The Softer Side of “The World’s Toughest Movie Critic”

March 17th, 2010, By talk
Vaughn Fry - He's Tough on Movies!

Vaughn Fry - He's Tough on Movies!

My guest for our blogger interview this week chose the words “World’s Toughest Movie Critic” as his personal tagline.

He’s a film major graduate of the University of Kansas.

He’s fiercely proud of the Mid-Western culture and community he belongs to.

For the past few years he’s been volunteering as a Programmer for the Tallgrass Film Festival.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Vaughn Fry, the video blogging film critic responsible for the excellent Vaughn On Movies blog.

Mike:

Hi Vaughn! Great having you as my guest today. How are you?

Vaughn:

I’m doing fine. Beginning to get my bearings using Skype.

Mike:

I have to ask.
Why do you figure you’re the “World’s Toughest Movie Critic”?

Vaughn:

My tagline is my reaction to a trend in the film-review blogging community were bloggers sing the praises of anything the studios throw at them regardless of its quality, in the hope of getting noticed and currying favor.

Mike:

Isn’t it natural for a relationship to develop within any industry between the various stake holders?

As far as I know bloggers are usually very honest and open about the little perks, invitations and freebies that come their way and most of them maintain a very obvious disclosure policy whenever they write reviews where their objectivity may be suspect.

Vaughn:

I respect that, and it may be a fact of life, but for myself I like to maintain tough standards.

I write to represent the little guy. I want  my audience to be fickle. I don’t want people accepting everything Hollywood dishes out as “Movie Gospel”. I want them to develop a sensitivity for what’s worthy and what’s not.

As far as the material gains go in terms of the perks, the VIP invitations, the gala openings and parties –  I guess I’m immune by force, as much as by choice.

The simple fact I’m located in Kansas, far away from the so called “Cultural Centers” on the coasts, saves me the effort of considering how a scathing review I publish might affect my standing with the studios, or my chances to be part of the “in” crowd. My location makes me for all purposes “Untouchable”.

Mike:

It would seem you’ve transformed adversity into opportunity.

Vaughn:

De facto, yes. But it’s more than just a question of necessity.
I wouldn’t want to be part of a culture that bows to the commercial aspects of movie making and advertising, regardless of where  I live.

Mike:

So if your location isn’t the reason you choose to be “tough”, one might ask whether it has any effect on your endeavors at all?

Vaughn:

Absolutely!

Choosing to remain in Kansas after graduation meant that I had precious few existing opportunities for pursuing my passion for film.

I turned to blogging because I realized that if I didn’t create the channel for broadcasting my opinions, I’d remain mute – plain and simple!

Mike:

It would seem that your choices have played out well for you.
I checked your Twitter page – you’re followed by over 14,000 people!

Vaughn:

I’ve been very persistent building my Twitter following because I think its key to driving traffic to my site and Youtube channel.

Sometimes late at night, when I’m sitting alone and tired in the dark of my basement after finishing a video review, I scheme and plot for the day my army of followers forces the major media channels to notice my content and recognize its value.
That’s usually the point where I decide it might be a good time to turn in for the night….(laughing)

Mike:

I dig that. It’s a “First we take Twitter then we take LA” kinda thing.
So your motivation is world domination?

Vaughn:

Exactly!

Seriously though, being so far off center and doing what I do is a real challenge. I think that in many respects rising to that challenge and proving to myself I can beat these odds is a key motivator for me to keep on doing what I’m doing.

I’d like to be able to look back one day and know my efforts perhaps inspired action from others in my community.

I think I’m very fortunate to live in an age where technology enables anyone, from any background, to go out there produce quality video content and distribute it on a scale that’s limited only by the extent of one’s skill and daring.

Sometimes I think of this entire endeavor as an evolution of my childhood passion for video games:
As a kid I was always looking to beat my last “High Score”, today my challenge is getting more views for my content.

Mike:

That’s a very interesting way of looking at it and definitely one I can identify with. I guess I feel pretty much the same every time I check how many times our widget has been downloaded…

So what’s next for you?
When will you feel you’ve “Beat the Game”?

