www.bmoviecast.com
The BMovieCast was the first podcast I ever listened to. I searched for "B Movie" on ITunes and was rewarded with the link for Vince Rotolo's wonderful creation. At that time Vince was podcasting solo, now he's joined by Nic Brown and their interaction is one of the best you'll hear on a podcast. Vince is in his late 50's (hope you don't mind me mentioning that Vince), and so actually grew up in the heyday of the BMovie back in the fifties and sixties. Every week they highlight one particular title, and even yours truly has discovered a few new gems thanks to them. For instance the latest edition featured an obscure Sal Mineo flick with the great title "Who Killed Teddy Bear" and I'm dying to track this one down now. If you're looking for a quality movie cast with two great hosts who create a nice down to earth atmosphere then I urge you to give this a listen.
Vince kindly agreed to answer a few questions for us, here's our interview with this legend of Podcasting.
The Movie Waffler: What defines a B Movie?
Vince Rotolo: For me a good B-Movie needs to be filmed in black and white-with a few exceptions. It also needs to have a cool monster like giant bugs, gill men, 50 ft people, space ships, brains that jump on you and suck out your brains, pod people, etc.
TMW: Where did your love of these movies come from?
VR: I’m a baby boomer, being born in 1951, so I grew up in the cold war times with atomic threats and worldwide annihilation on the horizon. This was a great time to grow up as far as cool movies were concerned, so when you took a break from building your fallout shelter you could go see a cool flick. When I was a kid all the monsters were created by atomic bombs, radiation, and radioactive fallout. In our town we had three very cool, one screen theaters. They were very large with great balconies. As a child I can remember my mother taking me and my friends to the theater and being dropped off in the afternoon to watch the Classic monster and Sci-Fi films all day long. On Saturday afternoons the whole theater would be filled with nothing but kids-all day-great times. I was brought up on all the classics, Universal and Hammer films. Later as teenagers we went to the many drive in movie theaters in the area. There we were introduced to all the Cult, exploitation, biker, and Russ Meyer films among others.
TMW: What's your all time favorite B Movie?
VR: I have so many favorite B Movies that it is really hard to pin it down to just one favorite. Let’s start with all the classics, Universal and Hammer films. I need to come up with my Top 100.
TMW: Traditionally if you wanted to see a B Movie you had two choices:
see it in a sleazy Grindhouse theater in the wrong part of town or roll on down to the local drive-in.
Here in Europe we don't have the same kind of road culture as you guys in the States so drive-ins never really took off, especially here in Ireland. But I'm guessing you've experienced both Vince, so in your opinion which is the better environment to watch a B Movie? Grindhouse or Drive-in?
VR: I’m not sure about this question-I think my answer is neither.
A grindhouse is an American term for a theater that mainly showed exploitation films. It is named after the defunct burlesque theaters located on 42nd Street in New York City, where 'bump n' grind' dancing and striptease used to be on the bill. After they closed the “sex” theaters around the 60's,the owners turned to low budget exploitation movies to fill the bill. So, in our small towns we did not have any 'grindhouse theaters' per say. We did have drive-ins that screened grindhouse material (which is where I would see them). But, by definition, a grindhouse is an indoor theater. The B-Movies I love came out way before the grindhouse/exploitation phase. So I would rather go with a nice restored one screen indoor theater.
TMW: When did you start podcasting?
VR: In late 2006. The early casts are really bad due to me not knowing what I was doing. Not that I do now.
TMW: At what point did you realize the podcast was developing such a large following?
VR: I hadn't realized it was. I was just shocked that it was so diverse for such a niche podcast. I think when I started getting feedback from England, Belgium, Australia, Italy and Ireland, that's when it really surprised me. I recently reached over 100,000 total file downloads since late 2006.
TMW: How much work goes into producing an episode and what equipment do you use?
VR: It takes a lot more time than I anticipated when I started. It’s hard to put a number on it. I do the research on the film during the week. Sunday we record and I edit and post the file.
I’d say a rough estimate would be 3 hours during the week and 3 hours on Sunday plus watching the film.
As far as equipment goes my studio is always under flux and it has been since I started.
But as of now I have:
Microphone: Heil PR-40
Mixer: Mackie 802-VLZ3
Phone Recording: JK Audio Broadcast Host
Vocal Processor: DBX-286A
Computer Interface: Tapco USB into MacBook
Software: Recording Audacity, I-tunes to convert and Tag the files and Levelalator to level out the sound.
TMW: In the early days you recorded solo, now you have a co-host Nic Brown.
How did he become involved?
VR: It’s ok to do a solo podcast if you have the gift of gab. Early on I found out I did not have that gift and listening to other podcasts I found I enjoyed the ones with two hosts. So I posted a question on the Rouge Cinema forum asking if anyone would be interested in co-hosting the show with me. Duane Martin the owner of Rouge Cinema saw the post and gave me Nic’s name and the rest as they say is history.
TMW: You've been working your way through the Hammer series. At the current rate of every fourth episode it'll be 2017 by the time you get to "To The Devil A Daughter". Are you really going to go through every movie in the series?
VR: Yes and I will be retired from my job by then giving me more time to podcast! I better get a move on!
TMW: Do you listen to other podcasts and if so which are your favorites?
VR: Mondo Movie, Cinemaslave, Mail Order Zombie, Sci Fi Dig and Paleo Cinema.
TMW: Finally, any words of advice for wannabe podcasters?
VR: Just be passionate about the subject you pick and like Nike says “Just Do IT”!
Also listen to a lot of podcasts. Search out and learn everything you can find about podcasting before you start. Also check out podcasts on podcasting, a few are Podcast Answer Man, School of Podcasting, and New Media Gear.
TMW: Cheers Vince, and keep those episodes coming.