Yes, you read that right, the little blog that could, Texas’ own GoSeeTalk has hit the 5 year mark. But as joyous as this moment in internet history is, it’s also a bit sad. Well, more like bittersweet as this Dallas-based movie themed website is going to be changing gears, focus, and streamlining our content.
You may have noticed more promo screenings since the beginning of this month. Well that’s because we’re changing it up and putting focus on what we believe is important. Reason being is that chasing news stories each day is just too ambitious for the resources and time allotted in the professional and personal lives of myself and all GST contributors.
But fear not GST fans, with change on the horizon I’d like to remind you of what the great Gordon Gekko once said. “Greed is good. Greed works.” Well he’s right. Being greedy, or hungry rather, keeps a site alive with a voracious desire to populate its pages with movie news, info and constant content, even if it is echoed and churned like so many other sites out there. That said there are plenty of other, better places to keep up to the minute. We don’t cover everything, never did, never could, we just hyped the things we were interested in. That’s the difference between a “blog” and a full fledged news outlet. So because we are and have always been the former, with the latter ever eluding us, we’re getting out of that game.
So yes, for some greed is good, but you know what else is also good? Change. Change is good, change works, and after 5 years in the blogging game (which feels like a lifetime – anyone who’s made a name for themselves will tell you that) change is necessary. I’ve always loved the phrase “obsession is a young man’s game” and they say that too much of anything can be an obsession. Now to do anything right you have to be honest, especially about your resources. Are we a big site? No. Can we be a big site? With bated breath and crossed fingers we sure hoped so and still, sadly, the answer is also no. But it didn’t stop us from trying. For 5 years.
Now 5 years is, in fact, of personal significance for me as I left my last job at the 5 year mark to infinitely happier personal/professional results. GoSeeTalk has always oddly mirrored my life (and offered a reprieve when things were slow or stressful at my last job which is one of the only reasons GST started to flourish). But from the get-go writing for all of us here has been about passion and the love of the game. In other words, it’s a hobby, and sadly hobbies don’t pay the bills. So I chose a career over my hobby and I’m glad I did.
But even as a hobby, I don’t think, even reviewing terrible movies, racking my brain for good interview questions, running around at a sweltering film festival, etc. there was a wasted hour or time when I wasn’t enjoying the ride.
I just looked at the interview tab and we have 8 full pages (that’s 80 posts) of interviews with A-listers, Oscar-winners, animators, a Bond girl, legendary composers, fan fav celebs, etc. and recently a Doctor Who and a Hobbit (same actor). I even forgot a few we’d done. We even had our special thank you gifts (given to the cast and director of The World’s End – prior to our interview – for how many laughs they’ve given my family, friends and GST fans over the years) tweeted by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (see below).
Sweet swag from Marc from @GoSeeTalk pic.twitter.com/TeGxOcI3QW
— Simon Pegg (@simonpegg) July 25, 2013
Thanks to @GoSeeTalk for this amazing towel. pic.twitter.com/q5FKswncOj
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) July 25, 2013
See? Pretty cool, huh? Things like that really motivate you and give intangible affirmation that whatever resources devoted to these seemingly personal pursuits were and are continually worth it.
But beyond opportunities, perks and other take-aways in exchange for hovering over the keyboard for thousands of hours I am so very grateful to have made real friends and connections with people sharing the same passion (the bunch of nuts at BoomstickComics.com, ReelVixen, BigFanBoy.com, The Dallas Film Society and other writers in the DFW area) not to mention the studio reps, marketing agents, actors, directors and composers I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with.
In last year’s birthday announcement/state of the union I went a bit mushy fully playing the part of proud dad (link) and now this is a similarly grand look back in addition to seeking out what’s ahead…even though it means the band will be breaking up. But not in a bad way.
GoSeeTalk will streamline things in-house which will free us up, individually, to focus on our other writing gigs. Andrew, the prolific free agent I coaxed out of Boston to share in my dream, has been keeping ScreenRant.com very happy with his wit, style and articles galore. Jessica is sticking it to the man, all of us in the collective gender apparently, by pushing stories that praise women in film. Grady, my dazzling video editing and consulting genius, will put his work to use on side gigs while he too focuses on his career and Bill, who writes for big time sites like TheFilmStage.com, has graduated to officially become an online critic across the interweb.
See? Change is good because change means growth. GST provided a great springboard; it let us work/play, toil and eventually gain traction for what’s ahead. I wish them all the best – but it ain’t goodbye, it’s just good luck.
So, if you skipped down a bit – again I don’t blame you, I tend to ramble – you might ask, “So Marc, where does that leave GoSeeTalk?” Don’t worry, we won’t be having a fire sale, nor will we start shopping for a digital tombstone. Not at all, we’ll simply dial things down to focus more on promotions (read: more FREE tickets) and along with that there will be more interviews because they too serve to promote the film.
On that note I will be contributing to some other outles (doing reviews and write-ups) and working with another Dallas site BigFanBoy.com to help them out with more one-on-one/on-camera interviews. Also, each week, I’ll continue contributing the CriticWire surveys; there’s lots of great and opinionated writers gathering around the virtual water cooler so check that out every Monday.
But again, the most important thing to clarify is that the wheels will still keep spinning here at HQ. So don’t unfollow GoSeeTalk on Twitter or Facebook because you’ll miss our promo screening posts (you still want free passes right?) and discussions with people who make the films we love. Aside from all our archived content (which again I’m very, very proud of) there’s still reason to keep stopping by GST to see what’s new.
So keep them candles lit, I mean it’s a party right? Happy 5th Birthday to us and thanks immensely to everyone for your support over the years!
