Open Mic Night of the Living Dead

With just a few weeks left in summer, we spend some time in this special episode discussing our favorite summer horror movies. Plus a remixed and remastered version of our very first demo, The Ballad of Jack Deth inspired by Trancers!

We spent three weeks on Jaws, so of course we followed it with a whole episode on the shark movies that came after it. The sequels, a SeaWorld disaster, Dangerous Animals (still one of our favorite watches from last year), and the ones most shark movie lists forget. Stick around after the discussion for a studio demo of an original song from our Jaws trilogy.
Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:42 Shark Movie Roundup: Welcome
00:03:18 Jaws Sequels: Jaws 2, Jaws 3-D & Jaws the Revenge
00:10:10 Dangerous Animals (2025)
00:11:55 The Meg (2018)
00:13:39 Open Water (2003)
00:15:44 Deep Blue Sea (1999)
00:19:37 The Shallows (2016)
00:22:04 Piranha & More
00:31:45 Song Demo
00:35:57 Losing Light

Quint slides beneath the water, and Brody is alone on a sinking boat with nothing left but a rifle. We close out our three part dive into Jaws with the ending, the aftermath, our favorite lines, and two brand new songs written from opposite ends of that opening beach scene.
 
Citations
Baisas, Laura. “Why the creators of ‘Jaws’ regretted making sharks the monsters.” Popular Science. 22 July 2023. https://www.popsci.com/environment/jaws-sharks-attack/.
Escamilla, Christina. “Examining the Cinematography of Jaws for the 50th Anniversary.” Stinaesc. 10 September 2025. https://www.stinaesc.com/film/examining-the-cinematography-of-jaws-for-the-50th-anniversary.
Farr, John. “’Jaws’ - How Our Greatest Summer Movie Got Made.” Best Movies by Farr. https://bestmoviesbyfarr.com/seasonal/jaws-how-our-greatest-summer-movie-got-made/.
Germain, Jacquelyne. “Steven Spielberg Regrets How ‘Jaws’ Impacted Real-World Sharks.” Smithsonian Magazine. 20 December 2022. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/steven-spielberg-regrets-how-jaws-impacted-real-world-sharks-180981335/.
Jackson, Matthew. “How They Made the Shark in Jaws (and Why We Don't See It Very Much).” NBC. 20 June 2025. https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/how-they-made-the-shark-in-jaws-explained.
McLachlan, Ryan. “The True Story Behind the USS Indianapolis Monologue in ‘Jaws’.” War History Online. 31 August 2023. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/jaws-monologue.html.
Sackton, Laura. “’Jaws’: Book vs. movie.” Audible Blog. 17 September 2024. https://www.audible.com/blog/article-jaws-book-vs-movie.
 
Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:05:04 Story Time: Murder & Mayhem (continued)
00:22:46 Story Time: Themes
00:37:22 Story Time: Favorites & Quotes
00:41:45 Open Mic
00:52:19 Losing Light
 
 

We keep finding new corners of Jaws to get stuck in. This week we wrap up the production stories, spend a long while in the cinematography (the poster, the water box, that dolly zoom), sit with John Williams' two notes, and finally get to talk characters: Brody, Hooper, Quint, all of them. Part two of three - the boat's not big enough yet.
Chapters
00:00:00 Intro00:04:59 Let's Make a Movie: Production00:17:16 Vibe Check00:21:15 Vibe Check: Cinematography00:36:51 Vibe Check: SFX00:46:27 Vibe Check: Music & Sound Design00:58:40 Story Time: Characters01:18:01 Story Time: Murder, Mayhem & Myths01:28:55 Losing Light
Citations
Blair, Caroline. “Where is the cast of ‘Jaws’ Now?” AOL. 20 June 2025. https://www.aol.com/where-cast-jaws-now-look-220000959.html.
Danko, Meredith. “8 Actors Who Could Have Starred in ‘Jaws’.” Mental Floss. 28 May 2025. https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/movies/actors-who-could-have-starred-in-jaws.
Escamilla, Christina. “Examining the Cinematography of Jaws for the 50th Anniversary.” Stinaesc. 10 September 2025. https://www.stinaesc.com/film/examining-the-cinematography-of-jaws-for-the-50th-anniversary.
Novak, Laureen. “Who’s Still Alive from ‘Jaws’?” Remind Magazine. 16 June 2025. https://www.remindmagazine.com/article/31158/jaws-whos-still-alive/.
Parker, Ryan. “’Jaws’ and the Internal Debate Over Who Wrote the Iconic USS Indianapolis Speech.” The Hollywood Reporter. 20 June 2022. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/jaws-debate-over-who-wrote-uss-indianapolis-speech-1235168476/.
Rennie, Daniel. “Revisiting Bruce, the Malfunctioning Animatronic Shark that Made ‘Jaws’ a Horror Classic.” Bold Entrance. 15 July 2020. https://boldentrance.com/remembering-bruce-the-malfunctioning-animatronic-shark-that-made-jaws-a-horror-classic/.
Slor, Zhanna. “Remembering ‘Jaws’ Actress Susan Backlinie.” Remind Magazine. 13 May 2024. https://www.remindmagazine.com/article/6178/susan-backlinie-talks-opening-jaws-scene/.
Watkin, Hannah. “What happened to the cast of Jaws?” Smooth Radio. 17 June 2025. https://www.smoothradio.com/news/entertainment/jaws-cast-then-now/.
 

