Podcast Episode 4: Update from Our MutantFam.com “Cousin”

MutantFam.com’s founder, Frank, joined HorrorFam.com’s Lauren Spear to share the FUTURE of (horror) event coordination!

Frank gave us a behind-the-scenes look into how the Friday the 13th event with Joe Bob Briggs and Diana Price came to be, how to get involved with MutantFam.com’s weekly mini-events, and — scoop alert! — the next BIG project/event coming out of MutantFam.com!

Franks Links:

• Frank’s Website = MutantFam.com
• Follow Frank on Twitter = @HeyahNew and @mutant_fam
• Follow Mutant Theater + Mutant Cafe on Twitter for mini live-tweeting events every week = @MutantTheater2 and @CafeMutant

More links to Frank’s #MutantFam friends/teammates throughout the written transcript below — as well as links to MutantFam.com’s next BIG event (officially announced on our podcast!).

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If you enjoyed this podcast episode — or anything else we’ve done on HorrorFam.com! — please consider donating to our Patreon or purchasing something from our Store. You don’t have to (we’ll love you either way because we’re family), but it’d be super nice/helpful. 🙂

Okay! Onward to the transcript…

Full Written Transcript:

*Intro music from FreePD.com*

Lauren Spear: My name is Lauren Spear and you’re listening to the HorrorFam.com Podcast! Today, I have something that you may recognize from Twitter as @HeyahNew or @Mutant_Fam and he is the founder of MutantFam.com!

His name is Frank, in real life…

MutantFam.com Frank: *laughs*

Lauren: Not to be confused with my husband Frank, from HorrorFam.com!

This is my online “cousin” Frank, from MutantFam.com… He runs a website that started out as sort of a gathering spot for people who watch The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, but it’s quickly growing into even more.

Welcome, Frank! How ya doing?

Frank: Thank you! That’s a very fair assessment because it’s hard to kind of describe what [MutantFam.com] is turning into. So I appreciate that intro. That was pretty spot-on!

I’m doing very good. How are you doing?

Lauren: I’m doing really well. Thank you very much for asking.

Frank: Of course. And just to kind of throw a label on what you were trying to say: It’s turning more into a venue. That’s what I like to think of it as. A location to throw events.

So, like, if you want to throw a live-tweet, or you want to do a Q&A, or even if you want to do, like, a product release! Like, if the Joe Bob Fanzine wanted to do a big party for Issue Six, we would coordinate it and throw it through the site, if that makes sense.

Lauren: It does make sense to me! Hopefully it makes sense to the listeners as well…

You guys recently had a live-tweeting event last Friday — on Friday the 13th!

Frank: Absolutely! And that was our biggest event by far. Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy — you know, Diana Prince — came and did that livestream where…

They would’ve done it on their own already. I didn’t plan it with them. Diana Prince threw out a tweet a few weeks ago saying that they were gonna do it and then I DM’d her and said, “Hey! How are you going to do this?” And she had some ideas and she was very receptive to my ideas…

She was super open to doing it and hosting it through [MutantFam.com] and I couldn’t be more grateful because, let’s be real, she was doing me more of a favor than I was doing for her.

Lauren: *laughs*

Frank: But I ended up helping tremendously making the promo material for it, and being totally available on Twitter answering questions, and…

Like, the coolest part to me was, when they went live: They go on live, they start talking, and Darcy goes to start saying the drinking game and she’s like, “Oh! I don’t have it in front of me!” and I tweeted it to her and she immediately sees it, thanks me, and starts reading it out live.

That was like an alley-oop! That was like, like… me literally helping her, in the moment, like a producer almost! It felt so cool.

Lauren: That is really cool.

Frank: Right?!

Lauren: And, oh man… She’s such a sweetheart. I’m going to be talking with [Diana Prince AKA Darcy the Mail Girl] next week, so…

Frank: Congratulations! That’s awesome.

Lauren: Yeah! *giggles* I can’t wait!

Frank: That’s really exciting! And it makes me feel cool, and important, that I’m on a podcast that she’s gonna be on. I’m like, “Ah man! I’ve made it!” Or whatever. *laughs* You know?

Lauren: You’re on it, Darcy’s gonna be on it — you know, Diana Prince…

Frank: Yeah.

Lauren: And Wayne Clingman was last week’s guest. He’s an author and he runs a bunch of indie film festivals.

