Today, we get the chance to talk with Ash and Matt — a delightful duo living in Queens, New York.
Ash works as the Senior Production Manager for Pinna and Matt is a freelance writer who joined the Pinna team when 5 for 5 Trivia needed his expertise.
Together, they’ve created a fan favorite Pinna Original podcast, Food Crimes. Below, you’ll hear how an inside joke between the pair inspired a show that families all over the world now know and love.
Keep reading for our exclusive interview with this talented couple.
Let’s get started.
An Exclusive Q&A With Ash And Matt, Creators of Food Crimes on Pinna
1. Hi there! To start, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to work with Pinna?
Hi! We are Ash and Matt — a couple living in Queens, New York. One of us (Ash) works for Pinna as the Sr. Production Manager. The other (Matt) started working with Pinna as a freelance writer when 5 for 5 Trivia needed additional writers.
2. Please share what Pinna projects you’ve worked on — and how it came about. We’d love to hear!
Our big project is Food Crimes. The term "food crimes" started as an inside joke between the two of us, as a way to warn the other that, "Hey I need to eat NOW or am going to be hANGRY". Once the folks at Pinna heard about this term they apparently thought it was pretty clever and asked if we could develop a show out of it. At first we had no idea how to turn a joke into a show for kids, but it was really with the excellent support of the Pinna team (especially Amy Kraft, Ilana Millner, and Maggie McGuire) that we were able to come up with the courtroom format using real stories from families and real kid jurors. Also, big shout out to Matt's sister Laura and her stepkids Sovi and Asher. We wouldn't have been able to get this show off the ground if they weren't willing to share their story for episode 101.
3. What led you to this career choice? Any advice for our readers who may be interested in pursuing this path?
We've worked in children's media together for almost ten years now. We wanted to make content that contributed good to the world and helped shape the younger generations for the better. If you want to work in children's media or any media the best way to start is talk to everyone and anyone about your dream. You never know who might have a connection that could set you on your path. The road is long and winding, not straightforward at all.
4. Growing up, what was your dream job? How does that compare to what you're doing now?
We both grew up wanting to make content either as movie directors or writers. Podcasts didn't exist when we were little so we didn't even know we could dream of it. Now here we are making content for kids that we are so proud of!
5. What (or who!) inspires you? We'd love to hear more about your creative process!
First and foremost we inspire each other — we love to make each other laugh! Specifically in podcasting though, we are huge fans of Scott Auckerman, Paul F. Tompkins, Lauren Lapkus, and a lot of what comes out of Earwolf Studios. One of the first things we bonded over was listening to the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast. Another source of creative inspiration is Dungeons & Dragons. We love to play together (Matt is an amazing Dungeon Master) and we are really inspired by the shared storytelling aspect of that game.
6. Okay, let's have a little fun! If you could travel anywhere in the entire world, where would you go and why?
New Zealand! COVID put a delay on our wedding plans and New Zealand was supposed to be our honeymoon. Hopefully someday we can make it there because it seems like one of the most beautiful places in the world.
7. Do you have any furry (or scaly!) friends keeping you company while you work? If so, feel free to share a picture too!
Zemi, our pup! Often when we are recording a Food Crimes interview or jury session Zemi will make an appearance in the Zoom (usually looking for attention).
8. Let's talk food! If you could only eat one thing every single day for the rest of your life, what would it be? Why?
Only ONE food for the rest of our lives?! That sounds like a food crime! But if we had to pick.... paneer tikka masala (with naan please!).
9. What do you enjoy listening to — music, podcasts, audiobooks? Can we get a sneak peek at your playlist? ;)
If it's music it's lofi beats, Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, TV on the Radio, or maybe even Television's "Marquee Moon" album. If it's podcasts it's Comedy Bang! Bang!, Threedom, The Andy Daly Podcast Project, Superego, The Adventure Zone, and How Did This Get Made?, but those are just the ones we listen to together. We are huge into podcasts so we have our own favorites as well. While we don't listen to any audiobooks, we are reading Lord of the Rings out loud together, does that count?
10. Wrapping up, can you share where our readers can follow you to keep up with your work?
Sorry readers, we don't really use social media — we just go on those sites to find memes. If you want to keep up with our work you can find us on Pinna!
The Takeaway
Getting to chat with Ash and Matt has been the highlight of our week. We hope you enjoyed our (virtual!) interview as much as we did.
We’re all ears!
Have you listened to Food Crimes on Pinna yet? We’d love to hear from you! Find us on all our social platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest – or email us at contact@pinna.fm.