Steven Spielberg's "little" movie about a very big shark kicks off part one of our three part deep dive into Jaws. We get into Peter Benchley's novel, the mechanical shark that refused to cooperate, and why shooting on the real Atlantic nearly ended a young director's career before it started. Two more parts to come.
 
Chapters
00:00:00 Intro00:09:24 Intro: Distribution & Reception00:30:03 Let's Make a Movie: Filmmakers00:51:14 Let's Make a Movie: Cast01:02:32 Let's Make a Movie: Production01:24:03 Losing Light
 
Citations
“’Jaws’ - How Our Greatest Summer Movie Got Made.” Best Movies by Farr. 2026. https://bestmoviesbyfarr.com/seasonal/jaws-how-our-greatest-summer-movie-got-made/.
Court, Andrew. “A Montauk Monster Hunter.” Field Ethos. 1 July 2025. https://fieldethos.com/montauk-monster-hunter/.
McLachlan, Ryan. “The True Story Behind the USS Indianapolis Monologue in ‘Jaws’”. War History Online. 31 August 2023. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/jaws-monologue.html.
Newman, Dean. “Who The Cast of Jaws Could Have Been.” The Daily Jaws. 18 January 2021. https://thedailyjaws.com/blog/2021/1/18/who-the-cast-of-jaws-could-have-been.
Rennie, Daniel. “Revisiting Bruce, The Malfunctioning Animatronic Shark That Made ‘Jaws’ a Horror Classic.” Bold Entrance. 15 July 2020. https://boldentrance.com/remembering-bruce-the-malfunctioning-animatronic-shark-that-made-jaws-a-horror-classic/.
Sackton, Laura. “’Jaws’: Book vs. movie.” Audible. 17 September 2024. https://www.audible.com/blog/article-jaws-book-vs-movie.
Scott, Andy. “The Untold Truth of Jaws.” Looper. 10 October 2017. https://www.looper.com/24598/untold-truth-jaws/.
Vaziri, Todd. “The Myth of the ‘Jaws’ Shooting Stars.” FXRant. 19 February 2026. https://fxrant.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-myth-of-jaws-shooting-star.html?m=1.
 

This week's encore takes a detour: instead of riffing off of Smile 2, we're talking about us. How Open Mic Night of the Living Dead actually got made, why it's audio only, and what a full year and 52 episodes have taught us about making something together. Plus a new song, Float Away. Thank you for spending year one with us - onto year two.
 

