The Hollywood Saloon

Infobox Podcast
title = The Hollywood Saloon
caption = "The Hollywood Saloon"
host = Andy Siems, John Jansen
audio format = MP3
url = http://www.hollywoodsaloon.com/
rss = http://www.hollywoodsaloon.com/podcast/hollywoodsaloon.xml
began = August 22, 2005

The Hollywood Saloon is a film podcast hosted by Andy Siems and John Jansen. The show debuted August 22, 2005 [http://www.hollywoodsaloon.com/podcastEP1.html] .

Description

Each episode features an in-depth discussion of one or more film-related topics.cite news|last=Tunnell|first=Benji|title=Podcasting Challenges Mainstream Media|publisher=Boxoffice|date=2007-11-12|url=http://boxoffice.com/distribution/2007/11/podcasting-challenges-mainstre.php] A given episode might focus on the creative output of a favorite director (Spike Lee, Tony Scott, and David Fincher have received this treatment).cite news|first=J.|last=Ott|title=Finchermania|url=http://www.makingthemovie.info/2006/01/finchermania.html|date=2006-01-26] Other times there has been consideration of the financial side of the movie business, as in the three-part series "Apocalypse Hollywood." [http://www.hollywoodsaloon.com/podcastEP3.html] Generally the hosts avoid simply giving their review of a single film during a regular Hollywood Saloon show, preferring to maintain a more historical perspective than would a movie review podcast; occasionally, however, they have opted to give their opinion on a single film in the Special Edition episodes. Another common theme of the show has been fan-powered, technology-enabled cinema phenomena, such as "the fan edit" and the digital filmmaking revolution, [http://www.hollywoodsaloon.com/podcastEP25.html] taking a cue from director Francis Ford Coppola who is quoted in as saying "For me the great hope is now that 8-millimeter video recorders are coming out, people who normally wouldn’t make movies are going to be making them. And that one day a little fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart and make a beautiful film with her father’s camcorder. For once the so-called professionalism about movies will be destroyed and it will really become an art form."citenews|author=Kyle Conway|coauthors=Elizabeth Galewski|title=Not the Voice Coppola Would Expect: Microcinema and Its Challenge to Public-ness|url=http://bad.eserver.org/issues/2006/74/congalew.html|publisher=Bad Subjects|date=2005-12-01]

The podcast is characterized by high production values, in the form of background music (often taken from the soundtrack to the film undergoing discussion), audio clips from interviews, documentaries, etc., and dramatic and/or humorous sound effects. The Saloon is also known for a tendency to be much longer than the average podcast.cite news|author=Largely Ignored|title=Car Chase Marathon|url=http://largelyignored.com/2007/04/18/car-chase-marathon/] In a number of instances, the podcast has approached and occasionally exceeded two hours in length. These qualities, along with the hosts' busy work schedules, have caused relatively long delays between the release of new full-length episodes, up to two months in some cases.

In order to alleviate the long waiting period for listeners of the show, the podcasters have created a series of alternate show formats as stopgap "extensions of the Hollywood Saloon brand":
* The "Rough Cut" series, an "experiment" begun in January 2007, is devoted to recent movie news and off-the-cuff movie chat [http://www.hollywoodsaloon.com/RC.html] . These episodes average about one hour in length.
* The "Special Edition" series, often a review of a single film, such as the infamous evaluation of , which lasts nearly as long as the movie itself.
* S.I.B.S ("Self Indulgent Bullshit"), comprising topics considered by Siems and Jansen to be irrelevant to normal Hollywood Saloon subject matter.
* Commentary Tracks, beginning with a feature-length, scene-specific discussion of Raiders of the Lost Ark [http://rotwangsarm.blogspot.com/2007/11/in-praise-of-saloon.html] .

Hosts

* Andy Siems (the primary force behind the graphics and website, Siems is also the director of a number of music videos)

* John Jansen (nicknamed “The Human Movie Database” for his encyclopedic knowledge of cinema, Jansen has been making films since 1984, having directed two feature films and multiple commercials, music videos, documentaries and more. His listing on the Internet Movie Database) [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1141653/]

The podcast came about from the hosts', who met at Stephen F. Austin State university in Nacogodoches, Texas in 1987, long-distance telephone discussions revolving around movies. [http://www.hollywoodsaloon.com/podcast/se/SIBS3.mp3]

History

On Sunday, October 7, 2007, Episode 34 premiered on the Internet radio station TalkRadioX. The Hollywood Saloon has kept the Sunday evening time slot, allowing for listeners to chat online during the broadcast, with the intent of possibly broadcasting a live show through the channel [http://www.phpbber.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=982&mforum=hollywoodsaloon] . To date, there has not been a live episode streamed on TalkRadioX.

In Early 2008, The Hollywood Saloon ended it's relationship with TalkRadioX and no longer broadcasts their show on the Network.

Award Nominations

Nominated in 2006 and 2007 for a Podcast Award in the Movies/Films category [http://www.podcastawards.com/] .

Nominated in 2006 for a Podcast Peer Award in the Arts/Entertainment category [http://podcastpeers.org/winners.html] .

References

External links

* [http://www.hollywoodsaloon.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.greenmillfilmworks.com/directors/johnjansen.asp Green Mill Filmworks: John Jansen]
* [http://www.youtube.com/hollywoodsaloon The Hollywood Saloon's YouTube videos]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311473/Feature Film "mainly ETC." IMDB page]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0774045/Feature Film "Pink Floyd The Wall Redux" IMDB page]