The Best Television & Music of 2018 – IP 141

December 12, 2018December 11, 2018 | insidepoppodcast

Inside Pop presents our year end special highlighting the very best Television and Music of 2018! That’s right – this one episode brings you our picks for the most binge-worthy TV shows ( including Atlanta, Dear White People, Barry, The Haunting of Hill House, Killing Eve, Queer Eye, Sense8) and most addictive music (including Janelle Monae, Cardi B, Meek Mill, Florence and the Machine, Ella Mai, Jacob Banks, Chloe X Halle) of the past 12 months. Listen to hear new insights into the shows that sit on top of the TV peak, plus we’ll celebrate our favorite albums and each declare our Song of the Year!

Sean’s Top TV

black-ish

Dear White People

Castle Rock

Daredevil

Glow

The Haunting of Hill House

Killing Eve

Sense8 (Series Finale)

Amita’s Top TV

Atlanta

Barry

The Handmaid’s Tale

Killing Eve

Murphy Brown

Queer Eye

Amita’s Top Albums

A Star is Born (Soundtrack) – Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper

Championships – Meek Mill

Dirty Computer – Janelle Monae

Invasion of Privacy – Cardi B

Ventriloquism – Meshell Ndegeocello

Sean’s Top Albums

Dirty Computer – Janelle Monae

High as Hope – Florence and the Machine

Lean on Me – Jose James

Piano & a Microphone – Prince

Remain in Light – Angelique Kidjo (Remain in Light X 2 playlist)

Ventriloquism – Meshell Ndegeocello

Village – Jacob Banks

Sean’s Song of the Year

Happy Without Me – Chloe X Halle

Amita’s Song of the Year

Boo’d Up – Ella Mai

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Inside the World of a TV Casting Director: A Conversation with Evan Majors (Rhythm + Flow, The Real World) – IP 140

November 28, 2018November 27, 2018 | insidepoppodcast

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Have you ever wondered what minds were behind the casting of your favorite unscripted TV shows and how they found the personalities who’ve grown to feel like family?

In this episode, we chat with Casting Director Evan Majors to find out his approach to finding talent worthy of TV screens and pop culture obsessions. He shares how he approaches meeting and interviewing talent, the need for more representation in film and TV and a little insider info on his latest project, the recently announced Hip Hop reality competition show, Rhythm + Flow for Netflix featuring Cardi B, Chance the Rapper and T.I. as judges. He also reveals the one casting video he’d love to get his hands on.

Then, in this week’s Big Sell, Amita gives her review of Sean’s suggestion- an article about Stan Lee after his passing- and then sells Sean on an honest conversation between Gina Rodriguez, Gabrielle Union, Ellen Pompeo and Emma Roberts about equal pay and representation in front of and behind the camera.

Links:

Find and follow Evan Majors on Twitter, Instagram and check out his website here.

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Movie Trailers: An Insider’s Guide to How They’re Made – IP139

November 14, 2018 | insidepoppodcast

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Have you ever wondered how a movie trailer is created? Have you ever questioned why you see a shot in a trailer that doesn’t exist in the film or fretted over the amount of plot detail a trailer reveals? Well wonder no more! This week, we speak to Nati Braunstein, Co-President and Creative Director at the Creative Advertising agency, Aspect, and get a look inside the process of making memorable movie trailers.

Nati discusses the collaborative effort behind the production of trailers and reveals some inside info about the trailers and TV spots for the highly anticipated Aquaman and Mary Poppins Returns.

Plus, in the Big Sell, Sean reviews the new Riz MC single, “Mogambo” and sells Amita on an article about Stan Lee after his passing.

