chileorgullo

How does one become a dvd reviewer, here at DVD Talk or anywhere?

neiname

Write good, informative reviews

Randy Miller III

Send a generous Paypal donation (or just a well-written sample review) to DVDTalk editor Geoff Kleinman at [email protected].



P.S. Being quirky helps sometimes.

Holly E. Ordway

Elsewhere, depending on the site, having a pulse and a DVD player might be your only qualifications.

Here, apart from the sample review (hint: review != plot summary) it helps to have a coherent reason why you want to review DVDs. "Dude, it would be so kewl to, like, get all those FREE DVDs man!!!!!" is not high up on the list of great reasons to be a reviewer... Sure, we all like that part, but there has to be more of a reason or you just won't have any staying power. Liking other genres than "blockbuster" is also helpful... potential reviewers should note the relative proportions of "movies you never heard of" and "blockbusters" that show up on the review page, and consider whether that's OK with them. Also, beeing ayble to spel and punktuate you're review. is surprisingly important in making a gud impresion, don'cha know?

Also, back on a serious note (but you'd be surprised at how the above would come as big news to some people!) it's important to realize that being a reviewer means making a commitment to do reviews - in other words, being responsible about watching and reviewing DVDs promptly. I have friends who drool over the fact that I get all these DVDs for free, but they freely admit that they wouldn't have the motivation to actually write the reviews!

fliggil

A lot of what Holly just said...I've run a review site that mainly focuses on indie music and a little of independent movies too. I started with about 6 writers helping me around the country, but oen by one they dropped because they couldnt commit, weren't interested enough, etc. If you wanna get into reviewing, do it because you really enjoy writing about it. I don't have enough free time to be able to maintain the music and movies section and I find the music much more interesting that artists send me to review so I take my time to do that and do it right. Start smaller and work your way up.

EDIT: Just thought I'd throw in a few other notes, but kinda like I said if you really enjoy it just stick with it. When I started inquiring to semi-big record labels about receiving press kits for new releases, most never responded. I found some independent artists more than willing to receive free exposure, and so little by little it builds up, now I've got connections with labels like Octone, RCA and Brushfire and it all just flows the more you care about making it happen.