Whilst Warped Perspective is fortunate to work with (note: not for) a number of promotion companies who readily furnish the site with screeners and provide information whenever asked, I can’t help but note that the simple act of reviewing films is becoming more and more of a strangely competitive, restrictive environment in many ways; this has become more noticeable over the past couple of years, but interestingly, the Great Shutdown which prevented film festivals taking place in any usual sense (thanks to a certain pandemic) hasn’t in any ways led to a reassessment of this new working practice. If anything, with an audience so often wedded to Netflix and less open to some of the low-budget oddities which are still filtering their way through, things have become even more oddly strident. And, I’d contest that, slowly but surely, some of these working practices are leading to a breakdown, or certainly a disconnect between companies and fans.
Here’s the thing: Warped Perspective is not a money-making venture. With the exception of the Buy Me a Coffee app, which has paid for the hosting for another year (and thank you to those few people for contributing) WP keeps going because I pay to keep it going. What was once a team of people has slowly eroded to being just me; that’s fine, it is what it is, but I am well aware that Warped Perspective isn’t in the big league and has a very modest following. And why wouldn’t it? It’s a fan site, written by a fan – these days, by just one fan. This is a hobby, something I enjoy; I have a demanding day job which pays the bills, so I write about films in my ever-limited spare time, because I still like doing it. There are thousands of people like me, a few of whom are my friends, and I’m sure their reasoning is exactly the same. As for a number of distribution and promotional companies – in their case, I’m not so sure they are even aware of the difference between sites like mine and the huge, pull-quote generating money-making sites; or, if they’re aware, then they don’t particularly care, and so address us all as if we all co-exist to generate profits for them.
Of course, if I enjoy a film, then I’m more than happy if that pushes a modicum of publicity its way, and it’s great when a director gets in touch to show some appreciation – that really is special, and it matters. But I’m not here to make money for middlemen. That’s not what my site is for. Recently, I have started receiving numerous ready-made articles – puff pieces, written by publicists, with an attached message saying they’d be ‘grateful’ if I’d run it, verbatim, on my site. In effect, I’m being asked to publicise a film without question, with no input, and at my own expense. Where is my incentive for providing not only free press, but press which costs me money to run? I run a fan site because I like writing: why, then, would I then opt out of the writing bit on some stranger’s behalf? I enjoy writing, so much so that it is still worthwhile even when I’ve hit a run of not-so-great films; when you discover a real gem, all of that dissolves into nothing. I’m not here as an unpaid intern for a company that often forgets to even amend the header and as such, addresses me by the wrong name (and by the way, ‘Josh’, if you’re out there, I think I might be getting a lot of your mail…)
And there’s more. Embargoes. Ah, embargoes. These used to be fairly rare as well, and usually attached to brand-new films which had no existing press, though if you ask me, these sometimes look awfully like votes of no confidence in the project, and attempts to curtail negative press until it’s past the point of no return for a paying audience; embargoes also have the effect of generating cynicism it seems. But let’s assume they are simply, in such an instance, a means of organising press coverage and perhaps generating a level of excitement, avoiding spoiler-heavy coverage, and so on. Perhaps wrongheaded, but still somehow logical. Of course, I also understand the perils of piracy for new films, even whilst I cannot understand why anyone given the benefit of an unseen film would behave in such an appalling way; if having my email address and name emblazoned across my screener is the only straightforward remedy for the asshole behaviour of the few, then so be it. Still, though, we routinely get slapped with embargoes when a film has been out for months, has a healthy existing number of reviews, and an even bigger number of Twitter (et al) posts all happily discussing the film at hand. For whom is this embargo? Is it just a piracy issue? In an online world, press doesn’t work like it used to. If someone wants to see a review, regardless of whether its release date is imminent or weeks away, then they can usually find that coverage – and, for me, I feel highly unlikely to give time over to a screener which warns me that I can’t write anything for six weeks, because – and here’s that thing again – I rather like writing. Scheduling posts is all well and good, but it’s quite frustrating for my site to sit fallow for weeks when I have embargoed coverage sitting there for little good reason that I can see. I now get embargoes on short films which will, sad as it is, probably never get seen again outside of a handful of festivals. I’ve even had embargoed press releases, which to me is nothing short of barmy. Where on earth is this coming from? And who does it benefit? Not to mention the behaviour of some companies, should you dare to write a less than positive review; you can often stand to get unceremoniously removed from distribution lists. According to some of these, you don’t get to see films if you’re honest about what you think of them. There’s that expectation of free, positive press again.
Look, I understand that getting films out to fans is monumentally challenging at the moment, and in common with many other fans, it’s a privilege to get to see so many new films still somehow getting completed and finding their way to me. I’d certainly advise publicity and promotions people to have a rethink about some of their current practices, though. Attempting to piggy-back unpaid fan ventures and these needless efforts to control the agenda are pouring energy the wrong way; in fact, people find it exasperating, and the last thing any of us need is encroaching ill-will.