Aspect Website

Aspect on Twitter

Aspect Instagram

If you enjoyed this episode check out:

Our conversation with the Music Supervisor of The Florida Project and Tangerine

Our conversation with the Cinematographer of 20 Feet From Stardom and Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

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Music Matters: An Interview with Music Supervisor Matthew Hearon-Smith- IP 135

September 19, 2018September 18, 2018 | insidepoppodcast

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Ever wonder how some of your favorite songs in films and TV shows are chosen? This week, Sean sits down with Music Supervisor Matthew Hearon-Smith, who has selected songs for the award winning films Tangerine and The Florida Project and also has curated the soundtracks for various television shows including Viceland’s My House. We discuss his process for finding the right song for the right moment and how he collaborates with directors and showrunners to create the mood for specific scenes.

Then, we share some of our top picks for popular songs that have been featured in films and TV programs that have been embedded in our brains ever since.

Plus, Amita gives her rating and review of Sean’s Big Sell- Fantastic Negrito’s latest album, Please Don’t Be Dead and big sells an honest and revealing interview from “The Good Place” actress Jameela Jamil about the standard of beauty that women have been held up to and how she’s trying to rise above to help women love themselves for who they are, as they are.

Links:

Matthew Hearon-Smith’s IMDb

Matthew Hearon-Smith’s Website

Matthew Hearon-Smith’s Twitter

Sense8‘s use of the song- “What’s Up?”

Blue Velvet’s use of the song – “In Dreams”

Blue Velvet’s use of the song – “Blue Velvet”

Captain Fantastic‘s use of the song- “Sweet Child o’Mine”

Little Miss Sunshine‘s use of the song- “Super Freak”

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Fall TV Preview & Primetime Emmy Predictions with Norman Baker – IP 134

September 5, 2018 | insidepoppodcast

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September has arrived and Fall is right around the corner! (Yeah, we said it, FALL! Where does the time go!?)

So, we’re getting you ready for the Fall TV season with special guest Norman Baker- who, as a self-proclaimed ‘Pop Culture Genius’, utilizes his entertainment prowess every day as a Senior Producer on The Wendy Williams Show. We find out what it takes to put together the Hot Topics segment of the popular daytime talk show and what inspired Norman to get into television production.

Then, Norman shares which new Fall TV shows he is looking forward to checking out including ABC’s A Million Little Things, CBS’s Murphy Brown and The CW’s All American and then we discuss who will win and who should win Best Comedy and Best Drama at this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards.

Plus, in this week’s Big Sell, Sean gives his rating and review of Ibeyi’s “River” music video and shares a new album by soul/rock artist, Fantastic Negrito, who also performed at this year’s AfroPunk festival.

Follow Norman @normmaker on Twitter and Instagram

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Shining a Light on Cinematography: A Conversation with Graham Willoughby – IP 133

August 22, 2018August 21, 2018 | insidepoppodcast

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If you’ve ever been struck by the beauty that fills the screen while watching a particular film or television show you have the cinematographer to thank. The cinematographer – or Director of Photography – is responsible for helping the director achieve their vision; and whether the goal is to create an eye catching effect or to simply make natural light look ‘natural’ on film, the cinematographer commands a unique combination of creative intuition and technical expertise to achieve success.

This week- Amita and Sean speak with Graham Willoughby, the cinematographer of a number of incredible documentaries including the Oscar winning 20 Feet from Stardom and the hit doc of the summer, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Graham discusses the road that led him to be one of the most sought after non-fiction DPs working today. He also discusses television projects he has worked on (Abstract, Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas) and how he manages to work in a number of different genres including music, biography and comedy.

And in the latest Big Sell, Amita reviews the Frank Ocean-centric podcast Dissect and Big Sells Sean a song and video combo by the group Ibeyi.

Check out Graham Willoughby’s Official Site

Follow him on Instagram @nationalpleasure

Check out Sean’s overly precious, non-collaborative Afropunk Warm Up 2018 Playlist

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Highlights from San Diego Comic Con, Aquaman, Jacob Banks – IP 131

July 25, 2018July 24, 2018 | insidepoppodcast

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San Diego Comic Con is the epicenter of genre fandom, the ‘make it or break it’ launching pad of potential box office blockbusters and the most intensely overwhelming adventure a fan of pop culture can experience. In this episode, we bring you a report straight from the convention with entertainment journalist and Editor-in-Chief at Den of Geek US- Mike Cecchini.