Frank: Nice.

Lauren: And…

Frank: You’re doing real cool things here with [HorrorFam.com]! I’m super excited for you. But I’m sorry to interrupt. And who else [was a HorrorFam.com Podcast guest]…?

Lauren: Oh! *laughs* And my dad.

Frank: And your dad? *laughs*

Lauren: Yeah! He was a special FX artist from back in the day so…

Frank: Right? That’s great!

I know you had the little hiatus for a little while for November and December, but you’re coming back hard. And, I like to look at this community…

Like, I messaged you, just to give the listeners a little idea: I messaged you two months ago because I’d put MutantFam.com up and I was like, “Hey! I know you made HorrorFam[.com] a month or two ago and I don’t want you to think I’m stepping on your feet, or your toes, or whatever. I’m not trying to, like…”

You know what I mean? I didn’t want you to think that I was trying to, like, take part of that crowd away or anything!

Lauren: *laughs* Yeah.

Frank: I wanted to make sure we were, like, in cahoots a little, y’know? Like we’re “cousins” like you introduced me as! That’s cool!

Lauren: Yeah.

Frank: We gotta support each other and, like, “rising tides bring us all up.”

Lauren: Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

Like, I think we bought our domains and everything at around the same time and then we started getting rolling around the same time… And then we just… We were totally unaware of each other until you messaged me! And then it was, “Oh hey! I just noticed that you have a very similar website.”

Frank: Right? We’re going for the same thing here, so that’s super cool.

But, yeah; I think there’s a lot of growth ahead for both of us. If your fourth interview is Darcy… That’s insane!

Lauren: Oh, yeah! *laughs* I’m very excited about that.

She actually started following me… I guess almost a year ago? Just on, like, my personal Instagram. *laughs* I’m not sure how or why she ended up there, but she’d been following me for a while before HorrorFam.com was even a thing.

And then, when we got HorrorFam.com up, I was like, “Heeeeeey! You might also be interested in this…”

Frank: *laughs*

Lauren: And she was like, “Omigosh! I so am!” *laughs*

Frank: Right?! That’s awesome. That’s very cool.

Lauren: Yeah, and you are… You are very active on Twitter, especially at your @HeyahNew. Or, I guess, some people don’t, you know… Don’t see the actual Twitter handle and [your name] just shows up as “New Heyah!”

Frank: Yeah. Exactly.

And so that’s where this all started from. I’m very active on Twitter.

I got into the #MutantFam and Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy towards the beginning — or the third or fourth episode of the first season [of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs] is when I really started tweeting heavy. And, like, the community just formed. You know?

Like, I went from 100 followers to 700 followers in two or three months because we all, like, bumped into each other! We were all like, “Oh! You’re doing this too? And you’re doing this too?” and we all, like, stayed in touch. Even after the Friday live tweets, we would just talk all week long.

And I’ve just stayed super active. And then, when I made the site in December, things just blew up. Like, I’m non-stop! It’s like a second job now. I’m sitting here responding to DMs all day and just coordinating with people and scheduling things — scheduling YouTube premieres and our Friday night live tweets.

And people will reach out to us randomly! Like Killer Horror Critic reached out to us the other day saying, “Hey! Let’s do a St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun marathon!”

Lauren: Oh yes! I think I saw that just… this morning!

Frank: It was very impromptu. It was very spur-of-the-moment. He had so much fun… I believe his name’s Matt? I forget his exact name… But he had so much fun at the Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy thing [last] Friday that…

It’s like that afterglow you get after a concert or any sort of event. Where, on Saturday, you’re like, “Ah! I wanna be with my friends again at that party! What the heck?!” And you just immediately want to plan it again.

Lauren: Yeah.

Frank: And so he reached out! And it’s cool to be looked at like that in the community where, like, Mutant Theater and Mutant Cafe and myself — under the #MutantFam tag — are the guys who throw live tweets!

Like, if you wanna throw a party online and get the community together, reach out to [us], and we’ll get it done!

So it’s cool that Matt reached out to us to kinda do that together. Because he has a community too, he has his little group of people, he could’ve just done it on his own; but it’s better to do it together, y’know? Get a whole huge crowd together and just have a party.

Especially in the times we’re in where they’re telling us not to leave home.

Lauren: Yeah!

Frank: I like to think that we’re building the future of event coordination. This is going to be a thing.

