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Film Criticism For Fun And Profit: Where To Begin?

post #1 of 7
10/23/06 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
So, little background: I'm 24, I'm still in college, I have a freelance gig writing/interviewing about movies, and I've officially found the girl of my fucking dreams.

I'm also very tired, mentally and financially, of college, don't get hired nearly enough for said freelance job to make the crucial next step into the larger world, and it's taking a slow toll on the relationship. I'm in a holding pattern.

I absolutely love what I do, when I actually get to do it, and feel that I'm at the point where I can call myself "a decent writer" and know for sure that this, or some variant of this, is what I want to do with my life. Freelance, however, no longer cuts it economically, at least doing it where I am now. I want nothing more than for this to become my career, my true bread and butter. And I have zero clue where to start. I kinda lucked into my current setup, and so far, all requests for advice or at least more work from that end have been met with silence.

So, the question before the court, for my benefit, and possibly for anyone else looking for a way in (but mostly mine) is where can one put their freelance writing skills and multimedia knowledge to good use, and actually make a living off it?
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post #2 of 7
10/23/06 at 7:33pm
Rhode Island.
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post #3 of 7
10/27/06 at 10:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luxury-Yacht
Rhode Island.
what do you mean by that?
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post #4 of 7
10/27/06 at 1:19pm
A good place to start is just to call up any publications near you that you think your work would suit, ask for an editor, assistant editor or sub-editor (whoever you can get hold of). If and when you get hold of them over the phone, simply say 'if I were to send you in some previously published stuff, would you have a look at it?' And then about a week or two later call again and ask if they did. I have a staff journalism gig (finally!), but that was how I got part-time gigs in some places when I was starting out.

BUT...tho I have written, and still write film reviews, it's almost impossible to do it for a living. Broaden your horizons and write about whatever else you're into (sports? comedy? music? tv? whatever). It'll increase your chances immeasurably. But as I said, it's very, very, very difficult to make a living from writing/journalism.
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post #5 of 7
10/27/06 at 2:54pm
The people I've known who've moved into film review were either working as journalists before and got the job when it came up, or had an established writing career elsewhere (in one case at a 'zine, which led to working for an alternative weekly). Getting a job as a film critic is a prized possession, and most of the primary critics don't retire unless they're forced out. Why would they? The best you can hope for is to be a second stringer and cover films like Saw III and See No Evil, and maybe something like Jesus Camp, and then hope you do enough other stories to keep yourself going. Otherwise, it's a rough road, even if you're really good and a great hustler, then again, you might stumble on a daily where an old dude is dying. Online journalism offers more opportunities but even less money, while writing books about cinema - in many cases - pays for shit. I know a guy who's written a couple of film books and got paid about a grand each.
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post #6 of 7
10/27/06 at 2:56pm
Also, life is like this everywhere, my advice is to network. If your town of choice is of any size, all the critics know each other, though they may not get along. And it's safe to say that if they like you and something opens up, you can get in that way.
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post #7 of 7
10/27/06 at 3:33pm
I started with a small town newspaper reviewing anything and everything. It didn;t matter if it was plays, movies, music or sporting events, I'd take the assignment. My stuff started getting picked up by larger affiliates and I started getting assignments from a variety of papers and mags. It took about two years to develop a portfolio and another year to craft a style that was distinctly my own (I was way too Ebert-esque in my movie reviews).

Of course I also got lucky when our local hockey team went on the longest winning streak in Canadian history (56-0 if I remember correctly) and I got to cover it. (Even got an interview on TSN).
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