Supporting Characters

Supporting Characters

Host Bill Ackerman talks to writers, bloggers, podcasters, fanzine publishers, programmers, preservationists and more about their creative endeavors and today’s film culture.

Episodes

August 29, 2022 101 mins

Bill speaks to author and film historian Imogen Sara Smith about her various endeavors, from writing books like BUSTER KEATON: THE PERSISTENCE OF COMEDY and IN LONELY PLACES: FILM NOIR BEYOND THE CITY to contributing audio commentaries, booklet essays and on-camera interviews to home video releases from The Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber, Eureka!, Imprint, Flicker Alley, Arrow and Indicator. Topic...

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Bill remembers his friend, writer/film programmer Travis Crawford.

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July 17, 2022 107 mins

Bill talks to writer/editor/podcaster/programmer Katie Rife about her many endeavors, from co-founding Everything Is Terrible, inventing puns for Mr. Skin and presenting films at Facets Night School to writing/podcasting for The A.V. Club, programming for The Music Box Theatre and freelancing for outlets like Rolling Stone, Vulture and Roger Ebert.com. Topics include: Mike McPadden, Daily Grindhouse,...

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July 5, 2022 166 mins

Bill speaks to Animus Magazine founder/editor and film critic Elena Lazic. Topics include: Stéphane Delorme, PETRA, having a responsibility to cinema, The Prince Charles Cinema, STRAW DOGS, filmmaker intentionality, Another Gaze, The Relentless Picnic, the Oscars, Cahiers du Cinéma, the solitary nature of writing, TITANE, Reverse Shot, Vincent D'Onofrio and developing critical faculties through disap...

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June 8, 2022 121 mins

Bill speaks to author and film critic Brad Stevens about his film cultural endeavors, from contributing to publications like The Dark Side, Sight & Sound and Video Watchdog to writing books like MONTE HELLMAN: HIS LIFE AND FILMS and ABEL FERRARA: A MORAL VISION. Topics include: Auteurism, Robin Wood, BBC’s “The Great American Picture Show” season, alternate versions of films, Sight & Sound’s Greatest...

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May 11, 2022 202 mins

Bill speaks to film programmer, broadcaster, writer, podcaster and festival director Anna Bogutskaya about her many endeavors in film culture, from co-founding The Final Girls collective and programming for BFI Southbank to serving as director of Underwire Festival, producing podcasts and recording Blu-Ray audio commentaries. Topics include: THE WIZARD OF OZ and tiny philistines, The Hot Fuzztival at...

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April 11, 2022 73 mins

Bill speaks to novelist and film critic/historian Kim Newman about some of his many endeavors. Topics include: NIGHTMARE MOVIES, originality in horror, SOMETHING MORE THAN NIGHT, audio commentaries, Carlos Clarens’ ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE HORROR FILM, gatekeepers, toxic fandom, LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH and how a unique series of quirks in the British education system helped to prepare him for a freelance writing career.

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March 7, 2022 163 mins

Bill speaks to author and magazine publisher/editor Michael J. Weldon about his many endeavors, from drumming with Cleveland proto-punk act Mirrors and reviewing movies for Cle, to Psychotronic, his photocopied, hand-written fanzine that lead to books like the influential PSYCHOTRONIC ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM, the long-running PSYCHOTRONIC VIDEO magazine, calendars, film festivals and the Psychotronic st...

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December 4, 2020 243 mins
Bill talks to writer and film historian Chris Poggiali about his many endeavors in film culture, from co-creating the Temple Of Schlock fanzine and founding the long-running blog of the same name, to contributing to various magazines and video releases, distributing BLACK SAMURAI and working on books with Grady Hendrix, Michael Gingold and Sam Sherman. Topics include: Jack Starrett, the impact of crack on 42nd Street...

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October 26, 2020 164 mins
Bill speaks to filmmaker, author, podcaster, film programmer and home video label founder Justin Decloux about his many endeavors in film culture, including the Laser Blast Film Society, The Important Cinema Club podcast, the Gold Ninja Video label, the feature films TEDDY BOMB and IMPO...

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October 12, 2020 121 mins

Bill speaks to novelist, screenwriter and film historian Andrew J. Rausch about his various endeavors, from early experiences in journalism, hip-hop and microbudget horror movies to a writing career that has yielded over 40...

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September 28, 2020 80 mins

Bill speaks actress and singer Mink Stole about her life and career. Topics include the rehearsal process on John Waters movies, Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable show, taking friends from The Cockettes to see PINK...

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September 21, 2020 140 mins
Bill speaks to Gary Tooze about his home video review site, DVDBeaver, now in its 18th year. They discuss his experiences with film, from encountering Charlie Chaplin on television and renting 35mm Basil Rathbone movies with his father to creating the Listserv discussion...

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September 7, 2020 176 mins
Bill talks to Kino Lorber’s Director of Repertory Sales and Acquisitions, Jonathan Hertzberg, about his many film cultural endeavors, from creating the Obscure One Sheet Blog and programming for the Chicago International Film Festival to developing his DIRTY OLD NEW YORK video essays and ...

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August 24, 2020 174 mins
Bill speaks to lecturer, editor and film programmer Abraham Castillo Flores about his path in film, from directing short films and cutting promos for the Independent Film Channel to programming for Mexico’s Mórbido Film Fest and hosting The Morbid...

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August 10, 2020 113 mins
Bill speaks to film programmer Nellie Killian about her pursuits in film, from attending Orson Welles and Fritz Lang retrospectives as a child to co-founding the Migrating Forms Film Festival and teaching film courses at the Pratt Institute. They discuss her career in programming, from her work with venues like Brooklyn Academy Of Music to such recent efforts as the acclaimed TELL ME: WOMEN FILMMAKERS, WOMEN’S STORIE...

July 27, 2020 103 mins
Bill speaks to writer, producer/screenwriter and professor Ashlee Blackwell about her various endeavors, from organizing events like Philly Loves Women In Horror and developing the Graveyard Shift Sisters website to teaching film at St. Joseph’s University and co-writing, co-producing and appearing in the documentary HORROR NOIRE: A HISTORY OF BLACK HORROR. Topics include: James Bond III, the value in narrowing one’s...
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July 13, 2020 112 mins
Bill speaks to film historian, preservationist and filmmaker E. Purchell about their various endeavors, from programming and creating pre-screening short films for the Florida Avalon microcinema to the development of ASK ANY BUDDY, their Artforum 'Best of 2018' Instagram f...

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June 3, 2019 203 mins

Bill speaks to author, broadcaster and film historian Emma Westwood about her many creative endeavors, from co-founding film societies and writing freelance criticism to hosting Triple R’s Plato’s Cave and developing her recent monograph on David Cronenberg’s THE FLY. Topics include: Fatal Visions, Lee Gambin, the differing approaches of American and Australian film schools in the early 1990s, ALIEN, John Frankenheimer, Bert Deling...

April 29, 2019 135 mins

Bill speaks to writer/director, Trailers From Hell guru and podcaster Josh Olson about his many endeavors, from writing screenplays like the Oscar-nominated...

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