Certified Fresh and California-Grown, Rotten Tomatoes Turns 25

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 20 October 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rotten Tomatoes, the site that rates movies according to how a tomato decomposes – from Certified Fresh to rotten – turns 25 this year. And its origin story isn’t only one of the dot-com boom: It began with Jackie Chan movies, a martial arts club and three UC Berkeley undergrads. The trio went on to found a website that changed the way we choose the movies we watch. We’ll talk with them about the Rotten Tomatoes’ beginnings and we’ll hear from you: How do you use Rotten Tomatoes? Does the tomatometer make or break whether you see a film? Guests: Senh Duong, creator and founding COO, Rotten Tomatoes Patrick Lee, founding CEO, Rotten Tomatoes Stephen Wang, founding CTO, Rotten Tomatoes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for KQED podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport.
0:05.0	Did you know that SFO has a world-class museum?
0:07.9	Get ready to be wowed by art, history, science, and cultural exhibitions throughout the terminals.
0:14.0	Learn more at flysfo.com slash museum.
0:18.6	Support for forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:25.9	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:32.5	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime,
0:39.2	it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. The riveting
0:47.1	and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through
0:53.0	June 8th. Tickets on sale now at Broadwaysf.com.
0:59.3	From KQED. From Gake UED in San Francisco, this is Forum.
1:19.7	I'm Mina Kim.
1:21.1	More than a third of U.S. moviegoers say they consult Rotten Tomatoes before seeing a film.
1:26.6	The movie review site's certified fresh rating
1:29.3	can make a small film without a huge star, or it can break a big budget movie with a rating
1:34.7	of rotten. It's been called over its 25-year history, Hollywood's most influential and
1:40.3	most feared website, and it was invented in the San Francisco Bay Area.
1:45.5	This hour will meet the three UC Berkeley students who came up with the idea of rating a film based on a tomato's decomposition,
1:52.3	and hear what they think of its impact, nearly two decades after they left the company. Join us.
2:03.6	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
2:06.6	25 years ago, three UC Berkeley students started the website that's now an undisputed
2:12.1	pillar in movie consumption and marketing, Rotten Tomatoes, The review site that aggregates both critics' opinions
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.