I've been contemplating exactly how to handle this recent situation I found myself in this past Monday night. Do I stay quiet about it, take to twitter and rant about it like K. Smith, or bitch about it in the mediums I know and love? There are a bunch of options, more than I listed here, I have to handle this situation. I'm going to try and give my most honest opinions without getting too heated. The biggest problem I have with writing (and talking) about this is that I'm very conflicted; I love and adore the product, but I'm super angry at the person I sent an email to / the company the produces the product.
As many of you know, I host and produce a variety of podcasts on The hhwst.net Radio Network. All free entertainment that 100% of the costs come out of my pocket. I've worked hard and have spent a lot of my own money over the years to gain an audience that, regardless of size, enjoys listening to me yap for hours upon hours. First and foremost, I do these shows because I enjoy sitting down with my various friends to talk about the various things our various shows cover. Various. The only "personal gain" I've ever sought was sponsorship to cover costs for equipment, server costs, and throwing a little bit of cash at the guys who take time out of their life to be on a dopey podcast. If there was extra flow of cash, it would be put back into the show for our audience: prizes, contests, etc.
I've recently emailed a popular nerd who has a popular podcast and hosts a recap show for a popular entertainment company, with a popular television show based on a popular comic book. The purpose of the email, was to inform him of two podcasts I produce (The Legally Prohibited From Naming This Podcast and Academic Nerds) that might be an awesome opening act for his podcast when he comes to Philly. Now, I'm not saying that he reported me to said popular entertainment company, but an hour after I sent my email I received a cease and desist for The Legally Prohibited From Naming This Podcast from popular entertainment company.
So, until proven otherwise, fuck you Chris Hardwick.
I'm not pissed about having to change the name of our podcast. The Zombcast will live on as it's own and continue to discuss and review the horror and sci-fi genre in film, television, comics and other medium. I'm pissed that A)we're the only podcast (to my knowledge; I've talked to a few other podcasters who run shows about that very popular television show for that popular entertainment company) that received a C&D (to be fair, we did email the guy who works for popular entertainment company) and B)that we'd be accused of ripping off the famous nerd's recap show. If anything, that recap show is a rip off of about a dozen or so podcasts that have been around since before the popular television show aired.
I think what upsets me the most, is that our show was a labor of love for their show. We are nothing more than fans and enjoyed sharing our opinions on them (yes, sometimes we were harsh, but we were being critical... showing some tough love in hopes that the product would listen and get better). I'm upset that this popular entertainment company can't see the insight of having fan created content like ours; all we're doing is spreading the word of your product and telling more people to watch. George Lucas gets it... yeah, the guy that has fucked up our beloved Star Wars and Indiana Jones, he gets that fan created projects are a labor of love. I'm upset that a guy who used to be a nerd and got lucky enough to be a famous nerd would be such a dick. Before he was famous, did he sit around and talk with his buddies about products he loved? Not a doubt in my mind.
I get that perhaps the use of a Facebook timeline cover picture (that popular entertainment company lets me download from their website) has logos that are not mine... I've never claimed them to be. I just added some images of our show to make it more unique and show the bond we have with that popular television show.
This whole ordeal has literally driven me to the point of "what's the point of doing podcasts?" If I'm going to have to deal with bullshit like this, it's time to move on to other projects. If I can legally get into trouble for recording a conversation between my friends and I about a product we love, then I want nothing to do with this business. What happened to free speech? What happened to appreciating your fans?
It's hard to deal with these feelings, because I love the product that I watch on a weekly basis. But I'm infuriated about what has happened. To the point where I'm not sure how much longer I want to host podcasts. Not just The Zombcast, but any of my shows. It's a feeling I've dealing with since Monday night. And I love sitting down and talking in front of a mic. But, everything happens for a reason right? Maybe this is a sign that I let some of my shows continue on without me; a new era of Happy Hour? Of The Zombcast? Maybe this is a sign that I should take a step back for a while and let others have their time to shine and I can just produce it for them and work on my writing.
I don't know... I'm conflicted about my art at the moment. Yes, podcasting is an art. Call it fake all you want, at least it's a passion that I care deeply for and that I feel I'm pretty good at. But, it's hard to care when it's shat on to the degree I feel I've been shat on. I need to do some serious thinking about my future in this business.
Until a final decision is made, you'll still be able to find me chatting it up on The hhwst.net Radio Network! Happy Hour, Academic Nerds, The Zombcast, Citation Needed, and That's Entertainment all have a special place for me and I hope you can find time to share it with me, check it out on hhwst.net, academic nerds.com, and zombcast.com
Oh, and I'm not sure when it airs, but I'm doing an interview with Help! We're Trapped(iTunes; website) tomorrow evening. Hint: It's about Chris Hardwick being a dick. Maybe.
