The Cinemile: The art of guerilla podcasting

How off-the-cuff, on-the-move recording can keep your podcast fresh and interesting

by PodPod 28 February 2023

Most podcasters cherish the safe, comfortable confines of a studio - whether that’s a professionally soundproofed booth, or a customised home working space - but for some creators, the lure of fresh air and the open road offers an appealing opportunity to break out of the rigid confines of traditional formats.

One such podcast is The Cinemile - a film review podcast in which married couple Cathy Cullen and Dave Corkery record their walks to and from the cinema, sharing their thoughts and discussing the films we all love. Recording live and on the go has its fair share of both challenges and benefits, and in this week’s episode, the hosts of The Cinemile talk to PodPod host Rhianna Dhillon and PodPod editor Adam Shepherd about field recordings, monetisation options, equipment choices, and why they don’t see podcasting as their full-time career.

Key Takeaways

Make sure your recording process fits your needs

“Anyone who's ever been outside knows that, number one, anything can happen,” Corkery said. “Number two, it's bloody noisy, right? We learned very early on that we had to adapt our routes accordingly.”

“We had one route which was down a busy road; a lot of trucks passing by. A lot of motorbikes. Occasional, maybe road rage. The constant noise is kind of distracting. And then you've got to raise your voice a bit. And then I think it all becomes a bit frantic. Conversely, we found it's kind of off putting if it's too quiet.”

Don’t be afraid to give back

“The Patreon's really important for podcasters, I think, if you want to make any sort of money, and then because it's on top of our jobs and it's a fairly low amount,” Cullen said, “what we do is it covers our costs. So like, say, the Adobe Suite, all the subscription costs we have, and then we actually just donate about a third of our Patreon money.”

“It makes us feel good and it makes the patrons feel good as well,” Corkery added. “And also, let's be honest - we’d do it for free anyway.”

Know your value

“I know what people will pay to reach an audience on LinkedIn and it's really high, right? Because you know, you're getting that really valuable audience,” Cullen said. “And when I think about our audience, who love cinema and TV; our audience is the best. They message us all the time with film and TV recommendations. They're so engaged, they really listen to our recommendations.”

“Where I think something like the Acastmodel falls flat is they aren't pitching us to, say, a film distributor who wants to ensure that they get an audience… When you're the podcaster and you're thinking, okay… we don't get sponsorship, but they run ads on it. And I'm like, that advertiser - cause it's occasionally a TV or a film ad - they're getting our audience and we're getting like 50 quid for it. And to me that feels wrong.”

Put yourself out there

“Scroobius Pip came on our podcast and we'd never met him before,” Cullen shared, “and we all sat down and watched Avengers [Infinity War], which is like four hours long. And he drove to Surrey to come on our podcast, which we couldn’t believe. And he was very generous. People are so generous with their time, we find, because we're generally getting people who love movies and love talking about them.”

Read the full transcript