Focal Point
Conversations with artists across all industries, taking a deep dive into the nuances, techniques, and philosophies of society's talent.
Focal Point
Get to KNOW Your Community #50 w/ Podcaster Robyn Nelson
The craft of horror filmmaking reveals itself through the passionate voices behind the camera—where personal trauma transforms into powerful storytelling, and authenticity trumps high budgets every time.
In this captivating conversation with Robyn, host of Horror Pop After Midnight podcast, we journey through the shadows of independent horror filmmaking and explore the unexpected parallels between podcasting and creating cinema. Robyn shares his evolution from a wrestling podcast host to doing press interviews at film festivals
Welcome to the Focal Point Podcast. I'm your host, tony Riggs. Here I take a deep dive into my personal interests of the hidden craftsmanship philosophies and passions behind society's talent. If you're intrigued by artistic nuance, please subscribe and follow on my YouTube channel, spotify and Buzzsprout. With that being said, let me introduce you to today's guests. Alright, robin, welcome to the podcast. We're live. We're recording. Everything is now situated after this long and strenuous process of getting ready, how are you?
Speaker 2:Pretty good. How about yourself?
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm all right. I always know it's going to be a good day if I wake up in a bad mood, and it's always the opposite, for some reason. If I wake up in a good mood, I'm like there's going to be a crash. That happens, and almost always there's a crash. I'm like there's going to be a crash. That happens, and almost always there's a crash. But I met you on a set, I think about a year ago, for Brian Jones, who's a local director and writer, actually, and we did. I watched you get massacred with a chainsaw.
Speaker 2:That was my introduction to you.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, Trust me, it wasn't pleasant, but I didn't realize until later that you're in the Dayton and Columbus area. You're decently plugged into the filmmaking scene.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I am. I'm involved with the community.
Speaker 1:I get everywhere. How many people would you say that you know? How many sets are you asked to come on or talk to or be a part of? How many times are you able to squeeze and weasel your way into being on set and stuff?
Speaker 2:I get a lot. I get a lot of people off me all the time. Sometimes I'm not able to make it, but I get offers all the time. I really do. I can't tell you how many number of times I've been offered.
Speaker 1:You know to come on the set to interview the filmmaker and cast. I get it all the time. How long? So just start off. Go ahead and introduce yourself. How long you've been doing your own podcast and being involved with filmmaking.
Speaker 2:I've been doing it going on four years. I started off how I got into podcasting was a friend of mine, gary Powell. He goes by Eric Paranormal Fallen. He's an independent pro wrestler, so I would do promos and interviews with indie pro wrestlers with Future Great Wrestling and that's where I learned all my interviewing skills to really start podcasting. So I did that for a while so I decided I wanted to. I loved horror so much since I was like six years old. Original Halloween really scared the crap out of me when I first watched it when I was six and I couldn't sleep at night because I thought Michael Myers was in the closet staring at me for a while.
Speaker 1:You know, like when you're a kid and you leave, like your, your closet open and that one coat that's got kind of a puppy sleeve, it's just kind of making a face at you and yeah, so that's how I did it.
Speaker 2:So I was with the wrestling you know independent thing for a while. So I was with the wrestling you know independent thing for a while and I decided to venture out to you know, do my own podcast of horror. And so I started off with a co-host, nicole. She was with me through the starting of it and then she had a better opportunity so she left to go do her better opportunity. So I decided to go to indie horror film festivals, horror conventions and cover film festivals and I started networking with different filmmakers to get to know them. Say, hey, I'm really legit. I'm not one of these guys that's just doing it for the fun of it. I really want to interview you and check out some of your films. I really want to interview you and check out some of your films. So for a while I had to bust my ass to prove myself, to know I was legit. And then from there it's just everybody knows who I am.
Speaker 1:Well, I started my podcast as a means to be able to start reconnecting with the film community, because I kind of became a hermit for a while when I had a feature film that didn't that I was working on but it didn't end up working out because there was just too many complications with it, you know, and you had that, all that sort of stuff. But I just kind of spent a lot of alone time writing and working on the craft of writing and over time, like the people that I did know, I still kept in touch with them, but they, you know, they went off to nashville, they all, you know, they did their own thing. And so, like my circle of uh, filmmakers and people that you know I could actually relate to as an artist, they uh, they weren't here anymore and so I'm like I need more people. And, um, that's that first set that I met you on, actually with Brian was the first set I had been on in I think like five years actually. Wow, yeah, yeah, it was. So it was been a while.
Speaker 1:And then after that, I think I ended up on like one or two other sets. I think I ended up on one or two other sets, but I started this podcast just to be able to reconnect. Also, I really wanted to give artists and filmmakers not just filmmakers but also musicians, comedians any. I wanted to get into the mind of the artists and actually give them a little bit of voice, to not just talk about their work, but I'm particularly interested in their craft, their work, but I'm particularly interested in their craft. You know, I think the craft doesn't really get too much of an attention because you know people are more concerned about the end final product and you know the experience overall. They want the climax, but I'm interested in the little details that happen throughout the movie, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Oh, it definitely makes sense. I'm the same way. You know, my job is when I have like an artist or a filmmaker on the podcast, I make them look like a million dollars. It's not all about me, it's them and their story and I like to get it out there. You know, because, like I said, I'm a strong supporter of independent horror and also independent. You know films because they're the really the heart and souls that really build the film community. And then who knows, when you've talked to these guys, who knows they may be the next big filmmaker in Hollywood. You just don't know.
Speaker 1:When you first started getting plugged in, though from your perspective, with the local filmmakers around you, what was your impression of the sort of different personalities and how different people like to work for the stories that they're trying to accomplish?
Speaker 2:I met all different ones. I've met some that were like real serious about their craft. No, joking, they just want to get everything just perfect. And I've been on some. You know it's like hey, they're cool, but hey, you know, I like to get this done but I'm more like lenient. It just varies. All the filmmakers I've met so far have been really down to earth and they take their heart and soul and pride into their craft so they make you feel part of the family on the set or you know they tell you what you need to do and it just makes it feel better that way than having like a prima donna filmmaker you know, going everywhere, you know, like ape, shit, crazy. I've seen some of those, but so far the mostly the filmmakers I've met in the community it's just really been down to earth, genuine, and they just love their craft and love making horror films do you, do you primarily focus on, uh, horror exclusively, or are there other interests that you tend to kind of?
Speaker 1:I know that's the theme of your podcast is obviously horror, filmmaking.
Speaker 2:It's horror pop after midnight. I like to also do a little bit of pop culture, but for some reason horror just keeps on dragging towards my way. And don't get me wrong, I love horror a lot, but there's other genres.
Speaker 1:It could be in the title, it could be because of the title. I'm just saying.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is Horror pop. I did kiss horror and then pop culture. That's what it really means. But, like you said, a lot of people think it's horror and I don't mind that. I mean I get a lot of PR people sending me screeners all the time. I have like filmmakers from all over just hitting me up. I've never met before. It's like hey, I heard about about your podcast. Is there any way you can like have me on so I can uh plug my um movie?
Speaker 1:so I get a lot of now and then too.
Speaker 2:Actually, I thought I was the only one no, I get, I get it all the time and I mean I get so many I can't, you know, interview everybody. So, um, what I usually do if someone reaches out to me like that, I do a lot of research, I get real depth in it to see if they're really legit or not, or what they've done. Or I will dig from their social medias if they have a website or anything like that. I'll dig deep into this to see if they're really legit or not.
Speaker 1:I go stalking too. I stalk the crap out of them, especially if you want to come on my show and be like, okay, here's, this is my stuff. I'm like now, granted, there have been one or two times where like I should have probably done more research, a little bit more research. And then I'm like, oh, okay, all right, we're gonna see. You know what the best, you see what the you know. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Let's see what they have to say.