Like, this is the very start of communal live-tweeting like this! It’s not going to get smaller — it’s only gonna get bigger — and people are gonna throw these huge online film festivals and these huge online comic cons… And these are gonna be things MutantFam[.com] is on the ground floor of.

Ten years from now when virtual reality events are, like, all the rage? You better believe we’re gonna be throwing virtual reality events! It’s gonna be insane!

Lauren: *laughs* I believe it!

And, yeah, I’ll be honest: The only reason I’m subscribed to Shudder every month is because of The Last Drive-In…

It’s like, “Okay, well, there’s not really a whole lot else on Shudder; but The Last Drive-In could be comin’ back any minute now!” and I don’t wanna miss out on that event.

Frank: I’ll argue differently: There’s a ton on Shudder!

Lauren: It is getting better. It’s getting better…  But… *laughs*

Frank: I agree that, like, two years ago when I first… Like a year, year and a half, two years ago it was very sparse.

But, now, I open it and the “New” list up top… It’s like, go two days, everything’s shifted to the side and everything is “New” again!

Lauren: Yeah…

Frank: Even if it’s not a new movie! Even if they throw Return of the Living Dead III or whatever up there…

It’s like everyone is watching it at the same time. I still think it’s a cool “communal” feeling. Even if it’s not literally the same time, you’re all watching it within the same week!

Lauren: Yeah.

Frank: So you’re all kinda tweeting about it and talking about it… So I still…

But I know that feeling. I know a lot of people make that statement, like: “I’m just gonna unsubscribe from Shudder until Joe Bob comes back!”

Lauren: Oh, no, no! I don’t unsubscribe!

Frank: Oh?

Lauren: I stay subscribed, but… But [The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs] is what I’m waiting for! Just like everyone else. *laughs*

Frank: Ah! Amen. Yeah. Same here. I can’t wait.

Although…

For my benefit and for [MutantFam.com’s] benefit, I’m so glad that they didn’t have a Friday the 13th event and that they were willing to work with us.

Lauren: Oh, yeah.

Frank: So, going back to that a little bit: When Joe Bob got on Instagram and Twitter that afternoon — that Friday afternoon — he was holding, like, a Jason [Voorhees] plush doll… I don’t know if you saw that video?

Lauren: Yes! I did see that video! *laughs*

Frank: And he said “MutantFam.com” in that video! He goes, “All right, Everyone, go to MutantFam.com!” That… that was…

Lauren: Yeah, that was big for you guys!

Frank: Oh my God! Five-thousand people watched the video on Instagram, like three-thousand on Twitter…

So my stomach dropped, my heart… Like, everything was racing! Because my dream, since I started this site, was that he would mention it on The Last Drive-In. Like he mentioned Tom Denton. He mentioned the fan ‘zine, I believe, once. He’s mentioned a few people that I talk to on Twitter.

So, I’m like, “Oh. I’m in that crowd. Maybe he’s gonna see the site and be like ‘Hey! Some dude made MutantFam.com!'” And, instead, he literally said it to everyone on Instagram! He came and did a show with us!

It was like… It was ten times more than I could’ve ever imagined!

Lauren: Aww. Yeah. What a dream come true! That’s awesome.

Frank: Right?! It was super cool.

Lauren: Congratulations again.

Frank: Thank you so much! It was very validating because it’s only been two months since the site went up, and…

Obviously, like anyone, you can see the traffic on your site. And, like, you know…?

Lauren: Yeah.

Frank: And I don’t have a blog, so I don’t do…

Well, I do. Now. My friend Lily runs the blog.

But, at first, we didn’t. And that’s what usually brings traffic to a site. Like, let’s be real: Most websites are actually just blogs. They’re not websites.

And so, every day they release a dozen articles about the new Candyman movie or whatever… And they get thousands of people to visit it!

Lauren: Oh yeah.

Frank: But I don’t have articles like that. I just have, like, landing pages with podcasts and YouTube videos. It’s more of a streaming service than it is a blog.

And, so, I would go 20 people a day… 50 people a day… Or we’d have an event like Horror Ball and we’d hit 200 people… And then Joe Bob says [our URL] and we hit 4,000 people in a day!

Lauren: Ooooh!

Frank: Just from him saying it! *laughs*

Lauren: That’s amazing! That’s so awesome.

Frank: Yeah. Yeah, it was beyond awesome. It was just… I can’t even.

