|
||||||||||
|
Subscribe to the Absolute Write Newsletter and get the Agents! Agents! Agents! report free! Click here.
|
Win a 1-year subscription to Writer's Digest by subscribing to Absolute Markets-- all paying markets for your writing. Click here. |
|
| |||||||||||||
|
|
Interview with Cole Smithey Interview by Jenna Glatzer
Cole Smithey (Independent Voice of Film Criticism Since 1997) studied dramatic art and filmmaking at San Diego State University, Hartnell College (Salinas, CA), and City College of San Francisco before turning to a life of film criticism. Cole has reviewed more than a thousand films since 1997 and interviewed such notable directors as John Singleton, Woody Allen, and Steven Spielberg, and such notable actors as George Clooney, Adrien Brody, and Terrence Howard.
You're an independent film critic, syndicating your own reviews and interviews to newspapers and websites. Did you start out this way, or were you a staff writer first?
I studied acting, filmmaking, and screenwriting in college before deciding to commit myself to film criticism. I was already watching 150 movies a year when I took a film criticism workshop with Susan Gerhard (the Arts Editor of the Bay Guardian at the time). I was never a staff writer.
How did you begin self-syndicating?
With lots of embarrassing phone calls to editors and many rejected query letters.
I notice that you attend trade shows, like the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. How does this work? Do you have a booth and editors come up to you and ask what you do?
Yes, I pay a heavy price to have a booth every year. I can't say that this has paid for itself, but I do it because it's an excuse to get out of New York for a few days.
Do you have ongoing commitments from publications-- meaning that they run your reviews and interviews every week-- or is it strictly a "we'll run it if we like it" situation?
I have both types of agreements.
How do you charge for your work?
My rates are based on circulation numbers.
Did you ever try to join an established syndicate?
I have queried the big syndicates but haven't had any luck yet.
How do you deliver your columns to editors?
Typically by e-mail.
You've interviewed an impressive array of actors and directors-- people such as George Clooney, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins. How do you land these interviews?
I work with the publicists of specific films.
Does it matter if you've panned the person's latest movie? Do they even know?
I typically stay away from doing interviews associated with films that I pan.
Of all the celebrities you've interviewed thus far, are there any you wish you could have hung out with a lot longer? Any who were much different from what you expected?
I know that there are some giddy film journalists called "junketeers" who like to glom onto celebs, but I disdain that sort of behavior. I never lose sight of my place as journalist with a deadline. I don't pretend to have any kind of relationship with celebs other than as an interviewer/journalist.
Jennifer Jason Leigh was a bit of a surprise for me. She's a very normal and well-adjusted young lady-- nothing like her typical dysfunctional characters. She's a terrific actress.
Do you find that all this reviewing has impeded on your ability to just enjoy a movie? Are you forever analyzing and judging, or are you still able to get lost in a good story?
No, I love all types of films from all genres. I think you have to be completely open to all films, societies, cultures, and types of people in order to be a good film critic. I have my prejudices just like everyone, but I try to keep them at bay. Of course, I'm always analyzing and judging (isn't everybody?) but a good story will sweep me up in a second.
Have you written any screenplays?
Yes, I've co-written a script with Ted Rall that we're shopping around.
What's your best advice for new writers who are hoping to become syndicated columnists?
The biggest thing is to read a lot of the kind of writing you want to do, and then write as much as you can without worrying about whether or not it will ever be published. It was a big hurdle for me when I was starting out to think that I might spend four or five hours writing something that might never see the light of day. I finally made peace with the fact that I liked sitting alone at my desk writing and that it was my passion and my right.
Anything else you'd like to add?
Find someone you trust to edit your work for you. Although they are called "editors," editors seldom carry out the duties of their title. They want clean copy that they can just insert into their publication.
|
Sponsored links 
Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer! How to find a book publisher |
Text on this site Copyright © 1998-2007
Absolute Write, all rights reserved.
|
Jenna
Glatzer is the editor-in-chief of