Speaker 2:Oh, I usually do that too. And another thing, too, how I do my interview approach when I have a filmmaker, an artisan, I'll talk about their project first and then, like we just talked about, I'll do research on some stuff that they enjoy. So I dig deep, you know, to find something. So I'll pop up something to be like hey, how'd you find out? I like this and this and, and they like talking about it. So I like to make it a mix from the project to what they enjoy and I make it like how you and I are talking, like two guys sitting on the porch with a, with a bottle of beer, looking at the, the sunset, just talking about film and horror and all that. That's the type of podcast I do. And then every time a guest leaves, they always thank me because I always talk about different things they don't get a chance to talk about.
Speaker 2:Like, for example, who did I have on? Oh, who's that film? I can't remember her name. She was on Traumatica. She's a known actress, rebecca Kennedy. So I did a lot of research on her because she's in this upcoming Traumatica film, okay, so I dug some stuff on her, what she enjoyed, and she really liked that.
Speaker 2:So when we got off, she's like I'm glad you talked about the film, she really liked that. So when we got up, she's like I'm glad you talked about the film, she goes. But I love how you talked about things that I'm interested in, because when you listen to some podcasts they'll have a filmmaker on but they won't do the research, they won't watch the film, they won't get into detail what they like or what they didn't like the film or what really got them in got me the film, because most, uh, most podcasters don't do that, you know, and a lot of filmmakers you have on like it when you like talk about the film if you really saw it or not, or or, for example, be like hey, um, I love this pan shot you did on this scene in this room and you added the different color tones to really make that scene like a twist in the film. I like to talk about stuff like that and a lot of filmmakers like it when you pick stuff out of their film.
Speaker 1:Well, because it shows that you paid attention and that you actually gave a crap.
Speaker 1:Because there's so much work that goes into making a movie, you know, and when you actually pay attention to those sorts of details, then they start to appreciate the fact that you respect the nuance of their thinking and their creativity. And then that rabbit trails off and they actually get really, really excited to talk about the things that people don't actually really ever ask them about. Like why did you choose this shot, you know? Why did you decide to go with this direction? Um, and then that opens up a whole can of worms where they just you, you reveal who they are, you know and and they, they like it that way and that's the best way.
Speaker 2:If you're really going to interview somebody. I always tell people if you're going to get podcasts, podcasting to interviewing, do your research, watch the film wherever they show. You Know what you're going to say to them. You know, because if you don't know what you're going to do, you're going to make yourself look bad and you're going to make your guests look bad because you're not, like, totally prepared. I've had guests where they were bland. You know when you ask them a question, they don't know what to ask.
Speaker 2:So sometimes you've got to really work for those answers you know especially introverts and since I interviewed indie pro wrestlers back in the day, I learned how to play off of them. You know, like a character, I learned how to play off of them, you know, like a character. So I've been in situations where I had to play off my guests to make them sound like a million dollars instead of sounding like very bland. I've had some guests like that.
Speaker 1:Well, generally in my experience, when somebody is very introverted, they usually actually have a lot to say, but they're uncomfortable because nobody ever really asked them about it and you really gotta work hard to actually like open that can of worms and to see what's actually underneath the hood of the vehicle. And, generally speaking, when you do pop it open and they do start talking, they end up being sometimes even more often than not in my experience that they actually have a lot more to say than extroverted people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, don't you like it when you have an interview where you answer that right question and it flows real smoothly and the person just talks and talks, where you don't really have to hop in and ask a question? You let them smooth it and then after that, and then you cut in and then you answer another question that goes smooth without you even asking any questions. I love those type of interviews.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, they end up making a good dance partner when it comes to a conversation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've had some that made me look like a million dollars too.
Speaker 1:When I ask if I'm not sure of a question they know what I'm talking about they'll make me say they'll be like, oh, you mean this, and I'll be like, yeah, that's right when you first started interviewing people, how, what was the first series of of behaviors, or maybe even mistakes, that you realized you had to correct for in order to be a better presenting host and interviewer?
Speaker 2:Oh man, I remember when I first started I was so green I mean green that's a term, what pro wrestlers say when you're just getting into the business. I mean I'm not part of it anymore, but I was so green, I was nervous, I was scared. When I was interviewing people, when I first started out, I was stuttering, I didn't know what to ask. I kept on asking the same questions over and over again and not really you know popping that, popping it up to them to make it look good, just real nervous around them. When I if I'm like a person interviewing somebody when I first started out, I was like real nervous and I kept on like stuttering a lot. So if you've listened, if you listened to some of my earlier stuff, you'll hear me like stuttering or I don't even know what the hell I'm doing. And I've had people when I first started out going you suck, you need to quit podcasts, you don't know what you're doing. But you know it's like I just ignored. It went on and I started improving the more I go. So every time I had like my first interviews. I would learn from each interview what to ask, what not to ask. You know I need to do more research on this and this to really pop out the interview. So I was like, really lost. I've never done podcasts into my life before.
Speaker 2:When I first started, first started out, I was green. I didn't even know what to do. Um, I was still trying to get my name out there. A lot of people didn't take me seriously. So, um, I had to pay my dues. I'm still paying my dues and learning. But I had to go out there and bust my ass to really have people noticing me. And it was hard for me to uh get into, uh, indie horror film festivals. At first, too, you know, I had it like, um, I'll give you a good example uh, jason tosten. He's out in columbus, he owns nightmares film festival. And when I was like first starting out, I reached out to him and say, you know, hey, I would love to get a press pass.
Speaker 1:I've got to do that I've got to figure out how to do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll talk about that. I'm sure I'll get a press pass, so I would reach out to him. And then he looked at my stuff and he's like you just don't seem like you're really serious about what you're doing. You seem like you're just doing this for the fun of it, just to say, hey, I'm doing this. You're not really, you know, like being serious about it when you want to interview people. So when he told me that that kind of hurt me because I mean I was just first starting out it's like my first year I was starting out so by him doing that, he gave me the encouragement to get better and more polished at my craft. So I was like, okay, he's not going to. You know, give me a chance, all right, I'll just go out and make a name for myself. So I started reaching out to different film festivals. Same thing A lot of them said yes and a lot of them said no.
Speaker 2:So the next film festival that really gave me my big start actually two of them before jason finally accepted me was um days in the dead by, uh, george lane and his wife audrey. Um, they have a. They have so many different days of the dead in the united states and they have the film festivals and they always give these young filmmakers a chance to show their stuff because they're really open and they want their stuff to get out. So they heard of me, so they gave me a chance, gave me a press pass. Let me, you know, run and do the interviews of the um film festival, which was really good experience. And then the next one was horror hound. So, uh, zoe judge, she runs the whole film festival. At first she was real iffy on me too, but she gave me that chance without questioning me. She just said, okay, let's see what she can do. So she, let me do that. And I just showed her I can do it doing interviewing.
Speaker 2:So after that I started, you know, just getting better at you know my craft and interviewing. And then finally, the next year, year, I reached out to jason. I was like, hey, jason, how about give me a chance? And he goes okay, I'll give you a chance, but you got to show me some of your work you've done. I was like okay. So I sent him like tons of podcast episodes, I sent him tons of video interviews, I sent him everything. I did that whole first year. I sent him everything. It's like dude, here's all my stuff. What else you really waterboarded?
