April 2007
4 posts
Interview with Jakob Lodwick (Vimeo)
This is my interview with the founder of Vimeo, a unique video sharing site that is designed for personal videos. A note: The questions I asked make it seem like I’ve never used Vimeo, but I asked them to show how Vimeo is different from other video sharing sites. So, here it is:
Me: Why was Vimeo started?
Jakob: I was making these quick videos with my digital camera and uploading them...
Vimeo.
So, I’ve decided to use this site for more than just interviews and I’m calling it “Things.” until I can think of something better. The reason I’m posting… this moring is because I’ve been playing around on Vimeo and I really wanted to write about it. I’m going to interview Jakob Lodwick from Vimeo eventually so you can look for that, I was...
Interview with Jesse Thorn (The Sound of Young...
Me: Why did you start podcasting?
Jesse: I decided that if I was going to do a radio show, I should do everything in my power to get as many people access to it as possible. It was great to have a small but loyal audience on the college radio station in Santa Cruz, but my hope was that podcasting would be one more way to get it in front of people. I didn't expect podcasting to grow so fast, I just figured if another 100 people could hear the show, it was worth it
Me: Do you listen to podcasts other than your own?
Jesse: I do. Like anything without a filter, there's a lot of crap in the podcasting world, and that turns some people off, but I download about six or eight shows every week. My favorite podcast-only show right now is Jimmy Pardo's Never Not Funny, which is kind of what I wish morning talk radio was like.
Me: Where did you come up with the name "The Sound of Young America"?
Jesse: We went through a lot of names before we started... for a while I was really into the idea of a music show called The Night Train. We settled on The Sound of Young America because it suggested something old and grand, but ridiculous. It was always about the irony of three guys in college calling themselves something so grandiose.
Me: A lot of podcasters find it hard to pay the bills because it's not
exactly a very lucritive job, do you find yourself having this
problem?
Jesse: You bet. Recently, the show has had a sponsor which has more or less payed my bills (bear in mind I live a pretty spartan lifestyle), but that's only been for a month. I still work side jobs, and until I moved to LA about six months ago I had a real job at an evironmental non-profit called The Trust for Public Land. After I moved down here, I applied for some jobs, but didn't get any, so I was working odd jobs to pay the rent and so forth. At this point, I hope that I won't have to get another part-time (or full-time) job, but it's far from certain.
I also take listener donations, which is a really important stream of income. That basically helps cover the costs of the show -- when I need equipment, hosting, bandwidth, that kind of thing. I'm really touched that people care enough about the show that they'll give money, even though there's no "thank you gifts" or anything. Some folks have been giving for a couple years now, and I really appreciate it.
Me: Why did you start doing Jordan Jesse Go!?
Jesse: I basically missed doing a show with Jordan. He used to co-host TSOYA with me (and Eugene O'Neill, who's still our friend). It was just the most fun thing I've ever done, so I wanted to do it again. That was part of why I moved to LA -- I couldn't convince Jordan to move to the Bay Area.
One of the cool things about podcasting is that we don't have to convince program directors of radio stations to give us a timeslot -- we can make a show, and if people find it and like it, they can listen.
Me: Now that you have very successful audio podcasts, would you ever consider adding a video podcast to the MaximumFun network?
Jesse: Yeah. I've been working the past few weeks on adding dribs and drabs of video to The Sound. And we've podcast a fair amount of video in the Kasper Hauser Comedy Podcast. But something more serious and regular would be great.
The trick of it is that video production is dramatically more labor-intensive than audio production, and I already work a LOT. Hopefully as the audio casts grow, I'll find some great collaborators who can help me with video, or at least get further along the learning curve so I can do good work myself.
Me: How do you get such awesome guests to come on the show?
Also, how do you decide who you want on the show?
Jesse: Well, the fact of the matter is that as awesome as the guests are in my eyes and yours, many of them are pretty unknown to the general public. Part of what I try to do with the show is share these people who are doing such amazing work with people who might not have heard of them, while still getting some insight that's surprising to people who already are on board. One of the things I don't like about most mainstream interviews is that they're just banal. The producers of Leno or editors of GQ seem to think that if the subject isn't a Celebrity (like, say, Jim Carrey), we only want to hear some "relatable" story. I think that people want to hear about the creation of art -- because an artist will always be passionate about their work, and that passion will carry the day.
As far as how I book them... it's a slog. I don't have a team of producers, I do it all myself. Sometimes it's easy -- somebody's email address is on their website, I email them, they say "yes" or even "I love that show!" Usually it's an extended dance of self-justifications and self-aggrandizement ("X thousand listeners... nationally syndicated...") which gets really old really fast.
As far as the who... it's basically people I'm interested in. That's mostly it. It's a very personal show in that way, and I think people respond to that.
Me: Is there anything you want to plug?
Jesse: I see this whole thing as an extended plug, but I just started a new podcast called "Coyle and Sharpe: The Imposters." It's these two guys who spent the early 60s walking around SF with an early tape recorder doing man-on-the-street interviews. Only the interviews are on subjects like, "How do you feel about the morality of leasing babies." They're comedy geniuses, and I'm really proud that Mal Sharpe (Jim Coyle has passed) gave me permission to podcast their work. It's one bit a week, and the stuff is astonishing.
Interview with Justin Kan (Justin.tv)
Me: Why the hell would anyone want to film their life?
Justin: Well, Ben... I thought it would be a unique opportunity to allow people to have a 24/7 video window into someone's life, and could be a lot of fun
Me: how do you plan to keep it interesting, are you going to make a point to do something interesting everyday?
Justin: I have been trying to do unique things every day, yes... although running around to random press events may be starting to get old. We're partnering with a few companies like Signature Days to do unique things on Justin.tv every week, like paragliding, getting extreme makeovers, etc. I am also trying to work in the story of building the justin.tv business at the same time.
Me: What is the business, is it setting up other people with a system similar to the one you are using?
Justin: Yes. We want to build out a network of lifecasters, and be the first live tv network on the internet. the goal here is to popularize a new genre of media, one that will democratize live video for all.
Me: I've heard a lot of speculation that Justin is not you real first name, is that true?
Justin: Its true, but thats not because im trying to hide anything. I've always gone by my middle name, which is Justin. My first name is Nat, as in Nathaniel. My parents wanted to call me Justin, but liked the name Nathaniel... and the name "Justin Nathaniel Kan" sounds like crap.
Me: Have you made a lot of new friends because of this?
Justin: Yes, i actually have... lots of people want to be involved in the project, which is awesome, and people always like to meet up. i love meeting new people, but was never very good at it, so Justin.tv is pretty cool in that way.
Me: Since using the phone to have people call into the show obviously didn't work what do you plan to do the let viewers contact you?
Justin: We're setting up a call queuing system, so we can get that back up. I love talking to viewers. They build me up :D (smiley because this chat was done in IM).
Me: When you started this did you have any idea that soo many people would care to watch your life? I've heard that there has been over a million views.
Justin: Yep, over a million. But no, I didn't have any idea about the popularity.
Me: OK that's it! (not said during interview :)