My Response To The Holly Payne Situation

Before I lay out the series of events that lead up to this, let me emphasize something very clearly. Jon Schnepp’s partner, Holly Payne, has been through an unimaginable nightmare with the passing of Jon and then unfairly compounded by hospital bills that could ruin anyone. The way she has handled this situation is by far better than most of us would. That can’t be overstated.

Last month Holly and I had a really good sit down conversation in the Hospital where Jon was. She had literally just gotten the final word from the Doctor that there was no coming back for Jon from his condition. Her stature was titan like in the face of that news. I was frankly humbled seeing how she was coping.

Later, after comic-con, I did my tribute video to Schnepp and Holly touched base with me with a very kind text message expressing she thought my video was beautiful. I continued to encourage everyone to donate to the GoFundMe to help Holly manage the ridiculous medical bills that were coming and from my perspective everything was fine.

Fast forward a few weeks. My brother-in-law Ray (who really loved Schnepp), who for years did all the graphics for HEROES, made a shirt to honor Jon Schnepp. It was never for sale. It was never for money. It was never made available to anyone except us. It was never meant for anyone else to own. I took a picture of the shirt Ray made and posted it on my social media over a week ago because I was so moved by it. This is it:

Now we fast forward to yesterday. Holly, well after a week since the image had been posted, left the following comments on the picture completely taking me off guard when she wrote the following:

 

I was completely blindsided by this. First of all because we were not selling the shirts nor making them available to anyone. On Top of that, my previous communications with Holly had all been very positive. I was at a Star Wars concert at the time and I stepped out to write to Holly immediately and I wrote her the following:

Shortly after that I received a reply from Holly now saying she wasn’t upset about selling the shirts (which we weren’t doing) but rather that we had made them at all in the first place (which isn’t what she said in the facebook comments). She wrote the following:

After getting this and seeing the inconsistency in the messages I started to suspect there was something more going on that I wasn’t aware of. I followed up with her with the following message:

So that was the last message between Holly and myself. I went through the rest of the concert and heard nothing back. I believed that whatever Holly was feeling or going through and whatever it had to do with me, she would talk to me about it whenever she was good and ready to do so. She obviously has enough to deal with and worry about at the moment.

It wasn’t until hours later as I was settling into bed… I was completely blindsided by a very public attack on myself and Robert Meyer Burnett Holly tweeted out. It had nothing to do with selling shirts… it had nothing to do with the fact we even possessed the shirts. It was about something completely different. Holly wrote the following on twitter:

I simply could not breathe. I’ve used the word “blindsided” a couple of times already, and at the risk of beating the word to death… I was blindsided. In the following hour Holly unleashed a series of tweets directly targeting both Robert and myself. Both barrels, full blast.

I’ve known that Holly had (for reasons that I still do not know or understand) some grudge against Robert… but I honestly didn’t think it was that bad when she spoke to me about it weeks ago. Many people have publicly asked why Robert Meyer Burnett, the man who did more episodes of HEROES with Jon than anyone else (including me) was not on either the Collider Jon Schnepp memorial show nor on the HEROES memorial show. When Robert asked why he was not invited to participate in those shows, he was simply told “Holly doesn’t want you on it”.

Robert (here comes that word again) was totally blindsided by that. He thought he and Holly were on good terms. Understandably, Robert was angry. He wanted to speak up about the issue and I cautioned him against it. I told him: “Rob, Holly is in a place right now that none of us can even imagine. The pain and grief she’s going through is something we can’t understand. Give it time. Give her time. None of us act ourselves when we’re in that much pain”. There was nothing to be gained for Robert to honestly air out why he wasn’t on those shows and for the most part kept it to himself even though he was constantly being bombarded with questions about it. But, nothing good would have come of it were he to lash out. And so out of respect to Holly and Jon he didn’t.

