Podcaster Profiles

The Review It Yourself podcast (often shortened to RIY) is a UK-based show hosted by Sean and Sarah that offers film and TV reviews, usually with a focus on being “eternally unimpressed,” featuring witty banter, deep dives into pop culture, and themed episodes, including special series like Defend It Yourself with guest podcasters.

In the show’s beginning, the co-hosts say, “We’re passionate, but you can expect honesty from us. We promise you a podcast where we review what we want, not what’s the flavor of the month. You won’t find us reacting through trivia or box office receipts.”

Ear Worthy just reviewed the show last week, giving it a Ripe Banana score of 10.0 out of 10.

We then interviewed Sean and Sarah about their show and about their experience as independent podcasters. We thank them since they have full-time jobs and are podcasters, and have a life.

Q. Tell me about yourselves?

A. We’re two Brits in our thirties (Sarah wrote this, Sean felt putting our age range was unnecessary) at the opposite end of the country. The same dry British humor, the same love of the kind of films that can get left behind in the movie podcasting world, the same appreciation for biscuits. We like films and books, but we also love digging down into why we love them, what makes them work for us, and just appreciating good art of all genres.

Q. Why did you start the podcast?

A. Sarah: Like many people, I started a podcast during the COVID lockdown. With a lot of time on my hands, I suddenlyhad the chance to indulge in researching and talking about whatever strange topics interested me. That podcast is very much on hiatus at the moment (Weird Horizon), but having a long project to work on was absolutely what I needed at that time. It also gave me time to connect with the podcasting community on Twitter, see what others were doing, and do something very brave for me as a nervous introvert: do a few collaborative episodes.

Q. How did you connect with Sean?

A. (Sarah) I responded to a tweet from him looking for a guest to talk about The Mummy Returns. I’d done a few collabs at this point and always had a fun time, and I was more than happy to talk about a film I personally adore. I had such a fun time and the episode felt so effortless (in the best way) that I ended up being a regular guest on Review It Yourself. The list of films we decided we wanted to talk about just kept growing and growing, and it just ballooned in the way it always does when you’re talking with someone else who loves films and has seen a wide range of genres. We just kept on finding shared interests, and before I knew it I had quietly dropped my podcast and strong-armed my way onto Sean’s.

Sarah: Sean didn’t know what podcasts were, and was talked into doing a film podcast by a mate in a pub. That podcast was short-lived. Encouraged by his mate to keep doing it himself, this inspired the title of Review It Yourself. Beginning on 10th October 2021, the podcast was Sean discussing a film’s plot in a unique way. He briefly considered making the podcast about the RMS Titanic, but could not think of a unique way to do that. After podcasting with Sarah, Sean didn’t think he’d ever find a better co-host.

Q. Why pick these movie reviews as a topic?

A. Sean: I’ve always loved films and just wanted to give my take on films that I love. The intro of the podcast includes me sighing. This is meant to juxtapose an English, unimpressed view of films, versus an extremely positive American movie podcast.

There are so many places to go with reviews: Films, TV, Books, films you love that everyone hates in the ‘Defend It Yourself’ series. Seeing if the trailer convinces you to go to the cinema in ‘Preview It Yourself’.

Sarah: I immediately felt right at home with Sean on his podcast, as I love the way he approaches reviewing films. The iconic sigh, for instance, I think it’s such a good indicator of one of thethings I really appreciate about the podcast. We’re British, we’re not good at faking enthusiasm for things we don’t like. When we love a film, we can hear that we love it. From the first time I worked with Sean, it was clear he wanted to talk about the film purely because he loved it. I can’t think of a better reason to discuss something.

The great thing about podcasting is there’s room for everything out there, and as much as I enjoy a good, highly structured film podcast, personally, I found the way Sean talked about films so welcoming and honestly just fun. I love watching films, all kinds of films, but what I love more is talking about them. Podcasting can be challenging, it’s work, unpaid work (for us at least), and it’s not always easy to put your thoughts and your voice out there. But working with Sean, I feel like I’m doing something very personally fulfilling, having the kind of sprawling, sometimes meandering discussions about films you might have after you’ve left the cinema with friends. There are so many ways to talk about films; there are innumerable amazing podcasts out there that analyze them from a wide range of perspectives. We don’t often go into reviewing films with a point to make, I feel. We choose titles we love, or Sean thinks I would like (and often do-although I didn’t like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1993), Sean was shocked), and we talk about why we love it. Having a way to regularly talk about films with a friend has been such a treat. The fact that we’re making a product that others enjoy, for me, that’s a bonus.

