March 29, 2009
Will Blurb For Food
Ever the struggling freelance writer, I have been known to scan Craigslist for odd little gigs during my leaner months, which does occasionally yield some quick, easy money. Just this afternoon, I stumbled upon this hilariously pathetic, "negotiable" pitch under the quite-clickable heading Attention Film Critics (Los Angeles):
"Hi. We just finished a film and need to buy a one sentence quote from someone who calls himself a film critic. Thanks."Now, in my relatively brief tenure as a full-time journalist, I've had my share of unprofessional favors asked of me, including one that permanently estranged a years-long camaraderie because I refused to watch a friend-of-a-friend's movie with the explicit purpose of giving a pullquote for their forthcoming DVD. Yet while I laugh at the above posting because it was clearly instigated by a filmmaker who doesn't understand the professional position of a critic, I half-worry that an unscrupulous somebody might just take that person up on the offer. On the other hand, perhaps it's a positive sign for critics, that our opinions still hold a monetary value.
Posted by ahillis at March 29, 2009 11:16 AM
if someone offered me cash money and a sixer of high life for my pullquote, i'd be overjoyed.
of course, my pullquote would just be my favorite ben lyons quote:
"I Am Legend is one of the best films ever made."
Posted by: lichman at March 29, 2009 1:16 PMWhy is Michael Bay stooping to this? I'm sure David Manning of the Ridgefield Press would love Transformers 2, if he survived the layoffs and it were from Sony.
Posted by: Jerry Lentz at March 30, 2009 12:06 AMThe publishing world is currently being plagued by online companies offering to post positive reviews of print-on-demand books for a fee. There is one site charging $400+ for rave reviews on all of the major book news and bookstore websites...and they're doing quite well, apparently:
http://www.librarything.com/blog/2009/03/review-integrity-reviewer-freedom-and.php
I have to say I love this.
Most critics are nothing more than the left hand of film marketing. And I was a film critic for many years so I saw it up close.
Think about it. If your a critic and you get a free pass to a festival isn't that a favor? How about free DVDs in the mail? Even though critics may fault some films most critics will not bite the hand that feeds them too much. Not saying all critics fall under this.
The real question is the link between marketing budgets and the volume of coverage. Critics can use free editorial to balance the influence of paid publicity. A few do, for which: respect. GreenCine is better than most, but for the truly independent filmmaker the challenge remains getting reviews when one isn't buying ads next to the reviews.
Posted by: FFilms at April 2, 2009 8:18 AM
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