By Olivia Wale and Isabella Wiles
Three best friends, and Coronation Street co-stars, Jack P Shepherd (David Platt), Ben Price (Nick Tilsley) and Colson Smith (Craig Tinker) have joined forces to create a weekly podcast where they discuss and rate different films, ranging from Alien all the way to Hannah Montana: The Movie. Starting in 2019, Sofa Cinema Club has covered over 80 different films, spanning all genres, and have also recently given fans a bonus episode where they highlight films airing on terrestrial TV, for those who aren’t subscribed to streaming services.
Fans have praised their charming anecdotes in their weekly recap, with ‘Ben’s animal encounters’ and Colson’s ‘Disneyworld meltdown’ being favourites. Their banter and friendly arguments when debating each film have viewers in stitches and Jack’s movie trivia gives genuine knowledge and interesting facts that listeners may not have known before.
It’s fun, light-hearted entertainment and whether you’re a film buff or not, you can appreciate the humour and friendship between them. As huge fans of the podcast, it was a pleasure to hear from star Colson Smith on all things Sofa Cinema Club, from who came up with the idea to start the podcast to exciting plans for the future!
Did you know straight away what kind of Podcast you wanted it to be, or did you have any other ideas?
- Colson- We didn’t know straight away that we wanted it to be about films no, we kind of just knew that we wanted to have a podcast and it was something that me and Jack had kind of discussed and then we completely put it on the backburner because we didn’t have any ideas. Then Ben said that if you’re having a Podcast it has to be about something, he was saying that we can’t talk about general studies or about what’s going on in the news because of our jobs, current affairs just isn’t anywhere we could go down. So we needed a reason, so the idea went on the back burner but we knew that we wanted to do it and then when me and Jack lived together we had this poster in the flat which was a hundred films to see before you die and I’d only seen three of them and Jack was like right, we’re going to have to start watching some of these because it’ll be amazing to see you experience watching them for the first time. It was that moment when Jack said that that was the Podcast, that should be the concept and that should be the premise, like let’s make a podcast from that and that was kind of where Sofa Cinema Club was born really.
Who was the first person to come up with the idea of creating a podcast or was it a joint decision?
- Colson- Well this is what we always kind of go around the bush with, but Ben will say its Ben, I will say it’s me and Jack will say its Jack. But really Ben was the brain behind the concept, he put it all together, I think his analogy is that we had a car and ben brought the wheels so really let us say Ben.
What is the best film you have watched on the podcast up to now?
- Colson- For me it has to be OldBoy, I think it was because I really don’t know what I was expecting with a Korean film with subtitles and now whenever I talk about the film with my friends or in social situations it will be the film that I will go to and say do you know what’s really good? And I kind of get excited about the thought of watching it again, but I’ve been lucky, I have watched loads of great films now we’ve done so many episodes of it but yeah OldBoy is the one that I’m going to shout from the rooftops about.
Who is the most generous with the film ratings?
- Colson- Me, because when it’s my films I’m quite protective of them so I want to kind of give them the best rating so they stand in good stead but when I’m watching Jack and Ben’s films, I’m normally, well they’re making me watch better films then I’m making them watch, so then it’s obviously has a higher rating and sometimes I’m just too scared to rate it what I think because I don’t want them to cry on the podcast because it wouldn’t make for good listening.
Did filming come naturally to you or did it feel awkward in the beginning?
- Colson- I think the first pilot we ever did, the concept was different, we watched two films and basically bounced them off against each other and when we listened to it back, we literally just shouted at each other. We spoke over each other and were loud and really excitable and we were like we’re going to have to kind of calm this down and make sure we all get our points across and we all listen to each other as well as talking over and being excitable but it’s probably an easier question for someone like you to answer as producer because I don’t know if we’ve got any better.
- Producer Henry- having recently listened to past episodes for an award entry I can say yes, safely yes, that you have gotten a lot better!
Where you surprised at the amount of support you have received?
- Colson- Yeah I think so, I think when we first started it, it was just three mates having a great time and we just wanted to do it because it was something we wanted to do together that was different from work. We were always three really good mates and we kind of just wanted it to build on that and have something of our own and so the fact that people actually listen and actually like it and now we are building this little bit of a film club family and yeah that’s really nice. When people stop you in the streets, obviously, the first thing you normally expect is Corrie so when they want to talk to you about Sofa Cinema Club and the films that they’ve watched because of it or the episodes they loved, like that is really nice because it’s something that the three of us have got complete ownership of really.
Are there any genres of film you feel like you need to touch on more?
- Colson- I don’t know actually, I don’t know, we don’t do loads and loads of comedy but then I guess there aren’t that many films that make you roll over and laugh on the floor. Maybe we do need to do more comedy, I would say that’s probably the only one that we’ve not done loads of, like the big films.
Do you have any exciting plans for the podcast in the near future?
- Colson- Yes, loads of exciting plans, all will probably be revealed very soon but no we are really excited about where we are taking it and where we want to take it.
It has been a great opportunity to get to get an insight into the behind the scenes of the podcast. After listening in to almost all of their episodes, it was nice to find out more about how, why, where and when the show came to fruition.
You can listen to the podcast on all good audio platforms, including Spotify and iTunes podcasts, and don’t forget to tune into the first episode of series 5 on December 2nd! Also visit the @sofacinemaclub Instagram and leave a comment to potentially see your favourite film discussed!
