For Your Ears Only: Top 10 Film-Related Podcasts

Though they’re still in the infancy stages, and many need tweaking, podcasts of the film kind help break away from mundane days of endless writing. Below are my favorite podcasts and *video podcast time wasters that are worth checking out.

#1. The /Filmcast (Link)
Frequency: Weekly (Every Monday 9 Est. LIVE)
Format: Group discussion with David Chen at master control.
Comments: Film geeks David Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley discuss what they’ve been watching, they talk current news, discuss current releases with shows lasting generally over the 90 minute mark. The huge fanbase can be seen responding in real time to their discussion, and it helps when they bring along special guests – at least one guest blogger per episode and in some special invites such as Brick’s Rian Johnson. I wish site owner Peter Sciretta would make more than once in a blue moon appearance but that doesn’t deter from it being addictive and if you can’t get enough of the show they even go into overtime with an added 30 minutes on the After Dark show.

#2. KCRW’s The Business (Link)
Frequency: Weekly
Format: 28 interview style discussion. 
Comments: Kim Masters invites different folks from different strokes for a quick chat. The best production value out of all the podcasts, Masters discusses current developments in the film business and offers an array of guests that are worth putting your pen down to listen to. The other day she had a gaffer discussing studio downsizing and she had The Film Department’s Mark Gill offering insight into current market and film production trends. I like the fact she has segments, just wish it was a longer show and didn’t feel late by a couple of days.

#3. IFC.com Podcasts (Link)
Frequency: Weekly (Every Monday)
Format: Young twosome from NYC.
IFC.com’s Alison Whitmore and Matt Singer come across like the type of people that you could watch a film with somewhere in Gotham, then after the film ends you’d grab a cup of joe, talk about the film you just saw, talk about the filmmaker’s filmography, etc.. They form a great pair, easy listening and it also helps when the people speaking are sitting one right next to the other, instead of doing the phone relay. They grab latest releases, discuss them at length (add film history references) and the format feels like they just follow where the wind pushes them and go with it. Case example, the spoke about Kathryn Bigelow and then spoke about female filmmakers in a pair of shows. Just recently, while both were in Cannes, they took the show on the road.

#4. Creative Screenwriting Magazine (Link)
Frequency: Weekly
Format: Q&A’s apres screening.
Comments: Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith of the magazine interviews (in the form of a Q&A apres-screening with the public) screenwriters. Goldsmith rotate between studio and independent scribes and really gets into the mechanics of the narrative. It’s a lot of fun to get to hear them talk craft and their library of about 60 of these includes Todd Haynes, Charlie Kaufman, and Peter Morgan.

#5. Greencine Daily Podcast (Link)
Frequency: Infrequent but mostly weekly.
Format: Mostly interviews.
Comments: A mixed bag of talks with film specialists or straight up interviews with filmmakers, Aaron Hillis focuses mostly on films that were showcased at Sundance, Berlin, SXSW. Previous interviews include Lynn Shelton, Pablo Larrain, Gerardo Naranjo and Ry Russo-Young.

#6. KCRW’s The Treatment (Link)
Frequency: Weekly (Every Wednesday)
Format: Elvis Mitchell plus one usually for about a half an hour.
Comments: Mitchell talks with filmmakers currently doing press for a film release. He follows the flow of the conversation, asks great follow up Q’s and brings in his own insight leaving ample room for the filmmaker to go more profound in the discussion. Most recently spoke to docu filmmaker Chai Vasarhelyi and studio helmers like Todd Philips.

#7. Meet the Filmmaker Series by Itunes (Link)
Frequency: No fixed schedule, but close to a dozen items per month.
Format: Q&A style interview with filmmaker and film.
Comments: Look at the calendar for theatrical releases for both art house fair and on occasion multiplex stuff and imagine a moderator chatting with a filmmaker at an Apple Store (usually Soho). Nice library of talks includes studio, indie, doc and foreign filmmakers.

#8. DVD Verdict Presents… (Link)
Frequency: Weekly (Four Shows)
Format: From regular podcast to late night a.m radio
Comments: More isn’t necessarily better, but the site that reviews DVD films has a cluster of four shows under their umbrella which include: View from the Couch: Kent and Michelle (parents) who talk gibberish on television, film and DVD news, Blast Processing! talks video games, The Friday Filibuster’s Dave and Mac talk film releases, and my favorite of the bunch and the real reason to listen is Sounds of Sights of Cinema hosted by Clark Douglas who basically plays film scores under one theme – it’s easy listening and gives me a new found appreciation for scores within a film history context.

#9. Rotten Tomatoes Show (Link)
Frequency: Approx Weekly (Every Friday-ish)
Format: 23 Minute range
Comments: The film score aggregator media giant crossed into video podcasts. Tacky co-hosts Ellen Fox and Brett Erlich read one-liner jokes from the type of folks who would supply TMZ. Mostly trailer and what is coming out fest, the pros is that they usually include the smaller indie films and on occasion spotlight a filmmaker or actor by asking them what their top five films are: example pornstar Sasha Grey’s and Errol Morris’ 5 list.

#10. Joblo Movie Show (Link)
Frequency: Weekly-ish
Format: 20 minute show and mixed bag filled with plenty of clips.
Comments: If you love the site then you’ll love the video podcast — they branded the show to fit the attitude of the site. Nothing profound, but I love the order of the segments and the fact that the site’s many contributors are part of the fabric as well.

Who would you place in the number one slot? Is there any podcasts not included here that are worth mentioning?

Update (07/30): Another great podcast that I omitted, and is very much worth a mention here, is the great Filmspotting out of Chicago. Hosts Adam Kempanaar and Matty Robinson have a great weekly show going there and I’m catching up on some of their older podcasts – they’re a riot to listen to. They even have a wiki entry!