After reading the tweets Holly had sent out, I recognized that what she was now lashing out about wasn’t the t-shirt, but the fact that I relaunched my comic-book movie/tv show “The Weekly Hero” with Robert (something I had always planned on doing once I found an appropriate co-host). I reached out to her again with the following:

We continued to exchange messages that mostly became repetitive. She was insisting I cancel my show and repeatedly made negative comments about me as a person (I assume to either try to be hurtful or to draw me into a fight.. because sometimes when we’re hurting all we really want is a good fight). I would ask her to help me understand why my show needed to be canceled when many other similar shows are up. We weren’t getting anywhere. I asked her several times for us to have an actual sit down conversation, I told her I would put anything on the table if we could talk. She ignored those requests and just continued to insist that it was wrong for me to have a comic-book movie news show and that I must cancel it. She went on to make several comments about me as a person and I wrote the following:

In the time it has taken me to write this, Holly has continued her assault and fired more shots on twitter. I’m not going to fight back. I’m not going to say one negative word about Holly. She is a titan who is dealing with the unimaginable. Even now I don’t think I’ve gotten to the real issue. It wasn’t selling shirts. It wasn’t making a shirt. And even now I don’t think it’s that I restarted a show I was already doing a year ago. I may be right, I may be wrong. I may never know.

I write this exclusively to give some context. If this is indeed about me having a show on my youtube channel that talks about superhero movies and tv shows, then all I can really say is that YouTube is FILLED with people and groups who do videos about superhero movies and TV shows. I’m unclear why I, the person who actually created AMC HEROES in the first place and had to convince Jon Schnepp that he was capable of hosting the show (and in doing so he became the greatest superhero and comics talk host in history… best there is, best there was, best there ever will be), should not be allowed to continue to do shows and videos about superhero movies just because I left the corporation we worked at together. To me, that is unfair and unreasonable.

But even then, had Holly said ONE WORD to me about any discomfort she had about me relaunching my show… I would at the very least have delayed the relaunch. I don’t know, it’s hard to say because she never gave me that chance, and left me believing we were on very good terms. Until I was blindsided.

Again, I don’t know where all this came from and I’m not sure I’ll ever know. Here is what I do know:

1. Jon Schnepp was the best there will ever be at talking about comics and comic movies/tv shows. There will never be his equal and the most that I and anyone else can aspire to is to be second best to his standard.
2. Holly is a champ. If most of us had to deal with what she has gone through these last weeks we’d have all given up by now, laying in the dirt just staring at the sun. Holly has stayed on her feet and has given us an example of what strength and grace look like under the worse pressure. No one should EVER judge someone dealing with what she has dealt with in terms of how they choose to deal with it.

To be honest, I didn’t even want to say this much, but I was unwillingly put into a position that I simply had to say something, to at least give a little context to the very public character assassination that is going on against both myself and Robert Meyer Burnett on twitter at the moment by Holly. All for the sake… of people doing an internet show talking about superhero movies and tv shows that we all love. This situation SUCKS for everyone involved, most of all for Holly obviously. Nothing good ever comes out of stuff like this and absolutely no one “wins”. We all lose. The very fact that we’re here at this point is a testament that we’ve all already lost.

To be upfront and clear, this is the last word I’m saying on this. I won’t respond to questions about it, I won’t engage in pointless “he said/she said” skirmishes, I won’t discredited Holly and I won’t justify myself. I just want to do my thing as I’ve always done: Talk about the things I love in a community that loves the same things. And I just want everyone else to be able to do the same.

~John

 

 

 

 

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Why I Wasn’t On The Collider Jon Schnepp Tribute

As a lot of us are still trying to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the loss the fan community suffered in the passing of Jon Schnepp, myself included, I have been absolutely inundated with tweets, comments and emails from people asking me why I wasn’t on the Collider Jon Schnepp tribute video. Initially, I decided to just not comment on the situation since it wasn’t important and I wanted the attention of the moment to be where it belonged… on the tremendous loss the world suffered.

However, the amount of questions coming in has only increased, and with Robert Meyer Burnett revealing that he was not invited to participate in the HEROES Jon Schnepp tribute, precipitating a bunch of (unfair) accusations that Collider didn’t invite me to be on their main tribute video… I decided to address this, if for no other reason than to give a little clarity and allow the attention to return to where it should be.

