A ‘Big’ change, and a hearty thank you

I didn’t know what to expect when I bought the domain name WhatWouldTotoWatch.com back in 2007.

My wife and I had just moved to Denver from D.C., leaving behind Beltway traffic, exhorbitant home prices and a great gig at The Washington Times. I simply figured I needed a nook on the Web to call my own, and perhaps one day I’d wrangle a full-time gig out of it.

Who knew it would take four years and hundreds of blog posts before that happened?

Starting Monday, I’ll assume the position of Assistant Editor at Big Hollywood alongside my new tag team partner John Nolte. I’ll still be reviewing movies, interviewing celebrities and commenting on breaking film news. But I’ll also focus my attention on TV, music and the rest of the pop culture landscape.

I’m thrilled beyond traditional adjectives about the move. I’ll be working with the most passionate film writer on the Web and sharing my views with a vast new audience. But it also means What Would Toto Watch will no longer be updated.

That’s the heartbreaking part of what is otherwise the most dynamic change to my career.

This site demands an extraordinary amount of time, from researching blog posts to sizing photographs and weeding out most – but sadly not every – grammatical hiccup. And I’ve loved every last second of it. This film blog taught me about journalism in the 21st century, skills I plan to bring over to my new Big Hollywood perch.

But, at the risk of sounding trite, the most satisfying part has been sharing my movie views with you, the reader. It’s one thing to throw up a web site and blog until your laptop’s battery runs dry. The readers here did more than merely respond to my posts. They made me think, challenged my assumptions and gave me an occasional “atta boy” when I needed it the most. I’m not sure how they knew, but they often did.

Folks like Tink in Cali, JimmyC, EricP, K, Liz, MikeB, Heidi, Outlaw13 to name just a few made this site the kind of forum Web gurus talk about when discussing the joys of blogging.

It’s crushing to think that this chapter in my journalism journey ends here, but I hope What Would Toto Watch readers will drop by Big Hollywood to see what else I have on my mind.

Related posts:

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3. WWTW hits all-time high in March
4. Getting to know you: Directors Edgar Wright and David Wain blog
5. Movies in Toto – Take two