This week marks our first sequel: Smile 2. We follow pop star Sky Riley as recovery becomes performance and her own body becomes something for everyone else to manage. Choreography turns predatory, the curse goes public, and we talk about where Smile 3 might take this mythology. Plus two very different songs: one about floating away, one about falling for the wrong pop star.
Citations
Bennett, Adam. “Smile 2: Rodeo FX on the Surrealist Visual Terror of a Horror Hit with Teeth.” LBB Online. 12 March 2024. https://lbbonline.com/news/smile-2-rodeo-fx-on-the-surrealist-visual-terror-of-a-horror-hit-with-teeth.
Edelbaum, Susannah. “’Smile 2’ DP Charlie Sarroff on Lighting a Curse-Afflicted Pop Star in the Big City.” The Credits. 29 October 2024. https://www.motionpictures.org/2024/10/smile-2-dp-charlie-sarroff-on-lighting-a-curse-afflicted-pop-star-in-the-big-city/.
Fraser, Emma. “How ‘Smile 2’ Uses Practical SFX Makeup to Generate Maximum Scares.” Backstage. 17 October 2024. https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/smile-2-makeup-designer-interview-77849/.
Gleiberman, Owen. "'Smile 2' Review: A Skillfully Disquieting Sequel Turns the Life of a Pop Star Into a Horror Ride of Mental Breakdown." Variety. 16 October 2024. https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/smile-2-review-naomi-scott-1236178126/. 
Gomez, Shirley. “Lukas Gage’s haunting transformation in ‘Smile 2’: Exclusive clip with FX Artist Jeremy Selenfriend.” Hola!. 2 December 2024. https://www.hola.com/us/entertainment/20241126732504/lukas-gages-transformation-smile-2-behind-the-scenes/.
Hunter, Rob. “30 Things We Learned from Parker Finn’s ‘Smile 2’ Commentary.” Dread Central. 21 February 2025. . https://www.dreadcentral.com/editorials/522757/30-things-we-learned-from-parker-finns-smile-2-commentary/.
Naahar, Rohan. “’Smile 2’Global Box Office Gives Audiences Something to Grin About.” Collider. 27 October 2024. https://collider.com/smile-2-global-box-office-83-million/.
Nolfi, Joey. "How Beyonce and Doja Cat's dancers brought Smile 2's stunning 'Cirque du Soleil from hell' sequence to life." Entertainment Weekly. 25 October 2024. https://ew.com/smile-2-apartment-dancers-scene-director-explains-beyonce-doja-cat-8730840?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
Saroff, Charlie. "Smile 2: Lighting a Pop Star's Meltdown." American Cinematographer. 4 October 2024. https://theasc.com/article/smile-2-lighting-sarroff/.
Taylor, Drew. “How ‘Smile 2’ Writer/Director Parker Finn Returned with a Super-Sized, Super-Successful Horror Sequel.” The Wrap. 25 October 2024. https://www.thewrap.com/smile-2-interview-parker-finn-horror-sequels/.
Tyler, Adrienne. “Smile 2 Fell Short of the Original’s Box Office Expectations But It’s Still a Massive Success.” Screen Rant. 6 December 2024. https://screenrant.com/smile-2-box-office-below-expectations-success-op-ed/.
Wilding, Josh. “Smile 2 Interview: Director Parker Finn on Designing the Entity and Taylor Swift’s Influence (Exclusive).” ComicBookMovie.com. 19 November 2024. https://comicbookmovie.com/horror/smile-2-interview-director-parker-finn-on-designing-the-entity-and-taylor-swifts-influence-exclusive-a214619.
Zilko, Christian. “For Naomi Scott, Playing a Troubled Pop Star in ‘Smile 2’ Meant Alternating Between Joyful Dance Rehearsals and Bloody Hallucinations.” Indie Wire. 26 October 2024. https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/naomi-scott-interview-smile-2-1235060424/.
 
Chapters
0:00:00 Intro0:08:25 Intro: Distribution & Reception00:20:24 Let's Make a Movie: Filmmakers00:29:46 Let's Make a Movie: Cast00:40:23 Let’s Make a Movie: Production00:50:21 Vibe Check: Cinematography01:00:43 Vibe Check: SFX01:06:00 Vibe Check: Music & Sound Design01:15:48 Story Time: Characters01:30:39 Story Time: Murder & Mayhem01:49:47 Story Time: Themes01:57:27 Open Mic02:08:18 Losing Light
 

We've been watching a lot of bad husbands. So we built a rubric. This encore to our Rosemary's Baby deep dive introduces our three-tier taxonomy of bad partners in horror - Trevors, Guys, and Billys - and the films that gave us each one. Plus the demo for our new song based on Rosemary's Baby.
 
Chapters00:00 Intro00:03:28 Tier 1: The Trevor00:08:28 Tier 2: The Guy00:16:46 Tier 3: The Billy00:29:45 Song Demo00:33:39 Losing Light