Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 24, Celeste de la Cabra and I reflect back on the crazy first year of Punk Vacation!

We do go over August announcements as well, and we end the episode with Celeste doing a great job during the next installment of 15 Minutes With You.

I want to say thank you to every guest, co-host, and champion of fringe creativity that has come along and supported the Punk Vacation journey this year. I am constantly humbled by the folks who say yes and how enthusiastic everyone has been to join.

I still hope to be able to squeeze in a HK focused episode this month, but it's possible it slips to early September. Either way, looking forward to a fun Season 2 of Punk Vacation!

Celeste de la Cabra can be found:
https://www.patreon.com/CelestedelaCabra

Also, if you have a few extra bucks to spare there is a gofundme for Celeste for her Gender-Affirming Surgery Recovery:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-celestes-genderaffirming-surgery-recovery-fund

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 23 we welcome back Sam Panico who can now say he is a contributor to a VS release! In addition to his look into 5 Dead on the Crimson Canvas, Sam is a frequent collaborator with Visual Vengeance, has his own podcast bandsaboutmovies and co-hosts a YT show called Drive-In Asylum.
You'll hear this in the episode, but Sam has a deep knowledge of exploitation and low-budget cinema and a great sense of humor. I'm honored to have him on as a repeat guest now!

We end the episode by welcoming Celeste back from a well-earned break. She has a lot to cover and catches us up on the Mélusine releases through April.

I'm very much looking forward to August! In addition to the regular coverage, we should be able to take a deeper dive into the Hong Kong side of VS. See y'all soon!

Sam Panico can be found:
www.bandsaboutmovies.com
https://www.youtube.com/@GroovyDoom

Celeste de la Cabra can be found:
https://www.patreon.com/CelestedelaCabra

Also, if you have a few extra bucks to spare there is a gofundme for Celeste for her Gender-Affirming Surgery Recovery:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-celestes-genderaffirming-surgery-recovery-fund

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 22 we are joined by a fantastic group of panelists to attempt a roundtable discussion and figure out what Vinegar Syndrome is in 2025.

I did my best to find a diverse set of interests and backgrounds for the show, but this is very much meant as an open discussion and I would love to hear from anyone!

The structure of the episode basically breaks down into three parts:

First hour (roughly) is a VS lovefest and we all share our favorite titles and there are probably 50 movie recommendations from the panel.

Second portion we attempt to define what VS was, is today, and how OCN fits in.

Finally, we sandwich this orgy of hot takes with a round of final thoughts. Not to add spoilers, but we end up discussion why we love this label with warts and all.

Panelists include:

Robert and Matt from Grindhouse Chic. Robert has been a subscriber since their first year of offering, and generally a fan since the beginning. Matt is an oldhead collector who has recently discovered VS and is in the middle of peak deep-dive.

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/grindhouse-chic/id1776304564

Jaden Christopher, returning from Episode 5. He has started a new podcast as well, Podgoblins, and I was excited to bring him on with his infectious energy for the large studio titles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjhVE4SwMeM

Rounding out is third time co-host Eli Olsberg. Eli is an accomplished comedian but also hosts a softcore night once a month at the Pussycat Theater in Los Angeles and is about to start a hardcore night with Bat P*ssy and Gums as a double bill.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKxdTKaBh5L/

July I'm still figuring out! They have that subscriber week deal and then Celeste and I need to catch up on dozens of movies between VS and Melusine. It will be a busy month!

Thank you for those who continue to listen and please let me know how I can make this better!

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 21 we look at the OCN announcements in June for partner month. Pearl Chan, one of the co-founders of Kani Releasing, was a surprise guest and joined to help me gush about the wonderful work Kani is doing as I highlighted their label. To close us out Ryan and Jeremy rejoin for Merch Mates. It's a packed 97 minutes!

I have a movie crush on Ariel and Pearl from Kani, I love the work they're doing very much. As I was recording on the 1st I had an idea to reach out to see if they could join last minute, and Pearl could which was great! So the episode is split into me talking about the label and then an interview.

Mid June we have something a little different. I am going to try and have a proper panel discussion with a mix of old-time VS heads as well as some new recruits that love the studio titles. We'll see if we can crack the identity of VS in 2025.

