Sup Doc: A Documentary Podcast

We are talking about This Is Pop, the music documentary series currently streaming on Netflix. This is Pop uncover’s the real stories behind your favorite pop songs and charts the impact of the festival scene, Auto-Tune, boy bands and more. Our guest is Eric Scwartz who is almost featured prominently — in Episode 2 — simply named Auto-Tune. In this episode the producers examine how Auto-Tune is embraced and mocked, and shifts the pitch of the pop charts and changed the game for artists such as Cher, T-Pain and Kanye West.

One of the most creative and original comedians working today, Eric has earned the description, “everything there is to love about entertainment” (First Order Historians). GQ India names him one of “5 International Comics You Must Catch.” E! News Daily host Ryan Seacrest said Schwartz is “rocking the web” with “video that’s got everyone Googling” and Forbes.com applauds him for having “a minor industry in pop music parodies.”

A product of America’s melting pot, Eric was raised on the outskirts of Los Angeles in a Jewish and Mexican family during the golden age of hip hop. His entertainment career began when he spent his Bar Mitzvah money on DJ gear and began entertaining at parties and school dances, and eventually became one of the most popular DJs at entertainment-industry events. Not content to only speak with his hands, Eric never hesitated at an opportunity to get on the mic and make the audience laugh.

These would be the seeds to grow Eric’s style of musical comedy, leading him to television appearances on Showtime, The Tonight Show, Comics Unleashed, BET and his one-hour special, “Surrender to the Blender,” on Hulu. A pioneer of viral video, Eric has racked up over 100 million views on his stand-up clips, music videos and sketches. He has created content for and with with Grammy-winner Jason Mraz, Jo Koy, Tiffany Haddish, Craig Robinson, Anjelah Johnson, Disney, Yahoo, and more.

Eric is heard regularly as host and creator of Podcast: The Musical, where he conducts an interview and creates songs based on the conversation. He headlines across the country, in addition to opening for Jo Koy on his Just Kidding World Tour.

Follow Eric on:

Twitter:@ericschwartz

Instagram: @eeeericschwartz

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George talks to the filmmaker Rodney Ascher, whose latest doc is A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX.

We’ve had Ascher on the show before to discuss his inventive genre-bending docs Room 237 and The Nightmare.

A Glitch in the Matrix is a look at the increasingly popular simulation theory using Ascher's hyper-referential editing style, CGI animated first-person accounts, Philip K. Dick lectures, and the Matrix trilogy. Other interviews include Chris Ware, Nick Bostrom, Erik Davis, and Emily Pothast.

The soundtrack score by composer Jonathan Snipes just came out on vinyl from Deathbomb Arc.

You can rent the film or watch it on Hulu.

Follow Rodney on:

Twitter: @rodney_ascher

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We cover Animal Passions, a 2004 BBC Channel 4 documentary by Christopher Spencer about zoophiles, people who have sex with animals. Trigger warning! The conversation is longer than the doc itself, but we saved you from watching it yourself.

Butch Escobar's furious rants have become his trademark at such clubs as the San Jose Improv, Cobb's and the SF and Sacramento Punchline. Butch has toured all over the country with legendary performers including Tom Green, Joey Diaz and HBO's Felipe Esparza. He frequents southern California and is a regular fixture at the Hollywood Improv and the world famous Comedy Store on Sunset. A humanitarian at heart, Butch has also travelled the world performing for the troops. Actor/performer/writer Butch is a triple threat that you will immediately become a fan of. 

Follow Butch on:

Twitter: @ButchEscobar

Instagram @ButchEscobar

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Paco and George meet up with Jordan Brady, who was a stand up comedian before turning into a feature/documentary/commercial director. His trilogy of "I Am Comic" comedian documentaries shows what it takes to perform and live as a comic.

Jordan Brady was a stand-up comedian touring nightclubs across America. A self-taught filmmaker, he directed four narrative feature films, three full documentaries and over 1200 commercials, as well as Maria Bamford’s acclaimed Netflix Special. 

In 2016, Jordan completed his passion project; a feature documentary trilogy on what it takes to be a stand-up comedian. “I AM COMIC” stars Sarah Silverman, Leslie Jones and more. 2014’s aptly titled “I AM ROAD COMIC” stars Wayne Federman and Marc Maron. The most personal film of his career is “I AM BATTLE COMIC”. Filming took Brady to Afghanistan, Kuwait and undisclosed parts of the Middle East where a group of USO comedians provide laughter for the troops 

Jordan hosts the popular filmmaking podcast RESPECT THE PROCESS, described as “The Rosetta Stone of filmmaking” and teaches a Commercial Directing Bootcamp.

