Ahoy, friends! Many of you long-time readers remember the days when I reviewed pretty much every new movie that came out. It was a time of peace and security, when you could visit EricDSnider.com with 99% confidence that I’d have a review of whatever movie you were considering.
Those days have passed, sadly. The freelance gigs that were paying me to write reviews have dried up, and the gigs that pay me to write other things don’t leave me much time (or energy) for extracurricular reviews.
I’ve still been reviewing new releases with my voice, on the Movie B.S. with Bayer and Snider podcast. But it’s not the same for you guys. For one thing, it involves listening instead of reading. Totally different skill set.
Well, I’m tired of this. Not writing movie reviews is no way to live.
Starting immediately, I return to being a real Film Critic. And not some lazy dilettante who does, like, one review a week, either, but the old-fashioned kind who reviews pretty much everything.
When a bad-looking horror movie comes out and isn’t screened for critics, I’ll go see it when it opens. I won’t say, “Eh, I don’t feel like it, and nobody’s paying me.” I’ll say, “I DO feel like it, because somebody IS paying me!” And all will rejoice.
What’s that? Who’s paying me? Why, you are! I’m asking readers to pledge $1 a month through Patreon, a crowdfunding site that, um, does this sort of thing. You can use PayPal. Every month that I write at least 10 reviews, you pay a buck. If I don’t meet my quota, you pay nothing.
You can pledge more than $1 a month, of course. If you pledge $10 a month, then once a month you’re entitled to demand that I review any specific movie that came out within the previous 365 days. [UPDATE: because lots of people are pledging this much, we’ll have to trust each other. I’ll review whatever you request as soon as I can, and you only request reviews you genuinely want, i.e., not just because you can.]
Other amounts between $1 and $10 are also allowed. For example, $2.35. You could pledge $2.35 a month.
$3.12 is also an amount that could be pledged.
That’s basically it, but visit my Patreon page for more details.
And to be clear, I’m writing these reviews whether I get enough pledges or not (at least at first). I’m doing the work “on spec,” as they say in the biz, trusting that the support will come.
Thanks for your support, financial and otherwise, over the years. Here’s to a bright new day where I get to write movie reviews, you get to read them, and everybody wins! (Except Adam Sandler. He continues to lose.)
