(I write this on the eve of a special site-impacting announcement, because in light of what’s to come, we at Go, See, Talk! want you the reader to be aware of what’s ahead for us. Don’t worry, this isn’t a precursor to doom and gloom – quite the opposite in fact – but we wanted to keep all the information from being lumped into a long catch-all post that may or may not be overlooked. Again good news follows so gather around film fans. Here…we…go.)
Five years. That’s a lot of time to account for.
Of course, I personally only need to account for part of it; I only began writing for Go, See, Talk! toward the tail end of 2011, when ringmaster Marc Ciafardini first contacted me and brought me on as a staff writer. I remember the series of events well, not the least because they ended with me writing about The Adventures of Tintin and, not long after, The Grey. Strictly speaking, “end” is probably the wrong word to use here, since as you undoubtedly are all aware, I continued writing for Go, See, Talk! long after publishing those two pieces. “Begin” seems like the more appropriate term.
Except that today really does mark an ending. I don’t even want to try to tally the content I’ve produced at this blog; I think I can say quite safely that it totals to more than I ever output on my now-defunct starter blog, and almost certainly tops everything combined that I’ve done for the new outlets I’ve been contributing to in recent months. How strange to sit here today and close this chapter on my time writing about movies for the web. How weightless a sensation I feel taking stock of every cool thing I’ve gotten to do through the connections I’ve fostered thanks to my position here.
Five years ago, if you told me that I would get the chance to sit down at a round table with Joseph Gordon-Levitt to discuss Don Jon and with Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost to talk The World’s End, or jaw one on one with Jim Mickle about We Are What We Are, with Joe Swanberg about Drinking Buddies, with Clifton Collins Junior about Pacific Rim (and, like, a half dozen other movies), I would have called you a headcase. (And a teasing jerk.) Yet here I am today, having done all of those things and so much more in between. It’s a cool feeling, and that’s why transitioning Go, See, Talk! from a review outlet to a promotional site is so bittersweet.
This is the part of my piece where I say that I owe a number of debts and thanks to a number of different people for everything I’ve accomplished in my time writing for Go, See, Talk!. Foremost, there’s Marc, who gave me the guest key to his home and has generously given me the gift of opportunity for the last couple of years; my wife, Carys, who has supported and encouraged my movie addiction habit as well as my love of writing for years, so much so that without her I know I wouldn’t be doing this at all; my friends in the Boston Online Film Critics Association, who have showed me the ropes of being part of the press and helped me grow as a critic in ways most of them probably don’t realize. You all have my undying gratitude.
Most of all, I owe a hat tip to you, my dear readers, though I never managed to build up the kind of reader base that I hoped. Finding readers is tough. Keeping them is tougher. Maybe it’s the other way around, but the essential point here is that getting people to click your links is the biggest hurdle you’ll overcome if you ever start writing about anything on the Internet, so those of you who have made a habit of reading what I write over the years, well, you’re awesome. I would probably still be writing if not for you, but I don’t know if I would feel quite the same satisfaction if I knew that there weren’t people out there to write for. You guys are great.
If everything I’ve written thus far sounds like the preamble to a more permanent goodbye, well, I apologize for overstating my case. This is an ending, after all, but it’s also a new beginning. We’re not shutting the doors completely on Go, See, Talk!, but we are pursuing other interests; if you want to keep up on my writing, follow me on Twitter and tune in to Screen Rant, The Movie Mezzanine, In Review Online, and – when occasion allows – Paste Magazine. (And keep an eye on my Twitter feed, because you never know when I’ll pop up on other outlets.) I have no idea where I’ll be a year from now (or even six months from now), but opportunity abounds.
To describe saying “au revoir” to Go, See, Talk! in three words, I’ll simply say that it’s really very sad. This has been a big part of my life as a film critic and journalist. That said, I’m enthusiastic about where things can go from here. See you all at the movies.
