Catch Up With The Badass Digest Video Show
Excuse the shameless shilling, but when I put up the most recent episode of Badass Digest with Devin Faraci, I saw a couple of people say the same thing: "I didn't know there was a Badass video show."
There is! It has six episodes so far. I think they're pretty good, too. We have a season order of 13 episodes, which means we're almost halfway done with this season. I suspect we'll be back for a second season, but nothing is set in stone, and that's why I'm taking this opportunity to remind you that the show is out there.
For those interested: our show is on a 'channel' called Cinefix. YouTube is interested in moving away from being all cat videos and EPIC FAIL videos, and they're throwing money at original content creators. Over the last year a few channels have been launched in partnership with YouTube, and the people behind Cinefix got in touch with us about doing a show. That was a year ago - this is some slow moving business.
Cinefix isn't even officially ''launched" yet, and we're the first show out the gate. There's another show called Hollywood & Hyland, which has a guy doing characters at press junkets, and comic JB Smoove has a show called I Heard, which I believe is him reviewing movies he hasn't seen.
Anyway. my vision for the show was to do something a little bit different. There would be the usual talent interviews, sure, but I felt like the world of web video offers the chance to shake off preconceived notions of what a 'show' is, and that we didn't need a format. Each episode would be its own thing, have its own pace. I also didn't want every episode to be just about movies, although movies would obviously always be the central vibe of the show.
Our first episode was a roundtable discussion about summer movies, featuring Jeremy Smith of Ain't It Cool and Amy Nicholson of Box Office Magazine. We made it a little more badass by drinking an entire bottle of Jamesons during the shoot. You can watch that here.
The second episode had me interviewing Rian Johnson about his movie Looper. We did that interview in front of the actual time machine from the 1960 movie The Time Machine. A lot of people were intrigued by that location, which is the collection of Hollywood legend Bob Burns. You can expect another episode set there soon! In the meantime, watch here.
The third episode took us out into nature. This time I hiked into the Santa Monica Mountains in search of an abandoned bunker... built by Nazi sympathizers in the 1930s, intended to be Hitler's West Coast White House. Watch that here.
Episode four had me sitting down with Tim Burton. The occasion was the premiere of Frankenweenie, and I used it as an excuse to talk monsters. I think this interview really showcases a more relaxed, playful side of Burton that you rarely see. Also, I got to use Alfred Hitchcock's words against him! Watch here.
The fifth episode was a behind the scenes recounting of my doomed boxing match against director Joe Swanberg. In addition to me getting creamed, the episode features my behind the scenes training at the hands of Jen and Sylvia Soska, the filmmakers known as the Twisted Twins. They're wearing sexy Mortal Kombat outfits, while I wear a sexy Vault of Horror shirt. Watch here!
Last week's episode was a pretty major get: it's me sitting down with the Wachowskis and their Cloud Atlas co-director Tom Tykwer. I'm proud of this interview, and the outpouring of response has helped convince the show's production team to release the full 30 minute interview, which should be going up this week. In the meantime, you can watch the deftly edited version here.
We have a couple more episodes in the can - this week's will be all about the Universal Monsters, and we have a return to Bob's Basement coming - and then we'll be shooting the final handful of episodes. I've enjoyed doing the show, and I think what we've come up with is a good, fun show that's shockingly watchable. Hopefully you agree. If you do, please share the show with your friends, 'like' the episodes, subscribe to the show and leave comments - all of these things will help Cinefix decide to bring us back for a second season. There are a lot more adventures to be had.