Vaughn:

I  truly believe video is the natural evolution for film criticism so I’d love to be recognized as a YouTube partner.

Other than that it would be great to get an offer to do something on TV, or receive a buyout offer for the blog.
In either case it would have to be a situation where I’d be certain my creative boundaries would be respected.



The future of film criticism

Mike:

I’ve got my fingers crossed for you man!

I’m curious that despite your involvement with the Tallgrass festival you only review big commercial productions.
Why is that?

Vaughn

It’s true.
Although my job as Festival Programmer requires me to watch over 300 foreign and independent films every year, I prefer writing about mainstream Hollywood pictures on my blog for two reasons:

  1. From a pragmatic perspective I doubt most people would bother to visit a blog dedicated to esoteric and niche movies.
  2. As Festival Programmer I’m limited in terms of what I’m allowed to expose and when. By the time it’s O.K. to write about a movie I saw at a  pre-screening, I’ve usually forgotten so much it’s impossible to write a review.

Anyway I think there’s something healthy about keeping these activities separate:
The festival is a volunteer operation. It’s  my way of giving back to my community.
The blog is a venture and I’m waiting to see how it plays out.

Mike:

I must admit that it definitely makes sense.

I’d like to change the subject and get your angle on our widget.

Vaughn:

I think it’s a very powerful widget. The only thing I’ve seen similar to it  is the way you can highlight stuff when using Bing’s.

I like it because it gives my readers access to all the information they might need, when they need it, and in one spot.
It takes the “work” out of research.

From a writer’s perspective it gives me the confidence that no matter what I write about, or whom, the widget has my back covered.
I no longer need worry about the tedious labor of providing links to references and explanations.

I think it’s very useful!

Mike:

Wow Vaughn!
Thanks for the compliments!

I really appreciate the fact you’re willing to help us with your feedback and support and I wish  you the best of luck with your blog. Cheers,

Vaughn:

No problem – I look forward to seeing what you come up with next…

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A chat Audee Mirza- the designer who built up her business by sharing

March 3rd, 2010, By talk

Audee Mirza

Our guest for this week’s interview is Ms. Audee Mirza.
Audee is a self employed graphic designer based in Surabaya, Indonesia. She’s also a loving mother, doting wife, and the founder of “Graphic Identity” – one of Indonesia’s most popular web design blogs.

I learned of Audee’s blog when one of my Google alerts notified me of a review of our widget she’d posted.

After reading the first sentence in her review I knew I had to invite her to star in one of our Weekly Blogger Interviews.

“Why?” you ask yourselves.

Because Audee learned of us by reading the interview I conducted with her online pal Ruhani Rabin (@ruhanirabin) couple of weeks ago, and I love these little reminders one gets ever so often that, although the web is a huge and intricate skein of links and connections, at the end of the day there’s always another human being at the end of the line – a person to connect to, learn from, laugh with…

Mike:
Hiya Audee!
How’s it going?

Audee:
 Great! Cool chatting with you.

Mike:
The pleasure is all mine.
I’m often curious as to how people first learned about Headup, but I guess in your case there isn’t much point in asking…

Audee:
 Not really – As you know I first heard about you from the interview you did with Ruhani Rabin.

Ruhani’s pretty big in the South East Asian web scene and since we’re friends I try and keep up with his posts and tweets. When he tweeted he’d been interviewed by you, naturally I had to follow the link, and that’s how I first heard about Headup. After I read the interview I decided to give your widget a spin and the rest is history.

Mike:
Indeed.
It still doesn’t give me the deeper background story though.
I guess what I’m really after is how you first became involved with the web professionally?

Audee:
It’s all part of the evolution of my online persona.

Mike:
Now that sounds like a story worth hearing!

Audee:
I don’t know about that, but here goes: Like many, and perhaps even most web designers working today, I never actually learned web design formally. My basic education is a degree in architecture.

Mike:
 Sounds familiar so far. I studied Industrial Design myself and got involved with the Web as the Internet evolved all around us.

