Publisher Spotlight: Screen Rant
When our widget showed up on the blog Screen Rant, we couldn’t have been happier. Movies and television are something we have no problem discussing in the office (unlike our times on the race track). Whether it’s information about your favorite TV shows or behind the scenes gossip about movies soon to be made, you can count on Screen Rant to bring you the scoop. There are lots of sites out there covering both topics, but few do it with the intelligence and humor that the authors of Screen Rant do. Fortunately, when I reached out to the main man behind the site, Vic, he was happy to indulge me with some answers about his blogging history.
- How long have you been blogging and why did you start?
I’ve been blogging for almost 5 years now. I started Screen Rant just as a learning experience–my first attempt at this new thing called “blogging”.
I decided to pick two related subjects that were near and dear to my heart: movies and television.
I called the blog Screen Rant because the original purpose of the site was a place to vent about many of the seemingly idiotic decisions made by Hollywood in their approaches to, and choices made when it came to movies and TV projects - bad casting choices, bungled remakes, misleading marketing, etc.
- What has been the greatest thing you’ve gotten from blogging?
A sense of connection to other people who are as passionate about film and television as I am, and a sense that I’m not alone in my strong opinions. I love the discussions on the site between both new and regular visitors. Through moderation, my own comments and those of my authors in response to visitors, I think Screen Rant has the most intelligent and civil conversations of any movie site out there.
- Of all the posts you’ve written, what has been your favorite and why?
Oh boy…that’s a tough one. I’ve written well over a thousand posts and many are my favorites since the vast majority are written from an editorial point of view. I’d have to say that some of my favorites are posts that generate the most discussion long after I published them. Here are probably my 3 favorites after a quick look back:
I wrote an article about the animated kid’s film “Barnyard” asking WHY the bulls in the movies had udders. Two and half years later that post is STILL getting comments from people wondering the same thing.
Then there was the post where I asked Hollywood to PLEASE not make a third “Alien vs Predator” movie. The discussion was so heated (even on the comments that were not outright insulting) that I finally decided to disable comments on that post.
Finally, I wrote a piece asking how radical the redesign of the U.S.S. Enterprise might be in the upcoming “Star Trek” movie by J.J. Abrams. I took readers through the evolution of the venerable NCC-1701 and speculated on what the “reboot” version of the ship might look like in the new film.
- Since you write about movies and television, what are some of your favorites and why?
Even though my site doesn’t explicitly state it anywhere, the focus is mainly on Sci-Fi, superhero, fantasy and action films - all my favorite genres. My all time favorite film would have to be “Aliens”, the second film in that franchise, written and directed by James Cameron. I’m also a huge fan of the Sci-Fi/Western “Serenity” and the TV series that preceded it: “Firefly”. “Stargate SG-1″ was also a long time favorite of mine, and of course classic “Star Trek” with Kirk and company.
- How has Lijit helped you as a blog publisher?
Lijit has increased the number of searches on my site significantly, and gives easy to access and clear stats on search trends, latest searches and even searches that return no results. This helps me determine what movies or TV series should perhaps be given more coverage because people are looking for information about them.
If you want the latest news on movies and television, give Screen Rant a read. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, give Vic’s Lijit search a try. Whatever you do though, make sure you’re caught up on the Battlestar series BEFORE you read the spoilers about the final episodes.