To me though, it’s like… The way I look at it so that I can not…

Like, there’s no way that’s gonna happen again any time soon. Right now, that was our Avengers: End Game, you know what I’m saying?

Lauren: *laughs*

Frank: Like, Black Widow is gonna come out in May, and it’s gonna make 700-million, 800-million; but it’s not gonna make two-billion.

So I gotta accept that Joe Bob [Briggs] and Darcy was my End Game and now I gotta go down to those little projects again that kinda keep us sustaining… And, maybe a year or two from now, we’ll have another huge thing like that!

But, obviously, I don’t expect for it to happen often.

Lauren: Yeah, you’ve gotta have a few Spider-Man movies and… *laughs*

Frank: Yeah! Yeah. Exactly. You’ve gotta have the little sprinkles in-between. We’re not trying to change the world every time.

Lauren: Well… hmm! *laughs*

Frank: *laughs*

Lauren: Well, my next question was gonna be “Well, what’s next [for MutantFam.com]?” But… *laughs*

Frank: No, no, no! I’ll speak about what’s next! That’s a great question!

Lauren: Oh, okay!

Frank: To sustain what we do is Friday Night Frights. It’s a mixture of a live tweet hosted by Mutant Theater — which we do a poll for every Monday — and then Mutant Cafe comes on and does a live cook along. And then we watch a few more movies throughout the night.

We’ll usually have one planned through Mutant Cafe and then, after that, we do [our] Midnight Marathon every Friday at Midnight [Eastern Time].

So you go to MutantFam.com/Marathon, you click “play,” and we just stream movies all night long.

I just choose a bunch of public domain films that I’m allowed to stream. So, this week, we’re doing a “space” theme and I’ve got Plan 9 from Outer Space and Warning from Space — or Danger from Space? — and Battle of the Worlds.

And, so, every week, we pick a theme and we just have a live tweet. And then streaming videos all night after Midnight. So, if you follow [@mutant_fam] and you follow Mutant Theater… That’s our main thing. And Mutant Cafe!

And then, really, I’m partnered with a bunch of YouTube channels: Video Creep, Survivor’s Guilt, TYTD Reviews, my buddy Ditlev Buster… And they do YouTube premieres all the time! So we schedule them — we try to schedule them on Thursdays — where we all just show up on YouTube and chat.

So it’s not even necessarily… Like, we advertise it on the site, but it’s not only [MutantFam.com] — it’s more the community and where we end up hanging out at any given time. Let’s go hang out at YouTube now and chat! Let’s go hang out on Twitter and live tweet! Oh snap — the Joe Bob Discord is having an event on Saturday? Let’s do the Discord double-feature!

So it’s not just the site: It’s kinda the group of us just kinda going from app to app and taking advantage of that platform in a different way — whether it’s a podcast or a video or a chat.

Lauren: Oh wow. Yeah… It’s a party all the time with you MutantFam people! *laughs*

Frank: Yeah! *laughs* I mean, that’s a good way of putting it. Like, we just try to stay in constant contact! So, that way, if someone wants…

Again, like the Leprechaun thing! It was like, “Hey! What’re you guys doing Tuesday?” “Uh, I dunno.” “Let’s do this!” “Cool. We’ll make it happen.”

Some things we plan a week, or two, or three weeks in advance. Other things… Like, my friend Lily [Spellman], she did “Lily’s Lab” last Friday where she live-tweeted Friday the 13th one through three…

That was spur-of-the-moment! And we got, like, six people to show up. That’s cool. Six people at ten in the morning watching movies together?

Like, we’re not trying to promote everything or push everything as being a “big” event… It’s kind of about catching people where they are and, like, being available to be a part of the community. Because, I mean…

That’s what Joe Bob taught us. That’s what Darcy taught us with #MutantFam. They taught us that: You can be with each other separately and then stay in communication with each other constantly — and support each other — as, like, a group of weirdos.

It has nothing to do with horror movies at this point. It has nothing to do with drive-in movies at this point.

It’s like… That’s gonna be the story we tell about how we began; but, at this point, we’re a community of people that just… kinda like talking to each other! And kinda like supporting each other in, you know, times of need…

Lauren: Yeah…

Frank: *laughs*

Lauren: It’s nice, isn’t it? *laughs*

Frank: Yeah! It is! It really is!

And, like, I don’t want to get deep into current events but I do feel like we’re positioned in a way that “normal” average people aren’t.

