Out of the blue this morning I received an invitation to be a guest on Star Base 66. Utterly delighted!
SB66 joined Simply Syndicated right about the time I was getting ready to leave. These two facts are unrelated.
It got me thinking about the old days when the Simply Syndicated Network launched.
2005 feels like a lifetime ago. We were fresh out of university. Richard Smith had been pushing us for ages to do something. Anything. We just weren't sure what to do. Then Rich told us about this new thing that had begun happening with iPods. Now we're talking about a time so early in podcasting that they weren't even listed on iTunes. Apple hadn't caught wind of how their tech was being used. You had to use obscure RSS readers to pick up shows. They all had an underground pirate radio feeling to them.
What kind of show could we do? Movies. Obviously. But we couldn't afford to go to the cinema each week. That was for people with disposable income and lives. Neither of us had two goats to rub together. So it would have to be a movie retrospective. Films that you knew you should watch but hadn't ever gotten round to. It needs a name. Movies You Should See? offered up Mr Dawson. Craig cemented the silence that followed with a pluck of his guitar string. Thus began MYSS. We began recording 1 show a week. But who was listening right? It wasn't long before Apple cottoned on to what was happening and introduced a podcasting section to iTunes. We started getting data. Download data. Every week we would check to see if our numbers had gone up. When it got to 499 listeners I was screaming at the number to click over. Climbing the charts on Podcast Alley started to become a regular part of our week. Then when Allison Downing joined the crew things really took off. For the next 4-5 years we recorded an episode a week of MYSS.
It became an excuse to get together and talk about film. To argue and dissect. Rich became funny. (not quite sure when that happened). I started wearing a t-shirt that had something Rich had said on it.....and other people brought it!?!
9 years later Simply Syndicated boasts its own area in the iTune Featured Providers section. Where it sits amongst such high ranking company as ESPN, Sky, NASA and BBC. Podcasts from the deepest pits of Genre to the heights of it's Do Ask Do Tell podcast. 1000's of hours of audio, created just for the pure pleasure of it. Shows have had favourable reviews from the likes of Radio Times and The Guardian. Thats enough chest beating. The network now serves as a launch platform for promising new podcasts that might otherwise launch into obscurity.
I stepped away Simply Syndicated in 2009 to concentrate more on making films than talking about them. I've never forgotten the network. Which brings me to the point of this ramble. It wasn't until the invitation from Rick Wihtgar Tetrault this morning that I realised how much Simply Syndicated is still responsible for what I do.
I met my story mentor Adrian Reynolds on the Event Horizon episode of MYSS. "What do you do?" he enquired. "I make films," I replied. "What do you do?" I asked. "I write films" he answered. Little did I know Adrian was the script editor on a film training scheme I was already involved in.
When I look at White Lily, my latest short film, it amazes me how many elements can be traced back to the Simply Syndicated network.
CartBozMan a former Simply Syndicated listener, who started hosting his own shows, hooked me up with Pablo Hoyos - a concept artist at Rocksteady who designed the comet hunter in my film, who linked me with Bob Molesworth who offered original artwork for our KickStarter campaign. Boz is very quickly establishing a solid reputation on the independent film scene as a trusted Gaffer. Onset I think his name was being called more often than mine was!
Nick Long of Turtle Canyon Media, based at Pine Wood, offered their post production services.
The delightful Lori Bauerlein supported me by throwing her hard earned $$s my way.
One morning I was serving people in KRCS my local Apple store when a customer asked me "excuse me but are you on Movies You Should See?" It was an odd moment to say the least. That was a chap called Ashley Carter, a journalist for the Left Lion. He writes excellent film reviews for the publication. We have now become friends and are about to collaborate on our first film together.
Rich flashed the Bat Signal and had me on a few shows to plug the project....
...and of course it was a project written by Adrian Reynolds, who I'd met on Simply Syndicated all those years ago.
White Lily wouldn't have been possible without the support of Simply Syndicated. I'm truly grateful you haven't forgotten me, because I haven't forgotten you.
SB66 joined Simply Syndicated right about the time I was getting ready to leave. These two facts are unrelated.
It got me thinking about the old days when the Simply Syndicated Network launched.
2005 feels like a lifetime ago. We were fresh out of university. Richard Smith had been pushing us for ages to do something. Anything. We just weren't sure what to do. Then Rich told us about this new thing that had begun happening with iPods. Now we're talking about a time so early in podcasting that they weren't even listed on iTunes. Apple hadn't caught wind of how their tech was being used. You had to use obscure RSS readers to pick up shows. They all had an underground pirate radio feeling to them.
