Innovation & Tech Today - CA (2020-10)

No

Mercy

Ralph Macchio Talks Tech, the Switch to

Netflix, and Season 3 of Cobra Kai

By Joe Toppe

Thanks to streaming technologies like

YouTube and Netflix, what started almost four

decades ago is back in a big way.

Ralph Macchio’s return to Daniel LaRusso in

Cobra Kai is a culmination of the market’s

continued interest in The Karate Kid movie

franchise and the “Perfect Pitch,” according to

the actor.

The series began on YouTube in 2018 and

remained there for the first two years. The show

has since transitioned to Netflix and will kick off

season three in early 2021. So far, nearly the

entire original cast has made an appearance,

while more are expected later in the series. With

projects like The Outsiders, My Cousin Vinny,

and HBO’s drama series, Deuce, under his belt,

Macchio has enjoyed a career in the spotlight

since the early 1980s.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed

the traditional movie business and an

entertainer’s capacity to connect with fans

through film, viewing technologies and the

consumer’s ability to watch from anywhere are

creating a tech-oriented demographic and

demand.

How does Macchio watch movies now? Is he

a tech enthusiast? What are his future projects?

What’s the release date for the third season of

Cobra Kai? Will there be a season four?

In a recent sit-down with

Innovation & Tech Today, Macchio

not only talked about Cobra Kai and

the technologies he uses in his home,

he told us where the idea for the

show came from and how he

learned all those fighting moves.

Innovation & Tech Today: Can you tell

us how you pitched the idea for Cobra

Kai? What were your initial thoughts?

Ralph Macchio: The pitch came to me as

opposed to me coming up with the concept.

Over the last 30 years, everyone had their

ideas on how to get back to The Karate Kid

universe. But they were never that exciting.

In this case, they were writers who’d seen the

movie a million times. It was their Star Wars.

They came to me last after getting all the other

cast on board because they’d heard I was the

most resistant to going back to that well again. I

wanted the legacy to stand.

But their pitch came from the Johnny

Lawrence angle, William Zabka’s character.

They jumped 34 years in the future where two

guys haven’t seen one another but a rivalry still

percolates beneath them. And yet, they are

telling a fresh story that is also relevant today

with a next-generation cast.

34 INNOVATION & TECH TODAY^ |^ 2020 YEAR-END ISSUE Photo: Art Streiber