FILMPODCASTING: ONE FOR THE FANS
Rochelle SiemienowiczAfter nine years,one of Australia’slongestrunningfilm podcasts,
HellIs forHyphenates, hascalledit quits.Themonthlyhour-long
show was the brainchildof two obsessiveMelbournefilm buffs
and friends,comedywriter Lee Zachariahand filmmakerPaul
AnthonyNelson.TheheartofHyphenates, whichstartedback in
2010 when podcastswere still a rarity, was its ‘Filmmakerof the
Month’segment,in whicha prominentguestwouldenthuseabout
their favouritefilm director,coveringtheir entire filmography:Italian
filmmakerLuca Guadagninoon MauricePialat,Australianauthor
ChristosTsiolkason Pier Paolo Pasolini,AustralianfilmmakerSophie
HydeonJaneCampion,andsoon.In laboriouspreparationforthe
recordingofthepodcast,theguestsandthehostswouldwatchor
rewatchas many of the director’sfilms as possible.I know this for
a factbecauseI hostedHyphenatesalongsideZachariahduringthe
show’sfinal two years.It often felt like crammingfor a stressfulexam.
The huge amountof work involved– all done purelyfor love – is
partofthereasonwhyHyphenateshaswoundup,muchtomyown
personalrelief.ButZachariahhimselffeelsthatpodcastingasa form
hasmovedon.‘Therearejustsomanyinnovativepodcastsoutthere
nowthatincorporatesounddesign,actorsandcreativepostmodern
concepts,’he tells me. ‘I do feel likeHyphenatesgot taken over. It’s
almostlike makingsilent films after soundhas come in, afterThe
JazzSinger[Alan Crosland,1927],or still making [Charlie] Chaplin
shortswhile MGM is makingmusicals.’
AuteurtheoryunderpinnedthewholeHyphenatesproject(asit
does for many a film podcast–OneHeatMinuteorTheSensesof
CinemaPodcast, forinstance):theideathata directoris theauthor
of a film, and that certainpreoccupationsor themescan be traced
acrosstheir body of work. And so our show’sgrand finale – released
in late April – was a mammoththreeandahalfhour editiondevoted
to MartinScorsese.Aroundfifty previousguestscontributedprere-
cordedsegmentstalkingabout their favouritefilms or momentsfrom
Scorsese’sfiftyyear career:OzploitationlegendBrian Trenchard
Smith on the director’sentire oeuvre,filmmakerKriv Stenderson the
controversialTheLastTemptationofChrist(1988),TheChaser’sWar
onEverything’s ChrisTayloronthefamousgarlic-slicingscene in
Goodfellas(1990).Thiswashighbrowfandomatitsbest.
Whichbringsus to the fact that fandomdrivesthe majorityof film
andtelevisionpodcasts,bothinternationallyandin Australia.Thisis
both the strengthand weaknessof the medium.Like bloggingbefore
it, podcastingis democratic;anyonecanhavea voicetoobsessin
as much detail as they like about anything,fromSeinfeldtoSergei
EisensteintoMarriedatFirstSight. Thenatureoftheform,divorced
from the strictures,deadlinesand gatekeepingof traditional screen
criticism,allowsforcompleteindulgencein fandom.
At its best, this meansthat deep thinkersand great communica-
torscanexplorescreencultureoutsidethechurnofdailyjournalism,
with its ties to what’son at the moviesthat week or to what’son TV.
Strangeand beautifulthingscan flourishwhen obsessionis given such
freedom.Atitsworst,though,thefandomthatdrivesmuchpodcasting
meansthat any criticismofferedis likely to take the form of disappoin
tedranting,spirallingfurtherandfurtherintonichenonsense.
Therecentexplosionofpodcastsin allareasofentertainment,
fromsporttoself-developmenttotruecrime,is evidencedbythe
fact that, as of 2019, there have been three editions of the Australian
PodcastAwards,heldin SydneyeveryMay.Accordingto itswebsite,
339 self-nominatedpodcastsparticipatedin thisyear’s‘Popular
Vote’category,accumulatinga totalof20,000votes.Therewere
also twentyfour other categoriesjudgedby expertsin each area.
I find it surprisingto note that, in the ‘TV, Film & Pop Culture’
category,not a single one of the six finalistsdabbled,in any way, in
traditionalfilm or TV reviewsor analysis.Nor was there anythinglike
thesophisticatedyetengagingapplicationoftheorytopop-culture
productsthatwesawin thebrilliant,butnowdefunct,podcastThe
Rereaders, hostedby critics Mel Campbelland Dion Kagan.Instead,
these finalistswere bright,chattyshowslikeMamamiaOutLoud,
Chat 10 Looks 3 andShameless– a ‘pop-culturepodcastforsmart
womenwholovedumbstuff’.Interestingly,it wasin thecategory
of ‘Best Fancast’that cinephiliafinally emerged.Drivenby fandom
again,theseshows– includingOneHeatMinute(in whichfilm critic
Blake Howarddevotesan episodeto every minuteof MichaelMann’s
170 minute1995 heist filmHeat),EyesonGilead:AHandmaid’sTale
Podcast(co-hostedbySBSMoviesmanagingeditorFionaWilliams)
andClubSoderbergh(a show devotedto the films of ... you guess
who)– embodytheadoringandniche concerns of most screen pod-
casting,forbetterorforworse.
Evenasa formerpodcastermyself,I remainmostweddedtothe
writtenwordwhenit comestoconsideringandanalysingscreencul-
ture– evenif it’sjustforfun.Yes,there’sa vitalitythatcanarisewhen
multiplevoicesbounceoff one another,sparkingnew ideas and con-
nections.But there’salso a tendencyto talk too much about too little.
For this column,I’ve taken the opportunityto ask the ultimate
cinephile,worldrenownedfilm critic AdrianMartin,whetherhe liked
and listenedto film podcasts. ‘I listen to almost none, on a regular
basis,’ he replies.Onethingthatdoesturnmeoffveryswiftlyis whatI thinkofasa
compulsionforeveryoneinvolved– especiallywhenthey’rehaving
groupchats– tofall(almostwithoutthinking)intoa kindof‘radio
patter’,witha lotofforcedjokes;short,sharpretorts;andattempts
atsnappyscrewballrhythmsofoverlapping speech ... like a bunch
of bad stand-up comedians.Yet Martinwon’t write off the form completely:‘I like them when they
godeep,’hesays.‘Podcastscanactuallybemoreintimateandmore
unique.I’m still lookingfor the perfectexample that fits my idea of this!’
Personally, I’m all ears for that too.Above:Martin Scorsese on the setofGoodfellashttp://www.metromagazine.com.au | © ATOM | Metro Magazine 201• 127