No matter what you’re interest- Mike has you covered with inside info and insight including:

His interview with the star of Aquaman, Jason Momoa and the director of the film, James Wan
A report on which trailers created the biggest buzz and which he thinks are most likely to live up to the hype
A special ‘everything Amita wanted to know about SHAZAM! and was brave enough to ask’ history lesson
The latest on the Buffy reboot (guess what? Sean’s got some opinions on this one!)
The DCU streaming service app that is blowing our minds
And the groundbreaking comic books coming out this Fall

Follow Mike Cecchini and Den of Geek:

Mike’s Twitter

Den of Geek US’s Twitter

Den of Geek Website

Mike’s interview with James Wan and Jason Momoa from Aquaman

Plus in the latest installment of The Big Sell – Amita rates soul singer Jacob Banks and sells Sean a new song from an iconic diva.

Links:

Inside Pop’s Episode on the Divas Who Defined Us (Episode 67)

Jacob Banks Sings Unknown (To You) Live

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Behind the Scenes at DreamWorks with Tony Ducret, The Handmaid’s Tale, Barry, Love Is – IP 130

July 11, 2018July 10, 2018 | insidepoppodcast

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This week, we speak with Tony Ducret who works in the story department at DreamWorks Studios / Amblin Partners. Tony speaks with us about the path that brought him to DreamWorks via a an early career as a producer and showrunner in unscripted programming; a writer and director in the independent film world and a student at the prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program at USC. Tony talks to us about how he uses his diverse background to contribute to the story department at one of the most successful studios in Hollywood.

We chat about the current state of development in Hollywood and the journey a script makes from submission to greenlit film. Do smaller budget films have a better chance of getting produced than larger budget projects? How do studios choose from the thousands of submissions they receive each year? What are the hardest movies to make in 2018? Tony tackles all of these questions and we also get his take on his favorite current TV programs including The Handmaid’s Tale, Barry and Love is__.

You can follow Tony @DucretMedia on Twitter and Instagram.

Plus in this week’s Big Sell- Sean reviews Amita’s Movie Montage from our last episode and recommends a new singer who will be performing at this summer’s AfroPunk Fest in Brooklyn aka two days of musical nirvana!

Links:

First and Final Frames Part 1

First and Final Frames Part 2

First and Final Frames Part 3

Jacob Banks’ Official Site

Jacob Banks’ Frank Ocean cover

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Luke Cage Season 2, Won’t You Be My Neighbor – IP 128

June 19, 2018June 20, 2018 | insidepoppodcast

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We’re heading straight to Harlem for this special Luke Cage edition of Inside Pop. We’ve seen the second season of Marvel’s Luke Cage and we’re bringing you an exclusive preview of the first two episodes. We’ll also provide some fascinating behind the scenes info about the show’s music and production crew and theorize why vocal fans of the first season may have inspired the more volatile Season 2 Luke Cage. Plus, we question why we’re anti-shipping Mariah and Shades.

Then, Amita reviews the new documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, about legendary children’s TV host Fred Rogers.

Plus, we have a brand new Big Sell that tackles one of the ugliest, and sadly most prevalent problems in Hollywood.

Fans of Luke Cage will want to check out our interview with showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker.

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Queer Eye Season 2, LGBTQ Pop Culture – IP 127

June 13, 2018 | insidepoppodcast

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We’re celebrating Pride Month in this episode by highlighting some of our favorite queer pop culture.

First up, we’ve had an advanced look at the second season of Queer Eye on Netflix and we’re giving you an exclusive preview of the series that consistently gives everyone the feels. We’ll tell you how the series is breaking even more new ground than ever before.

And then we bring you a special rainbow colored Big Sell in which we recommend some under the radar pop culture with an LGBTQ focus that you will definitely want to put on your must watch/must listen list.

Big Sells:

Bronski Beat – The Age of Consent

A Time to Leave – Trailer

Sara Ramirez Trailblazer speech

Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

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