First of all, Collider did invite me to be on the Jon Schnepp special. Any accusations that they failed to invite me are just untrue. Just prior to Comic-Con (remember, a number of us knew about the extent of Jon’s condition prior to the public knowing) Kristian Harloff gave me a call (we had been speaking frequently since Schnepp was hospitalized) and told me about the plans Collider had to do a special video about Jon and that I should be there. I thanked him for inviting me, but that I didn’t think it would be practical to do so. That was the last we spoke of it.

As for the question “why?”, I won’t go into details, but I will say that while I still have a great deal of respect and affection for a number of people at Collider, there are also elements there that I do not feel that same way about. The mere thought of being physically at Collider elicits extremely strong negative emotions in me that I can only describe as a mental image of a Dementor sucking the life out of an unsuspecting Hogwarts student. Perhaps I’m right to feel that way, perhaps I’m wrong, but nonetheless it is the way I feel. As such, being around Collider in any way is simply not healthy for me. We need to make choices in our lives that are healthy ones for us. So while I still speak and hang out with some individuals there, the notion of physically being at, or being in any way associated with, Collider, is just simply unhealthy for me. I choose to be happy. I choose to be healthy.

I should also point out 2 massive falsehoods that I hear some people saying:

1) Collider needed me to be there in order to properly honor Schnepp – Absolutely false. Any of you who saw the tribute video they did know Kristian, Mark, Dennis and Co. did a wonderful, heartfelt job of remembering and paying tribute to Jon. My presence there was absolutely not required in order for them to do that. It was a special video and done with a lot of grace and class. It could not have been any better.

2) I needed to be there in order to properly honor Schnepp – Absolutely false. I decided to honor Jon on my own and in my own way. Judging from the responses I’ve gotten from all of you, you appreciated it as much as I appreciated being able to share my feelings and thoughts on the big man’s passing. Screenjunkies did their own tribute video, Reel Rejects did their own… just search on YouTube and you’ll see a lot of people paid tribute on their own. And I did too. Holly, whose herculean strength and grace through the entire ordeal with Jon is an inspiration to us all, actually reached out to me about the video I did remembering Jon, and that was probably the most special thing for me in all this.

So, with all that said, it would be great now if we could return 100% of our attention to the tragic loss of someone who was the best of us. As a reminder, Holly Payne and Jon’s family are going to be facing a catastrophic medical bill that Jon incurred while in the hospital. Any help you can offer to offset these crippling costs would be doing a great service to Jon. Please donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/getwelljonschneppfundraiser

Where has the audio only version of my podcast gone?

Some of you may have noticed that the audio only version of The John Campea Podcast hasn’t been getting updated for the last number of weeks. There is a reason for that. It’s been discontinued. Well… sort of.

When I made the move to do my own YouTube channel full time (I upload about 70-90 videos per month. ON MY OWN. No 25 person staff to help me do it anymore) it meant that I would have to find ways to make my living off doing it. This put me in a difficult position with my audio only podcast since it not only takes up some of my time and energy to convert and upload, it was also costing me money as I had to pay a half decent podcast hosting service. It also took away potential revenue from me since anyone listening to the audio only podcast wasn’t watching the video version on Youtube… which is where I actually make my living. So having the audio only podcast was kicking me in the balls 3 different, yet equally painful ways.

I’ve done a lot of investigation into how to generate revenue with podcasts, and all of them seemed to be better suited for people who only needed $10/month, or had a REALLY large audience. My audio only podcast was getting around 5k-7k listeners per day, which really is a small amount compared to the numbers needed to actually do anything.

So a number of weeks ago I decided it was irresponsible of me to continue to put out the audio only version of the podcast. Therefore I was going to shut it down. UNTIL…

A bunch of my viewers had been telling me for months (some of them for years) that I should be using Patreon as a way for my viewers who appreciate my content to contribute to its production. I finally decided to try it and it’s been going great so far. I then thought that since my Patreon supporters were actually contributing finances to the cause, I could provide the audio only version to them as an option.

