Blank Check with Griffin & David

Blank Check with Griffin & David is a film podcast following the career output of directors who have had significant success and are then offered a figurative blank check to pursue their passion projects. Most episodes focus on a single movie from the director's filmography, and the show is grouped into "miniseries," in which some or all of the director's films are reviewed. The show is hosted by The Atlantic film critic David Sims and actor Griffin Newman.[1] As of February 2021, the podcast is discussing the films of John Musker and Ron Clements.

Blank Check with Griffin & David
Presentation
Hosted by
Genre
  • Film
  • Comedy
LanguageEnglish
UpdatesWeekly
Production
Production
  • Ben Hosley
  • Ang Ferraguto
Audio formatPodcast (via streaming or downloadable MP3)
No. of episodes300 (as of November 29, 2020 (2020-11-29))
Publication
Original releaseMarch 23, 2015 (2015-03-23) – present
ProviderIndependent (2021 - present)

AudioBoom (2017-2020)

UCB Comedy (2015-2017)
WebsiteBlank Check

Notable guests have included directors (David Lowery, Alex Ross Perry, Nia DaCosta, Lulu Wang, Chris Weitz), comedians (Bowen Yang, Demi Adejuyigbe, Chris Gethard, Ayo Edebiri, Paul F. Tompkins), and actors (Peter Serafinowicz, Jamie Bell, Michael Cerveris, Jason Mantzoukas).

Series overview

The podcast is described on the AudioBoom website as:

Not just another bad movie podcast, Blank Check reviews directors' complete filmographies episode to episode. Specifically, the auteurs whose early successes afforded them the rare ‘blank check’ from Hollywood to produce passion projects. Each new miniseries, hosts Griffin Newman and David Sims delve into the works of film’s most outsized personalities in painstakingly hilarious detail.[2]

Origins: Griffin and David Present

The podcast was originally entitled Griffin and David Present, and assessed the Star Wars prequel films as if in a universe where the other Star Wars films did not exist. Originally planning to spend 50 episodes on each film, producer Ben Hosley convinced the hosts to only do ten. Having used a lengthy analysis of a filmography as a means of discussing the films' director, Newman and Sims decided to use a similar approach in reviewing the works of other directors, and retitled the show Blank Check with Griffin and David.[3]

Title Title reference Director Initial Release
Episodes First episode Last episode
1 The Phantom Podcast Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace George Lucas 11 March 23, 2015 (2015-03-23) June 1, 2015 (2015-06-01)
2 Attack of the Podcast Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 10 June 22, 2015 (2015-06-22) September 8, 2015 (2015-09-08)
3 Revenge of The Podcast Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 10 September 21, 2015 (2015-09-21) November 30, 2015 (2015-11-30)
4 The Star Wars Sequels N/A 6 December 6, 2015 (2015-12-06) January 11, 2016 (2016-01-11)

