INTERVIEW: Discovery Channel set to find next best innovator

Discovery Channel is set to premiere The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius on Wednesday, May 1 at 10 p.m. The reality series highlights a competition where judges look for the best innovators in the United States. Kal Penn, the accomplished movie actor, hosts the show, and Mark Fuller, CEO of WET, serves as the lead judge.

Fuller is no new kid on the block when it comes to innovation. WET is an industry leader in the specialized field of designing water-based environments. The company is responsible for the orchestrated fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Recently, Fuller exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox about the new series.

What are the best attributes for a true innovator? What are you looking for in the ultimate winner?

That’s a great question because the word “innovator” is thrown around a lot these days — and everyone seems to have a different definition. I believe the truly great inventions of the future will not come from going down a scientific path alone; rather, they will come from rubbing some strange things together — taking something from fine arts and marrying it with biochemistry, for example. That is where the new, cool and truly innovative things are going to come from and where science and engineering need to go in the future. So for me, the best attributes for a true innovator is someone who is smart, utterly passionate and who has the vision to connect the dots among several different disciplines.

How does the reality competition series help the image of WET? Do you see this as good publicity for your company?

Sure, WET is a very special place and I’d love for more people to know about us and what we do. For those who don’t know who we are, WET is the world leader in experiential water feature design and technology. You may have seen our work — we designed The Fountains of Bellagio at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas and the Fountain of Dubai at Burj Khalifa, among many others in more than 50 countries. We have a company of about 200 people, all the best and brightest from a multitude of disciplines — engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, graphic design, animation, physics, technology, music, choreography and more. We work together on a campus just outside Hollywood, CA. It truly takes passion and collaboration to do what we do. The contestants on The Big Brain Theory live and work much of the time at our WET headquarters, so viewers will get an unprecedented look inside the WET universe.

Can you talk about working with Kal Penn and the team behind the series? Did you enjoy the experience, and would you sign up for another season?

It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to work with Kal Penn on The Big Brain Theory. He is such a smart guy with an interesting background. I consider him a kindred spirit because he is so passionate about education and I find him to be a great role model for young people. I loved working on the show and hosting much of the filming at WET. I would love to do it again!

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius premieres May 1 at 10 p.m. on Discovery Channel.