Speaker 1:him. Huh, you really waterboarded him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then he finally realized it's like okay, I'll give you a chance. So that year he let me do it. Um, I had fun, he really enjoyed me being there. So he welcomes me every year now. So he takes me like really serious now.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I've had people that wouldn't take me seriously and you know I had to. You know, prove to them I'm really legit. I mean you can have fun doing the podcast, but you also kind of have to be a little serious as well. I mean you've got to even it out. You can't be like just jumping on here and you don't know what you're talking about, or having an actor in here and just being like all starstruck. You can't do that. You've got to be professional about when you're talking to like a celeb.
Speaker 2:I've done some celebrity interviews at conventions, you know, in a professional manner. I mean, secretly I'm fanboying, but I'm not going to show them that. You know. Um, I got to be professional, serious and you know, share their story and then after that, uh, maybe I'll be like, hey, can I get like a picture or something. Not when I'm like interviewing, but right, yeah, you got to be. You gotta be serious what you do and, um, if you really want it, you have to go out and work for it. Um, I did this all by myself. I don't have anybody helping me. I'm constantly out. I mean, I got like two jobs and podcasting and I'm out there just hustling my ass.
Speaker 1:Well, when you started interviewing people in person at these conventions and festivals, how different was that from doing it online, where there's a bit of a buffer and a barrier, because when somebody talks online with you and then you actually meet in the flesh and in person, there's a very different dynamic because you can read their whole body language, you're getting a better quality vision of actually what they're kind of looking at when they're speaking to you and their emotions and their feelings, and there's no lag. There's no internet connection you have to worry about. So tell me about you evolving to be able to do that as well and where the differences lie.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, when I've had guests on, I feel so comfortable. When I'm on a podcast, I run smooth and it's very comfortable because you're not in the same room with whoever you're interviewing and it just it just feels smooth and comfortable. And then when I started doing my first um in person, oh man, I was so nervous. I mean it's like, why am I acting like this? I'm so used to interview people on a podcast. Why am I acting totally different in person? It's just the same thing.
Speaker 2:So it took me a while to fully get comfortable, like live with another person and, like you said, how you feel each other's, like chemistry and everything which really matters. If you don't have that great chemistry, it's not going to work out, man, you got to have it evenly flow, you know. But uh, yeah, um, when I did my first live interviews, um, they were hard and you know. And when I remember my first one and I left, I was why did I sound like an amateur? And I'm just so smooth and cool when I'm online interviewing, it should be the same way. Because it was totally different. Because when you're on a podcast, it's totally different interviewing somebody when you're live.
Speaker 1:Because it's more of a different atmosphere.
Speaker 2:You just feel more relaxed because you're on a podcast and then in person it's totally opposite.
Speaker 1:It's a little easier too, because if you're doing an online podcast, like this one is, I could have a screen over here that has some notes, and then I got my phone over here that has some questions.
Speaker 1:I got a bunch of like cheat codes for the test, yeah, that are just out of frame and it looks like I'm doing it, but you know when in reality there's. You know, I've got my phone down here with some questions that I came up with and then I've got a little bit of research. I can glance about the person on the side and you know, um, but when you're in person you have none of that, unless you want to actually be constantly looking at your phone like this. But you know, there might be a charming way to go about actually being like yo, uh, I don't know what do?
Speaker 2:you think about that one, you know when, when I'm on um, when I do in-person interviews, I memorize what I do. I'll write a script, but I'll memorize it before I talk to that person to make me sound good when I'm interviewing them. I usually do that, but there's been times where I've mispronounced the name. I'll give you a good example. I interviewed the lead singer, not the lead singer. I interviewed the guitarist of Anthrax. He's the main guitarist, scott Ion, and when I did a live interview with him I actually pronounced his name wrong. Oh, shoot, it's Ian. And I said Ian, because he's the guitarist for Anthrax. And while we're live recording, he corrected me. He's like you say it like this and I was like oh, I'm bad, I'm sorry. Yeah, there's times when you do an interview. I mean there's, there'll be times where you'll fuck up a little bit. But yeah, especially names sometimes.
Speaker 1:Who would you say is the biggest celebrity that you've interviewed to date?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, there is so many I can't, I can't even. I can't even name them all. Holy crap, you're putting me on the spot. I mean, I've been. I was like. This was like, uh, okay, I'll tell you a little fun interview I did. Um, it was a little celebrity, her name was Alicia Weir. Um, she played Abigail the uh, vampire ballerina.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Um, she was a very fun interview for for like a little kid. Uh, she just fun. She made me laugh and all that. It was just fun interviewing her. She has to be probably like 12 or 13 or something like that.
Speaker 1:Okay, gotcha.
Speaker 2:So that one was fun. Let's see what was the real big one I did. I've done so many slabs. Okay, I did one. I did one with Lou Diamond Phillips. You know who Lou Diamond Phillips is right.
Speaker 1:It sounds familiar.
Speaker 2:He played Richie Bounds in the La Bamba movie. He was in Young Guns 1 and 2. He played Chavez. He's been in a lot of films, okay, so he was up there. I interviewed John Cusack. Do you know who John Cusack is?
Speaker 1:Again a familiar name. Okay.
Speaker 2:He played in like Better Off Dead movie. He played in one. He's been in a lot of stuff, Okay, so yeah.
Speaker 1:You interviewed. Actually, I think I recall correctly the um uh, maybe I'm wrong Um the I think it was the writer of night of the living dead, was that was?
Speaker 2:that right Because he didn't really want me to bring up Romero because they kind of had that little hate-like relationship. But they were professional together and it was for a documentary he was doing about making it, because he's the one that really wrote the main script of it for Romero. But Romero got credit for the way he claims it. But Romero got credit for the way he claims it. So when I was interviewing him about his documentary, I asked him I got one question to ask you because all the questions were about him. But I asked him what about Romero? What was it like? And you put Romero in your documentary, what was it like to work with him? Then he got real salty with me. He goes, he's like this interview is over.
Speaker 1:I was like so he was offended at you for bringing it up or just at the um no, he was memory that comes with the question.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was offended because I've mentioned his name, because this documentary was about him, but he also did a a a memoriam in the documentary about him too, so that's why I was asking him and he did not like that.
Speaker 1:He cut that interview quick and said I'm done oh gosh, well, how long ago was his um his uh beef with him?
Speaker 2:how long. I think it was probably maybe two years ago, maybe oh, so I may be recent yeah, I may be wrong, but yeah, that's. Yeah, he just went off on me, man. I mean I didn't mean to, you know, push those buttons. I just said asking you know, that question, you know have you found?
Speaker 1:do other people get uh? Have you offended accidentally like a lot of people, or is it particularly just people who have very uh have a lot of buttons that could easily be pushed and you accidentally step on them?
Speaker 2:yeah, I've had. I've had some guests that had those little buttons you don't mean to push, you're not realizing they'll get like real salty with you. I've had some of those, but the most of the ones I've had so far have been really smooth and um cool interviews. Besides him and one other guy, all my interviews just turned out smooth. They've been all like good experiences. So you know, I only had like two like that of the four years I've been podcasting.
Speaker 1:Well, give me a little bit of insight into how you like to choose your guests. When you're going through the material and you're checking out to see okay, maybe this is something that I think would be good for the show, but also personally that you're interested in what makes a memorable movie that you watch and then you want to try to invite that person on. When you're looking through their work and you see their creativity, what tends to stand out that says this person would be a great person to talk to?
Speaker 2:this is what I do. Um, I always, I'm always checking out indie horror all the time. So I'm going on to youtube, alter channel, checking out indie horror, short films, um, and I'm always looking at different horror films and then I'll watch the film and then I'll find out who different horror films, and then I'll watch the film and then I'll find out who made the film and then I'll go look at some interviews he's done with other people to see what type of person is to fill them out. And if there's like a certain movie I really loved, it just really kept me at the edge of my seat, scared the shit out of me.
