For the first in a short series examining some of the podcasts which – one way or another – cover elements of Korean cinema, we take a look at ‘The VCinema Show’…
The VCinema Show is a well established podcast, which has recently released its thirty-fifth episode. An accessible mixture of chat and opinion along with a strong knowledge of their subjects, a typical episode of the podcast focuses on one specific film which is discussed in terms of background, cast and crew and country of origin. The VCinema podcast manages to cover a mix of titles from across Asia that you may of heard of, alongside titles that you possibly won’t. The producer and host of the VCinema podcast and editor-in-chief of the VCinema blog is Jon Jung and he is usually joined by his co-host Josh Samford who is the editor and head-writer of the review site Varied Celluloid and until recently the two were also joined by co-host Rufus de Rham who is the Editor and co-host for the site and podcast cineAWESOME! I spoke to Jon who talked a little about the background to the show and the way that it has evolved over the last couple of years…
[Martin Cleary] Can you introduce yourself and talk a little about how you became interested in producing a podcast?
[Jon Jung] My name is Jon (aka Coffin Jon) and I am the editor of VCinema and the host and producer of its flagship podcast, The VCinema Show (aka The VCinema Podcast). VCinema originally started as a live streaming video show in the summer of 2009 as an complement to VCinema co-host Josh’s site, Varied Celluloid. That show lasted about three months before Josh and I realized that the limitations of video and streaming technology at that time hindered us from producing an interesting, let along watchable, show. I had already been listening to podcasts for a couple of years. So, I introduced Josh to some of my favorite film-related podcasts at the time and proposed that we turn VCinema into one. This seemed the natural fit for me because a live format is limiting to an audience. Podcasts can be downloaded at leisure, and thus have more permanence. It also helped that I have several years of broadcast radio experience and some recording equipment so, as a podcast, VCinema launched in January of 2010.
[MC] Can you describe the format of the show?
[Jon Jung] We have had many kinds of shows, but the ‘basic’ episode usually involves a mini-segment or two and a main discussion which focuses on one particular film. Occasionally, there will be an interview with a special guest or one that focuses on a particular aspect of culture related to film.
[MC] You cover all kinds of Asian cinema on the show, was that always the intention and have you been tempted to either widen the scope of the films that you discuss or, oppositely, considered specialising in the output of one country or type of film?
[Jon Jung] Yes, it is absolutely the intention of the show to cover all kinds of Asian cinema, all genres and from all of the countries in that region. With VCinema, I consciously try to avoid overcoverage of “The Big Three”: Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong because, frankly, those countries get plenty of coverage already. The same goes for genres — as much as I like J-horror, martial arts, and Korean revenge thrillers, I don’t feel obligated to cover the next big film from those genres just to get some extra hits because doing so doesn’t really generate anything of value for us other than an small ego rub. I’d much rather be in the position to champion countries, genres, and filmmakers that don’t get enough attention, so someone who just happened to come to our blog and happen to read a review of, say, a Filipino romantic-comedy would leave with some awareness that there are things happening all over the globe, not just “The Big Three” and not just in the cult film arena. Of course, that is a goal that we have to work toward, because our coverage is dependent on what’s available and, unfortunately, for a great number of reasons, even “The Big Three” have problems getting released in the West. It’s really a pity because, with the internet and everything, there’s technically been no better time for the proliferation of distribution channels, but non-mainstream cinema still suffers because of older distribution models.
As for specializing in one particular country or type of film, at one time I thought about limiting VCinema to Japanese film, which was my first cinematic love, but I look at the site as a great opportunity for me to learn about film from other countries in Asia, too. I know very little about Filipino cinema (using my previous example), so by covering it, I am learning just as much as the readers are about it. That’s an important thing as an non-professional, enthusiast site such as VCinema: you come from the position of wanting to share with others what you yourself are learning. You are not coming from a position of authority or mastership, you are a student as well.
The podcast actually began focusing on cult film since Josh’s site covers that. In fact, if you listen to our first episode, we identify ourselves that way. Also, in that episode, you might notice that we covered an Asian cult film, Riki-Oh, because we wanted to leave the door open to allow us to become an Asian cult or just Asian film podcast. By the time we started working on our third episode, it was clear that we would primarily cover Asian film and that VCinema would be spun off into its own entity. Starting the blog in the summer of 2010 solidified that move and VCinema is now separate from Varied Celluloid, even though Josh is still on the podcast and takes care of some of the dirty work on the site.
[MC] I don’t know if you aim for a particular tone or audience with the show? Is that something you’re aware of and you steer it towards, or do you just hit the record button and see where it takes you?
[Jon Jung] I don’t think we aim for a particular tone for the show – podcasts tend to take on the tone of their guests and things like chemistry and rapport are very important. As such, I think we all have pretty different personalities since we’re different ages, ethnicities, educational backgrounds, from different regions of the States, and so on, so we all bring something different to the table. For example, I have a degree in Linguistics so I tend to point out things that are language-oriented and Rufus, who has a Film background, will point out the more technical things.
As for an audience, even though it’s against my training as a radio DJ, I try not to think too much about who’s listening to the podcast. I already know that there is an “X” amount of subscribers who will download whatever we put out and then there are people who will only download episodes covering something that they’re interested in. I’m not sure if you’ve ever noticed, but Asian film fans are kind of factionalized – Hong Kong film fans have their own community, Korean film fans have theirs, Japanese have theirs. VCinema is meant to be a resource for Asian film in general.
