The Films That Ruined Us. Artwork by Sam Gilbey

What do you do if you’ve turned a beloved hobby into a business? The lines certainly get blurred between work and play. And so you start to crave a fresh focus. Something creative that doesn’t need to make money – maybe not initially. Something that is loads of fun and doesn’t feel like a chore. Enter podcast number two on a subject completely unrelated to Creative Boom but something else that’s close to my heart: movies.

Yes, that’s right. If I wasn’t busy enough, I’m now devoting some of my spare time to launching a new show. But I won’t be alone on this epic journey. I’m joining forces with a former guest of The Creative Boom Podcast, Miles Watts. He’s a film writer and director and has even appeared in some of his own productions.

We’ve been chewing over this idea for some time. We didn’t quite have a theme, but then inspiration struck, and Miles came up with a brilliant angle: “What if we chatted about all the films that ruined us?” he suggested one day. “It could be anything…from the romance films that messed up our perception of love to horror movies that gave us nightmares for years to the flicks that we still love watching today.”

And so, The Films That Ruined Us was born. We’ve been planning it for a while. We send each other voice notes (because we’re as cool as Gen Z) and plot what we intend to discuss. Quite amusingly, we’ve been playing Shotgun on many of the episode themes. Miles has won quite a few, and I called dibs on many of my own, too.

The Format for the Show

The premise is quite simple and can be best explained with our show’s description, written brilliantly by Miles: “Has a film ever ruined your life? Have you ever emerged from the cinema so obsessed with the movie you’ve just seen that it’s scarred you, positively or negatively? Filmmaker Miles Watts and culture queen Katy Cowan dive into the movies that have made the deepest impact on their lives (not Deep Impact) for better or worse, from kids’ films to violent horror, and examine in nauseating detail why these particular movies have ruined them.”

Bloke. Lass. One of us is a filmmaker, and the other a cinema-obsessed geek. We thought the combination would be good and might lead to some interesting and fun discussions. We’ll begin with themes ranging from The Force of Obsession (Star Wars, anyone?) and The Blockbuster Effect to Scarring Sci-Fi and Childhood Trauma. I am not looking forward to the week when we cover terrifying horror, as I tend to avoid this genre, and the film I chose broke me as a kid. What’s worse is that we’ve got to watch each other’s choices, so I’ll be sleeping with the lights on after that episode. That’s for sure.

Developing the Show’s Branding

For our cover art, we’ve collaborated with the hugely talented illustrator Sam Gilbey. He’s a legend in the realm of movie art. He’s worked for the likes of Walt Disney Studios, Pixar, and PlayStation. And now he’s accepted a commission from us. We’re honoured. The brief was pretty straightforward: make us look cool, carrying weapons in a post-apocalyptic scene – as though we truly are ruined by films.

Miles and I had to meet in Manchester for a photoshoot. We posed for pictures of ourselves standing defiantly, as though we’d just fought off a horde of zombies or overcome a power-hungry overload, trying to take over a planet turned to dust. It was immensely fun.

Sam then took our ridiculous images and turned them into what you see today: an incredible illustration of us both looking badass. (I believe this has been the best part of starting this show so far! Who doesn’t want to be turned into a legendary movie star?!) Even better, we get to include our show’s mascot, Edgar Allan Pup – the beloved pooch of Miles and his partner, Vicky.

Launching the First Series

We will begin in mid-March with a trailer and follow up with four new episodes for you to binge-listen to. After debating which episodes should be released first, I think we’ve come up with a promising start.

I’m not quite sure how we’ll promote it, given that I’ve deleted nearly all of my social media lately. But herein lies a fresh and interesting challenge. We weren’t getting much reach via Instagram or X anymore, so why bother? Is it worth trying another approach? Hell, yes! We’re still figuring that out. We’re moving into unchartered waters with online marketing. Perhaps our new website is all we need. Either way, it feels good to be trying something new again. To be pushed out of comfort zones and explore a new format.

So, if you love the sound of The Films That Ruined Us, head over to our new website, Ruinedbyfilms.com. Once there, you’ll be able to sign up for our newsletter and be the first to hear when our first episode drops. The countdown has begun, the transmission is unstable, and once it’s live… there’s no turning back.