Welcome to a new Geektown Behind The Scenes podcast. This week I’m chatting with Laurent Spillemaecker, VFX Supervisor for VFX company FOLKS about their work on the fourth and final season of the Netflix hit show ‘The Umbrella Academy’.

The final season sees our dysfunctional family of heroes, consisting of Luther (Tom Hopper), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Diego (David Castañeda), Viktor (Elliot Page) and Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), trying to avert yet another apocalypse. Warning, there are SPOILERS below, and in the interview itself, so if you haven’t seen the final season yet, go and watch!..

Still here?

Okay, so if you remember the end of Season 3, the gang were left in a new reality, but also powerless. Whilst they do find a way to get their powers back, they also discover, they are the problem… After various, very "Umbrella Academy" type things happen, Ben, and his new girlfriend Jen, end up merging into a giant blob monster which threatens to destroy the Earth… And that’s where Laurent and his team at FOLKS come in...

FOLKS have been involved with 'The Umbrella Academy' since season one, but for the final season, the team received its most significant mandate yet. They were responsible for conceptual pre-production work to establish the creatures' identities, post-viz, final elaboration of complex shots, and creation of character and environment assets, animation, simulation, and compositing.

Along with creating the monstrous version of Ben and Jen, they also enhanced the environment for a Christmas-themed sequence, adding crowd characters, vendors, snow, and more. Plus they picked up some other shots, such as Five’s “blinking”, some of the laser eyes FX, and other superpowers and background work.

Outside of ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Laurent has previously worked on a huge range of projects including Sin City, 300, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Blade Runner 2049, Thor: Ragnarok, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and lots more. 

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It's time for episode 436 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Darryl from Hollywood North News joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!

Darryl brings with him his usual eclectic collection of reviews (and also a preview!) as he begins with Prime Video film 'Killer Heat', along with CBS drama 'Elsbeth' (currently airing on Sky Witness in the UK), Sci-fi series 'The Ark', which returns this week for season two in the UK, and the movie 'Alien Shark'... Because what would the show be without one of Darryl's B-Movie picks! He also previews CBS drama 'Matlock', which is due to premiere in November in the UK on Sky Witness. Meanwhile, Dave has reviews of new BBC dramedy 'Ludwig', Prime Video's 'The Devil’s Hour' which returns soon for season two, and 'SEAL Team', which is back for a 7th and final season on Sky.

Over on the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including the death of a murderous puppet, and the return of a big BBC drama. We also have a pile of premiere dates for shows coming up on Disney+ UK, including some big returning and brand-new procedurals, plus two new series from Pixar. We also discuss the Warner Bros Discovery/Sky lawsuit, MGM+ ordering a 'Robin Hood' series, and all things 'Zorro'! Listen below!

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We return with episode 435 of the Geektown Radio podcast our "film reviewer" Gray joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and gaming news & reviews!

Gray, once again, lives up to his reputation as "worst film reviewer" by not reviewing any films (although, I'll let him off this one as it's the start of term for his other job as a teacher!) However, he does bring a string of TV show reviews including the second season of BBC's 'Sherwood' and the fourth season of ITV's 'Grace'. He also chats about 'Celebrity Race Across the World', 'Taskmaster', and the Apple TV shows 'Bad Monkey', 'Time Bandits' and 'Slow Horses'. Meanwhile, Dave has been delving into the geekier programming with this week's launch of 'The Penguin' on Sky and 'Agatha All Along' on Disney+. He also reviews 'After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun' on Disney+ and 'Tulsa King' on Paramount+.

Moving to the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including the cancellation of a number of genre shows, and one ITV quiz series. We also have a stack of premiere dates for shows coming up on UK TV in the next few months. Plus we discuss casting for the new ‘Black Mirror’, ITV bringing out a new thriller, Sally Wainwright's new BBC show, more casting, this time for a Syfy comic book adaptation, and lots more! Listen below!

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We are back with episode 434 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Matt from Entertainment Talk joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!