So yes, the audio only version of the daily The John Campea Podcast is still around. However, it’s only around for my Patreon supporters who actually make it financially possible for me to do it.

Please note, I didn’t kill the audio only version of the podcast so I could make it exclusive to my Patreon supporters. I was already going to kill it because it was costing me too much in terms of time, money and viewers. There was just no upside to me continuing it. It was great when I was doing it as a hobby, but now I have to earn a living from it so I had to be a lot more diligent about where my time, money and energy were going.

I hope you all understand the need I had to make that decision. For those of you who aren’t supporters on Patreon, you are still able to rip your own audio only version of the podcast using online Youtube download services with my complete blessing if you wish for your own personal use.

If you’re interested in becoming one of my Patreon supporters (yay!) and get my audio only version of the podcast (among other perks) please visit www.patreon.com/johncampea to find out more. Thank you for your understanding and support! Cheers!

~John

Next Chapter

Ok, I’m not going to talk about this on video or make any sort of grand announcement because I did that once already. But I did want to give those of you who follow me on social media the heads up that I have given my 2 weeks notice to Complex and that I’m leaving Collider Video. Since I took 2 weeks vacation time when my friend died on Friday, that means you won’t be seeing me back on Collider (except for some stuff I pre-recorded and any guest or freelance stuff I do with them in the future).

Here’s the thing, the death of my buddy this week affected me far more profoundly than I anticipated. His passing made me realize 2 things:

1) Life is far too short to allow yourself to be unhappy

2) I have been unhappy at Collider for a while

Now, before anyone reads too much into that last statement, I love the people at Complex and Collider. As a matter of fact, I was just texting back and forth with my (former) boss last night about how bad Transformers 5 is. We get along great. He’s moving to Los Angeles and we’re probably going to hang out a lot. The SVP of Complex was on the phone with me yesterday asking if there was any way I’d reconsider. They, and the team I’ve built over the years, are all amazing and I hold them all in high regard and respect them greatly. I’ll probably still do some random things with them in the future.

However, the direction the operation was heading in, as well as some key decisions that were being made, I’ve disagreed with strongly and have made me very uncomfortable. Not to say that I’m right to disagree nor that they’re wrong. Not at all. Right or wrong doesn’t come into it. But as I told my (former) boss, if I stayed I was just going to continue being frustrated and unhappy and maybe become an obstruction to what he wants to do with Collider. Neither of those are good scenarios for anyone. I want to be happy, and I want my boss to succeed because he and all the folks at Collider are awesome.

Life is too short to allow yourself to be unhappy.

It’s also important to know that I’m not leaving for something else. I don’t have anything lined up yet. I have some standing offers from places and I’m sure I’ll get others.

One thing I’m absolutely going to do regardless of any other jobs I take in the future is to get my own YouTube channel properly back up and running. I realized a long time ago that I’ve never been happier than when I was just running my old site The Movie Blog. My own site. My own property. My own thing. I love doing stuff on my own channel and I’m absolutely going to be doing a lot more there moving forward. I hope you’ll join me.

Life is too short to allow yourself to be unhappy.

So please, let’s not make a big deal out of this. I specifically asked Collider NOT to make any sort of announcement. I want the focus at Collider Video to be on the people who are still there doing great stuff every day. Not on me leaving.

So you might be asking yourself “why tell us this then?”. Well, because I couldn’t think of a way to ask you guys to start tuning into my YouTube channel more without telling you what was going on. Trust me, I wish I could have just disappeared and never mentioned it, but I didn’t see any realistic way of doing that.

Lastly, please do 2 things:

1) Continue to watch and support the team at Collider Video. You’ll never have any idea how much they bust their asses over there to give you the best content they can.

2) Please consider watching and supporting me too! Subscribe to my YouTube channel, youtube.com/johncampea and make sure you’re following me on facebook and twitter @johncampea. I’ll update you immediately if and when I decide to take another gig.

