s m a l l s c r e e n s

Gordon White August 1st, 2008

What follows is the ’small screens approved’ podcast playlist. Some of them may seem off-topic at first -at least compared to ‘classic’ screenwriting material-  but trust me. I frikking love podcasts. I would go so far as to say I am about podcasts.

In fact, my favourite Saturdays involve getting up reasonably early (for a weekend), doing some exercise, cleaning the apartment and then dozing on the couch/bed, catching up on my podcast subscriptions… (Whilst drinking).

This doesn’t have to sound like the ideal Saturday to you. You might be a frequent traveller, you may commute to work. You may possess the ability to multi-task (though I assume most of this blog’s readers are male so that can’t be it) and need something to listen to whilst working/doing chores.

Whatever.

As a screenwriter in the twenty first century you need to know about podcasts. At the very least you need to be able to find them, and have heard one at some stage. (Shit, even my mother can do that… Though they confuse her deeply.)

So what follows is a list of podcasts I subscribe to, a justification as to why you should subscribe to them, and a link to their iTunes page. If the links don’t work then just go to the iTunes store and type them into the search field.

If you aren’t using iTunes then… Well… Just leave. Ap-up-up-up… Shhh… No. Leave. Now. You will never succeed in life and give up now. Back to being an assistant librarian forever.

Because I have a hard-on for the BBC (most colonials do) I have grouped them together. The BBC is, without question, the best traditional media publisher of podcasts in the world.

The rest follow. This is not a judgement on their comparative qualities. That would be like me choosing between your children. (No, you read that right. I don’t have kids.)

 

The BBC Podcasts

Front Row
Interviews with writers, actors, directors, novelists, etc from around the world. Most of them pertain to recent movies but they also do some amazing, in-depth articles with your more classic artists. This is the best film/TV interview program in the world. It’s always inspirational

The Film Programme
This one is film-only, and deals with recent releases. I don’t know why American actors and directors are more honest when they are interviewed in the UK but they seem to be. Good stuff.

World Book Club
Don’t be fooled by the introduction. Because it’s BBC World it sounds a little pompous and stuffy in the first few minutes but power through. Because the audience and questions are selected beforehand, you don’t end up in those god-awful situations where one retarded freak monopolises the guest by asking weird and banal (and sometimes sexual) questions. It’s just the world’s best novelists and some really good questions. I’m just annoyed they only do one a month.

Arts and Ideas
Look. Most of the time it’s artists or creators or whatever. But on the off weeks when it isn’t, they are replaced with lawyers who have fought apartheid, single mothers who have published books on philosophy and so on. This means it’s either inspiration or food for further research. Either way, it’s awesome.

The Other Ones

Classic Radio Drama
Hmmm. Subscribe to it… but only so you can see the back catalogue. I pick and choose here but -as long as you like ol’ timey radio dramas the way I do- you will be like a pig in shit. Ray Bradbury is a God. There, I said it. Great for picking up radio play writing tips from the old masters.

Ad Age Video
I know I tend to bang my head against a brick wall when it comes to getting screenwriters to pay attention to the global advertising industry -because that is where our bread is buttered- but these three minute videos are both informative and entertaining.

Remember, these are ‘podcasts for writers’, not ‘writing podcasts’. See the important difference?

If you can think of any others that should be on this list, then hit me up.

Tags: ad age, BBC, podcasts, writing podcasts

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