It's been a few weeks since Matt has been on the show, but we begin with a discussion about some massive changes in a (nearly) 30-year-old British institution... 'Hollyoaks'... (and yes, it is that old!) While Dave hasn't watched for years, Matt brings some news of the utter craziness going on with that soap, including a huge time-jump and the axing of over 20 characters. Outside of UK soaps drama, he also reviews the Paramount+ series 'Yellowjackets', and Netflix animated series 'The Dragon Prince'. Meanwhile, Dave has been spending hours (...and hours) building factories in the utterly brilliant 'Satisfactory', which released into 1.0 this week. He also reviews new BBC drama 'Nightsleeper', and the final outing for Clarkson, Hammond and May, in 'The Grand Tour: One For The Road'.

Moving over to the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including the stalling of 'Good Omens', ITV booking more ‘Red Eye’, and the BBC still having 'Daddy Issues'. We also discuss the the surprises (and no surprises) at the 2024 Emmy Awards, a new horror from Ryan Murphy, and a new comedy from Jon Brown and Armando Iannucci. Listen below!

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We return with episode 433 of the Geektown Radio podcast and, after an extended absence due to broken internet, Darryl from Hollywood North News finally returns to join Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!

It's been a long while since Darryl has been on the show, and he's returned with his usual eclectic mix of TV and film reviews. We chat about new Netflix movie 'Rebel Ridge' and the slightly older release, 'Under Paris'. He's also been out to the cinema to catch 'Twisters', and also been out and about at conventions, as he reviews Starfury's 'Witchbomb II'. Meanwhile, Dave has completed 'Star Wars Outlaws' story, so updates us on that, and reviews the opening episode of 'Slow Horses' Season 4. He also reviews Jeff Goldblum's new series 'Kaos' on Netflix.

Moving over to the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including the loss of another firefighter drama, the ending/evolution of '‘Bosch', and more 'Only Murders...'. They also chat about how many fire dramas CBS actually needs, Peacock remaking an 80s film for a TV show and lots more! Listen below!

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We return with episode 432 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Robert from Entertainment Talk joins Dave as guest co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!

As Robert co-hosts Gaming Talk over on Entertainment Talk, chat this week is a little more gaming heavy, but given there has been a big game release with 'Star Wars Outlaws', that's no bad thing! Dave has been playing through it so gives us a review, whilst they also discuss the state of AAA game releases at the moment, and how Outlaws managed to launch with (comparatively...) few issues. Robert also chats about zombie game '7 Days To Die', and a game which is possibly the complete opposite of that! Meanwhile, Dave has been catching up on some recent TV with the return this week of both 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' for Season 2 and 'Only Murders In The Building' for Season 4. He also reviews the 2nd Season of Netflix comedy 'That '90s Show'.

Geektown Radio Episode 432: Star Wars Outlaws, That ’90s Show, Rings of Power, Only Murders Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!

Moving over to the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including another frustrating Netflix cancellation, along with Prime Video possibly returning to a popular UK Farm. They also discuss casting for Prime Video's 'Citadel', a TV spin-off from the '... Has Fallen' film franchise, and what on earth is going on with the 'Yellowstone' franchise! All this and more when you listen below!

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Welcome to a new Geektown Behind The Scenes podcast. This week I’m chatting with Jina An & Shirley Song, the composers behind Netflix's brilliant adult animated series ‘Exploding Kittens’.

If you haven’t yet caught ‘Exploding Kittens’, the series is inspired by the beloved card game from Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal webcomic, Elan Lee, and Shane Small. After a meeting in heaven, there is a general consensus that Earth sucks, so God (voiced by the wonderful Tom Ellis from ‘Lucifer’) gets fired and sent to Earth to reconnect with humanity. The catch? He’s trapped in the body of a chubby house cat. As part of Godcat’s rehabilitation, he moves in with a dysfunctional family and tries to solve their problems, but ends up spending a lot of time chasing laser pointers. And to top it off, Godcat’s next-door neighbour, who is also a cat, turns out to be none other than his nemesis, the Antichrist. It is brilliant, hilariously funny, and Season 1 is all on Netflix right now!

