If you had told me 3 months ago, that I would be fulfilling a dream of being a film host (on Twitch, no less), I would have called you a liar. Since I was little, I always had a fascination with film. Low budget, no budget, huge budget. It didn't matter. I watched whatever I could, using it to grow my own personal tastes. That openness to see someone tell a story (sometimes lack there of) exposed me to the good, and a lot of the bad. It shaped me, molded me, made me who I am.
That is why, when I was given an opportunity to share some of these movies with people, I jumped at the opportunity. Now, to be clear, watching movies with people is nothing new. You do it every time you would step into a theater, go to a drive-in, have a slumber party, etc. But with the advent of streaming platforms, it made it easier. There have been services and browser plug-ins that have allowed you to synchronize, or even share, video with others. Two examples of this are Rabbit (for sharing) and Showgoer (for synchronizing). And I'll admit, I have used those (and other ones) in the past to watch with people, usually with a voice chat going on so we could laugh, joke, etc. during the movie or show.
Enter Amazon, who back in 2014 purchased Twitch. This was a weird move at the time, but we learned to accept it. Over the years, Amazon as integrated some of its services into Twitch, namely Prime. This was a game changer for a lot of those who used the platform. It gave you some perks just for linking your Amazon Prime account to Twitch, and it still does.
But something interesting occurred April 2020. For Prime Members in the US, they could join "Watch Parties" on Twitch with a limited catalog. The following month, they made the entire Prime Video catalog available for these Watch Parties. The next month, they rolled it out worldwide. Hosting a "Watch Party" slowly being rolled out worldwide.
For anyone that knows me from Twitch, they know that the last 2 years have been rough for me. I dealt with a lot of personal and professional issues, as well as being burned out from 6 days a week 8-12 hr streams for 3 years. I would pop up for a stream occasionally, and something felt off. The passion was gone. Until, it wasn't. You see, in times of crisis, people need an escape. Even if it was for an hour, they needed to forget about the hellscape reality we are currently in. That rekindled the passion I had for entertaining, for providing an escape. I could have played it safe and just done what I always had before, just play games, make bad jokes, and try to make people feel welcome. From March 2020 until May 2020, that is what I tried. Then I remembered running movies for friends. Just hanging out and experiencing something, for them it was usually their first time. The feeling of introducing people to something new was exhilarating. Due to me running usually 2-3 films when I did this, I called it The Grindhouse. A homage to the old theaters of the 70s and 80s that were known for doing double and triple features, usually low budget films that were just pumped out. And what better escape is there then watching a movie? Considering the "branding" I use on Twitch, it quickly became The Precipice Grindhouse. I also tended to focus more on Horror than any other genre.
I will not forget running a "test" that turned into a 10 week season, and the joy I have sharing these films (no matter how good or bad) with people. It started with just 2 films, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and The Stuff (1985). And I thought, "Hey, what if I ran 2 Horror Movies every week with a connecting theme?" And that is how it all started.
Hopefully you weren't bored through this welcome and back story to what TPG is all about.
- TE