Speaker 2:Um, I'm a big fan of cinematography. If it had beautiful cinematography shots or that certain story that really gives me that pop, I'll go reach out to that dude. It's like, hey, man, this movie is fucking phenomenal. Man, I got to find out who this filmmaker is to see what really ticked. I usually will look for different indie horror films that interest me. I'll watch it and then I'll find out about the filmmaker if I'm not familiar with them, and then I'll go do research on see what else he's done and then I'd watch interviews where he's interviewed by other people kind of fill them out before I have them on, so I'm really picky on who I have on my podcast. It has to be, it has to be somebody that I really want on and I really love the fuck out of their film. You know what's the?
Speaker 1:most recent uh film that you think is a great contender for like top 10 um movies that you've seen like in the last year uh of doing your podcast um, I'm good friends with michael and jason livy.
Speaker 2:Uh, they're the livy brothers. They produced, like the terror fire films and they just and they just got done doing stream. I'd love stream. These guys are so talented how they make a film so, um, I got to be friends with them. Uh, from you know the, you know the terror, you know terror fire movies because they produced you know terror fire 2 and then they worked on terror fire 3 of damian leone and all them and phil falcone, which is another good friend of mine who does all the special effects. And, um, when they do their films, they do it so original and unique. They just have that unique film style that really like gets you invested into the film. I can't explain it. You got to watch some of their films. You got to watch stream. Um, you got to watch their um fan film ofeprechaun, because he grew up liking the original Leprechaun movie.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So the top indie horror I really enjoyed that had filmmakers on the podcast would be like Stream with the Livy Brothers. Marcel Waltz he's an indie horror filmmaker and director and he has this uniqueness how he makes his films and you can tell he loves horror a lot and he really enjoys it. His latest film just came out I checked out. It was called Brute, 1976.
Speaker 2:Okay interesting you need to check out. It's like a homage to like he put a little homage to, texas Chainsaw Massacre. It's a film that was filmed in the 70s. It's about this group of people who are doing a photo shoot out in the desert and they find this abandoned ghost town which is called Savage, and there's like these, like this weird family that could be the Twisted Cousins of Leatherface.
Speaker 1:Okay, what? Curiously because you're a big fan of horror, yeah, and you know the the. The shtick of horror is it's there's something suspenseful or scary or unsettling about it do you find yourself still getting consistently um scared or unsettled by it? Like, are you still in that state of mind where that level of pattern recognition doesn't ruin the movie for you?
Speaker 2:um, the horror films nowadays don't really get me under my skin or scare that, scare the crap out of me. I've seen enough. Um, there's a few I'll give. I'll give you. I'll give you a good example uh, traumatica which is coming out, um, that may be really scared the living shit out of me, because that's that could really happen. It's about possession. You know, it's like demonic, so that really got under my skin and it kept me at the edge of my seat.
Speaker 2:Um, the type of horror films that would really freak me out is, um, I've talked to a lot of, uh, indie horror filmmakers. When they make their films, some of them do it based off their trauma or you know, like if they were like abused when they were growing up. So they write it out into a horror film, which makes it legit and scary. Those type of films will really get to me because you know that trauma or that fear or abuse they had. You can really feel it how they write it into the characters in the film you know, get me, yeah, yeah, I do the thing.
Speaker 1:Uh, my favorite horror series has got probably the conjuring series, because it's based off some real people and their their experiences and the journals that they actually wrote down, and I think the latest one actually is I forget what it's called it's the Conjuring.
Speaker 2:It's Last Rites.
Speaker 1:Last Rites, it comes out next week.
Speaker 2:I loved it. Another series of horror films I love, really, I enjoy. Still scares me a little bit are the Insidious films.
Speaker 1:Oh, I, love those movies Aren't they great. They're great. They're so great because the best horror films aren't really about horror. It's about the plot and the people that are in it and the struggles that they're going through, and the horror just ends up being the traumatizing element and it's not the end-all be-all of the film. My type of horror honestly is it tends to be more suspenseful than jump scares and blood.
Speaker 2:Oh, you're right, my favorite type of horror I really love. I love more of the psychological that really messes with your mind and plus that certain film score that gives that eeriness while you're thinking through your mind. It really builds you up and freaks the living shit out of you when you watch the film. I like more of the psychological. I'm not a real big fan of gore horror films. I've seen a lot of gory horror films. I mean there's some good ones out there, but I'm more of a psychological, paranormal horror type of guy paranormal horror type of guy.
Speaker 1:The most recent uh horror movie that I saw and I think this might uh have been maybe last year that sticks out in my mind is a I think it's a foreign film. I want to say is it french? It might it's. It's either french or spanish.
Speaker 2:Okay, it's a called martyr, it's called that that movie was messed up it was, it was.
Speaker 1:It was one of the greatest first time and only times I will ever see a movie. You know what? Because you know, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, because oh, yeah, oh man that and I'm gonna just you know spoiler alert for those who, because I'm gonna get into a little. You know spoiler alert for those who, because I'm going to get into it a little bit.
Speaker 2:It's about.
Speaker 1:For those who haven't seen it, it's about this cult that this. In the beginning of the movie this girl escapes from, from being imprisoned in someone's basement, and the basement's pretty decked out Like they've been doing this for a while and the main character is the girl's friend who she escapes, and so she goes back to try to seek the revenge. They could call the police, but they'd rather do it personally because of what they endured. The friend dies in the beginning of the movie and then she gets captured. Um, the friend dies in the beginning of the movie and then she gets captured, and the vast majority of the film, probably two thirds of it, is literally just watching. Uh, them torture not just her for the sake of pain, but they strip her of her, of her humanity and hope.
Speaker 1:And that was, that was the most unsettling thing, because after like the first 20 minutes I realized we're going to stay down here, and that's when it kicked in like, oh shoot, it's going to be one of those movies.
Speaker 1:And the reason they're doing this you find out toward the end of the film is that once somebody is kept on the brink of death for so long, somebody is is kept on the brink of death for so long. Um, it presupposes that they actually ride the edge between being alive and being dead and they get a glimpse into actually what the afterlife looks like. And they finally do it, and the head cult leader walks down and listens to what the the victim, the main character, says about what it is, um, before she dies. And then, because they've been trying to do this for a while and this is the first time, I think it's worked that's that's how I understood it and once the, they have this ceremony to bring the whole cult to actually hear what the answers are, because they've been doing this for a while she says she locks herself in a bathroom.
Speaker 1:so I asked her what she's doing and they said keep dreaming, and then she blows her brains out.
Speaker 2:I know that was intense. I'll give you another intense film you've got to check out. This really gets you too. It gives you a gut punch. I checked out this film. It was called Beaten to Death.
Speaker 2:It's an Australian thriller type of horror film and it starts off where this guy and his girlfriend wanted to score some cocaine. So the guy takes them out in the middle of nowhere to get cocaine and then crazy stuff starts happening. Cocaine, and then crazy stuff starts happening. So, uh, he ends up killing the drug dealer after. But for at before he did the drug dealer tied him up, you know I'm not gonna spoil anything but just starts beating the shit out of him. So through the whole movie he's trying to survive. You know being fully beaten up. So there's a another obstacle that keeps on getting in his way. He gets beat up even more. You know trying to. You know get out of this like cycle of getting the crap beat out of them. And it really it's. It really fucks with you emotionally, punches you in the stomach. Then towards the end it was the most devastating ending you would ever see. Your jaw will drop. What's the name of it again.
Speaker 1:Beaten to Death. Beaten to Death. It's a very on-the-nose title. I hope it's as good as you say it is.