Audee:
 I guess sometimes you just have to follow your passions. Even during my studies I found myself strongly drawn to the Web and Graphic Design, so I began educating myself using online tutorials, books and help from friends – pretty much anything and everything I could get my hands on.

I can honestly say that as far as my graphic design skills go I’m entirely self taught.

Mike:
Do you regret studying Architecture?

Audee:
 On the contrary, I think it gave me a wonderfully broad base in the basic theory of design. These basics are pretty much the same regardless which discipline you study.

Mike:
 Very true…
So now we know how you got involved with the Web but how did you get into the whole blogging and social media scene?

Audee:
 I started blogging in June 2007 and joined Twitter a year later. I saw blogging as a great way to hone my skills, showcase my work, meet people, and promote my business. My first inspiration was the excellent Bittbox blog.

When I first started out I was using Blogger simply because it felt like the easiest way to start a blog. It’s still the platform of choice for Graphic Identity, but I don’t know for how much longer, because since then I’ve become more involved in building sites on WordPress, which is far more robust and versatile.

Mike:
 So when you started out how did you decide what to topics to cover on your blog?

Audee:
 Like I said before I was initially looking for a chance to express my abilities and skills. I thought a design niche blog would be a good start. Today I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned and helping other by writing tutorials and posting freebies.

Mike:
 Seems your online generosity is well received. You have quite a following!

Audee:
Twitter following is just a number. It means nothing.

What really matters are the relationships you forge. Thankfully I’ve been blessed with a few of those too.

I only wish I had more time to be sociable and have more dialog with my followers.

Mike:
I’m curious as to how you juggle your time. You’re a self employed designer, a mother, and a blogger. What’s you secret?

Audee:
There’s no secret. I’m very selective in whom I follow and I tweet and retweet only things I find to be of value, like Headup.

It actually makes a pretty good example of my flow:
As I mentioned before I learned about you guys by reading Ruhani’s interview.
Since I like exploring new web applications, especially those that include a social aspect, I decided to try you out and write a review.
Knowing that I was committed to giving useful feedback encouraged me to try and get as full an experience of your product as I could, and I’m glad I did because I believe that Headup, and by proxy, my review of it, are helpful for my community.

This interview is a pretty great indication my activities have had value for me too.

Mike:
I think you just gave a very concise and succinct example of the ROI on blogging and social media activities in terms of building one’s personal brand!

Which brings me to my next question – Do you have a particular experience you feel is the highlight of your blogging “career”?

Audee:

“Highlight of my blogging career”, hmm…

I guess my best experiences are related to the freebies I create and share, like a series of Photoshop brush sets I released a while back.

It’s very gratifying to see how people appreciate my contributions.

Regretfully it’s getting harder for me to find time to provide these as more and more of my time is occupied with client projects. Still, I really miss playing around with my pen tool and creating vector freebies.

Mike:
Where do you see yourself a year from now?

Audee:
I want to keep up my blogging activity and freelance work and I’m also going to be launching a few new blogs very soon. I guess it would be nice to get more involved in collaborative projects

Mike:
I wish you the best of luck and would like to thank you again for all the support you’ve given us. I’ll be sure to look out for your new projects on your Twitter feed!

Audee:
 Thanks!
I’m looking forward to seeing how you guys evolve too.

Mike:

So are we…

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Ruhani Rabin, Malaysia's man-to-know online

February 8th, 2010, By talk
Ruhani Rabin - the man to know online Malaysia

Ruhani Rabin - the man to know online Malaysia

My guest for this week’s interview has a dream of harnessing the power of the web to help make the world a better place. His name is Ruhani Rabin and he’s an Asian tech blogger whose life story seems at times to border on the fairytale realms of the Arabian Nights.
Rabin lives in Petaling Jaya, the bustling city that serves as a commercial hub for the kingdom of Selangor, one of the 13 federated states that compose modern Malaysia.
Originally born in Dhaka he moved to Malaysia eight years ago after leaving Bangladesh to seek his fame and fortune. So far he’s well on his way to both – last summer Archanid, the independent agency where Ruhani works as Chief Technology Architect, won the award for “Digital Agency of the Year” from Malaysia’s prestigious “Advertising + Marketing” magazine. His next position is even more impressive (but you’ll have to read this interview to learn more about it).
I got to speak to Ruhani about his blogging career just as he’d moved into a new apartment and the only thing he’d unpacked was his PC.

