THE GEEK SUPREMACY PROJECT, which can be listened to here, is essentially a Comic-Con for the ears, dedicated to a discussion of all comics, movies, TV shows, and web-series, and further indicative of how we live in a society where Nerd has become the new Cool. The rise of the Internet gave a voice to every single cult fanbase, playing to their niche audiences. Today, a web-series like NIGHTWING: ESCALATION is just as accessible to audiences as any Hollywood blockbuster is, and this podcast treats both of these forms of media with equal attention. Indeed, there IS geek supremacy in our culture.
It also helps that Gregory is a very charismatic host. Whereas many podcasts suffer because they are hosted by celebrity-wannabes who show they know less about their subject of discussion than their audiences, Gregory's passion shines through and is in complete control of his show. Furthermore, since he develops a chemistry with the guest each week, no two shows are ever the same.
Gregory told me the following:
Most kids bond with there parents with sports...I bonded with my parents with movies and comics. As a kid I started as a horror geek. My first horror film was A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET at the age of three and ever since then I was hooked.
I know what it's like to have a love for the arts that stems entirely from my experiences with my family. I learned about foreign films from my mother, and today I'm a huge consumer of nerd-culture!I got my love for horror/scifi from my mother she loved Stephen King, STAR WARS, and STAR TREK. My love for comics came from my dad. When I was a kid I would go with him go to this sports store where they sold sports memorabilia. There was a little section where sold comics so I would go over and read them and if I did good in school I could buy one.
This background led Gregory to find himself as an artist, trying his hand at writing his first novel, which was, unsurprisingly, a horror story. But writer's block got in the way. And so, lo and behold, he founded a podcast with his sister as a creative outlet to get his juices flowing. You wouldn't think hosting a talkshow would be a creative endeavor on the same level as creating a work of art, but using the podcast forum, it is. Because a podcast is, oddly enough, more personal than any other type of show, and its content feels more raw, coming straight from the artist.
If there was ever one show I was a complete nerd for, it was MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000, which was cancelled in 1999. Then, a decade later, the show came back in the form of a podcast called RIFFTRAX. While both of these shows have the same basic premise -- voices riffing throughout an entire movie -- I find the concept works infinitely better in podcast form. Such is the power of this new forum.
In a previous entry, I wrote about James Rolfe and THE ANGRY VIDEO GAME NERD going from fun videos on YouTube made by an amateur filmmaker to a full-blown media franchise and the first fan-funded feature film in history. If there was ever an example of geek supremacy in media, that was it! How fitting that the newest ANGRY VIDEO GAME NERD episode should be released at the same time I write this article. Watch it here.
Gregory Hall and THE GEEK SUPREMACY PROJECT are emblems of the changing face of our culture's love for story. The nerdy kids who spent their youths eating pizza while watching BABYLON 5 and dreaming of the big stories they wanted to tell are today's intellectuals, turning Comic-Con into a profitable business and running websites like IMDb, Ain't It Cool News, and Rotten Tomatoes. I encourage my readers to listen to THE GEEK SUPREMACY PROJECT as the herald of change in our media. Keep up the good work, Gregory, and may the world supremacy of geeks begin!
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