Speaker 2:It's like Beaten to Death. But I'm not going to give any spoilers. But you really get in the movie. It's like a little slow, burn a little bit, but towards the middle it starts really picking up and you really get invested in it because you don't know what's going to happen and you're really feeling for that guy. It's like holy shit, man. I hope I never get in a situation like that.
Speaker 1:You just feel that. You just feel his emotion and pain, you know, losing his girlfriend and all that stuff. Well, I only know you, actually as someone who's been doing podcasts, but you're a big fan of horror and you're very involved with filmmaking. Have you made? I couldn't find anything. Have you made any films? Have you been interested in filmmaking? Yeah, have you thought about trying it out?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I am, I'm thinking about it. I always wanted to write an indie short horror film. So right now I'm dabbling in it right now. So I'm coming up with ideas right now. I haven't talked to any of the film some of my filmmaker friends yet I'm still dabbling. I would love to make an indie horror short film. I like to do at least one time. I just want to make it once. You know I don't want to fully get in the filmmaking, but I just want. I always wanted to write an indie horror short film. So right now you heard it from me I'm I'm dabbling in brainstorming.
Speaker 1:Right now I are you in the script writing process or like the brainstorming.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm writing brainstorming, so sometime in the near future you'll see me bust out a horror short. I don't know when, but I'm working on it right now.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, you know a lot of people. I hope that you're able to you know.
Speaker 2:Maybe I'll make you the final guy, whatever comes up.
Speaker 1:But no, that sounds great, you know that's, that's exciting, you know. Keep me up to date on that.
Speaker 2:And another thing I always wanted to learn too. I always wanted to work behind the camera. I'm a big fan of cinematography. I would love to, you know, jump on sets and just learn from cinematographers to get the experience. I love working, working behind the camera. I like to be behind the camera and get right into the action in certain scenes, you know, and have my unique vision and style. How I'd film that certain shot. That type of stuff always interests me too, how cinematography will do like certain scenes, certain shots, certain angles, and I love to figure out why he went that way instead of that way. You know, I've I always wanted to be a cinematographer too.
Speaker 1:So yeah, Nice, based on when? Uh your experiences of showing up on a lot of different varieties of sets?
Speaker 2:Yeah, can you?
Speaker 1:tell within a certain period of time? Based on how they're working together and your experience of not just who's on this project but how they're approaching it, can you tell at this point whether or not the film is actually going to turn out?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can. It depends who you're working with. I've been on sets where the filmmaker only uses the same actors and the same crew through all their films and you feel that family dynamic and that chemistry and you know that everything's going to run smooth on the set and the film's going to be fine. The set and the film's going to be fine. I've been on a lot of that where it's been like family origins because some filmmakers like to use the same actors in all their films. I mean, once in a while they'll get a new actor but they like to use the same film crew, the same everything. It just makes it. It makes the filming experience like really smooth when they're filming the film and then and you can tell it's going to end up being a good film because they have they just they're just one big happy family.
Speaker 2:You know, um, I've been on sets where I couldn't really tell you. You know, um, the people are on the set, you know doing their thing, you got your actors and you got your gappers and you got your cinematographers. You just don't know what you're getting into because you can't really fill out the, the crew and the actress on that film. But you can usually tell when you go on the set. If you really know a filmmaker really well and how he uh does his business on the set, you can tell. Sometimes you can't, it's, it's. It's really like a toss of the coin.
Speaker 1:What was your best and worst experience of being on set and what was your role on those? Oh the one role you saw me on the set was with our friend Brian Jones. Shout out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had the greatest experience working on there. I'm surprised he asked me to come on. He's like, hey, would you come on? I was like sure you know, cause I never did this before. And then you had Beth Metcalf. She did the makeup on the film.
Speaker 1:She did the makeup on me too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean Beth Metcalf man, this girl is a Jack of all trades man. She's so talented, she can do makeup, she can act, she can sing. I mean I'm surprised she hasn't of place or, you know, uncomfortable. It just wasn't. You just got that vibe. It just didn't really feel good. It's like why am I doing here? Why does he really, you know, want to use me?
Speaker 1:You know it's like Was that a larger production, I shouldn't even be here. A small indie film.
Speaker 2:That weird get feelings kind of like a horror film. Was that a larger production or a?
Speaker 1:smaller indie film. It's mostly like a larger indie production.
Speaker 2:But the smaller ones I'm cool with. I mean, I've met a lot of great filmmakers. Man, they make you look like a pro. Yeah, so you can tell certain sets and films, you can tell if it's going to be really comfortable or not. It just depends on the mood of the filmmaker, it just depends on the atmosphere, because you just don't know what you're really going to get into until you really get into it.
Speaker 1:What's the most fulfilling aspect of your journey so far of being a podcaster in the film world?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, that's a good question. Um, the thing I like about, about which really made me feel, is interviewing people. It's helped me be more of a more of a confident person, because before I did an interview and all that, I was like a. I was like a real shy guy and I really didn't talk much until someone initiated the talk. I was one of those ones that was in the group but I was in the back until somebody made that effort and I was like that growing up and just being the nice guy. But when I started getting in interviewing people, it really helped me with my confidence and, you know, really make me feel me. You know, really made me feel more like a like, like a, like a real man. You know, it's not like stuttering or shy anymore. If I didn't have this podcast or meeting people like you or doing interviews, I think I'd still be that shy, quiet person man.
Speaker 1:Would you say it made you more extroverted, or just more confident?
Speaker 2:It made me more confident, because when I first started podcasting, like I told you in interviewing, I wasn't confident at all. I kept on thinking bad things. It's like I don't know what I'm doing. What happens if I really fuck up. Is people going to judge and laugh at me or I going to have like a lot of haters are not going to like my stuff? I used to worry about stuff like that all the time, but I finally realized you're still going to have people that's not going to like your stuff. You're going to have people that's going to like your stuff. And what I learned is you can't let people bring you down on what you like is. You can't let people bring you down on what you like.
Speaker 2:I've had so many people tell me I suck, I should quit my day job, I shouldn't even be in this. I don't know anything about horror or all that. I get that from people sometimes all the time. But I've also get people that said, hey, man, we love your stuff, you sound pretty confident. We followed you when you first started out from being, you know, like real amateurish until getting more confident and you know you know more of you.
Speaker 2:I've had both conversations like that I've had. I've had people, you know, like I told you earlier, people that would never give me a chance to really prove myself, that I can really interview someone to make them look good. You know, and if it wasn't for Zoe from Horror Hound, george and Audrey from Days of the Dead, or the guys who run Fright Film Competition in Cincinnati and then also shout out to Seth Lee for, you know, helping me, you know, helping me get interviews with some filmmakers, if it wasn't for them and also, in the beginning of my origin story, gary for pushing me, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be podcasting right now, man.
Speaker 1:Wow, what do you think you would be doing if that didn't happen?
Speaker 2:The thing I'd probably be doing, like I'd be doing, probably just watch, go into movies, just watching horror films, going to conventions. That's about it Enjoying my life and working, you know, not even worried about the care in the world.
Speaker 1:Would you say that fake it till you make it is a very true thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think so. I really do. I mean to me what I also learned too. Is you got to really enjoy what you love, man?
Speaker 1:It's true, very much so it could be acting.