Mike:
 Hiya Ruhani, how’s the move coming along?

Ruhani:
 I barely have my setup ready yet. Relocation is a mess.

Mike:
 I’d have thought that for someone whose shifted countries such as yourself, a move between apartments shouldn’t be a big deal.

Ruhani:
 When moving it’s not the distance that counts as much as the number of boxes you need to pack and unpack.

Mike:
 Good answer… I’ll remember that one
So tell me Ruhani, how has your relationship with the web shaped your career?

Ruhani:
 My relationship with the web IS in many ways my career. Over the years I’ve been involved in software, hardware, design, construction, data warehousing and other internet related industries but these past 5 years I’ve been very active on the social media scene.
It granted me the ability to create my personal brand simply by building honest relationships with my audience. My write-ups and blogs have provided me with enough exposure to keep me busy. In fact the last 3 positions I’ve filled were all opportunities that came my way thanks to my social networking activities. I didn’t apply for any of them – they just found their way to me.

Mike:
 That’s an amazing testimonial you’ve just given to the power of social media but since I know you’re going to be leading Friendster soon you certainly have some pretty solid proof to back you up. Talking about Friendster, I’m really curious as to any details you can share about the plans you have for the site?

Ruhani:
 Yes, Friendster has recently been bought by MOL Global/MOL Access portal (Malaysia). MOL is an online gaming, points system, prepaid and money transaction platform. I’ve been assigned to be Vice President of MOL in charge of integrating social engineering ideas for Friendster. Friendster, as I’m sure you know, is one of the oldest social media platforms around. I feel that what it needs is an injection of fresh and creative ideas integrated into the existing platform.

Mike:
 I’m sure we’ll all be hearing more about that in the near future and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Friendster returning to center stage of the social media scene, but I’d actually like to look back for a moment and ask you about your original motivation for blogging

Ruhani:
 I blog in order to share the advantages of the technologies I’m exposed to with as many people as I can. I’ve always felt that it’s best to share the knowledge you have.

Mike:
 Very true!
How and when did you start?

Ruhani:
 I first started with Tech2all.com in 2006, around the same time TechCrunch launched. Sadly I lack the location benefits that TC’s team has…
The name tech2all reflected my sole purpose for blogging which is, as I mentioned earlier, to empower people through technology.
I began RuhaniRabin.com as part of my self-branding and I use it to give my personal perspective on topics I find to be of interest or value. I only wish I had more time to dedicate to my writing.

Mike:
 How do you decide what topics to cover on your blogs?

Ruhani:
 Tech2all covers and reviews “Web 2.0” topics, products and insights.
RuhaniRabin is more personal and therefore a little more eclectic. The main topics revolve around Social Media, WordPress, Photography and Open Source tools. Lately Twitter has become a hot topic that influences my writing too as well.

Mike:
 It seems that between the two blogs you really cover a lot of topics. I’ve also noticed, and you stated yourself earlier, that you’re heavily involved with social media. How did you first get involved?

Ruhani:
 Actually my perspective on Social Media is that it’s all about getting to know, and being able to reach REAL people. The reason being that the knowledge you earn from people is knowledge you can’t find written in any book.
I originally started out on Myspace soon after they were launched. My first experiences were pretty unpleasant – I discovered a lot of dishonesty and deception. Rather than let this initial experience daunt me I moved on to Friendster, Multiply, Facebook, Twitter and a multitude of other social networks, some you’ve probably heard of and others too esoteric to mention. It’s been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had.

Mike:
 Quite a journey you’ve had. I think that in light of your experiences it’s especially interesting to hear what your perception of Headup is?