Like, they’re gonna sit at home and be, like, going crazy in a week! Like “Where are my friends? Where’s my family at? I’m not doing anything! I’m stuck at home! I’m…” whatever. And I’m gonna be like, “All my friends are online already! I’m seeing everyone I normally see!” Y’know? *laughs*

Lauren: Yeah… Well, I haven’t left the house since February 13th, sooooo… *laughs*

Frank: *laughs* Right?!

I mean, I go to the supermarket occasionally. I work from home, my hobbies are from home… I read comics and I live-tweet with people.

I mean, now I gotta stock up on food for two or three weeks to a month — what am I leaving for? All the restaurants, bars, gyms, and theaters in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey were just ordered to shut down today. So…

Lauren: Oh yeah. Same!

Frank: I’ve got nowhere to go! *laughs*

Lauren: Same here in California. In Los Angeles. *laughs*

Frank: Yeah… Yeah. It’s scary. It’s kinda crazy.

Lauren: Yeah, I just… But, like you said: The “normal” people are gonna be going a little nuts…

Frank: Uh-huh! *laughs*

Lauren: …but the Mutant Family is just like, “This is fine.” *laughs*

Frank: We’re literally planning our St. Patrick’s Day party! As every St. Patrick’s Day parade and party in America is being canceled, we’re literally starting to plan ours.

It is the future of event coordination!

Wizard World — they throw comic cons all over the country and they had to cancel all of them, obviously. And I woke up the other morning having an idea about online comic cons… And then I get online and it’s like “Wizard World doing online events to supplement the fact that they’re canceled!” And I was like, “Dammit! I knew it was a good idea!” But they’re gonna run with it.

So, this is a thing. This is going to change the way that a lot of people do business in the future.

Lauren: Oh yeah. Absolutely. *laughs* And… I like it!

Frank: Yeah. Yeah, me too.

Lauren: I mean, a little less plague would be good.

Frank: Yeah. *laughs*

Lauren: But, the staying at home and enjoying each other from a distance part? I’m good with that.

Frank: Right? Right! And you just gotta find fun ways to get through it. And I think that the live tweets and the chatting and YouTube and just hanging out and having a community outside of the physical “outside world” will help a lot of people get through it mentally.

Physically? You have to be prepared in different ways…

But, I think the biggest issue is getting through it mentally. I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago that was like, “To prepare for this, you don’t necessarily need to get water and toilet paper — you just need to mentally prepare to be indoors for a month!” And I was like “Oh snap! I’m ready! I’m good. We’re good.” *laughs*

Lauren: Yeah! *laughs*

Frank: Lauren’s ready!

Lauren: I am very ready.

Frank: Yeah! Like, I was the kid at home sitting on a computer, reading comics from the time I was twelve until I was seventeen or something… Like, I didn’t outside! My mom would try and get me to go outside and now… Now I’m the one prepared! *laughs*

Lauren: Yuuuuuup! *laughs*

Yeah, like, this past weekend, I was just playing Graveyard Keeper on my PC and then, you know, my family and I were playing Zombie Dice…

Frank: Yeah!

Lauren: [That’s] what we do every weekend anyway, so… *laughs*

Frank: Right?! And that’s another important thing: To be close with your family! To have a pleasant relationship with your family.

You live with your in-laws, right…? Or are they your parents?

Lauren: Oh! They’re my parents, yeah.

Frank: Your parents. Exactly. So, I mean, it’s important to have a close relationship with your parents — your siblings, your husband, your kids — if you’re going to be stuck at home you can’t be, like, on each other’s nerves or whatever. It’s like… You gotta be pleasant with each other. You’ve gotta be happy. You’ve gotta be fine with playing video games and board games and watching movies…

And, I think, in the long run, if taken advantage of in the right way: This could be a fun thing! We get off from work and school for three weeks? That’s, like, ideal!

…If it weren’t for the fact that we can’t go outside because there’s a deadly virus everywhere… *laughs*

Lauren: Yeah… And the lack of income can be a little worrying too, but… *nervous laugh*

Frank: Oh, I know! I know. Like I said… I forget if I said it on the podcast or before while we were talking [pre-show], but my wife isn’t gonna be working because she’s a teacher. So that’s a little nerve-wracking.

But I work from home. Thank God!

