Join Ben and Eamonn in their toilet houses as they chat about movies they can't watch with their kids.
"...the best thing we ever did was just start making a podcast instead of talking about it."
Today Ben & Eamonn, the creators of Watching Films on the Toilet share their story of TV & film podcast.
► Tell us about you and your podcast
Me (Ben) and Eamonn are old school friends. We grew up watching movies together, and writing comedy sketches, so it seemed natural to shoehorn our interests into one, ridiculous podcast. We settled on 'Watching Films on the Toilet' because, as a couple of dads with young kids, the toilet is the only place we can watch the violent, scary movies we want to watch! There were a few other 'hooks' but that was the one that resonated most with us. In each episode we choose a movie to review, which also inspires our silly and bizarre discussions. We also share letters from famous celebrities (which we enjoy writing!), discuss toilet-related news and play a top 5 movies game. This ends with an insane forfeit for the loser, such as having to fight a heavyweight boxer, or steal a plane! Our listeners are fans of movies who go in expecting a straightforward review, then hang around for our daft, but somewhat charming, observations and ribbing of each other.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
We'd written sitcoms and sketches together for many years. Then, during lockdown, we started listening to a lot of podcasts whilst slowly losing our minds, so we decided to focus our energies into a podcast of our own. After having a go at a scripted podcast, and realising we're not very good at acting, we settled on the toilet-based discussion format. Our goal has always been to be as creative and funny as possible. We were not expecting our podcast to explode overnight and we've really enjoyed developing a body of work, which we're both very proud of. After a few months of experimenting and getting to a point where we were comfortable to release a show, we dropped our first episode in December 2020 and we've been churning them out ever since!
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
We try to release an episode every fortnight. We record for a few hours and then edit quite heavily, down to about 40 minutes per episode. Although it's the most time consuming part (it takes a few hours per episode) it means our content is tight and the jokes, hopefully, land. We can be flexible with watching the movies and writing, because we do that separately, so our only real time commitment is the recording, which we do on a weeknight when our kids have gone to bed. Our podcast is entirely self-funded. We pay for our podcast host, Zoom premium subscription, movie tickets and we've paid for a bit of Facebook marketing. To expand our marketing budget, we've started a Patreon, which has a few subscribers that aren't just family and friends, so we've very pleased!
► What do you gain from podcasting?
We don't have any sponsors but we'd definitely consider it if anyone was interested. We made up a few sponsors but that was just for fun! Our podcast has been beneficial in many ways. It's brought me and Eamonn closer together and we've made some good podcasting pals, including old school friends we hadn't heard from for many years! The fortnightly commitment has been good for both of us and we've written a load of funny content that really makes us laugh. And we've had an excuse to watch a ton of movies!
► How does your podcasting process look like?
I recently invested in a Blue Yeti mic and Eamonn uses a RØDE Microphone; I have higher ceilings in my houses so I needed a better mic to reduce the echo. We record via Zoom but also record our audio tracks separately and edit using Audacity. Our guests are other podcast hosts we've reached out to, or who have contacts us via Instagram. We've also had a few bands and creative friends on for chats. One of our regular guests cooked pizzas at my 40th birthday party and spotted my collection of graphic novels. Whilst chatting, he told me his brother was comic book artist and they hosted the Spider-Man the Animated Series Podcast together! We've been friends ever since. Our chats with guests are recorded via Zoom but we ask them to record their audio separately if possible, as the sound quality is generally better. For our interviews, we prepare discussion points and let the guests run with it. When it's just us, we do the same and just riff on a topic until we get a punchline.
► How do you market your show?
Most of our marketing is Instagram focused: promotional videos, animations and clips from the show. I've really enjoyed developing a brand for the show, which has changed with each new 'season' (we take a little break after Christmas to recharge) and by posting Instagram stories, we can keep regular eyes on the profile. We also have Facebook and Twitter accounts for our podcast and we drop it on YouTube too. Most of our downloads come from Spotify and Apple podcasts.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
I would recommend editing. Hard. I know a lot of people enjoy listening to 3 hour free-flowing conversations, but we just don't have the time, so I guess that's why we cut ours down to the bare bones. Also, the best thing we ever did was just start making a podcast instead of talking about it. I think we were about 30 episodes in before we felt comfortable with what we were doing and we're still unsure most of the time! But it's really fun. Having a co-host really helps. There are times when we both think, 'what's the point?' but then we manage to pick each other up and keep going.
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
You can find links to podcast platforms, our Patreon, social media and more at https://linktr.ee/filmsontoilet If you want to contact us, just send us a message via Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. We'd love to hear from you!