Grant’s Advent Calendar podcast

What inspired you to center a podcast around the Advent Calendar?

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday of the year.  When I was a kid I used to get so wound up to make that walk down the hallway and see what Santa got me I would make myself sick with excitement. I remember how painfully slow those final days before the 25th used to crawl. My hope is that my daily little video snippets help ease that torture of waiting for Santa to visit. I was also looking for a way to share my enthusiasm for the holidays with the web and perhaps spare the people who have to live with me day to day in real life. Above all else, it’s a tremendous creative challenge that I look forward to every year. I even have a production binder this year to keep things straight!

You’ve been doing this since 2003. How has it evolved over the years? Come to think of it, “podcasting” didn’t even exist back then.

True. When I got the Advent Calendar in 2003, I had a blog. So back then I used to photograph what I got inside the door each day and post it to my blog. In 2005, I was working hard on The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd and we’d done some video podcast stuff, I just thought it was a natural fit. So it’s evolved from still photos to film.  It’s also been quite fun to see how more and more people have joined in the fun.  By writing in, commenting on the website and YouTube or entering the yearly contest I hold. I’ve even had two fans create their own Advent Calendar video podcasts and, to me, that’s the real fun. Last year a fan named BreakManZ started his calendar and he’s back again this year. The breakout star of the Advent Calendar video podcast scene though is Olivia in Olivia’s Advent Calendar. She’s an 8 year old fan from Maryland who started her own video podcast with her family and it’s really fun to watch.  She’s giving me a run for my money in the creativity department that’s for sure. (Links are on my site)

Each episode has its own flavor. In one you’re singing, in another you’re doing sight gags with a fan. Where do the various ideas come from?

Everywhere. Sometimes it’s planned out a couple days in advance and other times I just start the camera rolling and see what happens. That’s part of the fun because one of my self-imposed rules is that there can only be one take.  So I can ‘rehearse’ it a couple of times, but I never open the door until the camera is rolling and whatever happens during that take is what goes out on the web.  I try really hard not to repeat myself though unless there’s a specific reason to do so. That’s why one day I’ll have special guests and the next day I’ll be opening it with the Golden Gate Bridge behind me.  I think it gives folks a reason to tune in to see what will happen next.

What’s your best guess as to what you’ll find on day number 25?

Oh you never know what the Advent Calendar Commission (my family) has up their sleeves. Could be a couple dollars, could be a tube of Chapstick.  That’s another very important rule I have too.  I NEVER look ahead. I’m just as surprised as the viewers are when that door is opened each day.

The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd has been going strong for years. What can we expect from the Doctor and the gang in the future?

We’ll be starting our eighth season early on in 2010. Our last season, season seven, was a bit of a departure from our usual formula that saw our characters jump in and out of works of classic literature, but in season eight the crew will be back traveling through time just like before. We’ll have our usual gaggle of special celebrity guest stars as well, but I gotta keep a lid on just who they are for now.  We’ll also be debuting more video. We’ve launched Letters To Dr. Steve where the Evil Mastermind Dr. Steve and his assistant Fidgert answer real letters sent in by kids and we’ll be doing more of that in 2010 for sure.