With both HOLLISTON Season 2 and HATCHET III about to come out in June (within just 10 days of each other) there is certainly a blog on its way about those projects. We’re even launching a brand spanking new ArieScope.com in a few weeks with a merchandise store- hopefully on-line and ready to go by June 1st if all goes as planned. In the meantime, in the middle of all of the press, touring, appearances, conventions, and premiere screenings- what better time than now to launch a PODCAST?
I know, I know. “A podcast”, you say? If you’re like me you probably feel like podcasts have become the new Facebook pages. Everyone seems to have one and the internet has become cluttered with so many different options to listen to people ramble on and on about one thing or another. But having guested on quite a few now and having heard some truly terrific ones, when Geek Nation mentioned they’d love to have me do a podcast for them it didn’t take a hell of a lot of convincing. In fact, within 24 hours- we had it set up and our first recording scheduled. Given that HOLLISTON has a storyline about “Adam” and “Joe” hosting a late night cable access horror show called THE MOVIE CRYPT, it only made sense to bring that idea to life. So today, Episode 1 of THE MOVIE CRYPT with Adam Green and Joe Lynch will launch on Geek Nation’s website.
So what makes our podcast unique? After all, there are already some terrific genre related podcasts out there- even on Geek Nation’s roster alone. THE BLOOD CAST, WEINBERG’S HOUSE OF HORRORS, and KILLER POV (both hosted by dear friends of ours and both terrific podcasts) not only already exist on Geek Nation but Joe and I will both be guesting on KILLER POV very soon. Where our podcast is different is that despite its title, THE MOVIE CRYPT is actually not going to always be about the horror genre. Of course we’ll be heavy on the horror since that is what we know, love, and are best known for, but overall this podcast is meant to serve as an open diary of the lives of two real working filmmakers. Not only will the podcast focus on the specific projects that we have both in release and in production (while HOLLISTON is airing a good portion of each podcast will be dedicated to discussing the most current episode), but also our personal tales from the trenches and stories of how these projects actually get made and what happens with them afterwords. Think of it as a weekly Q&A from a film festival screening or a press junket- only without the press. Completely casual and off the cuff, often times with notable special guests (actors, filmmakers, producers, composers, agents, cinematographers) all bringing their own personal perspective to this crazy business we live and work in. We’ll also have episodes dedicated to music and the bands that we love. Toys, comics, conventions, artwork… if we’re into it, we’ll talk about it. For something REALLY special, from time to time Joe and I are even going to offer full-length feature fan-commentary tracks to films we did not make or have anything to do with. Here’s where that idea came from…
In 2009, Joe and I were both asked to participate in a documentary about the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise and legacy called HIS NAME WAS JASON. While I was slightly apprehensive given that I personally have nothing to do with the FRIDAY franchise, it made sense given that the filmmakers were interviewing not only those involved with the actual FRIDAY films but also those influenced by FRIDAY and those who also work in the beloved slasher genre who could (somewhat) intelligently comment on it. Really, it was quite an honor to even be asked. The interviews each lasted an hour and were an absolute blast, but both Joe and I assumed we’d be reduced to a quick sound byte or two in the actual documentary. If you’ve seen HIS NAME WAS JASON you’d know that was not the case in the finished product and for one reason or another we were featured quite heavily with our comical quips and enthusiastic fandom for FRIDAY THE 13TH and Jason Voorhees. Flattering? Absolutely. But I’d be lying if I said that we both didn’t quickly call each other after viewing the documentary for the first time and say “Oh no.” I mean, think about that documentary from a fan’s perspective. When you purchased it, did you really want to hear the guys who (at the time) had only made HATCHET, SPIRAL and WRONG TURN 2 go on and on about the franchise? Probably not. We were very concerned that WE would be blamed for our overexposure in it somehow even though we were merely interview subjects for it and had no say in the finished product or what was used in it. Thankfully, given the light hearted nature of HIS NAME WAS JASON, we didn’t receive the backlash we feared. In fact, we heard from so many FRIDAY fans that they enjoyed our comments because they felt the same way that we did about the films. You can only imagine our relief. But out of that experience (and before we ever saw HIS NAME WAS JASON completed), producer/director Dan Farrands approached us about doing a “fan commentary” for Paramount’s FRIDAY THE 13tTH PART IV: THE FINAL CHAPTER re-issue on DVD that he was producing for the studio. Given that the commentary would be titled just that- a “fan commentary”- we jumped at the chance. I think we even started it off by saying something to the effect of “we have no business being here but how could we not pay our respects to a film we both love so dearly when asked to?” Low and behold that commentary became a huge hit with FRIDAY THE 13TH fans around the world and we constantly hear from fans asking if we will ever do another. So…. 4 years later we figured… why not?
The inaugural episode of THE MOVIE CRYPT features a full-length fan commentary of FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2. A movie that is easily tied for “favorite of the franchise” in my book and also the very first horror movie that I can remember seeing (at the tender age of 7). To say I love it would be an understatement. I’m kind of MADLY in love with it. If I could make-out with a movie- FRIDAY 2 would be on my list. Hey, if you’re gonna launch a new podcast in a sea of podcasts, why not start off with a bang and give our fans something they have been asking for?
Now, I know the next two questions are: “Will every podcast include a commentary?” And… “Will you guys do the entire FRIDAY THE 13TH series eventually?” The answer is- no, we will not always be doing a commentary track with every episode. And as far as the second question goes – maybe. Perhaps by the time we hang up our microphones and end this new endeavor we’ll have hit all of the FRIDAY movies- but we have a TON of other movies that we love and respect and that we’d love to do fan commentary tracks for. Also to be honest, neither Joe or I feel comfortable pulling a MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER on a movie we did not make. (For that very reason THE MOVIE CRYPT will never feature “reviews” of other filmmaker’s work. Who are WE to say anything negative or critical about someone else’s work?) And as every FRIDAY fan knows… some of the entries were certainly more “miss” than “hit” if we want to put it in Battleship terms. So we’ll see what happens. If we think we have enough praise (and fanboy information) to bestow upon a movie like JASON GOES TO HELL- then maybe someday we’ll do it. But right now we’re honestly more excited about doing commentary tracks for movies like STAND BY ME, E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (my favorite movie of all time), LOVE ACTUALLY (a movie that Joe and I once got busted verbally sexually assaulting in the pit at a Metallica show when we realized the other Metallica fans standing around us were not only listening in to our conversation- but also knew exactly who we were and were MASSIVELY let down to hear us discussing a romantic comedy together), and even BATTLESHIP (a movie that is absolutely criminally underrated and that unfairly received heaps of negativity thrown its way last year by people that I can only imagine never gave it a chance). But the fan-commentary tracks will be surprises and it could wind up being a while before we do another one. I have no idea what we’ll be in the mood for on a particular week.
I hope you enjoy THE MOVIE CRYPT. Whether you’re a filmmaker, an aspiring filmmaker, or maybe just a fan of what we do and a fan of our chemistry together as enthusiastic geeks ourselves- this is meant to entertain. Who knows how long it will last? As you know, I like to keep changing it up and trying different things. However long it remains fun to do- we’ll be doing it. How will Joe and I continue to do it when we’re both in production on our various projects? Not entirely sure. For now let’s just roll with it and see what happens.
Listen to Episode 1 here.
Oh, and next week’s guest is the lovely Danielle Harris. You’re welcome.
-AG