Thank you.

My Old Transformers 2 Review

Eight years ago I made a video review of Transformers 2. In the video I expressed how outraged and offended I was over the blatant racism and use of overtly negative black racial stereotypes. I was beside myself. Granted, I may have been especially sensitive to the subject matter since my girlfriend of almost a year at the time just happened to be black. The twin autobots in the film were the embodiment of every negative and poisonous black youth stereotype you could muster including them being illiterate (no seriously, robots that couldn’t read) and a lack of intelligence. In the video I juxtaposed the positive portrayal of Jazz in the first film to highlight how offensive these characters were. instead of making these characters strong positive characters like Jazz, I said in the video they opted to portray them as “hood niggas” to highlight just how offensive those characters are. I refused to sugarcoat what I felt the movie did. I was angry. I used extremely ugly language to properly call out and label an extremely ugly situation the movie created with those characters.

That was 8 years ago and it seems everyone who watched my ENTIRE review understood it perfectly. However, this weekend, 8 years later, someone took that video and selectively picked out the 3 SECONDS where I used the phrase “hood niggas” while editing out all of the context of the video. Clearly the person had an agenda. They made their own 3-second video, of a review I did 8 years ago, obviously in an attempt to make it appear like I was saying something I was clearly saying the opposite of. It sickens me that I even have to write this “explanation”, but that’s the nature of trolls online today. I encourage you to watch the full true context of this nonsense, please view my full review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvYgzfhwEfI

My objective was not to offend anyone, but rather to share my outrage with others and communicate just how offended I was as an individual over the reckless and heinous use of negative black stereotypes. The reason my review is still online today is because everyone who saw it viewed it in context and understood it as such. In 8 years I never received any complaints from anyone misunderstanding my point. I never heard from any viewers expressing they were offended or hurt by my use of the phrase in context. If anyone had, I would have removed the video EIGHT YEARS AGO. But now, when a bunch of people see it for the first time out of context in a 3 second selectively edited video, it becomes a different beast (and to some degree that’s understandable). Obviously, I feel terrible and am deeply sorry if anyone took offense or felt hurt by my choice of words. I hope in context it at least is clear that my intent was to express outrage over what I considered to be an unacceptable portrayal of an entire people group.

I know the trolls that create these sorts of things are just trying to get a reaction, and it sucks that they’ve succeeded in getting me to respond. It especially bothers me that I have to deal with these trolls the day after my friend died, and instead of being on the phone with my friends back home grieving, I’m having to deal with this. Terrible day.

**UPDATE** Apparently the post with the 3 second video has been deleted by the person who put it up. Ummm… thank you???

Why You Shouldn’t Believe Ben Affleck’s Statement Re: Not Directing Batman

To some it came as a complete shock and surprise. To others, who had been paying attention to the events, odd statements, mixed signals and contradictory positions not as much so. Either way it shook the entertainment world this past weekend when Ben Affleck announced that he was stepping down as the director for the upcoming Batman stand alone film. His statement was very diplomatic, professional… and complete fiction. Here’s his statement:

“There are certain characters who hold a special place in the hearts of millions. Performing this role demands focus, passion and the very best performance I can give. It has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require. Together with the studio, I have decided to find a partner in a director who will collaborate with me on this massive film. I am still in this, and we are making it, but we are currently looking for a director. I remain extremely committed to this project, and look forward to bringing this to life for fans around the world.”

Diplomatic. Professional. Complete fiction that isn’t to be believed.

Before I venture into why no self-respecting film fan should buy into this well meant, although completely deceptive statement, let me say that this was nonetheless absolutely the appropriate statement to make. Regardless of how messy, heated or conflict muddled the true situation between Ben Affleck and his vision for the Batman film and Warner Bros had become, it would serve no one’s best interests to air the grievances. No party here stood to gain anything by throwing the other under the proverbial bus or engaging in any sort of public “he said/she said” quarrel, especially since they are both stuck working together (more on that later). The professional thing to do here was to draft a statement singing the praises of each other and that’s what they did. That’s also what they should have done notwithstanding that it’s a complete lie.

