Business Spotlight: Bad Movies Rule

Content creators with Bad Movies Rule are bringing comedy to Burlington and beyond through their podcast.

Bad Movies Rule is a podcast about the movies you love, even if no one else does. The podcast doesn’t deep dive into movie analysis but rather devotes attention to all kinds of movies as fodder for comedy.

James Hauser, Curt Mummer, Ryan Mattila, Ryan Mueller, Charles Huyett, Mel Vande, Clint Busch, Bob Hauser, Ryan Farrell, and Joe Goratowski are a group of blue-collar men and the voices behind the brand. They function as a set of rotating hosts from the area.

Their recording studio is located at 133 E. Chestnut Road in Downtown Burlington, above Gia Bella Flowers. They’ve been recording their shows since September 2022 in this space. The move to this new studio came after outgrowing the recording studio at The Loop Commons, 488 Milwaukee Ave.

Bringing the boys back together

In total, the group has been producing content steadily for two years. But that isn’t their only experience within the industry. Nearly 20 years ago, a handful of the hosts were making movies and working on a comedy show in Chicago.

“We said, ‘we’ve got to find a project that will bring us all together, we probably couldn’t do what we were doing before because there’s a big time commitment, but what if there it was something less burdensome, then the majority of the group could come in, and still have some fun and have some laughs.’ And we said, ‘Well, why don’t we do a podcast?'” says Hauser of Bad Movies Rules.

After years apart, the group is back together and the Bad Movies Rules podcast is available on all major streaming platforms such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify. In fact, the podcast was within the top five percent of most followed podcasts on Spotify last year.

“I don’t think anybody realizes there’s a top five percent podcast recording right here in the middle of the town,” says Hauser.

Growing their following

The entire team is self-taught, having learned the ways of content creation through their business.

“The cool thing that I found about podcasting is there’s just an incredibly inclusive and supportive community of podcasters online,” says Hauser.

So far, they’ve grown steadily with 50,000 followers on TikTok, 5,000 on Facebook, and 2,000 subscribers on YouTube. Additionally, they offer exclusive content available on Patreon.

“We just want the show to be accessible to as many people as possible,” says Hauser.

Persistence pays off

“About a year ago is when our social media finally started to take off after about eight months of a whole lot of nothing,” says Hauser.

Persistent with their work, they can proudly say they’ve never missed a publishing date, minus taking time off for Christmas, which is a big accomplishment given how few podcasts actually make it.

“I want to say there’s two million podcasts. The majority of those, I want to say 90 percent of the podcasts that started never make it past episode 20. So it’s not as saturated as people think. A lot of people start and stop,” says the content creator.

Now that they’re monetized and have a following, these movie fans are looking to connect with their direct neighbors through this unique brand of comedy.

In the future, they hope to connect with the community at different events, such as watch parties and future live streams.

Content creation opportunities

In addition to there being successful content creators in right here in Burlington, the hosts at Bad Movies Rule want to encourage others to get into content creation as well.

“Content creation, going into this year and beyond, is only going to become a bigger part of the broader economy. There’s gonna be more opportunities, not less,” says the host. “Lots of people have ideas. Lots of people have great ideas. Very few will see it through. And I think way more than talent, way more than great ideas, it’s hard work and perseverance.”