From a single social media channel to the head of a podcast network: a conversation with Ryan Verrill (part six)
Miss-Connected, Shawnee Smith from the Saw franchise and The Blob (1988), and Ryan Verrill at Kansas City Crypticon.
In this concluding section of the conversation, we focus on Ryan Verrill’s podcast network Someone’ Favorite Productions, which offers a wide variety of programming across more than twenty shows. We also discuss some of Ryan’s other upcoming plans.
What's the Idea: You’ve got a weekly live show, you're putting together a magazine that goes out monthly, you’re producing supplements, and you’ve got a day job with the federal government. Of course you have time to run a podcast network. How did Someone's Favorite Productions, the podcast network, start?
Ryan Verrill: I'd been friends with some of these other podcasters just through the nature of how I do things. Podcast networks are odd because some of them, the big ones, come together to be able to monetize shows. The shows on my network are not going to make any money. We're not getting huge numbers.
“People don’t understand that the world of podcasting is inherently insular in a way that is almost damaging. You hardly ever get feedback. If something’s not working, you have nobody to ask.”
The real thing that we can do is help each other to make our shows as good as we possibly can. We can be there to lift each other up, support each other, and keep ourselves motivated to keep getting better. I reached out to a couple at the beginning, including They Live by Film, and said “Listen, we're friends. We know what we're doing. We know that our shows aren't going to make any money. What if we made a little podcast network? We can get four or five of our shows together and become a branded group of shows. When people know that they come to our shows, they know that they're not going to find anybody bigoted. They won’t find anything hateful. They're not going to find anyone shitting on movies just for the fun of it.”
And it might not even be about movies. It's just a group of podcasts that can help you find another community that you are accepted into, that you will find some sort of enjoyment in. And that's how, in December of 2023, the network started with about four or five shows.
We got a little Discord that we run Someone's Favorite Productions out of. We help with technical questions if something goes wrong, and that alone is a big resource. So many people don't understand that the world of podcasting is inherently insular in a way that is almost damaging. You hardly ever get feedback. If something's not working, you have nobody to ask. You're running your own show, uploading it to some hopefully decent resource, and a lot of times, they're made poorly.
Ryan’s collection of limited edition Marvel Cinematic Universe steelbooks. Similar to The Avengers, the various shows part of Someone’s Favorite Productions can “be there to lift each other up and support each other and keep ourselves motivated to keep getting better.”
I brought everybody onto my Prime account, so I give them all free hosting and a couple other resources to be able to get stuff done. People were able to ask, “Can you listen to this episode and let me know what you think? We're trying something new.” That was nice. We got a network chat going. If people wanted a guest, they could ask in our Discord and if any of us knew somebody, we could say, “I got his email. I'll give you a warm introduction.” We've done that hundreds of times by now.
People started to realize there's four or five shows here that are doing something pretty cool. Once people recognized the brand, after about six months, I thought, there's a couple other shows that I feel fit our branding. What if we asked them to join? Then word started to get around that we could host shows and that we were looking for this style of show of being accepting and all of that.
I then had people seeking us out. I've gotten a bunch of emails, I've screened a bunch of shows to be on the network, and I've turned down most of them. It's either a quality question, or it's a very specific content side of things, like it goes against our ethos. I don't want that to sully anybody else's shows. I take a lot of pride in what Someone's Favorite Productions podcast network show is, so I don't just open it up to anybody.
To be honest, I don't even know the number of shows off hand. I'm sorry to everybody on the network. It's like 22 active shows and 25 or 26 shows that have been on the network at some point, and maybe a couple of them are not as active anymore or not active at all. It's been amazing to see the people that we've been able to get. There are certain names in this industry that we've been able to help people find because they're on the network, and we have the resources of all these people.
