For the last 10 years of my life, The Reel Bits has been my primary creative outlet.
There have been other projects of course. Various magazines. Several long-running podcasts. That one book I did. A spot radio. A handful of upcoming projects.
Yet as we start a new decade, I’ve started to wonder if reviewing films is all I have in me. When I started this site, and edited its predecessor DVD Bits, I always told myself reviewing was a way of extending my love of film beyond the end credits.
But what else could I be doing with that time?
A (re)new(ed) focus
Let me be clear: The Reel Bits isn’t going anywhere. I’ve worked too damn hard for it to blog fade. Besides, the last time I tried that I lasted five months before realising I needed it in my life. (There were also some romantic hijinks occurring, but to be young is to be high/sad).
Yet other things have started to slip in the pursuit of covering all the latest releases. You might recall that Back to the Future book I was editing back in January? It’s been in arrested development for months. It’s back on trek now with my fingers crossed for a late 2020 release date, just in time for the film’s 35th anniversary (and BTTF3‘s 30th anniversary).
Running a site like this takes a lot of time. The process of maintaining one’s status on various media lists is often exhausting. That’s in addition to watching films, TV and reading books every day and then writing about them. This is not a complaint so much as a statement of fact. It’s also energy I could spend on creative writing.
The site will maintain its devotion to keeping Asia in Focus. Indeed, beyond the festivals the coverage of weekly Chinese and Korean releases slipped in the pursuit of major studio releases. This is where my true cinematic passion is, so much so that I’m learning Japanese this year to enhance my appreciation of Japan’s cinema. This is where you’ll see the most action on The Reel Bits in 2020.
The biggest change will be an almost total absence of news items. The majority of non-review pieces on The Reel Bits will be longer form articles on classic and international films, film festival coverage and essays. (Of course, you better believe I’ll be keeping a keen eye on the Marvel Cinematic Universe). It also happens to be the anniversary of some of my favourite films, and I won’t let those slip.
A new project (or three)
One of the things I’ve learned about writing is that it takes focus. In order to complete my first book, I walked away from a successful podcast in order to give it the attention it deserved. The book was better for it I am sure.
The same is true of the two projects I’m currently working on. One is the aforementioned Back to the Future book. The contributors are a lovely group of patient folk who will have their work see the light of day this year: the 35th anniversary of the first film.
I recently had a conversation with a good friend about priorities. He made a similar decision to pull the plug on another iteration of what he’d been doing for the last decade in order to get back to a creative outlet. (In fact, I will be working on a project with him this year but that’s another story).
So, the other little project I’m working on is a passion piece that’s kind of about the Chicago Cubs. Yes, baseball. Me and sports. It’s fiction though, so don’t expect a complete history. It’s a personal story about a family, and that’s all you’re getting from me for now.
Until then, I’m looking forward to bringing you random thoughts, reviews and other pieces that fancy my tickle throughout the year. Here’s looking forward to what the next 12 months brings us all!
The Reel Bits celebrates its 10th anniversary on 4 July 2020. Get the fireworks ready now.
