When I started podcasting about movies, I drew my inspiration from a few of my favorite gaming podcasts: The 1Up Your podcast hosted by Garnett Lee and the Hotspot podcast, which featured Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis (who have since moved over to Giant Bomb). There were a also a few podcasts out there that set the gold standard for movie podcasts: Filmspotting, the Creative Screenwriting Podcast, and the Scene Unseen podcast.
This latter category helped to create the “market” for movie podcasts, paving the way for people like me, ever since iTunes first had a TV & Film podcast section. Their hosts are erudite, informed, and entertaining. Together, they offer a glimpse into the world of moviemaking and film criticism that is frequently unique to the podcasting format (although obviously, Filmspotting is broadcast on the radio on WBEZ in Chicago).
I was recently given the privilege of guest-hosting for Filmspotting, a task which I approached with awe and care. Filmspotting is one of the biggest movie podcasts on the internet, and in my opinion, they set the gold standard for movie podcasts. Granted, what we do on the /Filmcast is drastically different and our target audience isn’t the same either, but I always feel like I’m learning something new, either about movies or about the process of talking about them, whenever I listen to Filmspotting.
As much of a thrill as it was to actually record the episode, the things that I geeked out about the most were the incredibly mundane elements of the show, such as hearing my voice come on over the Filmspotting intro music, or thanking Torey Malatia at the end of the show (something I’ve heard countless times done by radio luminaries such as Ira Glass). In general, when tasks this big seek to overwhelm me, I try to take pleasure in the small things.
I am grateful to Adam Kempenaar for the chance to guest-host. Assuming the feedback isn’t bad, I hope to have the opportunity to do it again in the future.
You can download the episode here (right click and Save As) or listen to it in your browser below: