Dan Benamor of Voyage Media: 5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Very Successful Podcast

An Interview With Jason Hartman

Take your audience’s time seriously. The danger of podcasting is when the podcast assumes the audience has an obligation to listen to the content. They don’t. Assume you must earn the audience’s interest with every minute of your show.

As part of my series of interviews about “5 things you need to know to create a very successful podcast”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dan Benamor, the Head of Podcasts at Voyage Media”.

part of my series of interviews about “5 things you need to know to create a very successful podcast”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dan Benamor, the Head of Podcasts at Voyage Media”.

Dan Benamor is the Head of Podcasts at Voyage Media and producer of their hit scripted audio dramas, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY MURDER and OTZI THE ICEMAN MUST DIE. Dan has been involved in 17 produced feature films. Highlights of Dan’s credits include the Toronto Film Festival premiere AMERICAN HEIST, starring Adrien Brody, Hayden Christensen and Jordana Brewster, as well as the horror film FINAL GIRL, starring Abigail Breslin and Wes Bentley.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit of your “personal backstory? What is your background and what eventually brought you to this particular career path?

I have always had a producer mindset. In film school, I helped everyone with their short films as a writer, and then when I graduated, I called in all those favors and made my first feature, which I co-wrote, directed, edited, and produced.

Can you share a story about the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started podcasting?

I think what has been most gratifying so far has been the feedback we’ve gotten from listeners. Our first show for Voyage Podcasts, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY MURDER, is one that we internally felt was very strong, but until you see the user reviews, from people who don’t know you, you can’t be sure if the audience is receiving the content the way you intended.

It’s also been very cool to get to work with some actors I really admire on our other shows (Lili Taylor from THE CONJURING, Ethan Suplee from AMERICAN HISTORY X, Michael Emerson from LOST, and more to come).

Can you share a story about the biggest or funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaways you learned from that?

I started podcasting without a microphone. My first interview was a recorded phone call. One of my friends heard the episode and ordered me a microphone on the spot. And that’s still the microphone I’m using.

How long have you been podcasting and how many shows have you aired?

Voyage’s podcast division is only a few months old, and we’ve already have 2 shows that hit the ‘top podcasts’ charts on Apple, are releasing our 3rd, TRUE WAR STORIES: MISSION REPORT in early September, and are in production on 8 others. I started in audio dramas myself a few years ago with a show called HIGH BEAM and I also host and produce a movie interview podcast where I talk to filmmakers, and I’ve released 92 episodes of that show.

What are the main takeaways, lessons or messages that you want your listeners to walk away with after listening to your show?

Our most recent release, OTZI THE ICEMAN MUST DIE, is in my eyes our version of the movie AMADEUS, just set 5,300 years ago (Otzi is a real person, found perfectly preserved in the Italian Alps, he died 5,300 years ago, he’s one of the most important scientific discoveries of the last 30 years). AMADEUS is my wife’s favorite movie, I hadn’t seen it, and when she forced me to watch it, I became obsessed with it. I think that idea of telling a story through the POV of the character who would typically be the villain is powerful and underused.

I also just really wanted to highlight Ethan Suplee, who is probably best known as a comedic actor (REMEMBER THE TITANS, MY NAME IS EARL) but was extraordinary in this underseen Hulu series called CHANCE opposite Hugh Laurie. I knew he’d crush this part, and he did.

In your opinion what makes your podcast binge-listenable? What do you think makes your podcast unique from the others in your category? What do you think is special about you as a host, your guests, or your content?

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY MURDER is a true crime story, and I think it’s binge-listenable both in its shorter length (we’ve made a conscious choice to keep these at 30 minutes or less) and emotional power (you’re hearing the true story of a mother finding out how her daughter was murdered, from the voice of her daughter).

OTZI THE ICEMAN MUST DIE hinges on that titular concept. The audience knows Otzi is going to die. They just don’t know how. And by telling it from his killer’s perspective, we’re placing the audience into this uncomfortable position of wanting justice for the villain, but also likely empathizing with him somewhat. And it requires listening to the end of the show to get catharsis from that feeling.

Doing something on a consistent basis is not easy. Podcasting every work-day, or even every week can be monotonous. What would you recommend to others about how to maintain discipline and consistency? What would you recommend to others about how to avoid burnout?

It’s like going to the gym. The hardest part is showing up. Scheduling ahead helps a lot. In an interview format, once you get a guest booked, you’ve committed to that person, so that helps maintain discipline.

For our more production-heavy scripted shows with Voyage, each step is so fun and exciting, as we work out the scripts, cast the actors, get our original music in, direct the actors, and so on that it’s hard to get burned out. There’s a new discovery creatively each step of the way.

What resources do you get your inspiration for materials from?