What kind of show could we do? Movies. Obviously. But we couldn't afford to go to the cinema each week. That was for people with disposable income and lives. Neither of us had two goats to rub together. So it would have to be a movie retrospective. Films that you knew you should watch but hadn't ever gotten round to. It needs a name. Movies You Should See? offered up Mr Dawson. Craig cemented the silence that followed with a pluck of his guitar string. Thus began MYSS. We began recording 1 show a week. But who was listening right? It wasn't long before Apple cottoned on to what was happening and introduced a podcasting section to iTunes. We started getting data. Download data. Every week we would check to see if our numbers had gone up. When it got to 499 listeners I was screaming at the number to click over. Climbing the charts on Podcast Alley started to become a regular part of our week. Then when Allison Downing joined the crew things really took off. For the next 4-5 years we recorded an episode a week of MYSS.
It became an excuse to get together and talk about film. To argue and dissect. Rich became funny. (not quite sure when that happened). I started wearing a t-shirt that had something Rich had said on it.....and other people brought it!?!
9 years later Simply Syndicated boasts its own area in the iTune Featured Providers section. Where it sits amongst such high ranking company as ESPN, Sky, NASA and BBC. Podcasts from the deepest pits of Genre to the heights of it's Do Ask Do Tell podcast. 1000's of hours of audio, created just for the pure pleasure of it. Shows have had favourable reviews from the likes of Radio Times and The Guardian. Thats enough chest beating. The network now serves as a launch platform for promising new podcasts that might otherwise launch into obscurity.
I stepped away Simply Syndicated in 2009 to concentrate more on making films than talking about them. I've never forgotten the network. Which brings me to the point of this ramble. It wasn't until the invitation from Rick Wihtgar Tetrault this morning that I realised how much Simply Syndicated is still responsible for what I do.
I met my story mentor Adrian Reynolds on the Event Horizon episode of MYSS. "What do you do?" he enquired. "I make films," I replied. "What do you do?" I asked. "I write films" he answered. Little did I know Adrian was the script editor on a film training scheme I was already involved in.
When I look at White Lily, my latest short film, it amazes me how many elements can be traced back to the Simply Syndicated network.
CartBozMan a former Simply Syndicated listener, who started hosting his own shows, hooked me up with Pablo Hoyos - a concept artist at Rocksteady who designed the comet hunter in my film, who linked me with Bob Molesworth who offered original artwork for our KickStarter campaign. Boz is very quickly establishing a solid reputation on the independent film scene as a trusted Gaffer. Onset I think his name was being called more often than mine was!
Nick Long of Turtle Canyon Media, based at Pine Wood, offered their post production services.
The delightful Lori Bauerlein supported me by throwing her hard earned $$s my way.
One morning I was serving people in KRCS my local Apple store when a customer asked me "excuse me but are you on Movies You Should See?" It was an odd moment to say the least. That was a chap called Ashley Carter, a journalist for the Left Lion. He writes excellent film reviews for the publication. We have now become friends and are about to collaborate on our first film together.
Rich flashed the Bat Signal and had me on a few shows to plug the project....
...and of course it was a project written by Adrian Reynolds, who I'd met on Simply Syndicated all those years ago.
White Lily wouldn't have been possible without the support of Simply Syndicated. I'm truly grateful you haven't forgotten me, because I haven't forgotten you.
Movies You Should See crew recording the Lost In Translation episode (2006)
Tristan Ofield & Adrian Reynolds on the set of White Lily (2014)
Camera crew prepare for the first of many takes
Camera Assistant Oliver Walker and 3rd Assistant Director CartBozman
set up the Sony F35
Actress Siddhii Lagrutta & Tristan Ofield chat between setups
Actor David McCaffery. Shot lit by NFTS Cinematographer Alistair Little
Actress Siddhii Lagrutta lit by NFTS Cinematographer Alistair Little
The Crew of White Lily
Left to right Sarah Kelly, Tristan Ofield, Siddhii Lagrutta, Sophia Ramcharan, Heather Jordan,
Fiona Allardyce, Ahmed Tarek, Adrian Reynolds, Oli Robinson, Ellie Wake, David McCaffrey,
Arti Sharma, Donna Bowyer, Max Crow, Josh Knott-Fayle, Ashley Carter, CartBozMan, Oliver Walker, Alistair Little.
Photograph by Mike Saunders
