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Watching for tomorrow night's @FilmFrown. The most convincing actor so far is this doctor's toupée which isn't saying much.

What Happens in Film Frown Season 4?

4 min read

As we wrap up another season of the bad movie podcast, my thoughts move to what is next for the show. I've got a few ideas and a list of movies that friends, fans and our awesome reviewers have suggested. Please take a look at my musings and let me know what you think. I'd really appreciate your opinion. Comment in FB, tweet at me or the Film Frown account. There are 3 things I would like to accomplish with future shows.

Welcome to Film Smile?

First up is an idea we had during one of the shows this past season. In the episode it came to my attention that we may be experiencing some bad movie fatigue. That is, Armin pointed out that he is not sure what "good" is anymore thanks to all the bad movies we've had him watch. Paul agreed and we started talking about watching a good movie to do a hard reset on ourselves.

I like the idea of flipping the script and watching a great movie. Is it something we need to do once a season? Perhaps, midway through to give ourselves a bit of a reprieve?

Hard Ticket to Hawaii

It's Clobbering Time

Prior to last season, I put a call out for people to vote for what movies we were going to watch. My list of films included suggestions from fans and a heavy helping of superhero films. I wanted to revisit the old hero movies because currently it seems like "superhero" is an entire genre. On my list was the Roger Corman version of the Fantastic Four. One of my friends suggested that we watch all 3 Fantastic Four films since the latest one was in the theaters very recently. It's obvious that the co-architect of TentDaniel is a very smart guy and I would be remiss if I didn't follow that suggestion.

We could do each film individually as we normally do, or perhaps watch all 3 and discuss them in one episode. While the second idea is tempting, it would certainly mean more time upfront for our reviewers. The upside for listeners, is only one episode of awful Fantastic Four.

Generation Gap

One of the more interesting things that has spawned from doing the show is the variety of opinions and reviews from our guests. As a host, I have injected a number of films into the podcast that are from my youth. There are times when the film does not hold up to my youthful memories and other occasions where Paul and guests help me see that I am most likely blinded by nostalgia.

Gymkata

"Does anyone else think it's strange that there's a pommel horse in the middle of the village?"

I believe that Paul has also noticed this phenomenon recently because Armin has volunteered to be on the show a number of times this past season. While Paul and myself are from different generations, Armin is even younger and has a fresh take on the older gems we watch. This has inspired me to seek out some reviewers older than myself.

I've always wanted the show to be diverse. Is it the corporate propaganda of "diversity in hiring" I've been exposed to in my career? Honestly, I never wanted the podcast to be "yet another group of dudes." For the guests, I have always looked to my friends that I knew loved movies or anyone crazy enough to do a podcast. Hopefully, in the next season I can get some guests that are from different age groups and continue to pick movies from various time periods.

Examining the reaction of different generations is fascinating. What makes a movie a classic? How do classics survive the passage of time? While we all have individual tastes, I think the answers to those 2 questions can be found by talking to a diverse group of reviewers. And hey! All those reality shows are built on the premise of conflict. So the more diverse the group of reviewers that we have on Film Frown, the more likely we'll have some higher ratings!

"The Consumer Isn’t A Moron" - Social Marketing Is Already Broken

A few days ago, Daniel Siders an architect of Tent and co-founder of Cupcake posted this link. It was a good read for me as I am doing more paid work in social media and also trying to promote a podcast or two.

We might have thousands of users, followers, or customers. But how many of them are true fans?

How many of them read every single article we publish or click on every single tweet we send? How many of them actually pay attention to our company newsletters?

Though businesses exist to make a profit, we need to understand the subtle difference between an engaged person and a true fan. Just because someone engaged with or showed interest in, say, your tweet, product, or newsletter doesn’t mean she or he will purchase anything you produce.

I'm not looking for our podcasts to go viral or make us rich. I want to continue to enjoy doing it because we're having fun. Yet, sometimes it is hard not to get swept up in the social marketing talk, and ideas. I wouldn't say podcasting is a competitive market, everyone who is doing it is very supportive. However, there is a discovery problem when there are so many podcasts out there. How do people find us? This link to Ali Mese's post just confirms that there are no magic beans. Make your content for you. "People will come, Ray."