What I love about the podcast space is your loyalty is ultimately to yourself as an audience member. Meaning, unlike film or TV, you’re not answering to a giant budget or huge studio. If you listen to podcasts, you know what you like and what you don’t. Just make something you’d want to listen to.

Ok fantastic. Let’s now shift to the main questions of our discussion. Is there someone in the podcasting world who you think is a great model for how to run a really fantastic podcast?

Clearly the folks at The Ringer have cracked the code on movie podcasts with THE REWATCHABLES. On the scripted side, Gunpowder & Sky have made some great scripted podcasts.

What are the ingredients that make that podcast so successful? If you could break that down into a blueprint, what would that blueprint look like?

It’s about respect for the audience. You need an instant hook, if your hook comes two minutes in, it’s too late. And you need a strong emotional through-line. It’s ultimately the same storytelling principles as any other medium, just heightened.

You are a very successful podcaster yourself. Can you share with our readers the five things you need to know to create an extremely successful podcast? (Please share a story or example for each, if you can.)

Take it seriously. Quality matters. Buy a microphone (I learned this the hard way, as noted above). Edit.

Take your audience’s time seriously. The danger of podcasting is when the podcast assumes the audience has an obligation to listen to the content. They don’t. Assume you must earn the audience’s interest with every minute of your show.

Have a unique hook. This is the hardest one, but the most important. What makes your show truly different from the 17,000 other podcasts floating around next to it? With LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY MURDER, we let the murder victim tell her story, that set us apart from other true crime shows. With OTZI THE ICEMAN MUST DIE, the villain takes the audience through the story of this famous historical murder, instead of the hero.

Treat it like a job. Top to bottom. I created my show MOVIES I LOVE THAT NO ONE TALKS ABOUT by myself. But I treated it like a job. I created a show Instagram and FB page. I had a graphic designer do my logo. I booked professional, high-quality guests, and interviewed them professionally. I researched and took copious notes on my segments before producing them. Now I have a job in the podcast space, but I was already working like I did even on my own independent show.

Be bold. Take a risk. Try something that might fail. Argue the contrary position to every other podcast. Do something crazy. Create a scripted audio drama entirely from the POV of a German Shepherd, in German, if the spirit strikes you. Release an episode of your interview show that breaks your format, where the guest interviews you. Shake things up. This will keep it exciting for you and your audience.

Can you share some insight from your experience about the best ways to: 1) book great guests; 2) increase listeners; 3) produce it in a professional way; 4) encourage engagement; and 5) the best way to monetize it? (Please share a story or example for each, if you can.)

Use personal connections to get your first great guest, and then leverage that for future guests. For example, I was fortunate to be personally connected to the director of GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS and the creator of JOHN WICK, both of whom were early guests of my interview podcast, and after I interviewed them, that legitimized the show and I could point to that when requesting interviews with other guests of similar status.

Increasing listeners, in my view, is about great quality and consistent output. Marketing matters, but all the marketing in the world won’t save a weak product.

Professionalism means taking the time get the small things right. If you’re making your own show and editing yourself, trust me, I know it’s a huge pain to go back and re-edit the file after you find some audio hiccup right before posting. But you have to do it. Taking that time is the difference between pros and non-pros in this space. Same goes for interview prep — do your research, become an expert in your topic. No shortcuts.

I personally have found that doing polls or asking listeners for episode suggestions (and then taking them up on those suggestions) on social media has been a great way to keep my audience engaged for my movie interview podcast. With Voyage, we’ve been inviting the audience to our behind-the-scenes episodes, which has been a great way to connect with our listening audience.

Monetization in podcasting is a super-complicated subject that I think ultimately boils down to the long game. In my personal example, I just kept making content, and eventually started working with Voyage. If you grow your brand as a podcaster, keep making quality material, and increase your audience, someone will find you. There is money in this space, but it’s not as simple as selling ads on your show (while that is part of it, focusing solely on that outcome is short-sighted in my view). As we’ve seen with mega-deals for podcasters like Joe Rogan, if you keep going, in success, there’s typically a cash-out in this space in the long run.

For someone looking to start their own podcast, which equipment would you recommend that they start with?

I’d Google “good microphones for podcasts” and then take your pick. Honestly, even a $40 microphone is going to be pretty solid. Audacity is a free editing software. Zoom is free. The barrier to entry to podcasts is nonexistent.

Ok. We are almost done. :-) Because of your position and work, you are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I’m about empathy — I just hope I can keep making content that is about empathy, empathy for people or characters who we usually don’t see get it.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow everything we’re doing at Voyage Media in the podcast space at voyagemedia.fm or at the Voyage Media Instagram or Facebook.

Thank you so much for sharing your time and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.