Supporting Characters

Bill Ackerman

Host Bill Ackerman talks to writers, bloggers, podcasters, fanzine publishers, programmers, preservationists and more about their creative endeavors and today's film culture.

  1. 15 HRS AGO

    Episode 77: Jimmy McDonough

    Bill speaks to author and film/music historian Jimmy McDonough about his work, including his latest biography, GARY STEWART: I AM FROM THE HONKY TONKS. Topics include: Andy Milligan and THE GHASTLY ONE, Teuvo Tulio, WHISPERS FROM SPACE, June Ormond, visiting the places where an interview subject lived, Jack Nitzsche and upcoming projects. Visit Jimmy McDonough's official site: https://www.jimmymcdonough.com/ Buy GARY STEWART: I AM FROM THE HONKY TONKS: https://www.wolfandsalmon.com/product-page/gary-stewart-i-am-from-the-honky-tonks Buy THE EXOTIC ONES: Slipcased Collector's Edition, which includes the exclusive bonus book on Georgette Dante, THE MOST EXOTIC ONE: https://www.fabpress.com/the-exotic-ones-slipcased-hardcover.html Buy THE GHASTLY ONE: https://www.fabpress.com/the-ghastly-one-paperback.html Read BE WILD, NOT EVIL: THE LINK WRAY STORY https://www.furious.com/perfect/linkwray.html Read ALL THE WAY WITH JIMMY SCOTT: FOR WHATEVER REASON https://www.villagevoice.com/all-the-way-with-jimmy-scott/ Read HOT-BLOODED: THE DAMES OF DALE BERRY: https://bynwr.com/posts/the-dames-of-dale-berry-part-1 Listen to The Projection Booth episode on the FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!: https://www.projectionboothpodcast.com/2017/01/episode-304-faster-pussycat-kill-kill.html Listen to the The Projection Booth's Special Report: Jimmy McDonough on The Exotic Ones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvBqk2E5KfA Read Mike McPadden's interview with Jimmy McDonough for Diabolique: https://diaboliquemagazine.com/the-ghastly-one-is-coming-bynwr-is-here-an-interview-with-jimmy-mcdonough-biographer-andy-milligan-and-co-conspirator-of-nicolas-winding-refn/ Read SLEAZE, SMUT, AND TIMES SQUARE: OUTLAW BIOGRAPHER JIMMY MCDONOUGH ON '80s DRUG CULTURE: https://merryjane.com/culture/outlaw-biographer-jimmy-mcdonough-on-80s-drug-culture-the-ghastly-one/ Buy 3 x TEUVO TULIO - 3-Disc Deluxe Limited Edition from Deaf Crocodile: https://deafcrocodile.com/products/3x-teuvo-tulio-3-disc-deluxe-limited-edition-pre-order?_pos=12&_sid=6f7257ac5&_ss=r Buy GUTTER AUTEUR: THE LOST LEGACY OF ANDY MILLIGAN from Severin Films: https://severinfilms.com/collections/pre-order/products/gutter-auteur-the-lost-legacy-of-andy-milligan-3-disc-blu-ray-box-set

    1h 10m
  2. 2 MAR

    Episode 76: "42nd Street Pete" Chiarella

    Bill speaks to author and film historian "42nd Street Pete" Chiarella about his various endeavors, from selling 8mm loops and managing Past Midnight Video to working security at horror conventions, hosting radio and YouTube shows, publishing magazines like Grindhouse Resurrection and writing books like A WHOLE BAG OF CRAZY. Topics include: Sid Haig, Something Weird Video, movie theatre riots, Sage Stallone and Grindhouse Releasing, Gary Klar, Screw Magazine, Sam Peckinpah, Pete's appearances in the documentaries UNCONVENTIONAL and 42nd STREET MEMORIES, Vanessa Del Rio, managing a drive-in in 1973, Lee Van Cleef, the changing nature of horror conventions, THE DEATH COLLECTOR, Gary Kent, snuff movies and giving to charities. Visit Pete Chiarella's website: https://www.42ndstreetpete.net/ Watch UnConventional: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVC-QzMwW4k Watch 42nd Street Memories: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Notorious Street: https://tubitv.com/movies/616810/42nd-street-memories Watch The Strange And Terrible Saga Of New York City Liquidators,inc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaB0lpx7DqM Subscribe to the 42nd Street Pete YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@42ndStPetesGrindhousePurgatory Listen to 42nd Street Pete on the Hellbent For Horror podcast: https://hellbentforhorror.com/podcast-episodes/2017/11/19/episode-060-slave-to-the-grindhouse-with-42nd-street-pete-chiarella Buy Blue Book #1 from Something Weird Video: https://somethingweird.com/products/bucky-beavers-blue-book-1 Buy DVDs and Blu-Rays from Alternative Cinema: https://alternativecinema.com/ Buy PIECES from Grindhouse Releasing: https://shop.grindhousereleasing.com/products/pieces-1983-2-blu-rays-cd-combo?_pos=1&_sid=7a16fbb9a&_ss=r