For the boutique Blu-ray-focused podcasts, we have The Radiance podcast, The Deaf Crocodile podcast, the Mondo Macabro podcast, the Terror Vision podcast, Punk Vacation, the unofficial Vinegar Syndrome podcast, and Disc-Connected, amongst others. These are all very, very focused on physical media, and we found guests like Kim Newman to be on the Radiance Podcast. If Adam [Lundy] wasn't on the network, I probably wouldn't have heard that he wanted Newman for an episode. I was able to help Adam find that hookup. In this industry, Kim Newman is a huge name. So many people look to him for cult knowledge on so many of these movies.
Now we have these very specific niche shows. There are two shows that are focused on audio commentaries. We've got one that is focused on horror audio commentaries, Beyond the Blood, and one that is focused on all audio commentaries, One Track Mind with Ryan Luis Rodriguez. Again, they are focused on physical media but not attached to a label. It's so important that they're highlighting why physical media is important. That is the inherent base of their shows.
Just recently, our newest show is The Sin Syndicate, which is a show focused on sexploitation, which inherently is a subject that is censored, that is held down, that is not talked about on purpose. People want to hide stuff about that. And instead, we are out there shining a light on something that needs to be talked about, that deserves to be talked about. They are far from the only show on the subject, but they are one of the best researched podcasts out there. They are very respectful. They will never be anti-trans on their shows. In 2025, that is a very important thing that I would never want to associate with one of our podcasts.
“I swear, if the right person listens to one of his episodes, they’re going to talk about it on their show and it will explode.”
All of our shows right now are focused on film, but I'm more than happy to break into other branches if I found the right show that would work for it. But right now, I am immensely proud of the shows that we have. I mean, there are so many other shows that I could highlight and really bring attention to if given the time.
We've got the Almost Major podcast, which is directed towards the many minor-major film studios, things like New Line Cinema, which will get overlooked in so many different ways. I've got The Conversation with KB Loves Movies, a friend of mine here in Kansas City. It's focused on film, but it's literally just a guy having a conversation with other people. One of the ones that I think has the most potential to explode in popularity is Tumbleweeds and TV Cowboys. It's all focused on Western films and Western TV shows, and Hunter Robinson is just one of the most affable, gregarious hosts about a genre that I historically hate for the most part, but he still deserves to be elevated. The work behind these films deserve to go up there. My taste has nothing to do with it.
I swear, if the right person listens to one of his episodes, they're going to talk about it on their show and it will explode, because Westerns are so popular with certain people. I’m just waiting for that one special day when people hear about it.
Ryan with one of his Discord patrons named Cameron.
What's the Idea: I love the broadness available on Someone's Favorite Productions. It reaches so many areas. I think I expected it to be very disc-focused and then the more I dug into it, I realized it was a great resource for all sorts of learning and entertainment, like the show Film Foundations, which takes relatively mainstream topics and breaks them down. You're not treating it like we should all just know these things already. I just listened to the Don Bluth episode and loved it. I hope there's going to be a great boutique Don Bluth release for you to work on one day.
Ryan: I wish. That would make my life for sure.
What's the Idea: You obviously have lots of free time. What are you doing next?
Ryan: There's so much going on right now. I don't even know what I can hint at. Will [Dodson] and I have been producing a box set for a company for a little over a year at this point that's probably not going to be coming out until late 2026. When that is off our to-do list, I might take a vacation and weep for a full day. That is going to be incredible.
I think you're the only one that I've said this to, so I probably can't go into detail, but we are pitching a TV show elsewhere. We are looking into the idea of a couple books. There are so many things behind the scenes that I would love to pursue that I'm literally just dreaming of slightly more free time to be able to put that time into it.
“I’m at the point where my life is very saturated, and any meaningful means of exploring new endeavours comes with a lot of rolling eyes from my wife because there’s no more free space and free time.”
At any point, Will and I have a content management system that we are completely enveloped in and coordinating daily. Literally right before I went on with you, Will and I were on the phone trying to schedule something. We're working on releases worldwide. I'm starting to do more actual disc production where I'm not doing special features for a release, but the company has hired me to hire people to do the special features, to do the QC, to figure out what we want for it. I'm doing that for multiple companies worldwide now.