So why am I and others completely convinced that this statement is nothing more than a PR charade masking a much deeper problem? Well there are several reasons:

1) A GROWING LIST OF DYSFUNCTION AT DC
One could look much more innocently at the directorial departure of Ben Affleck as nothing more than the face value of his statement had this been the first “break up” between WB/DC and one of its filmmakers in recent months. However, Affleck’s departure is just the latest in an ever increasing pattern. From FLASH recently discarding their script (yet again) for a full page 1 rewrite, to WONDER WOMAN director Michelle MacLaren leaving the project over “creative differences”, to FLASH going through 2 on record directors (and a third unofficially as it was strongly reported that LEGO MOVIE’s Lord and Miller were tapped to direct the project before departing the project) and still to this day is without a director after parting ways with Rick Famuyiwa. The list astoundingly does go on. A DC movie disruption of one sort or another has become a weekly headline and occurrence. To see the Affleck departure outside of that light would be neglectful at best.

2) DID BEN LIE TWO WEEKS AGO OR NOW?
Amidst speculation and reports that the relationship between Affleck and WB was souring (I’ll go more into that in a moment), Affleck took to the stage on Jimmy Kimmel roughly 2 weeks ago to “set the record straight”. Kimmel directly asked Affleck: “Are you directing the next Batman”? To which Affleck firmly replied: “I’m gonna direct the next Batman we’re working on it now”. It was clearly set up intentionally. Affleck and WB wanted to dispel the reports and rumors that had started swirling that he may be looking to get out of directing Batman. It was a strategic move to quell the rumors and keep fans confident in the project. With such a calculated and definitive statement made just mere weeks ago, are we actually to believe that Affleck, who has already taken on the dual role of director and actor in 3 films, one of which winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards, now suddenly just days later had a complete reversal of philosophy or confidence? Why was he still firmly confident in his ability and desire to direct Batman just weeks ago, and then suddenly convinced he was incapable of competently doing it now? These are realizations that happen over the span of years, not days.

3) IT WAS CLEAR HE WAS BECOMING UNHAPPY
It wasn’t that long ago that Affleck was speaking enthusiastically about the status of his project. He seemed excited. So much so that he actually revealed to the world that he was so far along in the process that he had selected actor Joe Manganiello to play his villain Deathstroke and had even conducted some concept screen tests which he shared with the public. However, that projection of enthusiasm and excitement ended. Near the beginning of this new year Ben gave us our first look at things falling apart in paradise. When asked if he was still directing Batman, Affleck famously responded:

It’s not a set thing and there’s no script. If it doesn’t come together in a way I think is really great I’m not going to do it,”

Not a set thing? No script? Not coming together? Affleck was the writer. He had seemed highly motivated and at least gave the impression that the script was more than just “coming together”. It was clear that there was something bigger happening under the surface. Speculation began that certain WB execs had begun meddling, essentially derailing Affleck and stymying his creative process. The Jimmy Kimmel appearance and statement was in direct response to these rumors, and as I mentioned above, that statement now has to be drawn into serious question.

4) SINCE WHEN CAN AFFLECK NOT ACT AND DIRECT THE SAME MOVIE?
One of the most obvious fabrications of the Affleck/WB statement is the supposed claim that Ben had decided that he could not properly act in and direct a Batman film at the same time. In the 2012 film ARGO, Ben both acted and directed… and it could be argued that it was both Ben’s finest work as an actor AND his finest work as a director. The film went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards and Ben went on to receive the Best Director award from the Director’s Guild Of America, The Critic’s Choice Awards and the Golden Globes.