[MC] Are there any other podcasts that have particularly inspired or influenced you?
[Jon Jung] Genrebusters remains my favorite Asian film-related podcast because they were both informative and entertaining. Their knowledge of Shaw Brothers films always put me in awe and they’re one of the few podcasts I wish was still around. I love Left Field Cinema because their approach and analysis is academic, but not unapproachable and Mike, their host, is an excellent narrator. Gentlemens Guide to Midnight Cinema also initially inspired us, mainly because of their rapport and enthusiasm. I also want to mention that Cadaver Lab, and in particular Mike, was a big help when we first started. Ditto for Andy over at Night of the Living Podcast; he has helped us spread the word.
As for non-film podcasts, of course, NPR. My favorite podcast overall, though, is Giant Bomb which is a video game podcast, but they have probably the best balance of information and entertainment out of any podcast I’ve heard so far.
[MC] As well as the podcast itself you also have a blog, can you tell us a little about that?
[Jon Jung] Sure. As I mentioned, the blog started in summer 2010 as a signal that VCinema was going to stand as its own separate entity. Currently, there are four lead writers who have all written professionally at some time or another as well as many guest contributors (including some Martin guy, you may have heard of him 
) and, of course, me. Just like the podcast, the blog covers “Asian cinema, from cult to the classics”, as we say. At this phase, the blog mainly houses film reviews, some features, a few interviews, some film festival and event coverage, and a weekly photographic feature I’m currently working on the next phase of the blog and hoping to expand coverage beyond film (though film will always be our base).
[MC] On the podcast you’ve covered some interesting Korean titles on the show including the two Housemaid films, Oasis, Aimless Bullet, Barking Dogs Never Bite, The City of Violence, Champion and Public Enemy. You seem to have steered clear of some of the bigger box-office films from the last decade. Was it intentional to opt for titles which might be less well known than some of those which have broken out, particularly the titles that have performed well overseas?
[Jon Jung] Film selection is done round-robin and the only rule is to choose a film that’s somewhat available. It’s not intentional that we have stayed away from big box-office films, but I do think that we have tried to select films and filmmakers that we personally either appreciate or just want to know more about. The latter is part of the reason we have also chosen films from the classic eras such as Aimless Bullet, the original Housemaid, and Twenty-Four Eyes, to help raise awareness that there is a rich history of film from the region, not just the modern day yakuza, kung-fu, revenge thrillers.
[MC] Are there any episodes that you can pinpoint as favourites?
[Jon Jung] I generally like the episodes in which we have guest reviewers and/or interviews because they can give perspectives that are very different than our own. Episode 7 is one of those because I had the opportunity to interview journalist and Tokyo Vice author Jake Adelstein who talked about yakuza in Japan and film. Episode 14, in which I interviewed Adam Torel of Third Window Films, is also a good one, even though it’s an obscenely long episode, because it gives an insider view of film distribution in the Asian film niche market. Out of all of them though, Episode 15, our tribute episode to the two animators Satoshi Kon and Kihachiro Kawamoto, is probably my favorite because of the number of guests really presented a challenge, production-wise, but in the end, I liked how that episode came out. I also think the discussions of the two films that we covered are probably our best to date..
[MC] There’s been some changes recently as your co-hosts Josh and Rufus have other commitments, can you tell us how that has affected the podcast?
[Jon Jung] Yeah. Recently, Josh and Rufus both went back to school, which we all know is a major time sink. At first, I started thinking that I’d have to change the show around drastically and either host the show solo or start asking people to guest host which, unfortunately, is a scheduling nightmare. In fact, Episode 34 is a step in the solo direction and, even though I liked how that episode came out, I disliked hosting solo because I like the interaction of discussion. Luckily, I remembered that Stan Glick, who was a columnist of Asian Cult Cinema magazine and now has his own blog, AsianCineFest, had told me that he was interested in podcasting. I asked him if he wanted to join the show and he was all for it. Josh also decided to return, something I was glad about since I consider him the anchor of the podcast so now we’re back to being a three-host show. Rufus, unfortunately, is still busy since he’s in school and working as a film archivist, but he will return some time in the future as a guest, no doubt.
[MC] What lies in store for the future of the podcast and the blog?
[Jon Jung] Good question. At the moment, I’m trying to sink more time into the blog and take it “to the next level”. Having it has given me a lot more opportunities to cover Asian film screenings and festivals locally here in San Francisco via our local film society, so I want to make it more functional and, as I mentioned, expand coverage a little more.
Regarding the podcast, our next episode is going to cover the Shaw Brothers film Corpse Mania for one of our two VCinema horror episodes for Halloween and, along with that, we will start reforming the format of the show. Our second anniversary will be coming in a couple of months, so we also have to start planning for that too.
[MC] So how do people listen to the show and where can they find you online?
[Jon Jung] The blog is located at vcinemashow.com. There is a podcast player on the upper right-hand corner of the page from which people can sample the podcast. You can subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and SlapDash Radio and we’re also on Stitcher Radio.
[MC] Thanks for taking the time to talk to me and I wish you all the best for the future of VCinema.
[Jon Jung] Thanks, Martin!