Speaker 2:You got to really love it. If you don't really love it, you should just quit and not do it, because if you're doing it because you're hating it, it's not going to look good on you and people can read you to tell if you're really legit or not. You know, you've probably seen some podcasts and some videos where you've watched people and you can tell they're really fake. They're not their genuine self. They're not bringing that genuality to their show or their craft. They're just like they sound like a mindless zombie like everybody else. They don't have that like that atmosphere, that tone where someone's like, hey, I like this guy, he's really being him self and he's really having fun, I like this guy. And when you listen to some podcasters not all, most of them sound like like, uh, zombies, man, they sound like bland zombies or they have that like radio host, like I'm ready to sell you something now yeah, exactly it.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying they're all like that. There's some like that because if you listen some they all sound the same. Um, you need to be different. You need to be your genuine self. My attitude is you either like me or don't like me. If you don't like my podcast or my videos, I'm fine. I'm not going to get mad at you. That's, that's your opinion. You know, I'm not going to let that stuff. Bring it down. If you like and enjoy my stuff, that's good you can follow me.
Speaker 1:Huh.
Speaker 2:Art is subjective yeah, and you can, um, follow me or don't follow me. I'm not going to beg anybody to like my stuff or follow me on social media. I'm not like that. I want somebody to really fall like my stuff or follow me on social media. I'm not like that. I want somebody to really fall in, like my stuff. They really like it. You know, cause I'm not going to be like, hey, follow me in this and this. I'm not into that. That's the same thing.
Speaker 2:If I want to follow, like an actor or a filmmaker, I want to follow them because of their uniqueness, uh, how, how, the type of person they are. You know, around the film set, how they take care of their crew, their actors. You know, instead of being someone that's going to be like real Dickie and like a perfectionist, you know, and I just want people just to like my stuff, you know, and I'm not going to put a fake, I'm not going to be a fake person. You know, like online or everything you know, it's just to try to get views and all that. I'm not going to be a fake person. You know, like online or everything you know, just to try to get views and all that. I'm not like that.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm thankful I get people to listen to my podcast. I mean, I get, I get some good numbers. You know, I don't care if it's like one person or one hundred thousand people listening to me. You know, if that's that one person, I make them feel good about themselves. That's what I want to do. Do, man, it's not all about me. I just want to make cool interviews and cool content for people.
Speaker 1:I mean, I mean, I want to make it look good and all that, but I just want to be my unique selves yeah, one of the things that I've learned, uh, especially when it comes to interviewing people so is that there's a difference between someone being fake and then someone being professional, and then you figure out that one question or that one way to make them break character. I love that. I love that when I can be able to do that and you're like, ah, gotcha bitch yeah, I've done that too.
Speaker 2:Um well, especially when I go back when I was interviewing wrestlers, there will be these wrestlers that will be like real hardcore and into their craft and there's times where I'll get them to crack a smile. I'll say something and they'll get that little like smile or laugh. If I can get that off of somebody, I'm doing my job.
Speaker 1:I love that being a podcaster, it's well, I'm just. I'm another white guy with a podcast in the Midwest talking about art. Like you know, there's everyone's got their own stick. But what I loved, honestly, is that, even if my show doesn't necessarily grow to something where I could maybe potentially produce an income, it has plugged me in back into the community and that's if that's all that has ever done. It's given me resources for networking and stuff like that. It's still worthwhile. It's been great and I'm surprised by how much people actually talk to me behind the scenes and share their stuff and then they ask me about what I'm doing and it's been surprisingly fulfilling. I didn't think it would be this great when I started. I thought it would be. I thought it'd be at least all right, you know, and then I could, you know, learn to have fun. But when, uh, being plugged back in it's, I'm forever grateful, honestly.
Speaker 2:Dude, you got a fan for me, man. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do next. Man, I think you're doing good. Just keep on going. You'll get your tribe, man. It just takes time and paying your dues, you'll get that tribe that's going to really like your stuff. You'll have that community. That's like, hey, I like this guy. It's like, hey, you need to check his podcast out because he's really cool. Yeah, it takes time, You'll get there, man. You'll have your tribe, dude. You'll have your little tribe that listens to you. I prefer cult, but tribe works well. Yeah, so good for you, for what you're really doing, because there's a lot of people who say they want a podcast but they don't do it, man, because they're scared or they're afraid of failure. And there's also a lot of podcasters who start and they don't stick with it and they just give up.
Speaker 1:It does require discipline.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it requires discipline and you got to really want it. You can't like, okay, I'm going to do a podcast, I'll do it like an episode here and there. You can't do that. You've got to push it out. You can't make it like a part-time thing or a hobby. You've got to have fun with it, but you can't make it like a hobby.
Speaker 1:It requires consistency of uploading, you know, reaching out to people to see what they're and then on the back end Just actually watching people's work. That takes more time actually, probably than the podcast Depending, like in short films. Like, yeah, I could probably sit down and watch, you know, three or four short films get the. You know the feel they if they haven't produced a feature film yet. But if there's multiple feature films underneath their belt, that requires a lot more work. It's great. But the work itself, when you have a much fuller body to actually look at that artist, there's a that ends up being probably one of the best types of people to interview, because it's not just like.
Speaker 1:I have a couple things I've tried out which is great and maybe, like you know, some of those things have won awards and they're. They're beautiful and there's a great story. But future films, though those, those are an entirely different monster to tackle and somebody's done that multiple times. That person has several lifetimes worth experience to be able to pick through and sift through and extract a lot of value that not just your audience is going to be able to get, but also you yourself as an individual and as an artist, because I'm also a filmmaker and a writer and being able to just talk to people in that way, it brings me so much joy and fulfillment.
Speaker 2:Another golden rule I learned about podcasting or doing film reviews is never tell somebody's film is trashy or crappy. I mean you can write something that you didn't like about it or like about it. You can write something that you didn't like about it or like about it. Never slam somebody's movie and say, oh this is crap, it shouldn't be made, because you really don't know what that person went through to make that film.
Speaker 1:Yeah, whenever I see a film that's not great, particularly from a guest, I always figure out a way to normally well, I don't want to say that there's always value to be seen, even in the worst works of art, not even just that you don't personally like that is objectively not great. The cinematography was off, the sound sounded like it was coming out of a tin can from the, you know, the early 1900s, and even if the, the film itself is crap, like objective pile of dino shit from jurassic park, like that level of dino shit, the monstrous pile of garbage there's still people that they've worked with and that there's always lessons that they've learned from it, and that's why I think it's not about, I don't think, being positive.
Speaker 1:It's about seeing the value wherever it can be found yeah, I'm the same way.
Speaker 2:I always go in, in, in with an open mind when I see a film. I really do. You, you have to. You know you can't like go in and and I don't listen to, uh, critics at all, because a film they may slam, I may enjoy the hell out of it. It's like be like, hey, what are you guys talking about? Because, um, critics are mostly more they critique, they dig deep and more it's like they want to make a. Not all of them think that, but some of them want to make a film fail.
Speaker 2:It's like hey, this is really not that heated, I mean.
Speaker 1:Well, it's not just that, or even being obstinate. It's about critics who are just trashing the film to trash it. It's not like there's yeah, there's a special. It's almost like if it feels like a weird way of attention seeking and I think so. I think it's a weird way of like getting validation from thinking that you are telling the world that you know better. It's kind of like a point of vanity, almost, if it's clearly not constructive criticism.
Speaker 2:Oh heck, yeah. Well, when you were asking me earlier about my origin story, I didn't really get deep in it, I just only told you how I got in the podcast. And my origin story is and I've loved movies since I was like six years old. I went to the theater all the time and I read a lot of comic books too, but they were more like my friends. I had a best friend growing up but going to movies and everything was more like a best friend to me, where I can go somewhere, I can travel somewhere different. I'm not in my everyday life, I can just be away from problems in every day. And then I started yeah, I got into horror first before I started watching regular movies.
