Meet creator and host of the Movie Gang Podcast Jack Newman! 

Jack Newman is a 27-year-old North Carolinian by way of San Antonio, Texas. He returned to San Antonio to attend Trinity University and study Communication and Philosophy. There he worked as the Executive producer of the campus news station.

During his time in college, his greatest accomplishment was convincing Kathryn Boyd to be his girlfriend. His second greatest accomplishment was the currating absurdly diverse menagerie of misfits he acquired as friends through dorm parties and a liberal use of craft cocktails. Ranging from music nerds to hardcore newsies to drama geeks and lawyers, it was a family away from his actual family.

After college Jack moved back to North Carolina where he interned for a short time at a local Disney affiliate news station- ABC 11. After his internship he began work at Duke University Hospital as a Simulation Technology and Media Specialist. His primary duties include producing education and public relation video and photographic materials as well maintaining and operating a fleet of simulation manikins (which is just code for plays with dolls for a living).

Jack also owns and operates his personal company- Newman Visual Productions. He offers a wide range of Photography and video services in Durham and Raleigh North Carolina.

Upon moving back to North Carolina Jack, by some miracle, was able to convince his girlfriend to move there with him, but was unable to pack all his friends into his suitcase and kidnap them due to possible human rights violations. Despite this, he was determined not to let the group drift apart and so founded The Movie Gang Podcast so that once a week they could all come together like the old days. The Movie Gang Podcast eventually branched off to become the Tuscan Shed Media Network.

Jack is the current host of The Movie Gang Podcast and Animania. He is the primary video and audio editor for the TSM Network and creates and provides all the art, website design, and rss maintenance to keep the TSM up and running.

The rest of the gang is forever grateful that Jack founded this podcast and we would be utterly lost without him. 

Meet cast member Trevor Flynn!

Trevor lives in Temple, Texas. He grew up in Fort Worth near the cultural district and spent much of his youth meandering through museums. At Paschal High School, he was lucky to have a diverse acting experience with the Vagabond Players performing Shakespeare, musical theatre, and even taking an absurdist show to the Edinburgh Fridge Festival. He also reported on food and movies for the paper.

He pursued Drama at Trinity University in San Antonio, where he trained as an actor and took rigorous writing classes. In his sophomore year, a habitual disinterest in sleeping inevitably caused him to associate more and more frequently with Jack Newman. The two discovered a mutual interest in philosophy, drinking, and things Japanese, and in short while they became anime aficionados.

Trevor studied a semester in Tokyo where, ironically, he was introduced to Blues music and started getting okay at playing a harmonica. He returned in his fourth year almost always wearing a trilby, and found that Jack had been slowly amassing a band of misfits uniquely capable of having a good time. You now know that gang of misfits as the cast of the Movie Gang Podcast!

Trevor is a freelance editor and a ceaseless thinker. He regards the sandwich as the epitome of the human quest for innovation, and would play chess in the park with practically anyone.

Meet cast member and host Ben Haworth

Ben Haworth was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and has lived in the south for 25 of his 26 years, but of course all he ever talks about is that one year he lived in Portland. Did you know about Powell’s Books and Voodoo Donuts? Of course we do Ben, you won’t shut up about it.

Ben has many loves that aren’t scotch or Tinder, mostly of the nerdy kind. Ben loves TV, video games, and has an unhealthy obsession with podcasts. If you ever want recommendations for new podcasts just ask him and then regret asking him when he sends you a 30 page detailed list.

Of course Ben’s greatest love is film…or his family. They are pretty cool too. Nothing makes Ben happier then seeing a great film on the big screen which means his move to LA will bankrupt him for life. Ben’s tastes are eclectic and his favorite film list varies on who he’s trying to impress at the moment.

Ben met Jack at Trinity University where they worked for Tiger TV, a well run college TV station that allowed fun college shenanigans to be shot in glorious 1080i. Ben, Jack, and Andrew even spent almost the entirety of a news broadcast ripping on the film Sucker Punch.

Ben is an aspiring film editor who can tell you all the nitty gritty dirty secrets of the exciting world of post-production, like that one time Natalie Portman watched his monitor while she was waiting to do voice over. The stories are endless! Ben of course wants any potential employer to know that everything he has ever said bad about your films or your friend’s films was a lie and he loves everything you’ve ever done. Also it was a character. Also it wasn’t him, it was his twin brother…Neb...

Ben is happy to be making podcasts and looks forward to one day getting a microphone that doesn’t drive Jack insane. Till then Ben will be off on another adventure, dating someone who doesn’t live within 50 miles of his house and watching "a pretty great” 7 hour black and white film about a Hungarian collective farm. And yes that is a real film and no Ben doesn’t actually like it, he’s just trying to impress you.

Meet cast member Bobbye Pyke!

Bobbye Pyke is a ball of sarcasm. A Dallas native, Bobbye has spent the last few years uprooting her life regularly and moving across the country. She will proudly tell you she lived in Washington, DC for a spell. But she also spent a year in Arkansas and likes to pretend it didn't happen.