Ruhani:
 Headup is a wonderful utility, I started using it slightly over month ago and for me it’s like an on-the-spot jargon explainer. The truth is that as a tech blogger I sometimes use terms that aren’t necessarily easy to understand or explain. Headup is my rescue toolkit for these situations. All my readers need do is mouse-over the keyword, and Headup explains it clearly along with related contents from other blogs, videos and tweets.
I think there could be a good monetization option for the widget.
I’ve taken a peek in the light edition of the widget and loved it too (note: Ruhani has been kind enough to let us test a pilot of our snippet widget on his blog).

Mike:
 I’m curious as to what suggestions you have for us.

Ruhani:
 I think in future it would be great to give an option to select which widget the blog displays to end users. Adding usage stats to the publisher dashboard would be simply fabulous. I’d love to see the speed improve as well.

Mike:
 I’m glad to say that all your suggestions are already well under development and should be released later this month.

Ruhani:
 Great!
In my opinion, Headup is a must-have for blogs. It really helps readers understand terms and words without having to leave the blog. Before I had Headup installed readers were often required to Google these topics. Headup reduces this need while simultaneously providing contents such as videos, images and tweets that the reader might not even know exist.
Once the stats are available I think Headup will help authors understand which words and terms are popular on their blogs. I really would encourage bloggers to try it out.

Mike:
 Thanks so much for this incredible testimonial and all the support you’ve shown us along the way. Congratulations on your new job and good luck! I’ll be talking to you again soon…

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7 Out Of 10 – an envious chat with gaming blogger Manny Brown

February 4th, 2010, By talk
Manny Brown - co-founder of 7outof10, and a very lucky man

Manny Brown - co-founder of 7outof10, and a very lucky man

Those of you who follow my weekly ramblings will have noticed that last week I failed to post a blogger interview.

Truth be told I was holed up at home for most of the week with a nasty case of the flu. Besides making my near and dear ones miserable I wasn’t really up to much of anything.

In the time that passed however our last guest, David Sztypuljak the editor and founder of the HeyUGuys film blog, made good on his promise and referred me to his friend gaming blogger Manny Brown.

Given the circumstances it’s only fitting that Manny is the star of this week’s blogger interview.

Manny Brown is still in his 20′s (at least for a few more weeks until he turns 30).

He lives in Cheltenham with his girlfriend and started 7outof10 together with game designer James Thomas and close friend Phil Davies. Although the site is still in its infancy Manny is happy with the way traffic is improving from month to month and was kind enough to speak to me on very short notice (some people forgot they had a blogger interview to publish this week, but I’m not saying who…)

Mike:

Hi Manny, thanks for agreeing to speak to me on such short notice.

Manny:

It’s a huge sacrifice but you caught me in a giving mood today.

Mike:

Lucky me.

Manny:

Indeed fortune has smiled upon you today.

Mike:

Seriously Manny, you’ve only just started 7outof10.
Can you tell me how you get into the whole blogging scene?

Manny:

I have a background in freelance videogame journalism and a 6-month stint as an editor at a now-defunct startup. I think these experiences, together with some IT background and a false career start or two, all came together and led to the creation of the blog in the middle of last year. James and myself decided to amalgamate our personal sites, and 7outof10 was born as a direct result. We’re still in our infancy, the site needs tidying up a bit, but traffic is improving rapidly every month.

Mike:

I wish my false career starts would have translated into a cool gaming blog.
And there I was thinking I was the lucky one.
I’m curious as to your blog’s name. What does 7outof10 actually mean?

Manny:

The name comes from a long-standing joke in the videogame reviewing world that 7 is deemed as an ‘average’ score for many publications, since nobody seems to want to use the full reviewing scale. That and fine UK podcast One Life Left were the main sources of inspiration.

Mike:

Reminds me of my ill spent youth and the report cards I used to get from school.
One important difference – no one ever objected to using the full reviewing scale on those…

Tell me, besides yourself and James, who else writes for the blog?