Blank Check with Griffin & David
Director Title Title reference Initial Release
Episodes First episode Last episode
1 M. Night Shyamalan Pod Night Shyamacast Name of director(s) 11 January 25, 2016 (2016-01-25) April 12, 2016 (2016-04-12)
2 The Wachowskis The Podchowski Casters 9 April 18, 2016 (2016-04-18) June 10, 2016 (2016-06-10)
3 Cameron Crowe We Pod A Cast We Bought a Zoo 10 June 23, 2016 (2016-06-23) July 26, 2016 (2016-07-26)
4 James Cameron Podinator: Judgment Cast Terminator 2: Judgment Day 11 September 18, 2016 (2016-09-18) December 3, 2016 (2016-12-03)
5 Steven Spielberg (The Dreamworks Years) Pod Me If You Cast Catch Me If You Can 15 January 28, 2017 (2017-01-28) May 20, 2017 (2017-05-20)
6 Christopher Nolan The Pod Knight Casts The Dark Knight Rises 10 June 25, 2017 (2017-06-25) August 13, 2017 (2017-08-13)
7 Kathryn Bigelow Pod-19: The Widowcaster K-19: The Widowmaker 10 September 17, 2017 (2017-09-17) November 19, 2017 (2017-11-19)
8 Paul Verhoeven (English language films) Podship Casters Starship Troopers 8 January 7, 2018 (2018-01-07) March 4, 2018 (2018-03-04)
9 James L. Brooks Podcast News Broadcast News 7 March 18, 2018 (2018-03-18) April 29, 2018 (2018-04-29)
10 Brad Bird The Podcastibles The Incredibles 7 May 13, 2018 (2018-05-13) June 28, 2018 (2018-06-28)
11 Ang Lee Podback Mountcast Brokeback Mountain 13 July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) September 27, 2018 (2018-09-27)
12 Nancy Meyers Something's Podda Cast Something's Gotta Give 7 October 14, 2018 (2018-10-14) November 25, 2018 (2018-11-25)
13 Tim Burton Podward Scissorcast Edward Scissorhands 17 December 9, 2018 (2018-12-09) April 28, 2019 (2019-04-28)
14 Michael Mann Michael Mannsplaining/Cast of the Podhicans Mansplaining/The Last of the Mohicans 12 May 19, 2019 (2019-05-19) August 4, 2019 (2019-08-04)
15 Hayao Miyazaki Howl's Moving Podcastle Howl's Moving Castle 12 August 11, 2019 (2019-08-11) November 7, 2019 (2019-11-07)
16 Jonathan Demme Stop Making Podcasts Stop Making Sense 16 November 10, 2019 (2019-11-10) March 19, 2020 (2020-03-19)
17 George Miller Mad Pod: Fury Cast Mad Max: Fury Road 10 March 29, 2020 (2020-03-29) May 28, 2020 (2020-05-28)
18 Nora Ephron You've Got Podcast You've Got Mail 9 June 7, 2020 (2020-06-07) August 2, 2020 (2020-08-02)
19 Gina Prince-Bythewood Pod & Basketcast Love & Basketball 4 August 9, 2020 (2020-08-09) August 30, 2020 (2020-08-30)
20 Robert Zemeckis Podcast Away Cast Away 20 September 6, 2020 (2020-09-06) January 31, 2021 (2021-01-31)
21 Ron Clements/John Musker The Poddle Mercast The Little Mermaid 7 February 7, 2021 (2021-02-07) March 28, 2021 (2021-03-28)
22 Elaine May TBA TBA 4 April 4, 2021 (2021-04-04) April 25, 2021 (2021-04-25)

Reception

Blank Check has been positively reviewed by Paste Magazine,[4] Decider,[3] and The A.V. Club.[5] The show was included in Esquire's list of the best 21 podcasts of 2018,[6] as well as on Paste Magazine's list of the top 30 podcasts of the decade.[7] It has also been featured in Vulture and Entertainment Weekly as a selection of the week.[8][9]

Blank Check: Special Features

On January 1, 2019, Newman and Sims created a Patreon page, Blank Check: Special Features, where fans could pay a monthly amount in exchange for extra content. Black Check Special Features focuses primarily on audio commentary about films that are part of franchises. The first franchise covered was the Marvel Cinematic Universe, followed by Star Wars, Toy Story, Mission: Impossible, and Alien (beginning in September 2020). The Patreon feed also offers monthly bonus episodes and other content related to film.

As of December 2020, the Blank Check Patreon was ranked 21st in the podcast category based on the number of paying supporters.[10]

References
  1. "Blank Check with Griffin & David". Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  2. "Blank Check with Griffin & David". audioboom.com. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  3. Reid, Joe (January 28, 2016). "'Blank Check' Is the Movie Podcast You Need to Be Listening To (Especially If You're Into M. Night Shyamalan)". Decider. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  4. Techler, Graham (July 5, 2018). "Blank Check and the Intersection of Comedy and Criticism". Paste Magazine. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  5. Vanderbilt, Mike; Bulnes, Rebecca; James, Becca; Colburn, Randall; Brooke, Zach (August 14, 2017). "Griffin and David tackle Inception this week on Blank Check's podcast-in-a-podcast". A.V. Club. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  6. Esquire Editors (December 27, 2018). "The 21 Best Podcasts of 2018". Esquire. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  7. Jackson, Josh; Staff, Paste (October 28, 2019). "The 30 Best Podcasts of the 2010s". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  8. Wright, Megh (August 31, 2018). "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: A Blank Check–Las Culturistas Crossover". Vulture. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  9. EW Staff (September 8, 2017). "This Week's Must List: Top of the Lake, The Deuce, and Le Carré's Latest". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  10. "Blank Check with Griffin & David". Graphtreon. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
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