Q. Are you full-time or part-time podcasters?

A. (Sean and Sarah) We’re both part-time (unfortunately). We would love for this to be our full-time occupation. The nature of the podcast means we have near infinite topics we could cover, and we would happily do that.

Q. What do you love about podcasting?

A. Sarah: Having a creative project is very important to me personally. Making something and putting it out into the world for others to (hopefully) enjoy is what I want to do with my life. Podcasting is a fantastic way of doing this, as it’s a format that lends itself to pretty much anything. If you like talking at excruciating length about whatever weird stuff you’ve been reading, you can do that, and someone will listen. There’s an audience for absolutely everything.

I love the approachability of podcasting. There’s a fairly steep learning curve getting started, but generally, you can start a podcast for free (or near enough free). That’s definitely part of the reason I started. As long as you have a few hours to put into it, you can make something and distribute it for free, and people will find it. I found it to be such an immediately rewarding creative project, probably why I stuck with it.

Finding Sean’s podcast was a stroke of good luck. As isolating and demoralizing as podcasting can be at times, I am supremely lucky to have found someone to do it with and remind me of why I love it. I enjoyed my own podcast for several reasons; I felt like I was exercising the research and essay-writing muscles I had from university. It was fun work, but work. With Sean, we’ve found such a great format that it feels just effortless. I’m one of the supremely lucky people in that I can just log in and chat with a friend about a topic I love. Through it, I’ve also met so many wonderful, passionate people and had the chance to talk with them about their fields and topics. It’s such a fantastic opportunity that would have been impossible without the podcast.

Q. What recommendation would you give to new indie podcasters?

A. Sean: I genuinely love talking about films, documentaries, and books, and I echo everything that Sarah said above.

What I would say to anyone thinking of starting: Don’t worry about the best mics, a hot-looking studio (if you’re visual), or amazing logos. Just start, do the hard miles, get some episodes under your belt. The first episode is always a write-off. Never be afraid to change it up, try a side-series. If it ever feels like work. Pause, go to a lesser schedule, or walk away.

Q. What is the biggest challenge?

A. Sarah: It can be too easy to get stuck in the trap of comparison. You can tell yourself all day that everyone is doing their own thing and we’re not in direct competition with each other, knowing that it’s true, but still getting bogged down questioning why some people’s podcasts seem to gain traction, and others don’t. Like everyone who makes a podcast, I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t enjoy having a larger audience, purely for the fact that it might allow us to dedicate more time to making episodes. With us both working full-time, we only have a finite amount of time to dedicate to the podcast. I wish we had more. We need to make inroads on our infinite list of episode ideas…

Sean: Review It Yourself tries not to stand still. We review what we want, without a long-term plan of episodes, and frankly, don’t care much for modern cinema as a whole.

I’ll try a side-series. Some didn’t work, e.g., Explain It Yourself. I don’t regret any of the episodes; it’s all experience. I’ve genuinely met some amazing people, and the fact that there are people out there who listen is a nice bonus.

Q. What are your favorite episodes of the show?

A. Sean: Angels & Demons Extended Cut and Field of Dreams.

Sarah: My favorite episodes, similar to Sean’s, are the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons episodes. These are films I haven’t seen since I was much younger when they were originally released. Although I enjoyed them when I was younger, I had never taken the time to really analyze these films. It was such a fun time to re-evaluate these films and gain a new appreciation for them. Now I keep encouraging everyone I know to re-watch them.

Review It Yourself is very British in tone, accent, and viewpoint. To me, that’s one attribute that makes the show so delightful. As a listener, you get a new perspective on movies that you are familiar with. The show is brilliantly indie in tone and execution, and I love that. Its lack of polish and brutal honesty is refreshing in a podcasting world where large podcast networks always offer shows that are unfiltered and controversial, when, in reality, they’re the same show recycled through the lens of profit projections.