Manny:

James is a prolific poster, as is our fellow shipmate Phil. The three of us basically sit and moan to each other via email all day like old women. Our larger family includes many others such as William, Mike, Stevie et al, all good friends and all passionate about making this thing a success.

Mike:

“Moan to each other all day like old women” – now there’s an image for you.
I assume this reflects on your editorial process?

Manny:

Editorial process? What’s that?
To be honest we’re probably a bit too lapse with the editorial side of things. We have a forum in which people bandy about ideas, then everybody gets on with their own thing.

When it’s time for submission, James and myself will give things the once-over and fix any glaring problems before putting them live.

We’re gradually tightening the style as we go, but I think it’s important for sites such as ours to be staffed by people with their own voice.

Mike:

I’m actually certain that especially when you’re writing about games that’s pretty much a must. I mean having fun is what it’s all about! (I hope…).

Truth be told from what I’ve learned on your blog’s about page all the authors have professional experience in the gaming industry so you can’t be too far off with your content.

Manny:

Thanks. We do try :)

Mike:

I’m curious about that line in the “about” page – how did you all get involved in the field originally?

Manny:

Well, James is easily the most qualified among us, being a developer for a prominent company here in the UK.
Phil has worked in games retail for many years.
My own attraction simply stems from a passion for writing about the games I love. My aspirations started many moons ago writing lengthy posts and reader reviews on the Eurogamer forums, which then blossomed into curiosity and eventually a career in Freelance and as a full-time editor in 2008.

We all spend far too much time reading/playing and discussing videogames, so it just feels like a natural extension.

Mike:

I sooooo envy you guys.
What’s your most notable blog related experience?

Manny:

On a purely personal level, I’d have to say it was getting a chunk of my text published on renowned videogame blog Kotaku a few months back. I have a huge respect for those guys, so for them to highlight a paragraph of my Modern Warfare 2 review was fantastic.

In terms of more silly stuff, the one event that springs to mind was a ‘field trip’ organised by the PR company Koch media last year. Myself and nine other journalists were bundled into a van, taken to the Isle of Wight by ferry, put up in a hotel and treated to a beach party with stupendous amounts of alcohol, a massive fire and all sorts of food. The catch was, there was absolutely nothing to promote. Nothing to see. No game to play. I still have no idea what that was actually about.

Mike:

A certain scene from Monthy Python’s Life of Brian comes to mind…

Right, now that we’ve established you’re living a dream, what are your plans for 7outof10 for 2010?

Manny:

Grow, grow, grow! At the moment, we need as much content as possible, so I’m scouring the internet to find people that would like to become a part of the family as we take off from ground level, so to speak. We’re improving our traffic by at least 1-200% a month (sometimes a lot more), so I’m aiming to continue that trend and lift us higher as the year progresses.

Mike:

How do you monetize the blog if at all?

Manny:

We’re just experimenting with advertising at the moment and finding what suits us. It’s difficult, though. I don’t think we’ll be in the position to pay for anybody going full-time for at least another year or so, but I’m positive we can make it work. Alternative methods of funding are also being researched.

Mike:

I’m not sure there’s much of a market for gamer organs but I might know a guy who knows a guy. I’d be happy to hook you up.
Now tat I think about it I guess your beach party story made me bitter after all ; )

Back on track thought – What’s your prime motivation for using Headup widgets?

Manny:

My good friend Dave at heyuguys.co.uk introduced us to the concept, and it just sounds like a fantastic idea to lower our bounce rate and get people clicking around contributing. From the feedback thus far, everybody loves it.

Mike:

What features do you feel are missing from the widget?

Manny:

Not a great deal to be honest. The personalisation options are fairly extensive, so I think if you take the time to tailor it to your site, it’ll work well. I’m intrigued to see what you guys come up with though!

Mike:

I doubt we can beat a boozy beach party but I’m sure it’ll be loads of fun seeing our development team try!

Thanks very much for speaking to me Manny and lot’s of luck with the blog. I can honestly say it’s been a blast speaking to you!

Manny:

Cheers!

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