Turmoil in movie-journalism land
In the world of entertainment journalism, where writers are known to work their fingers down to the manicure, times are getting hard.
Premiere magazine, one of the more enjoyable glossies covering movies, will be shutting down after its April issue, according to Advertising Age. The mag's French owners, Hachette Filipacchi Medias, say they will keep the Premiere name going online.
Premiere has been around since 1987, and was briefly a sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival - at least until journalist Peter Biskind wrote an unflattering story on Sundance's lab program in 1991. In 1992, the festival's main magazine sponsor became Entertainment Weekly, and that sponsorship continues today.
Premiere had a swag lounge at this year's festival, taking over the Riverhorse Cafe on Park City's Main Street. I ran into Premiere's main movie critic, Glenn Kenny, on a shuttle bus and we had a friendly conversation - in which he lamented his inability to get into parties sponsored by his own magazine. Whether Kenny, who is one of my favorite critics to read, or Libby Gelman-Waxner's hilarious "If You Ask Me" column will continue on the web site is an open question.
The problem I always had with Premiere is I didn't know what kind of magazine it was. Was it a celebrity-studded pictoral for fans? Was it critic-driven analysis for movie buffs? Was it investigative stuff for the industry? It tried to be all three, and thus never had a clear identity.
Meanwhile, Hollywood's two industry papers are feuding. Daily Variety reported that it just poached editor Cynthia Littleton and deputy film editor Anne Thompson from its rival The Hollywood Reporter.
Hollywood bloggers are predicting the demise of The Hollywood Reporter. Nikki Finke called the news "the death rattle" for THR (though she also reported THR bosses were promising to find "a big name" to be editor). Movie City News editor David Poland suggested, on his Hot Blog, that THR do something bold to re-establish themselves as a player in Hollywood - like buying Movie City News - an idea even Poland's archrival Jeffrey Wells, on his Hollywood Elsewhere blog, found intriguing.
Why does all this matter to you and me, the regular moviegoers? Because these journalists are supposed to be keeping Hollywood honest (or as honest as Hollywood can be), just as political reporters are supposed to do in Washington. And fewer voices means less scrutiny.
Premiere magazine, one of the more enjoyable glossies covering movies, will be shutting down after its April issue, according to Advertising Age. The mag's French owners, Hachette Filipacchi Medias, say they will keep the Premiere name going online.
Premiere has been around since 1987, and was briefly a sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival - at least until journalist Peter Biskind wrote an unflattering story on Sundance's lab program in 1991. In 1992, the festival's main magazine sponsor became Entertainment Weekly, and that sponsorship continues today.
Premiere had a swag lounge at this year's festival, taking over the Riverhorse Cafe on Park City's Main Street. I ran into Premiere's main movie critic, Glenn Kenny, on a shuttle bus and we had a friendly conversation - in which he lamented his inability to get into parties sponsored by his own magazine. Whether Kenny, who is one of my favorite critics to read, or Libby Gelman-Waxner's hilarious "If You Ask Me" column will continue on the web site is an open question.
The problem I always had with Premiere is I didn't know what kind of magazine it was. Was it a celebrity-studded pictoral for fans? Was it critic-driven analysis for movie buffs? Was it investigative stuff for the industry? It tried to be all three, and thus never had a clear identity.
Meanwhile, Hollywood's two industry papers are feuding. Daily Variety reported that it just poached editor Cynthia Littleton and deputy film editor Anne Thompson from its rival The Hollywood Reporter.
Hollywood bloggers are predicting the demise of The Hollywood Reporter. Nikki Finke called the news "the death rattle" for THR (though she also reported THR bosses were promising to find "a big name" to be editor). Movie City News editor David Poland suggested, on his Hot Blog, that THR do something bold to re-establish themselves as a player in Hollywood - like buying Movie City News - an idea even Poland's archrival Jeffrey Wells, on his Hollywood Elsewhere blog, found intriguing.
Why does all this matter to you and me, the regular moviegoers? Because these journalists are supposed to be keeping Hollywood honest (or as honest as Hollywood can be), just as political reporters are supposed to do in Washington. And fewer voices means less scrutiny.
9:19 AM
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1 Comments:
I am a long-time subscriber to Premiere and this is indeed sad news. Actually more than anything I subscribed because it was quite cheap, bordering on "are they making money at all"? My favorite part was always Libby Gelman-Waxner's column, as I could almost always count on a laugh-out-loud moment.
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