Ethical monetisation of Film reviews in the digital age

[Otello Cagliostro]

I basically just came up with an idea that might change the way film reviews are monetised by copying the formula Twitch streamers use to monetise their platform. This would mean implimating a subsciption based system on letterboxd while still allowing people who do not want to subscribe to a user to read there critical pieces. I'm a big believer in free education so people who can not afford to buy something but can use the knowledge to better there life should be able to get ahold of it.

This system would be different from a system like patreon because since it is independant the platform would not take a cut of the contributor's income.

If anyone here as Html or any type of coding background or knows someone that does please contact me as i do not trust any other platform but this forum to make an ethical choice on the matter love of film must be bigger than wanting income at the expense of writing quality.

This post in also so people can give insight on how the system i propose can be flowed in a way it can hurt the viewer, for me the biggest flaw is one that is already present on letterboxd even if it is not yet well monetised, big reviewers who do undetailed reviews at the expense of the reader's time. Even if some are fun implimating a monetary system would give them more credit since they will likely be paid more but there presence is already so dominante that i can not say it will really change anything.

This independant system would permit people like Lencho or brotherdeacon to have more time to make reviews since it is certainly not there primary mode of income. The goal would than be to have a system that permits someone like Jonathan Rosenbaum or David Bordwell to exist outside the News paper system since it is sort of dying.

The other problem I see is the possible loss of authority of the academic system with this independant news, the problem with independant news in general is the lack of accountability. This is why conspiracy theories take hold on the internet, how to still put forward academics while still giving light to independant thinkers ?

Like Serge Daney said, I do not believe in perverse effect, I believe in perverse action. And yes, i though of this while rethinking about ready player one.

I could probably learn to code and do it myself but i'm scared of creating something that will harm the film community as a all like something like netflix. Mubi already sponsor's (dubious) video essays there is a market for more detailed reviews. Rosenbaum or Bordwell will not be alive forever someone needs to take over with his approach while still being in touch with the period.

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

Interesting idea! I can't help on a practical level, as I don't know coding or anything. The biggest question mark I'd raise is it seems likely that a lot of the people participating in writing would also be the people paying, and the risk would be that almost no one would actually wind up with more money, even enough to break even on their film study expenses, because they'd in turn be paying for others. So the risk would be that money would be transferred between people without ever getting more out of it than they put in.

Seems like as good a place as any to mention that I'm hoping to start a blog soon-ish to publish longer pieces on film, as I don't think Letterboxd is the best forum for longer pieces and I also don't want a company outside my control to have copyright and profit opportunities off of them anyway. Of course, I'm not aspiring to make any money through such a blog, as I prefer to have it as a hobby not tied up with my income, but I suppose it would be nice to find a way to break even.

[Otello Cagliostro]

Interesting idea! I can't help on a practical level, as I don't know coding or anything. The biggest question mark I'd raise is it seems likely that a lot of the people participating in writing would also be the people paying, and the risk would be that almost no one would actually wind up with more money, even enough to break even on their film study expenses, because they'd in turn be paying for others. So the risk would be that money would be transferred between people without ever getting more out of it than they put in.

Seems like as good a place as any to mention that I'm hoping to start a blog soon-ish to publish longer pieces on film, as I don't think Letterboxd is the best forum for longer pieces and I also don't want a company outside my control to have copyright and profit opportunities off of them anyway. Of course, I'm not aspiring to make any money through such a blog, as I prefer to have it as a hobby not tied up with my income, but I suppose it would be nice to find a way to break even.

Nice catch, in the internet film community the ones that seem to better find a new audience are usually the video essay community. But, the catch for me is that to get a new audience they have to be inclined to vulgarisation. My goal would be to empower people with the type of views on this forum even if i think forum does not clearly have a "directorial line" you can sense everyone as it's niche that is very interesting. If someone wanted to broaden the scope of there message video essays seems to be the best option but you would have to band over and take the current approach that as great energy and insight but is not prone to detail like you said with letterboxd. The subject also didn't seem to really have catched on so people are probably less interested than i though. I mainly see 4 sources of income for the digital generation of film critics : adds, tipping, subscription, sponsorship and books. The issue would not to be selling out. Or maybe i'm just wrong and the newspaper system will again be the main source of expression but i doubt it...Every frame of painting is probably more famous right now than any film theorician, influence is another thing.