Speaker 2:Joe Bob Briggs he did I'm an old fart. Before Monster Vision he had drive-in theater on the movie channel this is way before his show now last drive-in and all that. So, uh, he used to show like all these like grindhouse type of films. So he got me hooked to watching it and I can remember one episode was watching. It was when the original evil dead was first coming out and he was trying to get the movie channel to show it on the movie channel but he wouldn't do it because it was like, gory, how Raimi did it? He's like, no, we can't do it, it wouldn't be suitable for certain people. And then he fought with it and then finally he brought it on to the movie channel and I remember that night, late at night, watching it for the very first time on tv.
Speaker 2:And then, um. So I started liking films from all genres and then, um, I started working at movie stores growing up, and that's how I got my wide range of tastes in film. I started getting in all types of film. I'm like, I'm like a sin file. I'm a strong supporter of physical media. You know, um, a lot of people nowadays don't want to click physical media. They just want to stream it or they'll get mad. Their favorite film is not streaming anymore. It's like man, how come I can't watch I wish there was a better way.
Speaker 1:It's like there is. There has been it's like.
Speaker 2:It's like buy, uh, buy a blu-ray or dvd. There was a guy on online he posted something. He's like man, I wanted to watch the original halloween but they took it off my favorite platform. I can't find anywhere where can I watch, watch this. And I was reading. I was like dude, buy the DVD, buy the Blu-ray, get yourself a player and you can watch it 24 seven.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I mean there's streaming services. I think have brought a lot more positives than they have negatives.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1:Small chance they kill the theaters. I don't know, we'll see, but the theaters have.
Speaker 2:I was hearing rumors.
Speaker 1:You broke up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was hearing rumors. 20 years from now, theaters are going to disappear. What do you think?
Speaker 1:disappear? I, what do you think? Uh, I think this, uh, I've thought a lot about this, because every now and then there's like well, the first argument was, oh, tv's gonna kill cinema. It clearly didn't, it was just provide thing. However, there's a, I think nowadays there's a much more fundamental, fundamental hit that movie theaters are taking right now, and I can't personally tell yet whether or not that's simply because of the economy being what it is at the moment, because if people don't have a lot of money, then they're working and then they don't have the free time.
Speaker 1:But I think I heard this the other day, that and then you, being older than me, you can tell me your perspective is that movie theaters used to be a cultural thing that everyone took part of, and whenever a movie had a big impact, it was a cultural moment for us in the, the country and sometimes even internationally. Nowadays it's it's, you know, the. The last cultural moment I think really honestly, was probably like marvel's infinity war. I think that was the last one that came to mind. But there's not a lot of movies that are getting greenlit. Well, even if, and even if they do get greenlit, they don't get marketed. And then it's like why? Why I like that was a great movie. I happened to see it, but it didn't. Nobody knew about it. Yeah, there's it's. I think it will die unless it becomes a cultural uh thing that everyone prioritizes.
Speaker 2:I totally agree with you. I'll tell you. I'll tell you a film that came out that didn't really get marketed that well. It had Sidney Sweeney in it. It was called Americana. I heard it was good.
Speaker 2:Oh, it is a fun independent film, great story. It kept me at the edge of my seat. I was entertained. It just it didn't. It didn't last less than a week. And, like you said, it seems like people are not pushing certain films out, you know. And then when people find out, it's like they'll find out the last minute. It's like, well, how come I didn't hear about this film? This film looks good, you know, and, like you said, they just don't push it out. And the cool thing about when I was growing up going to the movies, if there was a certain big blockbuster coming out, they pushed the hell out of it. Then you would go to the movie theater and wait in line for like two, three hours to see this movie. And it's where people got together to see these certain blockbusters.
Speaker 2:Like, for an example, uh, when batman 89 came out, I was 16 years old in high school and first came out so I so, uh, I cut high school and waited three hours in line to see batman because it you know it was it was the biggest thing there and that's what I miss. I miss, like you said, being around with people that have that love to go to the theater. Stand in line, talk to different people about why you love coming to theater, why you want to see this blockbuster. Go in the theater, enjoy it, feel the laughter. Everybody really get into it. You know, you just feel it. And the cool thing about it is no one doesn't judge you. They don't be like, oh, he's a geek or this guy's an idiot. You just all get along to enjoy this masterpiece cinema on whatever you're watching. That's what I miss about going to the movie theaters is how people came together just to watch that certain blockbuster.
Speaker 1:Well, going to the movie theater used to be a a thing that people invested in. It was it wasn't like it wasn't part of the evening, it was the evening itself. There was okay, we're, we're gonna go eat beforehand. We're yeah, we're gonna go eat, we're gonna get dressed up, we're gonna go have to wait in line if you're going on the weekend, you know sometimes, yeah, now there's, it's become so convenient, I think, the process for it, there's less steps involved because, like I can, I subscribe to amc.
Speaker 2:I oh, same here, same here yeah, yeah, yeah, I go.
Speaker 1:Uh, I used to collect movie tickets. Now it's kind of pointless because I can't even get the ticket for for I could. I technically I could get the request.
Speaker 2:Oh, you can make a copy off your phone, but it's not the same having that piece of paper ticket right in your hand.
Speaker 1:It's a piece of Americana. A movie ticket.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and you just hold it up. It's like look at this. I look back and look. I saw this when it first came out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I have like all the phase two marvel tickets still um nice um, there's just I. I worry about the over consumption of short form content, like shorts, I think youtube shorts and like reels and stuff like that on instagram. It's just it. It kills your desire to watch long form content because it's so easy to consume and then it just uses up all of your dopamine. The thing is that anticipation, anticipation, is why we go to the movie theater. It's why you sit and you watch the trailers. You're waiting.
Speaker 2:So boredom if anything, the lack of boredom, if anything that kills movie theaters, it will be the lack of boredom that society no longer has to endure. I think so too. And the cool thing back in the day around, like the 80s and early 90s when I was a kid, and all that going to movies. If you want to see that movie, that was the only time you're going to go see it. Because you're not going to see it on tv yet because, you know, because cable wasn't quite around, it was slowly coming. You know, if hbl now that eventually came, but you would have to go see that film, you know. Or if you like a favorite tv show, you have to sit down at that time every day and watch it, because if you didn't, you you're going to get way behind what's happening.
Speaker 2:It's like when did this happen? Well, you didn't sit last week and watch that episode.
Speaker 1:The thing that I think could preserve and even save theaters is that they're going to have to start making things and marketing them and treating them as exclusive things to go to, and I actually think and this is a prediction I'm going to make okay is that long movies are going to come back, because people want to go and have something to be invested in, like I'm talking like three, maybe even four hour movies again, because gone with the wind was a massive cultural moment and it was a four-hour movie with like an intermission.
Speaker 1:I think intermissions might actually make a comeback because people, well people are willing to watch that. They binge entire seasons in a day. And yeah, you know when, uh, james cameron, people were like criticizing or like critics were criticizing him for a three-hour avatar movie. They're like people will watch a 12 hour season in one day and binge it. I don't want to hear it and I have my criticism of James Cameron, but he's completely right. He is completely right.
Speaker 2:I think so too, and people binge a lot. I like films like that. I like to go to the theater. Oh, look at the Lord of the Rings films. Look how long those were. And those were entertaining. Those didn't bore me in one bit. I was invested in it and after it was over it's like it didn't even feel, like it was like three hours.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't want to go to the theater to watch an hour and a half movie. To be perfectly frank, I want something. Well, first of all, as an adult who works a job and pays bills, it takes me like 30 minutes just to forget about my responsibilities. Yeah, I need, I need, I need a bigger cushion to actually get into the movie if I'm going to get into it. So I think I think longer media is is is actually going to be the thing that saves it, because, instead of trying to uh compete with the constant attention the only uh of, like you know, reels and shorts, the only thing that compete, can compete and make it novel and separate itself from that is to go actually much, much further in the opposite direction I think so too.