    2h 17m
  3. 29/12/2025

    Episode 73: Keith Gordon

    Bill speaks to actor and filmmaker Keith Gordon about his life and career, from making Super 8 shorts and interning at MOMA's film archives after school to acting in Off-Broadway plays and Hollywood movies like JAWS 2, ALL THAT JAZZ, DRESSED TO KILL and CHRISTINE, to directing independent films like THE CHOCOLATE WAR, A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, MOTHER NIGHT and WAKING THE DEAD and television series like BETTER CALL SAUL and FARGO. Topics include: Stanley Kubrick, Billy Crudup, DRESSED TO KILL controversies, Joan Micklin Silver, STATIC, making independent films in the 1980s vs. the 1990s, Keith's filmed appreciations for Indicator/Powerhouse Blu-Rays, working in television, HOME MOVIES, deleted scenes, DVDBeaver, Nicolas Roeg, recording director's commentaries and the nature of memory. Watch Keith Gordon on BLUE COLLAR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhzVpOct_O8 Buy THE CHOCOLATE WAR on Blu-Ray: https://mvdshop.com/products/the-chocolate-war-blu-ray?_pos=1&_sid=082406b4d&_ss=r Buy Film Focus: Jennifer Connelly (1991 – 2003) on Blu-Ray: https://viavision.com.au/shop/film-focus-jennifer-connelly-1991-2003-imprint-collection-240-242/ Read "The Many Acts of Keith Gordon" by David Obuchowski: https://longreads.com/2018/01/25/the-many-acts-of-keith-gordon/ Watch John Carpenter, Alexandra Paul, John Stockwell and Keith Gordon discuss CHRISTINE at the 2010 Texas Frightmare Weekend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EztyuCwyYag Hear Keith Gordon discuss underrated films of the 1960s on Director's Club: https://directorsclub.substack.com/p/episode-201-keith-gordon-underrated-6bc Hear Keith Gordin on The Projection Booth podcast: https://www.projectionboothpodcast.com/search/label/Keith%20Gordon?m=0 Hear The Kubrick Series Uncut by Movie Geeks United with Keith Gordon: https://www.moviegeeksunited.com/thekubrickseriesuncut3 Hear Keith Gordon on The Movies That Made Me podcast: https://moviesthatmademe.com/podcast/keith-gordon/

    2h 57m
  4. 16/12/2025

    Episode 72: Skip Elsheimer

    Bill speaks with archivist and A/V Geeks founder Skip Elsheimer about his many creative endeavors, from publishing fanzines like Preparation X and performing with the Wifflefist musical collective  to preserving and sharing thousands of 16mm educational and ephemeral films. Topics include ZOOM, George Lucas, FELICIA, sponsored nutritional films, Rolf Forsberg, stock footage, CYPHER IN THE SNOW, how a lunchbox helped get Fassbinder movies into Best Buy and the unlikely thing that connects Adolph Hitler, sperm and Mahatma Gandhi. Visit the A/V Geeks website: https://avgeeks.com/ Subscribe to the A/V Geeks YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@avgeeks Visit 16mm Filmography: https://16mmfilmography.org/ Watch Felicia (1965) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDG4-uZ7d9c Watch Pride On Parade (1979) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ijotrWPYR8&t=602s Watch Do You Smell Smoke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE2jn5iSp5w Watch Stalked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brLINTAYM8E The Late Great Planet Earth https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCCD9FAA18C5794FE Watch Inside/Out: Bully (1973): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBwml5Mrdhk Watch AV Geeks 16mm Lunch 5-30-2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOMVv_5prgU&t=1s Watch Cypher In The Snow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8gilSEOteE Listen to "Cypher In The Snow" episode of Kier-La Janisse's The Song From The Heart Beats The Devil Every Time podcast: https://asongfromtheheart.podbean.com/e/episode-2-cipher-in-the-snow/