Thank you for those who continue to listen and please let me know how I can make this better!

https://www.kani-releasing.com/

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 20 we get to chat with the unofficial Vinegar Syndrome rep from Finland, Ville Lähde.
Wille is the best, his YouTube channel @videotalkvideospace is a cornucopia of physical media discussion and unboxing, with a focus on VS and the wilder side of cinema. The dude has over 3,000 VHS tapes and is an encyclopedia of genre and exploitation cinema.

He brings passion to each discussion, and is always very honest about what he likes and doesn't like. We cover the H2BF announcements as well as the April releases.

Coming up next is June, the partner month. I am working on finalizing a different partner label to help with the announcements around the 1st as well as a label focus mid month.

Thank you for those who continue to listen and please let me know how I can make this better!

https://videospace.fi/

https://www.youtube.com/@VideoTalkVideospace

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 19 I am joined by Special Features Producer extraordinaire, Claudia Pretelin!

Claudia is a fascinating person. She is an international art curator, has worked with some very innovative contemporary artists such as Gary Baseman, and approaches disc production through the lens of wanting to know everything about the movie she just watched.

I really enjoyed this interview, and I'm proud to share with everyone that gets to hear from one of the most recent impressive people VS has brought onto their team.

I am trying hard to secure 2 more episodes in May including the biggest VS fan in the Nordics and an encyclopedia of exploitation. I hope to have these two up in special episodes around the Halfway to Black Friday sale.

Thank you for those who continue to listen and please let me know how I can make this better!

https://instrumentsofmemory.com/tag/claudia-pretelin/

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 18 I am joined by Oscar Becher, Archivist and Vault Manager at Vinegar Syndrome. We discuss around half of the May announcements that are part of the halfway to black friday flash pre-order, discuss why these were all ambitious projects for different reasons, and get to hear Oscar's passion for his first official producer credit.

Ross Snyder from Saturn's Core comes on next and gives us some insight into what drives him and why he is so excited to release You Are Alone on his label.

15 Minutes With You is back for the third episode in a row as Celeste gets us almost current with the Mélusine titles from 2025.

Coming up next, I am trying hard to secure 3 more episodes in May including the biggest VS fan in the Nordics, an encyclopedia of exploitation, and a VS employee who would be doing her first interview since she joined full time.

Thank you for those who continue to listen and please let me know how I can make this better!

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 17, Eli is back! to cover March releases with me and more Melusine titles with Celeste. We are lucky to get an extended session with Celeste that catches us up all the way to last months Melusine titles.

And not to bury the lede, but I am thrilled to also be able to sit down with Ryan Kruger, an extremely prolific music video and shorts director internationally who has recently been given the opportunity to dip into features. We discuss Fried Barry as well as his VSP release of the Street Trash reimagining. He was humble and came across as just another film geek, I really loved the discussion. Thank you Ryan!

Coming up in May we have an OCN partner discussion with one of the worlds leading SOV authorities and mid month we are close to finalizing time with one of the VS team members that has not given an interview as part of the VS family.

Thank you for those who continue to listen and please let me know how I can make this better!

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 16 I am joined by Kurtis Spieler, restoration specialist at Vinegar Syndrome. We discuss the April titles, Vinegar Syndrome's 500th release, and get a glimpse into how many hours are put into an excellent restoration.

Celeste de la Cabra is also back to discuss the hardcore titles in her recurring segment. If timing works out we'll be lucky enough to have her twice this month so fingers crossed.

Coming up next I hope we're able to secure time with a gooey, splooshy director that helmed one of the recent controversial VSP releases.

Thank you for those who continue to listen and please let me know how I can make this better!

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 15 I am joined by Ewan Cant, the Associate Director of content, acquisition, and licensing at Vinegar Syndrome. We discuss the underrated February releases and spend a good amount of time talking about Ewan's love for unique slashers.

Before working at VS, Ewan worked at Arrow in a similar role. He is the producer behind iconic releases throughout his whole career, and at VS recently has put out Iced, Blood Tracks, Ghost Dance, and Mother's Day.

Coming up next we see the return of our very first guest, the manager of media and special features at Vinegar Syndrome.

Thank you for those who continue to listen and please let me know how I can make this better!