A film review & comedy podcast with over 100 episodes trying to find the silver linings in some of cinema’s bleakest endings.

TSLP is a weekly podcast where hosts Dustin Goes To Hollywood, Mallie Moore, and Nathan Simmons discuss a film that ends with the viewer or the characters not feeling very well. We'll talk about what we like about the movie, what we don't, and any inside info we can dig up. At the end of the show, we'll attempt to find a silver lining for the characters once we fade to black. Some films have easier silver linings to find than others, but Dustin, Mallie, and Nathan will always find something.

Our goal is to build the ultimate playlist of films with downer endings for the cinematic masochist in all of us. What separates us from every “Top 10 Movies With Depressing Endings” blog post - besides being a weekly podcast - is that we offer hope for the audience when it’s all said and done. Things may appear bleak once the credits start to role, but every movie has a silver lining; you just have to know where to look. That’s our credence, and we consider ourselves archeologists of optimism when it comes to film. We may not be great at it, but we do our best every episode to find a silver lining.

Our number one goal is for our listeners to have as much fun listening to our show as we did making it. Even for the darkest of movies, we try to maintain an upbeat, entertaining environment. Similar shows to ours include We Hate Movies, How Did This Get Made?, Dead Meat, etc.
 

Dustin and Mallie are two filmmakers (and avid podcasts listeners) that have a deep love not only for cinema, but for films that typically subvert the Hollywood expectations on how a movie should end. In other words, we live for f@#ked up endings. We wanted a place to discuss those movies but wanted to separate ourselves from every other movie review podcast out there. That's why we decided to only focus on movies with downer endings. Not only that, but we wanted to see if there was a more optimistic way to discuss a movie rather than ending each episode with "and everyone's dead. Credits roll. Thanks for listening!" So in 2016, we started with some heavy hitter movies (Requiem for a Dream, Blue Valentine, etc.) and it just kept rolling from there. We didn't think it would last that long, but we're well into the hundreds of episodes, and we see no sense in stopping. We brought on Nathan Simmons, podcaster and pop culture connoisseur, in Season 5 because of his natural charisma and his obvious pairing to our sense of humor and critical cinema insight.
 

We record our podcasts in seasons, 26 episodes per season. When we're active, we release new episodes every Monday. We typically take 6 to 9 months off before we start up a new season, but we're most likely shortening that hiatus window down in the future.

It's actually very difficult to find time to record - besides any guests we may have on an episode, we're all in 3 different time zones and have 3 very different work and person lives. But we usually record 2 to 4 weeks before an episode airs. In that time, we're working on tightening up the quality of our episodes, create clips to share on social media, interacting with our listeners, etc. It's our devotion to the enjoyment we have making the podcast itself that keeps us going. We have no intention of ever doing the podcast purely for money or out of necessity; as soon as it stops being fun, we're done. Every penny the podcast makes goes right back into, whether that's hosting costs, promotional advertising, etc.
 

We currently haven't had any sponsorships but would not be opposed to it; whatever can increase our listenership and grow our following without compromising our love for doing the show.
 

We're very much a DIY podcast: we use our own equipment, meet over Skype, and record the show as a live discussion. Should we have a guest, we meet with them beforehand to give them a rundown of the show if they haven't heard us before. Our number one note for our guests is to have fun; we want the show to feel like a casual conversation and much less a formal interaction.
 

We are active on our Twitter and Instagram, and post everyday during a season; whether that's announcing a new episode, sharing a clip from the show, or just generally discussing movies we like or hate. We even have a subreddit that has a whole plethora of information pertaining to the show and where we encourage our listeners to interact with us and each other.

The vast array of places around the world that listen to our show is extensive. We're blown away by the reach our small show has; France, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Brazil, even the Philippines. It's insane.

The majority of our listeners listen to the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher. We encourage anyone curious about the show to find us wherever they can, which is most podcasting platforms.
 

Stick with it. Gaining a following is the single hardest thing to do in relation to podcasting, and it's a never ending journey. Making the show is, and should be, the easy part.
 

You can find us at the following locations:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TSLPpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesilverliningsplaylist/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9OLsJ7U63W1dAOHFhnRAxA
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SilverLiningsPlaylist/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/64EFntnqhMt7dAfJbBkUZV
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-silver-linings-playlist/id1328636209
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-silver-linings-playlist
And you can find more places to subscribe here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mXjuvUSKyAT_GCb6erM-MOkpRJ7pp336Z84iVtDhwYQ/edit