Film Critic: A Job

Does the thought of getting paid to watch movies and write 11-thousand words a week about them make you swoon? It’s a typical work week that film critic Shawn Levy from The Oregonian recounted in his day-by-day blog. We can safely assume he didn’t start off writing about film so prolifically. So how does one get started, you ask?

Writing chops and a love for movies are obvious precursors to wanting a job as a film critic. To turn this inkling into a reality, get some clips together. Write a few film reviews and make them emit the luminous passion you have for film. In other words, make them as perfect as possible. Compare them to published film reviews. Show your clips to friends and family. Keep in mind that most film critics are writing for a broad audience, so reactions from non-film buffs are useful. If you’re a student, your college newspaper could be a good in. If you’re not, look into local publications.

 Chances are these pieces won’t get published. They could get you a writing job or internship though, which would astronomically help you become a paid reviewer. Posting your reviews on a blog is a good way to show--well, at first no one, but eventually, people—what you’re doing. If you post your clips and continue writing, you’ll have a substantial blog of your reviews soon enough. There are always stories about a friend of a friend who got picked up by a publication based on a blog. If you can meet your own deadlines and produce quality work, then doing it for a publication won’t be much of a stretch. You can also write reviews on rottentomatoes.com and metacritic.com to improve your blog readership.

Writing film reviews is similar to writing most things, in that it’s not a career path for striking it rich. But you already knew that. You still want to write about films. You’re even aware there are probably under 2000 print-publication jobs in the country for film reviewers. You don’t care if you have to have a day job. You’ll write about the mundane world outside of film in order to entrench yourself in a publication, because you know that one day, maybe years from now, they’ll need a film critic, and when they do, oh, you’ll be ready. You’ll dedicate yourself to write film reviews for a pittance, or even nothing at first. If you’re agreeing to yourself while reading this, then being a full-fledged film critic could be the right career for you.

-Roxanne MacManus

http://www.ehow.com/how_17257_become-film-critic.html

http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-become-a-film-critic