The opportunity finally arose when Panucci's editor at the Charleston Gazette, Douglas Imbrogno, hatched the idea for a multi-media version of the paper's entertainment section, The Gazz. He needed video content to make this work.
Brian Young, a longtime friend of Panucci's got back in touch with him after a few years of life going on, and brought up the idea of doing something with LiveMix Studio, a rehearsal space/recording studio that Young wanted to wire for video.
A Video revival of Radio Free Charleston (henceforth known as "RFC") became possible, and then, with the help of Young, Melanie Larch and Frank Panucci, RFC became a reality. Production began in May, 2006.
Rudy Panucci had been writing the PopCult blog as part of The Gazz since August, 2005. In June, 2006, he started dropping hints about the coming revival.
On June 23, the following item was posted at the end of a long post about the second-ever FestivAll in PopCult...
At the Gazz preview party last night, something else happened. Our esteemed Gazz editor, Doug Imbrogno, who co-hosted the evening with Mountain Stage’s Larry Groce, made an official announcement: Under the auspices of The Gazz.com, I will be reviving Radio Free Charleston as an internet video show! You may have noticed some of the “subtle as a cinderblock to the face” hints that I’ve been dropping lately. “Hmmm….”
I delivered the pilot yesterday, and hope to take RFC weekly by the end of July. We’re going to feature local music, weird short films, comedy from The No Pants Players, and more, all in a tight little ten-or-fifteen minute package. As an added deterrent…er…bonus, you get to see my ugly mug hosting the show. I’ll have more info on Monday, including details on how you can watch Radio Free Charleston, and maybe even a production diary with behind the scenes poop on how we filmed the pilot.
“Uh, we went over there and filmed some, and then they made us leave, so we had to go over there.” You know, real meaty insider stuff. Check back here at PopCult Monday, but first go enjoy FestivALL.
It turned out that technical bugs kept the show from being posted until July 4, but this was the first official acknowledgement of the return of RFC in PopCult.
