Scrapple TV: Marc Brodzik of Woodshop Films wants national ‘pirate TV’ network online [VIDEO]

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.
A man in a suit and white beard with a deep baritone began to read the news in front of a green screen.
Suddenly, the bright ring of a cell phone broke the silence in the otherwise quiet recording studio. Marc Brodzik, who was standing behind the camera, wearing a faded Tide detergent shirt, shorts and flip-flops, reached into his pocket and with a grin pulled out his phone and shut the ringer off.
“Phones off, bitches.”
It is with that humor and laid backed demeanor that things are run at Brodzik’s Woodshop Films, a local video production company that started its own internet channel, called Scrapple TV, three years ago.

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“I call it unprocessed television,” said Brodzik of his programming, which is as brash and as unapologetic in its humor as Brodik himself. “Scrapple is more gritty and more real.”
Scrapple TV is shot from Brodzik’s former woodshop studio, hence the name Woodshop films, on Green and 5th streets in Northern Liberties. Brodzik described the operation as a “pirate TV station” that fits with a changing trend in video content production.
“All of a sudden now HD video is in the hands of the common man, so I’ve kind of turned my art studio into this television station,” Brodzik said.
As of now, Scrapple TV features a number of different original shows with a range of characters from the anchor of Scrapple News, AP Ticker to the co-anchor of Scrapple Sports, Slow-Pitch Mike.
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One of Scrapple TV’s most popular shows is a music review show called Breakfast at Sulimay’s. The show features three senior citizen regulars at Sulimay’s Restaurant in Fishtown giving reviews of hip hop and rock music with often hilarious results.
“I thought it was garbage. I think they need to hire better technicians. It was a mindless muttering,” said one reviewer after listening to a song by mashup artist Girl Talk.
How Brodzik came up with the idea for Breakfast at Sulimays is a perfect example of the eccentric creative process that fuels Scrapple TV.
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“I was sitting in a diner and hearing these three old people have this triangulation in the room and it was just really funny,” said Brodzik, “And I thought we should have them review bands, that would be f—— awesome.”

Brodzik funds the entire operation himself through commercial work for pharmaceutical companies using his background in the visual arts, specifically painting and woodwork. Beyond computers, most of his equipment is bought new, and he is helped by friends, unpaid interns and volunteers. Fittingly, considering the opening graphic to each show is an animated pig singing “Someday we’ll get paid for this.”
“I take any money I make and dump it back into my company. It’s completely hand to mouth,” Brodzik said.
Two years ago Brodzik received a Pew Foundation grant for media arts, which funded him for a year, and he has plans to begin to monetize Scrapple TV’s programming.
“We’re just about ready to go to venture capitalists to be first-stage investors just for Philly,” Brodzik said.
Brodzik said his vision for Scrapple TV expanded far beyond the Delaware Valley.
“My plan is to have what I call hyperlocal cells. We’ll have a staff of writers in each city who will create local content and then they’ll also syndicate stuff, ” said Brodzik, who said he would like to model it after weekly newspapers like City Paper and Philadelphia Weekly.
Brodzik would also like to see any expansions follow his model and have shows that cover not just entire cities but specific areas such as what Kenzo News, which covers the Kengsington area, does for Scrapple TV.
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Expansion for Scrapple TV doesn’t just mean geographically for Brodzik but also an expansion for its content as well.
“I’d like to do more editorial or investigative type pieces. I like the idea of partnering up with journalists and bloggers. Getting into bigger and more juicier stories,” Brodzik said.

Although Brodzik’s ambitions are great, his viewership has not always been been able to match it.
Scrapple TV’s programming has some shows that bring in several thousand viewers, with highs including several popular episodes of Breakfast at Sulimay’s near or above 100,000 views and nearly 70,000 views from episode six of the show Smut Cave. Many other Scrapple TV episodes receive a few hundred views on Youtube.
Brodzik said he thinks this is more of a result of how he has handled the launching of Scrapple TV than shortcomings in its content.
“It doesn’t really get tons of views because I didn’t focus on marketing, but now I’m getting more obsessed with that and getting my numbers out there,” Brodzik said. “I was really trying to master making daily content on a regular basis and trying to nail that down first. I feel like once I get that solid, I can worry about building up an audience as opposed to getting an audience and having them be disappointed.”
Still, Brodzik said he knows the risk of online television programming.
“Definitely, I’m the f—— captain, and this is my ship, but I’m the only one that is going to sink. You can jump off with the life raft. I’m the one that has to go down with the boat,” said Brodzik, adding with another wide grin, “I’m all about sharing the booty though.”
He’ll just have to get more people on board.
To find out more about Scrapple TV visit its website at scrapple.tv.
Watch a video interview with Brodzik below.
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