Blank Check with Griffin & David

The Blank Check website describes the podcast as: Notable guests who have appeared on the show include Rachel Zegler, Jamelle Bouie, Leslye Headland, Jamie Bell, Kevin Smith, David Lowery, Patton Oswalt, Tatiana Maslany, Richard Lawson, Lulu Wang, Ayo Edebiri, Karina Longworth, Alex Ross Perry, Roman Mars, Nia DaCosta, Bowen Yang, Amy Irving, David Krumholtz, Jane Schoenbrun, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ari Aster, Zach Cregger, Seth Rogen, and Marc Maron. Origins: Griffin and David Present In 2015, the podcast began as Griffin and David Present, and assessed the Star Wars prequel films as if in a universe where the other Star Wars films did not exist. Originally planning to spend 50 episodes on each film, producer Ben Hosley convinced the hosts to only do ten. Having used a lengthy analysis of a filmography as a means of discussing the films' director, Newman and Sims decided to use a similar approach in reviewing the works of other directors, and retitled the show Blank Check with Griffin and David. Blank Check with Griffin & David Each miniseries is given a loosely comedic title which combines the word "podcast" with either a title of a film or the director's name. If a director they've previously discussed releases a new film, they will work it into their schedule of upcoming shows. == Blank Check: Special Features ==

On January 1, 2019, Newman and Sims created a Patreon page, Blank Check: Special Features, where fans could pay a monthly amount in exchange for extra content. Blank Check Special Features focuses primarily on audio commentary about films that are part of franchises, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Toy Story, Mission: Impossible, The Santa Clause and Alien. The Patreon feed also offers monthly bonus episodes and other content related to the current miniseries or general interest. , the Blank Check Patreon was ranked 12th in the podcast category and 33rd overall based on the number of paying supporters, with 17,762 subscribers. == Blank Check: March Madness ==

Every March since 2018, there has been a March Madness style bracket pitting thirty-two directors against each other, allowing listeners to vote and decide a director to be covered later in the year. Until 2022, the votes were cast through Twitter polls, but were later moved to the Blank Check website following use of bots to influence match-ups. Since 2020, there have been brackets exclusive to the Patreon to decide a franchise to cover. == Reception ==

Blank Check has been positively reviewed by Paste, Decider, The show was included in Esquire's list of the best 21 podcasts of 2018, as well as on Paste list of the top 30 podcasts of the decade. It has also been featured in Vulture and Entertainment Weekly as a selection of the week. In May 2023, Luis A. Gómez of The New Yorker wrote about the podcast, stating that "Newman and Sims reveal themselves as connoisseurs of context in engaging, discursive conversations" and are "a positive, authoritative voice in the film-podcasting landscape." The show was an honoree in the 2025 Webby Awards. The show was also nominated for best TV and Film podcast in the 2025 iHeartRadio podcast awards. ==Notes==