Lauren: Yeah. And, you know, when you’re stuck at home, there’s not really much of anything other than essentials that you have to save money for anyway. So…

Frank: Yeah. Absolutely. I’ve got my cold cuts and some meats frozen and stuff…

And I’m not going out to the deli and the pizza place every day now.

Lauren: Yeah. My family and I… We’ve all been taking turns cooking and just, you know, making things from scratch. And… some recipes have turned out better than others, but it’s fun getting creative in the kitchen.

Frank: Right? That’s cool.

So, the other thing, just to get back to Mutant stuff: I haven’t officially announced this yet, but I was gonna try and do it sometime this week.

The BIG thing we’re gonna work towards next…

Because I don’t wanna… Like I said, there’s not gonna be big things back to back to back. But, I wanna do, on next Friday the 13th — November 13th — I wanna do something called MutantPalooza!

Lauren: *intrigued noise*

Frank: Just a two-day film festival where… I wanna make it a real film festival! Not, like, we’re just live-tweeting old movies that we all play at the same time. I’m gonna have filmmakers submit their movies like they would to Fantastic Fest or Cannes or whatever.

And, Friday night, I wanna do a live tweet like we normally do — we’ll do Friday the 13th: Part 7 or something or Nightmare On Elm Street or whatever we wanna do — and then, Saturday, all day long, I wanna stream films on [MutantFam.com] that were submitted by filmmakers. I wanna have an actual film festival on the site!

So we’re gonna make a big announcement about it, but this is kinda…

I mean, you’re releasing this on the 20th… So maybe I’ll wait until the 20th to make this announcement? *laughs*

Lauren: Oooooooh! Yes, please! That would be great!

Frank: Absolutely! We’ll go hand-in-hand! I’ll, like, push everyone to come listen to this and I’ll make the announcement at the same time.

And, again, we’re going to be requesting filmmakers go to MutantFam.com/Mutantpalooza — and I’ll put this all over Twitter — to submit your films and that’s gonna be our next big thing.

Squee Projects is gonna curate it — she made the documentary Squee-Fu: Fans Celebrate Joe Bob Briggs — and then my buddy Video Creep is gonna host it. And we’re just gonna have a fun two-day film festival!

Lauren: Are you taking the digital film submissions through MutantFam.com then…? You’re not using a third-party site like Film Freeway? Or…?

Frank: No. I… They won’t.

So, I tried to use Film Freeway and they will not allow… You have to have a physical location. You have to have your festival be in an actual theater.

Lauren: Ah.

Frank: So, that was the first thing I looked at! Because I figured that would be awesome to just have a third-party get the films sent to us. But, because we’re doing it all digital, I kinda gotta ask to have [people’s indie films and shorts] submitted privately through [MutantFam.com] ’cause no one else will help me.

Lauren: Ah, okay.

Frank: But, again, I think this is the beginning of something! The fact that Film Freeway has, on their website, a disclaimer that says “you have to be on a physical location” *scoffs* Next year they’re not! I promise you, next year they’re not. *laughs*

Lauren: *laughs*

Frank: This is going to be a thing!

Lauren: Yeah, because so many of the film festivals on Film Freeway are having to shut their doors because of the virus. So…

Frank: Mm-hmmmm.

Lauren: So, they’re going to end up losing a lot of money [by] not allowing people with online venues to…

Frank: Yeah. You’re right. You’re absolutely right.

I mean, so, it’s gonna be a thing where…

Like, South by Southwest [SXSW] is saying that they don’t know if they’ll be able to go on next year. Like, because they’re losing so much money. That’s crazy to me!

Lauren: That is crazy.

Frank: I’ve been to South by Southwest a buncha times! And then I moved from Austin back to New York this year and… The thing that I was saddest about was Alamo Drafthouse and South by Southwest.

And now, the moment the next one was supposed to happen, a deadly disease cancels it. And so I’m like, “Ah! It was meant to be! I left and they can’t even have it anymore.” They’re like, “We’re gonna cancel it for everyone if Frank can’t enjoy it.”

Lauren: *laughs*

Frank: At least… that’s how I like to look at it. But I do… It… It feels shitty. *sheepish laugh*

But yeah, similarly, all these other festivals, unfortunately, are gonna be hit by a huge financial burden. And, like, they’re going to have to do something digitally — online — or they’re not going to be able to do next year at all.

