Technology: REST API

Radio Localized

Posted on by fezziwigmedia

Radio Localized is my own weekly show on KBFG-FM that explores different places through music. Each episode focuses on a specific location, from New Orleans to Manchester, from rural Australia to urban New Jersey, and features songs connected to those places.  Since listeners had no way to visualize where these places were, or understand the geographic and cultural context behind the music, I proceeded to build a site to support the show.

RadioLocalized.com is a Drupal-powered companion web site that transforms the radio show into an interactive experience. For each episode, the site displays a map showing the locations referenced in the songs, along with details about each place and the music connected to it.

The Approach

Rather than build in isolation, I worked collaboratively with AI as a coding partner to move quickly and efficiently. Using my years of Drupal and web development experience to guide the architecture and decision-making, I was able to:

  • Design a data workflow that syncs directly from Google Sheets (where I manage show data) into Drupal, eliminating manual entry and keeping information current
  • Define entity relationships that connect songs to episodes to places to artists, creating a flexible system that could grow with the show
  • Plan interactive features like clickable maps, expandable accordions, and timestamped audio that enhance the listening experience
  • Solve real problems as they arose — recovering lost data, securing sensitive credentials, debugging unexpected behavior

This wasn’t a theoretical exercise; It’s a working tool for a real radio show with a real audience. It demonstrates the ability to understand a problem deeply, make sound technical decisions, and deliver a maintainable solution.

Grand Illusion Cinema

Posted on by fezziwigmedia

The Grand Illusion Cinema is Seattle’s oldest continually operating independent movie theater, run entirely by volunteers. As the cinema’s general manager, I took on the redesign and redevelopment of its public-facing site to reduce volunteer workload and bring the theater’s online presence up to modern standards.

You can explore the live site at grandillusioncinema.org or click on the images to view full-size screenshots.

The Approach

The previous site required volunteers to manually enter every screening into the calendar, a tedious, error-prone process. I built a custom WordPress plugin that integrates with the Agile Ticketing API to automate the entire workflow:

  • Film and screening data imports automatically on scheduled cron cycles
  • Timezone normalization ensures showtimes display correctly regardless of server location
  • Deduplication logic prevents duplicate entries when data is refreshed
  • Screening data syncs to ACF fields, giving editors flexibility without breaking the automation
  • Automated nightly backups with a tiered retention policy protect against data loss

The theme is custom-built on Underscores with a Sass/Gulp pipeline, adapted from a design supplied by a local artist. It includes custom post types for films, series, directors, formats, and countries, plus an Ajax-powered monthly calendar that keeps the page fast even with a full schedule.

This project reflects how I like to work: identifying a real operational pain point, building a solution that’s robust enough to run unattended, and staying involved as the organization evolves.