And to think, none of this would have happened if The Infamous Billy The Kidd hadn’t gotten fired.
As George Clooney’s Ryan Bingham lays it out quite simply in UP IN THE AIR, “anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it’s because they sat there that they were able to do it.” Well, that’s kinda how InfamousKidd.com came to exist.
Back in his college days, The Infamous Billy The Kidd decided to chase the dream and studied film. He always loved movies growing up. He loved watching them. He loved trying to write them. He loved acting them out and memorized. To him, there was nothing like going out to the movies and entering into this entirely new world only one’s imagination could create. However, in going to film school, The Kidd quickly learned that there were only two real choices when it came to where you’d have to be in order to make films – New York and Los Angeles – and without the money to set up shop comfortably, with failure a very distinct possibility, The Kidd turned his attention to something else he enjoyed – radio.
While in school, The Infamous Billy The Kidd entered the radio world, becoming an on-air talent for the college radio station. He became the DJ that the listeners loved to hear and the management loved to hate, and, after hosting a successful overnight show, a successful weekend show, and a successful mid-day show, The Kidd attempted to try his luck making a living in the world of commercial radio.
The Kidd was able to get his foot in the door at one of the giant media conglomerates (“The Evil Empire”), in the hopes of rising up through the ranks to ultimately host his own show. But it was not to be with the entire industry taken over by voice-tracking and syndication. There was no chance for advancement or growth. There was barely a chance to move up from part-time status. And, ultimately, after being subjected to having fake walls put around his desk to keep the noise out while watching doors being taken off sound-proof recording booths, so management could keep a closer eye on the talent, The Kidd was let go. His services were no longer needed. It not only turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it allowed The Kidd to no longer work in such a toxic, micro-managing, incompetent environment where the edict was issued not to tell listeners what you think they should know but what they want to hear (yes, that was the directive in the newsroom), but it allowed The Infamous Billy The Kidd to get back to doing what he loved.
With the idea of providing quality content to an industry that has no idea what to do with quality content dead, The Kidd set his focus online. After all, if you want the freedom to be creative, to speak your mind, and to have your own voice, the only place that provides you with the tools to do that is the internet. The goal to bring a unique and original radio show to the internet was created, and the quest to launch Infamous Radio was born.
But The Infamous Billy The Kidd refused to start something that didn’t work or that was substandard or that flat-out sucked, since it would have his name attached to it, and a negative product would reflect poorly on him. So, while the search continued for what it would take to go beyond the oversaturated world of podcasts to host a live online radio show, complete with listener call-ins, The Kidd decided to take up writing once again. Every day, he would create commentary on the things he was most interested in, namely pop culture, and, in order to shake off the rust for when Infamous Radio was ready to go, a regular blog was started, and InfamousKidd.com became a reality.
Over time, InfamousKidd.com has evolved, from the core of its subject matter to the amount of content provided. What started out as a pop culture blog dealing with movies, TV, celebrity news, etc. has slowly transformed into a full-blown movie/entertainment site, complete with opinions, reviews, columns, and more. After all, how often can one write about Lindsay Lohan’s drunkenness and Lady Gaga? Every day, it turns out… which can get awfully boring awfully quickly. In the end, InfamousKidd.com has taken The Infamous Billy The Kidd back to doing what he loves to do, which is talking about movies and the entertainment industry.
And, as a result of InfamousKidd.com, The Kidd has been able to build upon a community of people who love movies, from the movie geeks to the film snobs and all the nerds in-between. He has created an outlet for fans of film to come together and discuss what they like, what they don’t like, what they love, what they hate, but, most importantly, what they think period. InfamousKidd.com has helped in opening up the outlet for those who enjoy movies to talk about movies with other people who enjoy movies. It is our mission to continue to bring those with a common interest in cinema together, and to organize a forum where everyone can interact and engage with the ability to form their own opinion and have it be heard.
InfamousKidd.com has become more than something just for The Kidd. It has become something for all of you – to read, to share, and to get involved in. With any luck and some hope, you will continue to come back to the site, bringing more followers with you each and every time, always exposing new people to what we have to offer, so that this community can continue to expand and grow to new levels.
You are very much appreciated, as, without you, this would merely be another site written by another guy. However, with you, it has grown into something special, a family of sorts, something you can be a part of. What started out as a random idea has now become InfamousKidd.com.