Jina and Shirley have been composing together pretty much since college, and were tasked with creating a soundtrack that captures the show's explosive energy. This also involved them touching on a huge array of musical genres like 8-bit nostalgia, energetic Cajun flair, heavy metal rock, and both choral and orchestral scores to bring the madcap adventures and quirky characters to life.

Outside of ‘Exploding Kittens’, the duo are also known for working on the beloved Netflix series ‘XO, Kitty’, and have a number of other projects coming up which we talk about in the interview.

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We are back with episode 431 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Dave is joined by Matt from Entertainment Talk to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!

As Daryl's internet is still down (someone wake up Talk Talk's tech support!) Matt is back on the show this week, and has a couple of animated series for review.

He's been working his way through 'Solar Opposites' and has just reached the infamous "voice change", so we discuss that. He's also catching up on the beloved 'Archer', as he's a few seasons behind. Meanwhile, Dave has been looking at some newer series, and reviews Apple show 'Bad Monkey', and 'The Walking Dead: Dead City' which just landed on Sky in the UK. He also discusses the 3rd and final season of 'Vikings Valhalla', and reviews the film 'Inside Out 2', which just came out on home release.

Moving over to the news updates, we bring you all the last week's cancellations and renewals, including Netflix actually renewing something before the first season has even aired, and Disney cancelling a Star Wars series. We also discuss a possible return of 'Scrubs', Mike Schur and Ted Danson reuniting for a new Netflix comedy, James Spader returning to the MCU, and lots more! Listen below!

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We return once again with episode 430 of the Geektown Radio podcast! Our Film Reviewer Gray is back joining Dave to chat TV and film news & reviews!

It's been a couple of weeks since Gray has been on, and, being our film reviewer, he has managed to bring his thoughts on a movie, this time it's 'Despicable Me 4'. He also covers a number of TV shows including reviews of Channel 4 drama 'Suspect' which returned for Season 2 recently, limited drama 'Alice & Jack', also on Channel 4, Japanese reality show 'The Boyfriend' on Netflix, and ITVX reality-jumping dramedy 'Slip', which shows off a lot more of the lead actress than Gray was expecting! Meanwhile, Dave discusses the 2nd Season of 'Interview With The Vampire' which can be found on iPlayer, 'Solar Opposites', which is back for its 5th Season, and Apple TV+ series 'Time Bandits' from Taika Waititi.

Moving to the news updates, we bring you all the cancellations and renewals which have happened over the last week, including Netflix actually renewing a couple of freshman shows, and a whole lot more 'RuPaul's Drag Race'! We also talk about Prime Video picking up Disney+'s cast-offs, a new "Golden Girls-esque" comedy from the creators of 'Will & Grace', and ‘Fire Country' getting a very familiar face as a guest star, which could lead to another spin-off. All this and more! Listen below!

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We return with episode 429 of the Geektown Radio podcast, and Dave is joined by Matt from Entertainment Talk to chat TV and film news & reviews, plus all the news from Disney's D23 Event!

Matt returns to the show and brings with him a bunch of TV reviews. He's recently been catching up on Prime Video series 'Upload', which is due back next year for a final season, along with 'Young Sheldon', which is currently airing its final season on E4 in the UK. He also gives his thoughts on Prime Video's 'The Batman: Caped Crusader', and it turns out Dave isn't the only one who struggled with it... Meanwhile, Dave brings another docuseries review having delved through Sky History's 'How Disney Built America', along with some more on-geek-brand shows with reviews of 'Umbrella Academy' Season 4 and 'Quantum Leap' Season 2. He also discusses the "game-changing" Road Builder mod for 'Cities Skylines 2'.

Moving on to the news updates, we bring you all the cancellations and renewals this week, which, to be fair, are not many (you can tell we're in the middle of Summer!). We also bring you all the major announcements and reveals from Disney's D23 Event over the weekend. This includes updates on Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, and Pixar across film & TV, and even on stage and the theme parks. It's a packed show, and you can listen to it all below!

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