "I get the debt based on the preliminary conversations we're having with all of these banks like they're all pretty keen on it because they see the overall value of all of it. It's just a matter of getting private investors to recognize the opportunity."

Unique Features and Innovation​

Immersive Gaming Integration: "These back lots that will be neighborhoods we'll be able to shoot in them, we'll be able to live in them and play in them... But they're also going to be purpose-built in order to be immersive gaming experiences. So imagine going to like an old west town backlot that we would go make a Western in... you can show up and we can outfit you with an augmented reality heads-up display not VR but AR so you can still see the real world, haptic feedback six shooters and suit so you can feel things in your suit."

Entertainment Industry Philosophy and Critique​

AI as Existential Threat​

Core Concern: "If we don't do something, then AI is gonna fucking destroy all of it. There's no question in my mind. It's gonna do it anyway. The question is did we build an arc to float above the flood of AI as it just takes over?"

Human Artisan Preservation: "I'm trying to hold on to as many human artisans as possible when we all forget what it means to do any of these things because we just have AI agents doing it all we all lose very critical skills and abilities."

Studio Philosophy: Libertarian, Not Ideological​

Political Positioning: "I'm not building a Christian studio. I'm not even building a conservative studio. I'm building a libertarian studio... I want diversity of opinion. I want diversity of thought. I want people to be able to say like hey, I disagree with this and I disagree. Okay, let's all talk about it."

Content Strategy: "What everybody wants is they want agenda out. If you're on the right you want woke agenda out. If you're on the left you want alt-right agenda out... Nobody wants it. Nobody wants to be preached to about people's pronouns in the same way I don't want to be preached to about Jesus."

Union and Production Industry Critique​

Industry Migration: "Everything's going to Europe even Georgia who's got the best incentives in the country is a ghost town right now because of the unions because even though you can get a good rebate or a good incentive program you still have to deal with all of the greedy fucking corrupted unions and guilds."

Cost Example: Zachary Smith shared: "For Home Depot, we estimate that a shoot with post will be about five million dollars... because I'm gonna have to film in some union thing. All these union rates are incredibly high. It forces that you have to have a billion people on your set whenever you could have five."

Community Building and Relationship Philosophy​

Redefining Community​

Work-Based Community: "Community is not who you live next to, it's who you work next to... We all have been lied to and we think that oh I live in a neighborhood or I live in a building and therefore I'm surrounded by other people and therefore I have community."

Tribalism Origins: "Tribalism that's more thousands of years. We would be off on a hunting party for a week or two. Our wives and kids will be back in the village hunting and or gathering and nurturing and doing all that. Maybe I'll be collaborating for a week or two. Trusting each other, relying on each other, co-working together."

Personal Relationships and Modern Dating​

Zachary Levi on Male Biological Clocks: "We all think that because we can technically have kids until we're like 75 years old that we're fine, we're in this biological clock. But the reality is that we do have a biological clock because our sperm quality drops... around 40 is when you really need to be starting to ask what's going on."

Marriage vs. Family Priority: "I told her I was like, I know it's backward and I know it's not traditional, but I'm more focused on wanting to have a family right now than actually rushing into getting married."

Cultural Critique on Modern Relationships​

Dating App Impact: "We now live in a surplus of pussy it's everywhere... women have been conditioned since the 70s to act like men... What that's done unfortunately for us is that then when we're sitting there being like well I want to have a family, I want to have a partner and I want to have a family and then you look at all of your options."

Business Networks and Strategic Connections​

Zachary Smith's Network Insights​

All-In Podcast Operations: "The total budget's like about $35 million... This year we're doing like Roelof Bofa's coming and doing some stuff, Cathie Wood... Sergey Brin."

Creative Direction Role: "My friend Lenny made the music for the intro of his podcast... I creative direct all of the online stuff for like their events and F1 and those kinds of things."

High-Net-Worth Relationship Dynamics​

Olivia Dell Perspective: When Zachary Smith mentioned $300,000 salary expectations: "She's like 'Oh, sweetie, no. We need to work on getting that number higher.' I'm like 'Oh, okay, cool.'... the idea of $300,000 being embarrassingly low to Olivia Dell."

Wealth Disconnect: "Part of the problem is imagine if Olivia wanted to have friends that were like that made $40,000 a year. Those people would have to have an extreme amount of self-awareness not to feel good hanging out with her."

Strategic Opportunities and Collaborations​

George R.R. Martin Connection​

Meow Wolf Origin Story: Zachary Smith shared how George R.R. Martin funded the original Meow Wolf: "George gave them the bowling alley... he said 'come to me with a deck that's profitable and I will give you' and so George gave them the bowling alley."

George's Philosophy: "He realizes they can't just give it to some nonprofit because it's just gonna go [to waste] and you can't just invest it because he has been super lucky with all those investments and he ends up with more money."

Randy Pitchford / Gearbox Connection​

Gaming Industry Crossover: Zachary Smith described Randy Pitchford: "The great-grandson of Cardini is Randy Pitchford and he created Gearbox Studios, which is the game Borderlands... he loves magic... he's also very rich, but like doesn't like rich society."

Unique Home Setup: "He bought two plots of land in a regular neighborhood and then built a castle from one of his video games... inside his house [are] different theaters... he has a close-up magic theater, he has a stage theater."