I still maybe want to develop something on my own to give it to you guys if i think it's good enough but it's true you gave me a mouth full to think of haha. Also please tell when you have your blog up i would love to read it.

[Lencho of the Apes]

Speaking only for myself, I wouldn't care to monetize the stuff I do in a spirit of hobbyism and play; if I were equipped (discipline and energy) to do formal, academic style work, that would be different, but I'm too aware of my ability to be wrong about a movie to charge for my output. Also, my social model for internet activity is peer x peer, giving my ideas and receiving the ideas of others on an equal basis instead of the hierarchical "teacher/reader" rel'p that monetizing implies; ideally, some of my thoughts will click with some of the more competent, formal, academically-inclined critics that read me, and I'll make my way into "the literature" that way, in the few instances where I have something at that level of importance to put forward... but 90% of the time, I'm just saying "Hey, this is (not especially) cool! (Don't feel obligated to) check it out!"

I assume you've looked at by-subscription blogsites like substack, yes? Those are proliferating (though I can't be arsed to follow their development) and they seem close to the thing you're proposing...

[Otello Cagliostro]

Speaking only for myself, I wouldn't care to monetize the stuff I do in a spirit of hobbyism and play; if I were equipped (discipline and energy) to do formal, academic style work, that would be different, but I'm too aware of my ability to be wrong about a movie to charge for my output. Also, my social model for internet activity is peer x peer, giving my ideas and receiving the ideas of others on an equal basis instead of the hierarchical "teacher/reader" rel'p that monetizing implies; ideally, some of my thoughts will click with some of the more competent, formal, academically-inclined critics that read me, and I'll make my way into "the literature" that way, in the few instances where I have something at that level of importance to put forward... but 90% of the time, I'm just saying "Hey, this is (not especially) cool! (Don't feel obligated to) check it out!"

I assume you've looked at by-subscription blogsites like substack, yes? Those are proliferating (though I can't be arsed to follow their development) and they seem close to the thing you're proposing...

Substack seem to also have a fee and a subscription wall if I were to make the project it would be more so that people can copy paste the code and make there own. I very much agree with the peer to peer approach, it is mostly that way that i learned most of what i know (even if i'm very much at an early stage of my cinephilia). My model might not be the best for a "litterary" formate since without paywall the less interaction oriented nature turns against it. But, it seems that on the internet the most influencial output seem to be the one of video essays. How to introduce an academic approach to the mainstream that seem to have been pushed away a little would be the goal (even if i'm starting to believe my little project is becoming day after day less amazing than when my dumb ass typed it on here) but anyway ethical monetisation of film is a fun subject in and of itself

[Otello Cagliostro]

Also, Rosenbaum just did an article on the broader subject yesterday ! It goes well with what Evelyn and you were saying but the flip side is that some sort of income would help most for film study expenses

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

My general take on film culture in the internet age is a mix of gloomy and hopeful, but increasingly leaning toward hopeful. It's certainly difficult to make money doing it online. There are still those few newspaper or general audience magazine reviewers, who are nowadays read mostly or entirely online now (my favourite today is Ignatiy Vishnevetsky), and of course there's the academics who have a more stable and clear-cut financing structure with or without the internet (university funding, grant applications, etc.), but it can feel like the hobbyist cinephiles can get sort of left out of the equation. To my mind, though, that was always the case - the hobbyists writing their little magazines were always the worst served financially, because they weren't in it for the money and their audience was so small. I've always loved Rosenbaum's acceptance of this situation: emphasizing the quality of one's audience over the quantity, and the fulfillment that comes from serving a small but loyal readership.

[Otello Cagliostro]

To my mind, though, that was always the case - the hobbyists writing their little magazines were always the worst served financially, because they weren't in it for the money and their audience was so small. I've always loved Rosenbaum's acceptance of this situation: emphasizing the quality of one's audience over the quantity, and the fulfillment that comes from serving a small but loyal readership.

True, in that case internet age of film criticism would still be a positive for that category. Like how memes got there way into the new Justice leagues...for better or for worse. But in that case I agree that the future seems hopefull or at least better than what it was.