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Blank Check with Griffin & David
American film podcast From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Blank Check with Griffin & David is a film podcast following the career output of notable directors who had significant success early in their careers and were then offered a figurative blank check to pursue their passion projects. Most episodes focus on a single movie from the director's filmography, and the show's episodes are grouped into miniseries, in which some or all of the director's films are reviewed. Founded in 2015, the show is hosted by actor Griffin Newman and The Atlantic film critic David Sims.[1]
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Series overview
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 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2020) |
The Blank Check website describes the podcast as:
Not just another bad movie podcast, Blank Check reviews directors' complete filmographies episode to episode. Specifically, the auteurs whose early successes afforded them the rare 'blank check' from Hollywood to produce passion projects. Each new miniseries, hosts Griffin Newman and David Sims delve into the works of film's most outsized personalities in painstakingly hilarious detail.[2]
Notable guests who have appeared on the show include Rachel Zegler, Jamelle Bouie, Leslye Headland, Jamie Bell, Kevin Smith, David Lowery, Patton Oswalt, Tatiana Maslany, Richard Lawson, Lulu Wang, Ayo Edebiri, Karina Longworth, Alex Ross Perry, Roman Mars, Nia DaCosta, Bowen Yang, Amy Irving, David Krumholtz, Jane Schoenbrun, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Origins: Griffin and David Present
In 2015, the podcast began as Griffin and David Present, and assessed the Star Wars prequel films as if in a universe where the other Star Wars films did not exist. Originally planning to spend 50 episodes on each film, producer Ben Hosley convinced the hosts to only do ten. Having used a lengthy analysis of a filmography as a means of discussing the films' director, Newman and Sims decided to use a similar approach in reviewing the works of other directors, and retitled the show Blank Check with Griffin and David.[3][4]
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Blank Check with Griffin & David
Each miniseries is given a loosely comedic title which combines the word "podcast" with either a title of a film or the director's name. If a director they've previously discussed releases a new film, they will work it into their schedule of upcoming shows.
Blank Check: Special Features
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On January 1, 2019, Newman and Sims created a Patreon page, Blank Check: Special Features, where fans could pay a monthly amount in exchange for extra content. Blank Check Special Features focuses primarily on audio commentary about films that are part of franchises, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Toy Story, Mission: Impossible, The Santa Clause and Alien.[5][6] The Patreon feed also offers monthly bonus episodes and other content related to the current miniseries or general interest.
As of June 2025[update], the Blank Check Patreon was ranked 12th in the podcast category and 33rd overall based on the number of paying supporters, with 17,762 subscribers.[7][8]
Blank Check: March Madness
Every March since 2018, there has been a March Madness style bracket pitting thirty-two directors against each other, allowing listeners to vote and decide a director to be covered later in the year.[9] Until 2022, the votes were cast through Twitter polls, but were later moved to the Blank Check website following use of bots to influence match-ups.[10] Since 2020, there have been brackets exclusive to the Patreon to decide a franchise to cover.
Reception
Blank Check has been positively reviewed by Paste,[11] Decider,[3] and The A.V. Club.[12] The show was included in Esquire's list of the best 21 podcasts of 2018,[13] as well as on Paste's list of the top 30 podcasts of the decade.[14] It has also been featured in Vulture and Entertainment Weekly as a selection of the week.[15][16] In May 2023, Luis A. Gómez of The New Yorker wrote about the podcast, stating that "Newman and Sims reveal themselves as connoisseurs of context in engaging, discursive conversations" and are "a positive, authoritative voice in the film-podcasting landscape."[17]
Notes
- Only films directed by Spielberg after he co-founded DreamWorks Pictures in 1994 are reviewed.
- Only English-language films directed by Verhoeven are reviewed.
- Only films directed by Spielberg before he co-founded DreamWorks Pictures in 1994 are reviewed.
- Only films that take place chronologically after the Prequels.
- Only films based on the original Star Trek series are covered. Any subsequent Star Trek films would be covered in their own miniseries.
- Only wide release Batman movies not previously covered on the podcast are covered.
- Only the original five films from 1968-1973 are covered.
- Also included The Love Guru.
- Includes Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, and Cats
- Includes Analyze This, Mickey Blue Eyes, and Analyze That
- Only films based on the Star Trek: The Next Generation series and Galaxy Quest are covered. Any subsequent Star Trek or Dean Parisot films would be covered in their own miniseries.
- Includes Superman I-IV, Superman Returns, Man of Steel, and Superman
References
External links
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