She currently lives in rural Wisconsin but hopes to put herself back into the heart of civilization in the near future. While she will deeply miss the availability of local craft breweries when she leaves the state, she will not miss the winters at all. Cowboy boots were not made for snow.

A reporter for the local newspaper, Bobbye covers crime and courts and spends her days talking to lawyers, judges and criminals. She can be super fun at parties with her engaging stories about stupid people committing stupid crimes.

In her spare time, Bobbye can usually be found spending time with her dog, Amy, a nearly 2-year-old corgi. She also reads a lot of books and has a bad habit of re-watching the same television show 20+ times until she has memorized every line. Test her knowledge on 30 Rock, The Office, Parks and Rec, or Scrubs. We dare you.

Bobbye enjoys an Old Fashioned and lately has been gathering an appreciation for IPAs. She also has a coffee addiction, as all proper journalists should.

Bobbye met the gang in college. As a sheltered college freshman, the first friend she found was Jack who regaled her with horrifying stories involving pillowcases and cookies. Jack knows what he did. But the friendship was solidified almost immediately in spite of it.

Bobbye prides herself on being the Lana of the gang (Archer anyone?) and enjoys nothing more than yelling about movies with her best friends.

Meet cast member Peter Dancy!

How should we describe Peter? First and foremost, Peter is a geek for comics and movies, especially all things Marvel.

He is an avid gamer, be it console or handheld. He loves music. Whether it be hip hop or EDM or k-pop or even country (yeah, he's kinda getting into it.)

Peter hails from Houston, TX and met the gang in college. He and Bobbye lived on the same hall Freshman year and became best friends when he found her reading the Anthology of Shakespeare and learned she had a talent for ridiculous accents.

He loves watching TV and has been into cartoons these days, because he is still a 12-year-old at heart. Peter is almost always on his computer watching various videos about random shit ranging from video games to music videos.

Peter is a freaking amazing dancer. While he is super humble about it, the gang will be quick to point out that Peter has got serious moves. While he hasn't danced on stage in a few years, he has been feeling the performance bug and still choreographs to songs on the radio in his head.

Peter is a fantastic photographer and a college party was rarely complete without him documenting the candid moments. He rarely takes a "normal" picture or selfie. Unless he has just got a haircut in which case he must document the fabulousness.

Peter also has a habit of staying up way too late contemplating going to bed, as evidenced by the fact that he wrote this bio at 2 a.m.

Meet cast member Sarah Becker!

Sarah is a 25-year-old musician located in Fort Worth, Texas. Born and raised in Funkytown, she and fellow Movie Gang Podcast member Trevor were Orch-Dorks together in high school and ended up going to college together, too.

Sarah got her BA in Music from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where she met the rest of the weirdos on this podcast. Bobbye was friends with all of them already, and then brought Sarah into the friend group when the two of them moved in together senior year.

After Trinity, Sarah got her MMus in Musical Instrument Research from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Although her ultimate career goals involve working at a museum which houses a collection of musical instruments, for now she plays the organ for a church and plays the keyboard in a band, which still needs gigs and a name.

She spends a lot of time watching Netflix. She has been re-watching Game of Thrones and also has a wonderful cat, aptly named Tyrion.

According to Jack Newman, Sarah is the only lesbian who says, “Howdy!”

Her favorite TV shows include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra, and Game of Thrones. She will always be the first to complain about the lack of good LGBT representation in the media and just wants writers to stop killing off their gay characters.

The top three things on her bucket list are, in no particular order: seeing the aurora, borealis or australis; seeing the Milky Way; and visiting every continent.

Meet cast member Jena!

Jena grew up in very rural Wisconsin, where she enjoyed tracking down various haunted venues with friends. She earned her Bachelor’s in Political Science and Human Communication at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Jena met Jack the first month of college, when a couple of bright-eyed first-years decided to watch Eurotrip together. This was Jena’s first introduction to the movie and caused her to loudly sing “Scotty Doesn’t Know” for the rest of the semester. Her roommate was wildly unimpressed.

After studying abroad, Jena reconnected with Jack through overindulgent drinking habits and late-night musings. Following graduation, Jena attempted to save the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas one classroom at a time. Although she proved mildly successful at this adventure, she packed for another cross country move, this time with great snow potential (which she is, as yet, wholly mentally unprepared).

Jena currently lives in New York as a Master’s student at Syracuse University. With this degree, she hopes to rid the world of violent conflict; if not, she will simply create greater cultural understanding through food.

In her free time, Jena loves reading, baking all sorts of chocolate desserts, and applying dramatic makeup unusable in daily life. She cannot resist rapping in her Challenger, passengers and onlookers be damned.

She loves beer in its many incarnations but adores dark beers and Nitros. She counteracts this beer adoration with weight lifting, hoping to achieve the natural version of Kim K.’s booty. Results may vary.