I thought for this blog entry I would talk about how I got into podcasting. Like many things in my career, it started with Kevin Smith. Yes, that guy that made Clerks 20 years ago. I originally got into filmmaking because of my love for the horror movie Scream. I loved that a film could make me scared, curious, or laugh and it was the first film that sparked my interest and made me go, “I want to do that.” I want people to become completely submersed in the world I created with a camera that they feel what the characters are feeling. So I began watching more and more film. Then I stumbled onto Dogma, Kevin Smith’s movie about the possible apocalypse. I loved it, but for different reasons than Scream. I loved it because I loved the story Kevin Smith told in Dogma. He has a different sense of writing. His characters talked like me and I loved it. So I began to delve into the writing process of filmmaking. Smith was a filmmaker I emulated throughout high school and college. His movies reminded me of myself and my friends.
Like Kevin Smith’s characters, my friends and I would sit around and talk with each other. We would discuss pop culture, sports, politics, pretty much anything, but we did it on an internet radio show called Dead Air Radio. I was not an on air personality until the second season, but I helped behind the scenes by booking guests, coming up with segments, and build our Facebook following. I loved learning a new craft outside of filmmaking, but I felt like I could apply these skills to filmmaking because the two were so similar.
I was a part of Dead Air Radio for about 6 years, but I was not happy with some of the factors of internet radio. The facilities we were using were great, but they were on a college campus and we would have to stop doing our shows every summer. Also since we were internet radio, we had to tell people a specific time and place to listen to us. In a world that is moving so fast and becoming more and more mobile that model does not work. I began to listen to more and more podcasts and realized it was our show, but on iTunes and on demand. I found that very appealing, but buying equipment and getting something like started from the ground up did not interest the other DJs on the show. I tweeted to my role model, Kevin Smith and asked what to do if your friends don’t want to help you be creative. To my surprise, he wrote me back with some words of wisdom.
Via @brandocash "what do you do if your friends dont want to help" If they don't wanna help, sir, they're not real friends. Find a @smosier.
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) April 2, 2011
I left Dead Air Radio and I started DJing at another college radio station. I started The @BrandoCash Show. Each show was two hours long, featuring music around a certain theme, and three sports segments. Those three segments were What The Puck, The Caw, and Worked Shoot. After doing a few shows, I was not happy with some of the restrictions of college radio and I was still very interested in the world of podcasting, so I left that station and was ready to be my own distributor and start podcasting.
I researched, bought equipment, and was about to venture into something I knew nothing about. My three friends from my old show were all on board to turn their segments into podcasts. The big difference between podcasting and filmmaking is it is easy to start. I spent a good amount of money on a mixer and microphones and I use a free program called Audacity to record the shows. Filmmaking is expensive. Right now the craze is DSLR cameras. The body of the cheapest DSLR camera is around $500. Different lenses can range from $500-$2000. Audio equipment, lights, actors, and crews puts you into the $20,000 range to tell your story at the cheapest rate. Then you have to worry about distributing your film to potential buyers and getting it to the public. The equipment I bought to podcast was around $1000 and I was immediately telling my stories I wanted to tell and getting them out to the public. I started producing four shows weekly. I co-hosted, edited, and produced three of the shows that were once segments on The @BrandoCash Show and produced another show called Poe’s Peep Show. On top of that I co-hosted three other shows as well.
Since then, podcasting has become so liberating because I get to be creative and talk with my friends for countless hours and listen to them whenever I want. What The Puck just recorded it’s 61st show over the span of two years. We've connected with other hockey fans and can be heard on iTunes, Stitcher, The Baltimore Sports Report Network, and Capshill.com. The Caw has spawned 46 episodes and gave me a chance to talk about football during the Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl season and is available on iTunes and Stitcher.
Podcasting has slowly become one of my favorite things to do. I am able to talk to close friends and people I respect, record those conversations, and then stream them on the internet for everyone to hear. I am very proud of the work because each podcast is unique and so much fun to listen to. I've learned to be an on air host, talk with talented guests, as well as produce weekly shows and promote them on social media. Everyone has a story to tell and that is what originally drew into watching movies, especially Kevin Smith’s stories. Podcasting allows me to tell my stories without having to worry about budgets, what happens afterwards, or distribution. Podcasting has no limits. Shows can be long, short, about any topic, and have no censorship. They have complete freedom and the best part is that podcasts are free to download for the public. I have had many doors open because of podcasting and I have no reason to stop anytime soon, so with that I always say, In Pod I Trust.
- @BrandoCash