… assuming you don’t want to get paid for your hard work.
The invaluable Movie Mom – AKA Nell Minow – offers today’s guest post from her trip to Ebertfest, the annual film event where the veteran movie critic celebrates under-appreciated films and talks, what else, movies.
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The two Illinois cities of Champaign and Urbana make up a community that includes the University of Illinois and it is the home of Roger Ebert, who also went to school there and holds what used to be called the Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival there every year.
Now in its 11th year, the festival is simply called Ebertfest but its purpose is the same — to bring audiences to superb movies that they might have missed.
Unlike most festivals, which have many competing events and dozens of unreleased films seeking publicity or distribution, Ebertfest has just one screening or panel discussion at a time, creating a marvelous sense of common experience among the attendees.
All screenings are held in the magnificent historic Virginia Theater, a true cathedral of film, and one of the highlights of the festival each year is a screening of a classic silent film with a live orchestra providing the soundtrack.
I was on a panel called “Film Criticism and the Web,” with 10 critics including Richard Roeper, the Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips, radio and television stations WGN’s Dean Richards, Time Out Chicago’s Hank Sartin, Ain’t-It-Cool’s Steve Prokopy (aka Capone), Kim Voynar of Film Essent and Movie City News, Lisa Rosman of US Weekly and Flavorpill, and eFilmCritic’s Eric Childress and Peter Sobczynski.
We all agreed that this was the best time in history for being a movie critic, but it may be the worst time in history to try to make money from it.
The only thing disappearing faster than newspapers these days seems to be newspaper film critics.
The internet has given literally thousands of new voices an opportunity to express their views on movies and it has all but eliminated any sense of local connection to the critic.
If a movie is opening up nationwide, is there any reason to care whether the critic saw it in your town?
Instead of a perspective based on a geographic connection to the readers, critics today have many more different ways of connecting. Whether a movie-goer’s interest is in classic horror or anime, they will be able to find someone who has the passion and expertise to provide information about what is available and provide context, insight, and suggestions for further viewing.
There are specialists in every possible genre. One of the most interesting aspects of the panel was the range of perspectives and areas of focus it included, from a PhD in film (Sartin) to a former labor organizer (Rosman).
One thing we all agreed on was the challenge of talking about a film without giving too much away in the summary of the plot.
And another was that what makes it all worthwhile for us is bringing great films like those in the festival to the attention of audiences who want something more than the usual multiplex fodder.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
People ask me all the time if I’m planning on being a critic for a living, and I always tell them that I’d love to, but it’s about as likely as seeing the deficit eliminated in my lifetime. I consider myself extremely lucky to get what little money I get from it. There are scores of absolutely fantastic critics out there who never earn anything close to what I do, and I wouldn’t dream of trying to live off my meager earnings.
It’s not a get rich quick scheme, for sure … but the whole industry is in flux, and if you can make a few shekels while reviewing movies than all the better.
The web is a very empowering experience, and it’s clear there’s still a real hunger out there for film criticism. Even better.
Heh. You wrote, “shekel.”
I agree that it appears that the traditional film criticism model no longer is significantly monetizable, but I agree also with T that the industry flux provides non-linear opportunities. Leveraging online community commentary into a book, for example…
~ Dagnabbitt