Filmspotting

Interview by Lisa Hannon
June 9, 2007

Photo of Adam. Adam Kempenaar is the kind of guy you want to see hit the big time: a genuine, fun and accessible guide to the cinema. He's well on his way as the co-host of Filmspotting, a weekly podcast from Chicago. The show has been described by C. Harris-Nystrom as, "film criticism's best and hippest voices since Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert."

Filmspotting debuted in March of 2005 after Adam read an article about podcasting in Wired, and said he knew "he had to try it." He contacted Sam Van Hallgren, with whom he'd previously written movie reviews online, and Sam agreed they could put together a professional quality show before podcasting exploded into the mainstream. Sam was then interning at Chicago Public Radio, and Adam had done a radio show as a graduate student at the University of Iowa. The resulting show was of such quality that it attracted the attention of Apple. iTunes obtained permission to include Filmspotting (then called Cinecast) in a line-up of six podcasts for its new version, and the show was praised by the Independent Film Channel, The Onion, and promoted by Adam Curry, formerly of MTV fame.

Adam has a BA in Film Studies and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Iowa, and also did graduate work in Film and Video Production at Columbia College in Chicago. He worked as Creative Projects Coordinator for Frank N. Magid Associates while at the University of Iowa. In addition to Filmspotting, he hosts HawkCast, the Chicago Blackhawk's official podcast, and is the club's Web Producer. He has also returned to radio with Filmspotting's monthly broadcast on WBEZ.

Adam and his wife, Sarah, rarely catch movies on the big screen together, but look forward to doing so again when their kids Holden, Sophie and Quinn are older. You can find Filmspotting at Filmspotting.net.

Interview

Have you always been passionate about film? When did you become interested in reviewing films?

I've enjoyed movies for as long as I can remember, but I didn't become obsessed until the summer before I started college. It was in college then that I realized I wanted to do something with movies for a career--either making them or writing/talking about them.

Back in 2000, I started pursuing a Master's degree in Journalism with a focus in Film at the University of Iowa. There was an opening for a film critic at The Daily Iowan and writing reviews was something I always wanted to try. It seemed like a perfect practical application of the degree I was working on, and fortunately I got the job.

If you review a "children's movie," what role do your own children play in that?

One of the benefits of not having an editor or producer dictate what we review is that we can avoid certain movies that we just don't have any interest in or don't think will make for an interesting discussion. A lot of times this means avoiding "children's movies." Not that there aren't several that I like, including Toy Story and Finding Nemo, but we feel like it would be tough to get a provocative discussion going about, say, Shrek the Third. It's fun to take my kids to the theater and enjoy a movie without my critic's hat on and just watch how much they are entertained by it.

How did you learn to create podcasts?

With my radio and video production experience I was pretty proficient when it came to recording and editing audio. But there were a number of technical things I had to figure out that were unique to podcasting. I spent 2-3 weeks reading podcasting message boards and reading the recommendations of other podcasters. From there it was just a matter of doing some tests until everything seemed to be working the way it should.

A lot of writers are not speakers. Does that come naturally to you? If not, how did you make the transition? You've gone from columnist to radio host, and from blogger to podcaster.

Fortunately, it did come somewhat naturally to me. I've never had a problem speaking in front of large groups. But I certainly had opportunities that provided invaluable experience--first hosting a couple of shows as an undergrad at Grinnell College (KDIC) and then later as a grad student at the University of Iowa (KRUI).

Do you work from an outline, or is Filmspotting fairly extemporaneous now?

One of the things my co-host and I decided early on is that we wanted the show to be an unscripted conversation, but we also wanted it to be structured like a professional show. So many podcasts we heard sounded like someone just turned on a microphone and recorded his/her ramblings. While that certainly could be interesting, it wasn't what we were after. So we do work from an outline where the four segments of the show are planned out. We even script our review setups. But once the discussion starts, it's completely extemporaneous.

When your show was released on Apple iTunes, your subscriber list increased two-hundredfold. How do you keep expanding your audience now that there are so many podcasts from which to choose?

It's hard because there may not be another iTunes boom, where you are put in front of that many potential new listeners at one time. The key is just word of mouth and positive feedback on the various podcasting directories. It helps that Apple still has us featured as one of the top TV/Film shows in the iTunes Music Store. The next step is advertising and we've just entered into a partnership with a prominent film criticism site that will feature Filmspotting ads.

Has this been a lucrative endeavor so far?

We never envisioned making money off the show and we lost a fair amount the first year because we had a lot of expenses--namely, movies--and no income. But about 9 months into the show we landed our first title sponsor and have since had numerous advertisers, including HBO and Honda. Our primary partner currently is the online film community Spout. Our advertising income--plus generous listener donations!-- covers all of the podcast expenses and allows for a few extra bucks in our pockets each month to compensate us for our time. . . or some of it, anyway. Filmspotting is a full-time job.

There's a poster on one of your listener appreciation sites where your face is superimposed over Robert de Niro's in Raging Bull. Tell the truth: did you blow that up and put it on your wall?

I haven't yet, but it's tempting! We have some ridiculously creative and talented listeners and get a kick out of everything they send to show their appreciation.

How do you select the music for your show?

The simple answer is that we play stuff we like and want to promote. We contacted some of the labels who handle various artists we like and got their permission to play their artists on air.

What's next for Filmspotting?

Mainly, we're going to stay focused on turning out quality shows . . . try to build our audience through advertising. . . and work to expand our public radio exposure. We're currently on Chicago Public Radio once a month and have been utilizing the Public Radio Exchange to find other public radio affiliates who might be a good fit for the show.

About Lisa Hannon

See our workshop with Filmspotting
June 29, 2007
7-9 PM at the Bookmark Cafe
Marion, Iowa
Limited, Reserved Seating

Buy Tickets now at Workshops in Progress

Relevant Links:

Filmspotting

Spout

iTunes

News Review Filmspotting interview at: http://www.newsreview.com/chico/Content?oid=254400

DVD Snapshot Filmspotting interview at: http://www.dvdsnapshot.com/FilmspottingInterview.html

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