Real Estate and Investment Landscape​

Austin Market Dynamics​

Four Seasons Pricing: Discussion of Jonathan Coon's Four Seasons project: "The cheapest one is 1.5 [million]... He literally said on the tour 'Oh we expect no less than 60% of the people who live here to be away at any given time'... so it's not a community, it's a status symbol."

Land Acquisition Opportunities​

Adjacent Property: Zachary Levi discussed potential expansion: "This 900 acres across the river from me, that's what I'm mostly focused on right now because that family is looking to sell or lease that land and they're talking to a mining company to [create] a massive fucking gravel pit... that 900 acres would make the most incredible regenerative organic farm."

Personal Background and Trauma​

Zachary Smith's Childhood Revelation​

Religious Extremism: In a deeply personal moment, Zachary Smith shared his traumatic background: "The extreme thing, the belief that they took to an extreme is that like whenever you get married you're supposed to consecrate that marriage and have sex... Well so sex is a sacred thing and it's like if you're ordained by God then what happens whenever a 30 year old rapes a 12 year old? Well then you have to kidnap the 12 year old and turn them into their wife."

Escape and Recovery: "So like my dad had another business that was like legal... they're very religious and like religious does not mean Christian. Religious means religious... I just left a bunch of times."

Human Trafficking Awareness​

Modern Slavery Examples: Zachary Smith provided disturbing education about current human trafficking: "Some large percentage like 20% 30% of women that are working in nail salons currently right now are slaves... every woman you've ever met that gets their nails done [has] a million percent chance... higher than life savings they have gotten their nails done by a slave."

Political and Social Commentary​

Trump Administration Assessment​

Unanimous Criticism: All participants expressed disappointment: "I think it's kind of embarrassing... It's not a little bit embarrassing, it's completely de-legitimizing."

Power Structure Analysis: Gary observed: "The FBI has videos of Trump fucking a 13 year old and Biden... He was probably negotiating in back rooms like here's what you have to do if you want to stay president."

Media and Power Dynamics​

Besties Network Influence: Gary noted: "The amount of power that is connected in the second degree circle of the besties is basically all the power. All the power in the world is in the second degree network of the besties."

Zachary Smith's Assessment: "It's underwhelming... It's weird how many easy layups there are in the world for people that then they just miss."

Gary Sheng's Career Transition​

Lael Alexander Partnership Update​

Tulsa Opportunity: "This guy in Tulsa wants to lock me in... He got a huge finance, he got basically best way to put it is you got access to a lot of financing to commercialize his inventions in exchange for like a profit share."

Relationship Dynamics: "It's kind of like a marriage... if it feels like he's doing me a favor in any way, it's just not gonna be the right energy... I've been around such powerful people over the past few years and I just like oh that's such a pattern where like I don't think that they even know that they create this environment where no one can give them real feedback."

Family and Trust Issues Analysis​

Operational Challenges: "He has ten kids, eight through his current wife... it's gonna be the greatest disaster of all time if there's not like a confession, almost confession, repentance, family intervention... we have not been the best parents and we've been prideful and we've avoided conversations."

Future Collaboration Opportunities​

All-In Summit Speaking Opportunity​

September Event: Zachary Smith offered: "September 8th to the 10th... if you just want me to get $7,500, you need $7,500... they want you to say crazy conservative stuff and like liberal stuff... they want you to get [as] cancelled as possible."

Investment Network Access​

Saudi/Dubai Connection: Zachary Smith mentioned: "The Crown Princes of Saudi and Dubai had invested in this fund... two and a half billion dollars... Zafer who represents them is coming to Austin for a day."

Potential Events: "Nothing is planned but if you happen to be August 15th... there's gonna be a day event at Arena Hall that's like more general market and then Matt is throwing a VIP event."

Key Takeaways and Strategic Insights​

Wyldwood as AI-Era Ark​

Zachary Levi's vision represents a compelling response to technological disruption in entertainment, positioning human creativity as a premium product in an AI-dominated future.

Network Effect Opportunities​

The convergence of Zachary Smith's extensive network, Gary's strategic thinking, and Zachary Levi's creative vision creates multiple potential collaboration pathways.

Community Building vs. Status Symbols​

Strong contrast emerged between authentic community building (Wyldwood model) and superficial status projects (Four Seasons model), with clear preference for sustainable, work-based communities.

Investment Thesis​

Wyldwood represents both creative vision and practical investment opportunity, with potential for significant returns as entertainment industry seeks alternatives to traditional Hollywood model.

Personal Authenticity​

All participants demonstrated remarkable openness about personal struggles, family dynamics, and professional challenges, creating foundation for genuine strategic partnerships.

Relationship Dynamics and Trust Building​

The extended conversation revealed deep compatibility between the three participants around values of authentic community building, resistance to dehumanizing technology, and commitment to preserving human creativity. Zachary Levi's hospitality and openness, combined with Zachary Smith's network access and Gary's strategic insights, established strong foundation for future collaboration.

The visit successfully accomplished multiple objectives: relationship building, strategic alignment assessment, and identification of concrete collaboration opportunities across entertainment, real estate, and community development sectors.