Follow Jordan on:

Twitter: @ThatJordanBrady

Instagram @thatjordanbrady

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And you can show your support to Sup Doc by donating on Patreon.

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Special bonus episode!

Former guest Kevin Seal runs this weekly music trivia game show on facebook, Paco and George competed against each other for bragging rights, so we only thought it fitting to share the audio in our feed.

You can watch the archived episode here:

Follow Lo Fidelity here:

buy the Body Double album here.

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Today we’re talking about Q: Into the Storm, the six-part HBO docuseries where filmmaker Cullen Hoback goes down several rabbit holes and follows red herrings to track down the roots of the Qanon movement. 

Is it a movement, is it a conspiracy theory? Hoback investigates this question, and the bizarre father-son duo at its center. 

We also celebrate 6 years of Sup Doc, our distrust of institutions, and the beginnings of our dystopia.

Kevin Seal's Lo Fidelity show (Paco and George will be on May 19th)

Rabbit Hole podcast from NY Times

The Institute

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Paco and George look at the new Chris Farley doc, Last Chance U, the Billie Eilish doc The World's A Little Blurry, A Glitch In The Matrix, and more backstory about how they ended up here.

Our old interview with Rodney Ascher.

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George and Aviva dig into the infamous 2019 college admissions scandal, where over 50 people faced criminal charges for racketeering and conspiracy. Mastermind Rick Singer funneled money from wealthy families to bribe coaches and admissions officers at major universities throughout the US, including actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. OPERATION VARSITY BLUES is the first doc to tackle the story head on, made by one of our favorite directors, Chris Smith, for Netflix. It features reenactments of phone calls in a very narrative fashion, even casting name actors like Matthew Modine.

Our guest to discuss this film is comedian and writer Aviva Siegel. Aviva's comedy has been featured in SF Sketchfest, The All Jane Comedy Festival, The Asheville Comedy Festival, and Out of Bounds Comedy Festival. She has also written for The Hard Times and Reductress, and hosts the zoom comedy show Talkies. She also just launched her podcast about advertising, Ad Wizards.

Follow Aviva on:

Twitter: @livinlavivaloca

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George and Paco talk to the filmmaking team behind the HBO docuseries - Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults. Director and Producer Clay Tweel and Producer Shannon Riggs chronicled the three-decade long saga of Marshall Appelwhite and Bonnie Nettles (AKA “Do and Ti”) who recruited scores of people to their alien-worshipping religious cult starting in the mid -'70s. Interviewing former group members, cult experts, and family left behind, the four-part series goes beyond the headlines of this little-understood group that ended in a mass suicide in Southern California in 1997.

Clay Tweel is a documentary director/producer/editor whos works include Make Believe, Print the Legend, personal Sup Doc favorite Finders Keepers, Out of Omaha,The Innocent Man, and Gleason. His features have been distributed by Showtime, Netflix, and Amazon Studios. 

Producer Shannon Riggs is the co-founder of Parkside Films. With Clay Tweel, she produced Gleason and The Innocent Man series. Shannon was an independent producer working across narrative feature films, branded content, and music videos. A participant in the Sundance Female Filmmaker Initiative, Shannon is honored to be a member of Women in Film and actively mentors emerging filmmakers. 

Follow Clay on:

Twitter: @claytweel

Follow Shannon on:

Twitter: @shannoneriggs

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We finally tackle all-time classic Grey Gardens! Our guest is comedian Amber Preston.

The Maysles Brothers were approached by Jackie Onassis to make a movie about the Bouvier family. During the filming, their camera gravitated to The crumbling Long island estate known as Grey Gardens occupied by eccentric relatives “big and little Edie”. It’s a hot mess of co-dependence, animal feces, American aristocracy in decline, and corn.

Amber Preston has appeared on national commercials for Buffalo Wild Wings and Booking.com, at numerous festivals from Sketchfest to Gilda’s Laughfest (where she was named “Best of the Midwest”), and even on Marc Maron’s “Five Comedians to Watch” list for Vulture. Along with hosting Los Angeles shows The Cut and Punchline Punchout, she recently released her debut album Sparkly Parts on Stand Up! Records.

Follow Amber on:

Twitter: @prestonparty

Instagram: @prestonparty

Follow us on:

Twitter: @supdocpodcast

Instagram: @supdocpodcast

Facebook: @supdocpodcast

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And you can show your support to Sup Doc by donating on Patreon.

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