This review is going to be a hybrid editorial framed around the film Ear Buds: The Podcasting Documentary created by the Comedy Film Nerds. Specifically, Graham Elwood and Chris Mancini, who are comedians, podcasters, filmmakers, entrepreneurs, and podcast enthusiasts. They host the LA Podfest, which is an annual festival with dozens of live podcasts like WTF with Marc Maron, and their enthusiasm shows in this documentary.
Ear Buds is a documentary worth your time
The film showcases several podcasts of various sizes, the people who host them, and the fans that listen to them. Elwood and Mancini aren’t invisible in the film, but often step back and allow the interviews to tell the narrative. It’s surprising that a film about podcasters made by podcasters manages to become extremely emotional. While it can seem like this setup will be self-serving, and at times it surely is, however, it shows the humans behind the shows.
Ear Buds will definitely appeal to fans of the individual shows featured in the documentary like WTF, The Todd Glass Show, Doug Loves Movies, Walking the Room, and Keith and The Girl, to name just a few. It will also likely intrigue podcast fans and possibly introduce them to new shows and even the fans of those show. Yet, probably most importantly to subjects of the film, Ear Buds will introduce any viewer to the world of podcasts and the possibilities available to them. A free service that essentially covers any and every topic one could want to learn more about that can be streamed or downloaded in an episodic fashion is definitely something worth learning about.
What’s the verdict?
Of course there is always a chance that people know about podcasts and think they’re stupid. No matter how wrong those people might be, this film would still work for them. The human stories that are told are powerful and often rip at the heart strings and threaten to flood one’s face with oceans of tears. Whether it’s a fan who explains how podcasts help them through their days or how a podcaster used the open forum to vent and reach out to their fans, this film highlights the power of the format. Ear Buds is currently available for purchase on ComedyFilmNerds.com digitally or physical. It earns the Must See Rating and the following explanations as to why.
How’d I get into Podcasts?
I got into podcasts because of Kevin Smith and Chris Hardwick. Kevin Smith created some of my all time favorite comedies and really brought me to another level with film obsession. After reading Smith’s autobiography, “Tough Sh*t: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good,” I was compelled to hear more from him. I downloaded the podcast app on my phone and started listening to every Smodco podcast available. While I currently only listen to Hollywood Babble-on, his shows made me interested in the format.
The Nerdist Podcast was the first non-Smodcast show I listened to primarily as a result of Talking Dead. It took a few episode of The Nerdist before I was hooked, but it also made me a big fan of Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. Eventually, my movie obsession made me look into film podcasts that led me to Doug Loves Movies, Battleship Pretension, Comedy Film Nerds, and many more. DLM is even the reason this website exists.
The creation of this site has roots in podcasts
In 2015, Doug Benson embarked on a challenge to watch 365 movies in 365 days. As his year approached the end, I thought to myself that 2016, being a leap year, would be a good time for me to try something different. I would do a similar challenge, but write a review for every single one and require myself to watch 7 movies a week to discourage procrastination. Eventually, my podcast obsession and my film obsession enticed me to use my background with music to do my own podcast.
There is no doubt that doing all of what I do for Berkreviews.com and the two podcasts we host that I also produce, edit, and supply the graphics for take up a lot of my time. We are young and completely not famous. Myself, Corey, and Michael are all based out of small towns where our interests are often not matched by our peers with the same enthusiasm that we show. Yet, the podcasts I listen to and now the fans that we have allow us to be part of a community we were otherwise shut out from by simple geography.
Final Thoughts
Ear Buds showcases this completely and in a way that seems completely genuine. There are several reasons to buy this film. One, it’s an independent project that was crowdsourced and paid for by the filmmakers. Two, it’s a really great look into a niche world that you may want to be a part of or understand better. Finally, three, if you’re reading this you likely love movies of all kinds, and this is a documentary worth your time.
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