“My in-law and my mother wanted to have a bigger part in my kids' lives, so I saw an opportunity. I said, ‘Hey, how about we plan it so every weekend, the wife and I get away to go to a theatre.’ I'm going on three months in a row where every weekend I've gone to at least two films in one day.”
I'm at the point where my life is very saturated, and any meaningful means of exploring new endeavours comes with a lot of rolling eyes from my wife because there's no more free space and free time. The biggest thing that's probably new for me is making the effort and time to keep up with new films. My mother moved to the Kansas City area during COVID-19, and so did my mother-in-law. For a lot of people, that is not a great thing, but we're all pretty good.
My in-law and my mother wanted to have a bigger part in my kids' lives, so I saw an opportunity. I said, “Hey, how about we plan it so every weekend, the wife and I get away to go to a theatre.” I'm going on three months in a row where every weekend I've gone to at least two films in one day. This last weekend, I went to seven movies in the theatre in three days. I've never been able to keep up this sort of pace in my life. Even when I should have been when we didn't have kids. I just took it for granted and only went every so often and watched a lot more physical media back then.
Actually, making that a focus has been super rewarding. There's still so many really great movies coming out, so I’m seeing indies that aren't getting love on physical media or streaming or anything. I see them get a literally one-week run at AMC and I'm prioritizing those. It's been really interesting to look at the landscape as a whole.
What's the Idea: It sounds like an important piece of self-care amongst everything that you're doing, along with relationship care.
Ryan: But I am also an idiot. This last weekend, my wife did not want to go. She wasn't feeling well. Since it was just me, between screenings when I had an extra long wait, I was the one guy in a movie theatre with a laptop out on his lap, literally editing a visual essay in an AMC at 11:30 in the morning on a Sunday. Yes, that was me.
What's the Idea: If people wonder how you get it done, I guess that's the answer. I think it’s important for people to try to understand how you’re accomplishing these things. You've been involved with producing nearly 100 discs and you run multiple businesses now. Yet you don't come from this background, right? You're a psychology major, a federal worker, and a passionate film fan, and you built everything you have. It's amazing.
“You could get a relationship that changes your life in some way. Who knows what could come from it?... Without Will watching that video, it never would have happened.”
Ryan: Literally just through treating things with respect and dignity and making contacts that could help in some ways. I started knowing no one, and now that I do, some of those things help, but it's the same way that you could literally DM somebody on Twitter and get that exact same relationship.
What's the Idea: Some people are getting championed, some people are getting the attention, but most people still just want somebody to care about what they’re doing or to feel like others care about what they care about.
Ryan: It’s true. A lot of these labels, if you watch one of their releases and literally, I don't know, send them an email and say, “Hey, I bought your release of this film. I remember watching this as a child and it was amazing to see so much love poured into it. I just wanted to show you appreciation for your work because this is immense and I'm so grateful,” they will likely respond and literally from that you could get a relationship that changes your life in some way. Who knows what could come from it? Some guy watching my video on Mondo Macabro led to Someone's Favorite Productions existing and me breaking down in tears in Amoeba in Los Angeles because my name was on the back of a disc. Without Will watching that video, it never would have happened.
What's the Idea: I think it’s a really great story about perseverance and the power of positivity. Thanks so much for all your time going through everything.
That concludes my initial conversation with Ryan Verrill. Make sure to follow him on Instagram or your social media of choice and watch him live every Thursday on Re-Connected.
Learn more about Ryan’s business partner Will Dodson in my two-part conversation with Will (part one and part two).
More interviews are available here.
The interview was recorded using Google Meet in August 2025.
The transcript was edited by Matt Long of What’s the Idea Professional Editing, with additional copy editing by Anthony Nijssen of APT Editing.
All photos are the property of Ryan Verrill.