And, again, we’re on the leading edge of what the future of event coordination is. Or event planning is. It’s gonna be digital, it’s gonna be online, and everyone is gonna accept it in a year or two.

Lauren: I love it. I’m here for it!

Frank: Yeah! *laughs* Absolutely. Absolutely. And I’m so happy.

So this is my second podcast I’ve done. The first was with Garage-A-Rama. They’re some amazing dudes and a girl… one girl. Katie, I think her name was? And I felt like, when I did that podcast, it was very basic — bare-bones. Like, it was three weeks into having made [MutantFam.com] and I was still trying to sort it all out.

And here I am, two months later, and I’ve got, like, these grandiose ideas now. And who knows if they’re gonna happen! I don’t like to sound like… I want…

I want to be believing in all of them. But I don’t want to sound super into it like, “Oh, we’re going to be super successful! We’re gonna make all these huge things happen!” But I… I would hope we are! You know? *nervous chuckle*

Lauren: I think you will. I mean, you’ve done so much in just the past two months, so…

Frank: Yeah? Thank you.

Lauren: I think you’ll be fine. *laughs*

Frank: Right? As long as we all stick at it. I think consistency is the most important thing. Just sticking to it. Every week. Every day.

Lauren: Yeah, I mean… I went on the Voices of Misery podcast back in October and we didn’t really have a whole lot going on. And it’s like, “Oh, I wish I could go back on now!” *laughs*

Frank: Yeah! *laughs* Yeah! Exactly! So you know the feeling? You know exactly what I’m talking about.

Lauren: Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

Frank: That’s funny!

Lauren: Well, I know you’re a little short on time today, so… I guess we should wrap up for now.

But I’d love to have you back! Maybe closer to the MutantPalooza?

Frank: Sounds great.

Lauren: Get an update on that since your big reveal/update of the event is on this [HorrorFam.com Podcast episode] and then we can catch up on how that’s going in a few months.

Frank: I dig that! I like that a lot! Maybe we can make that like a plan to, like, maybe catch up like once in the middle and once right towards when it’s gonna happen…

We’ll do one time in the middle of the summer or something and I’ll update ya on what’s goin’ on. And then, right before the event, we’ll, like, hype it up or something!

Lauren: That sounds great!

Frank: This is awesome! You rock!

Lauren: Thank you! So do you. *laughs*

Okay, Everyone! Follow Frank at @HeyahNew. That’s H-E-Y-A-H-N-E-W — that’s on Twitter.

Or, you can follow him at @Mutant_Fam — as in F-A-M like “family.”

Frank: *laughs* I’m glad you spelled that out!

I was looking at an Instagram post of Darcy’s — Diana’s — the other day, and someone’s like, “MutantFAN? F-A-N dot com?! There is no MutantFan.com!”

Lauren: *laughs*

Frank: I was like, “Noooo! F-A-M!! Like Michael!”

Lauren: That happens to us all the time too since we’re HorrorFam.com… And it’s like, “Horror FAN??” No, no, no, no! Like FAMILY!!

Frank: That’s awesome. I’m glad you get it too. *laughs*

Lauren: Oh yeah. *laughs* All the time.

And Frank’s website, of course: MutantFam — as in “family” — dot com! Go check that out!

Frank: Lauren, it was such a pleasure. Thank you so much. And I’ll talk to you online and I’m sure we’ll be talking “in-person” again soon.

Lauren: Okay! Talk to you soon, Frank… who is not my husband but my online “cousin.”

Frank: *laughs* Bye.

Lauren: My husband is also named Frank. *laughs* Bye, Everyone!

Frank: Bye!

*Brief Silence*

Lauren Spear: Hi, Everyone! It’s Lauren again and… pretty exciting news from Frank at MutantFam.com! I hope that you enjoyed the episode and that you’ll keep in touch with Frank — and me, of course — and see what’s going on with the Mutantpalooza in November!

In the meantime, if you want to look fabulous while social distancing, please check out our sponsor — Moonglow Jewelry — and use our affiliate link if you decide any of their awesome glow-in-the-dark moon phase jewelry. That’s B-I-T dot L-Y capital M on “Moonglow” H-F. Capital H, capital F.

So, bit.ly/MoonglowHF.

And, if you buy any of their jewelry, you’ll be helping to support HorrorFam.com because we get a percentage as an affiliate.

Good luck out there and I hope you find something that makes you smile.

Until next time!