    2h 2m
  5. 01/12/2025

    Episode 71: Josh Hurtado

    Bill talks to film critic and Potentate Films founder Josh Hurtado about his many pursuits, from writing for Screen Anarchy and contributing Blu-Ray special features to consulting for film festivals and teaming up with Dylan Marchetti's Variance Films on a wildly successful theatrical re-release of S.S. Rajamouli's RRR. Topics include: Masala films, SANTA SANGRE, Indie Meme, Psychobilly, the distribution of Indian cinema in North America, the recent reemergence of key John Woo and Russ Meyer movies, skinheads, John Waters and vegan warnings on Letterboxd. Read Josh Hurtado at Screen Anarchy: https://screenanarchy.com/globalvoices/j-hurtado/ Read Simon Abrams' article "How the Indian Action Spectacular 'RRR' Became a Smash in America" for The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/movies/rrr-ss-rajamouli.html Follow Potentate Film on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potentatefilms Watch Josh introduce S.S. Rajamouli's EEGA at Weird Wednesday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCB83chhKLE Visit the Indie Meme site: https://www.indiememe.org/ Buy HUKKLE from Dekanalog: https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products/hukkle Buy BLOODSTONE from Arrow Video: https://diabolikdvd.com/product/bloodstone-arrow-us-blu-ray/ Buy DOBERMAN from Fractured Visions: https://diabolikdvd.com/product/doberman-fractured-visions-blu-ray-region-b-preorder/ https://www.orbitdvd.com/products/dobermann-limited-edition-booklet-region-b Buy the Second Sight 4K/Blu-Ray (Region B) Limited Edition of RE-ANIMATOR: https://diabolikdvd.com/product/uk-le-re-animator-limited-second-sight-4k-uhd-all-region-blu-ray-region-b-preorder/ Listen to Josh talk about PURANA MANDIR on Unsung Horrors: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/purana-mandir-1984-w-josh-hurtado--57853238

    2h 33m
  6. 24/11/2025

    Episode 70: Willow Catelyn Maclay

    Bill speaks with film critic and author Willow Catelyn Maclay about her various endeavors in film culture, from writing freelance criticism and creating the Curtsies and Hand Grenades website to contributing to special features to Blu-Rays from labels like Mondo Macabro, Arrow Video and American Genre Film Archive and co-authoring the book CORPSES, FOOLS AND MONSTERS: THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF TRANSNESS IN CINEMA with Caden Mark Gardner. Topics include: BLADE RUNNER, Simran Hans' Girls Gotta Eat fanzine, Letterboxd, BOYS DON'T CRY, Elizabeth Purchell, the "Body Talk" series, constructive feedback from editors, COME BACK TO THE 5 & DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN and the Lou Reed/Metallica "Lulu" album. Read Curtsies and Hand Grenades: http://curtsiesandhandgrenades.com/ Buy CORPSES, FOOLS AND MONSTERS: THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF TRANSNESS IN CINEMA: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/725695/corpses-fools-and-monsters-by-willow-maclay/ Buy the EVA MAN double feature - Limited Red Case Edition from Mondo Macabro: https://mondomacabro.bigcartel.com/product/eva-man-double-feature-limited-red-case-edition Read Willow Catelyn Maclay on the music videos of Kate Bush: https://musings.oscilloscope.net/post/174602794486/moving-on-the-cinema-of-kate-bush-by-willow Read Willow Catelyn Maclay and Caden Mark Gardner's Body Talk series: http://curtsiesandhandgrenades.blogspot.com/search/label/Body%20Talk Read Willow Catelyn Maclay's 2014 essay "Under the Skin's Transgender Allegory": http://curtsiesandhandgrenades.blogspot.com/2018/03/under-skins-transgender-allegory.html Read and follow Willow Catelyn Maclay on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/willowcatelynmaclay Watch Willow Catelyn Maclay on Turner Classic Movies: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRKhKh_Dm6s/ Read Caden Mark Gardner's essay "From the Margins: What the Archives Show Us About Trans Cinema and Audiences" for The Criterion Collection: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7254-from-the-margins-what-the-archives-show-us-about-trans-cinema-and-audiences

    2h 11m

Ratings & Reviews

3.7
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Host Bill Ackerman talks to writers, bloggers, podcasters, fanzine publishers, programmers, preservationists and more about their creative endeavors and today's film culture.

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