Speaker 2:And when you were mentioning about, like tiktok and instagram, how these short reels, it's like, um, people really don't put much effort in it. It could be something stupid.
Speaker 1:It could be like a guy riding a skateboard drinking cranberry juice and they'll get all these views, you know, it's like yeah why, I mean it is, I think honestly, I think uh, because on social media, uh, content creators, they make genuinely better comedies in that little bit than what you'll go and see in the theater. And so when I go and see, that's kind of what I think has killed comedies a bit, because you can go online and watch these 10, 15-minute shorts and you're going to get way more laughs out of it than a longer hour and a-a-half comedy movie.
Speaker 1:I'm talking about Mall Cop, these other things that tend to be. In the late 90s and the early 2000s comedies were popping Jim Carrey during that time, Adam.
Speaker 2:Sandler.
Speaker 1:Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey, I'm pretty sure ruled comedy for a solid 15, 20 years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they did.
Speaker 1:But those movies just aren't in the theater anymore and I want the longer format. I want honestly three, four hours to be justified.
Speaker 2:I think so too, and you're right. I feel like comedy movies are not popular anymore because you rarely see a comedy. There will be one here and there at the theater, that's it. There's not a lot of comedy anymore. Not at all.
Speaker 1:Well, the other thing with comedy is that in the day and age we live, companies are really worried about getting protested and canceled and stuff like that, and the whole point of comedy is to push buttons and canceled and stuff like that, and the whole point of comedy is to push buttons. You know, mall Cop, that was a funny movie, but it was also made back in the day where the saying was fat is funny.
Speaker 2:Yep, or look at Blazing Saddles back in the day.
Speaker 1:If they did a movie like that today oh, there'd be a big protest. Where are the white women at Exactly? Or Ace Ventura.
Speaker 2:You did something like Ace Ventura today. Oh, there would be a big protest. Where are the white women at Exactly? Or Ace Ventura you did something like Ace Ventura today. It'd be like a tag.
Speaker 1:Tropic Thunder.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Tropic Thunder Robert Downey Jr doing blackface and then every black person's.
Speaker 2:Like that was amazing. Yeah, like I said, they don't make good movies today like they did back in the 80s and 90s. I mean it was fun, everybody watched it, no one didn't get offended by it, they just went and enjoyed it. Now, like you said, studios and all that are being real careful what they show and what not to show, which I think sucks really. How I see it? If you don't want to see it, don't see it.
Speaker 1:Don't run it for everybody. I thought about like is there a way? Like because, uh, sometimes, like, my creativity comes from, like thinking about a problem and how can I solve it? Yeah, solution was a movie. What would I present as a solution? And I think, if comedies did come back, you just need to go ham on it. You need to deliberately try to make the most offensive movie possible and basically like South Park or Family Guy it, and just hit everyone, hit everyone.
Speaker 2:Or Team America World Police.
Speaker 1:I've seen a ton of clips from that and it's not kind of on my list to sit down and watch my friend a little bit.
Speaker 2:You need to watch it. The movie's fucked up and funny, dude, you need to watch it.
Speaker 1:The more fucked up something is, the funnier it tends to be.
Speaker 2:See, that's the cool thing about South Park man. Those guys go after everybody and they're still going strong.
Speaker 1:As long as they play fair Just play fair. That's it.
Speaker 2:They do, they attack everybody. Yeah, just play fair, that's it.
Speaker 1:They do, they attack everybody. Yeah, I love South Park.
Speaker 2:I haven't seen a lot of the episodes lately, but they're still going strong and that's the reason why they're popular is because they don't give a crap, they just do it. They'll make fun of everything. They had some specials where they were making fun of kathleen kennedy for ruining star wars. Or yeah, they did a special where they're making fun of people taking those shots to lose weight the ozempic uh drugs yeah, and then they had another one about a popular energy drink. They were making fun of people, of certain energy drinks.
Speaker 1:It's like you gotta have this, you gotta be cool yeah, I mean, it's true, there's truth in every joke, you know that, and that's why it's funny. It's because, like, ah, yeah, I never thought about that before, but that rings a bell it does.
Speaker 2:Or look at, look at family guy. Family guy's going strong too and they're offensive too, man well, that that's kind of why it's funny.
Speaker 1:Is the, the self-awareness of of comedy, you know, looks at the flaws of something and then points out the irony of it, that that is comedy. But when you're I'm trying to be, when you're not trying to offend people. I watched a comedian live actually, and he bombed so hard and I noticed and I picked up on the pattern of how he was trying to convey jokes and I realized he was tiptoeing around trying to not offend anybody in the room and all the comedians that were successful, they weren't afraid the jokes weren. They were. That were successful, they weren't afraid there was. The jokes weren't always there, but they weren't afraid. Um, and it takes a level of humility, I think, to actually enjoy comedy yeah it does.
Speaker 2:Or back in the day I used to love sam kinnison man, that was the most offensive, obnoxious comedian that ever lived. Man, him, him, or Andrew Dice Clay, you know. Or Eddie Murphy back in the day where he was very, very vulgar.
Speaker 1:I honestly, even despite like the direction that maybe some things go, because it's very easy to be like a doomsayer yeah, I think it always ends up balancing out somehow, and I think there's not necessarily a lot of reason to worry, because normally if something goes away, something better comes back in its place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I totally agree with you on that.
Speaker 1:Well, robin, it's been great getting to know you Finally, I appreciate you coming on, and it's it's been great getting to know you finally, I appreciate you coming on, and it's been fantastic.
Speaker 2:Hey, you know something. Anytime, man, I appreciate you. Thank you for asking me. I really don't get that many people interviewing me. I'm not used to being interviewed, I'm used to interviewing somebody else.
Speaker 1:Do you have any final thoughts you want to leave with the audience when it comes to filmmaking, or even podcasting, or just life and art in general?
Speaker 2:How I see this man. Go out there and support indie, horror and indie filmmakers out there, because they really put their you know heart and sweat into these films. Man, get them pushed out more because more of them are coming to the theater. Just go, you know. Get them pushed out more because more of them are coming to the theater. Just go, you know, give a chance to an indie filmmaker, go to a festival of theirs, or just go out there and just support some great. There's some good indie films out there that people don't really realize are just as good as the mainstream films.
Speaker 2:Podcasting-wise, you can follow me at HorrorPopAfterMidnight on Spotify, apple Podcasts, all those great platforms out there, and anybody. If you decided to make a film or podcast or do anything that your heart desires, do it. Don't let people put you down, don't let people tell you you can't do this. Do it, Learn it, pay those dues, man, the reason why and just keep on moving forward. I mean, it's really hard. You're not going to be like big overnight. I'm like you. I'm not trying to look to be famous. I'm here just to have fun. Have fun. Whatever you do filmmaking, podcasting or whatever Do it for the fun of it. You know, eventually, later you'll get your following. Just just have fun with it, don't tell. Don't let people tell you anything different. Don't let them put you down because you want to do this. And if you're scared of um podcasting or doing a movie, don't be, just do it and just learn from it. We're only human, you know. Just learn from um, just learn from experience. That's my PSA today.
Speaker 1:Well, Robin, thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2:All right. Thank you so much, brother, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again in person sometime too, or maybe at a film festival or something, who knows?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it will happen. I mean, we live in a. Our communities are close enough.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and if, um, you know you have, oh yeah, I'll talk to you when we get off about how to get press passes and all that too, but anyways, all right, thank you so much, thank you.