Some may want to say that the pressure of directing a Batman film would be different. I could accept that logic had it not been for the fact that Ben has already been dealing with that pressure for over 3 years now ever since it was announced he was playing Batman. He went through shooting 2 movies as Batman (Batman V Superman and the first Justice League which is long since wrapped). Ben Affleck did not just suddenly “realize” that there would be great pressure in doing a Batman movie. Not in just the last 2 weeks. He has been living it and dealing with it and acclimating himself to it for years already. If Ben Affleck was going to suddenly drop out of directing a Batman film because he realized it was going to be too much to handle, he would have done it while shooting Justice League, or BVS, or early in the stages of shooting LIVE BY NIGHT. Again, I have to go back to the statement he made just a few short weeks ago. Just WEEKS ago. “I’m gonna direct the next Batman”.

Are we to believe that he went through the hellish internet backlash upon the announcement that he was our new Batman, that he went through seeing the rigors firsthand shooting Batman V Superman and how much difficulty there would be in directing it, that he went through the entire production of JUSTICE LEAGUE and still felt completely confident that he could act in AND direct the Batman movie enough to say on national television “I’m gonna direct Batman” only to then have a total change of heart on the issue just 2 short weeks later? The thought is utterly absurd to anyone with an ounce of common sense.

5) AFFLECK IS OBLIGATED TO CONTINUE TO PLAY BATMAN
Some try to lend credibility to the statement by saying “If Ben was unhappy or if there was trouble, why would he still stay on to play Batman”? The answer is a simple one. Affleck would actually have no choice in the matter. He is contractually obligated to play Batman for however many more films remain on his deal. It would be a crippling PR disaster for WB/DC to let Affleck walk. Affleck as Batman was one of the few elements of Batman V Sueprman that most people agreed was a strong point of the film. To allow Affleck to walk out of his deal would not only crush the already fragile public perception of the DC Cinematic Universe, but also hurt them creatively as Affleck’s Batman is needed to carry the franchise. This leaves Ben in the position that he would have no choice but to act professionally, continue to do his job as an actor, and help the company save face by co-signing the drafted statement. To fail to do so would not only put Affleck in a precarious position legally with WB, but also damage his reputation with other studios who may think twice about working with him again were he to throw another employer under that proverbial bus we talked about earlier.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

The statement Affleck and WB released makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and doesn’t stand up to the slightest tests of logic or critical thinking. So what really did happen? What is the real reason Ben Affleck is no longer the director of the upcoming Batman film? There are a lot of possibilities. Endless possibilities actually. Anything I list here would just be scratching the surface of what is possible. The only thing I feel very confident in is that the statement in question is not the truth. There are large systemic problems at WB/DC in terms of how they are handling their DC Cinematic Universe and I fear the enormity of Ben Affleck stepping down as the director of Batman is just the tip of the iceberg.

How To Get Your Question Or Topic On Mail Bag

The amount of mail we get has always been insane, so getting a question asked on the Mail Bag segment of Movie Talk, or on the Mail Bag show itself, has been challenging to say the least. Is there any way to guarantee you’ll get your question/topic asked on one of the shows? No. However, there are some things you can do to give yourself a better chance. Here are some pointers:

1. Keep your email SHORT. Nothing makes us close an email faster than when we open it up and see someone has written a short novel. Seriously, instant delete. Think of it this way, if you can fit your question into a tweet you’re on the right path. It doesn’t HAVE to be that short, but that should be your target.
2. Don’t ask something Star Wars or Comic-Book movie related. We obviously take Star Wars and Comic-Book movie questions, but about 80% of the questions we get are about those which leaves us scrambling a bit to find other questions too. So if you submit a question about something else, you’re only competing with 20% of the other questions instead of competing against the 80%. Much better chances.
3. Don’t ask something that would give away a spoiler either in the question itself or in the answer. We pass on those instantly.
4. Don’t ask about something really obscure. If you ask a question about a movie or property most people haven’t heard of, it’s unlikely we’ll answer it since it would immediately leave out most of our audience.
5. Never ask a question that includes us making a list. I.E. “What’s your top 7…”

Again, following these guidelines won’t guarantee you get your email read, but it does give you a fighting chance. Hope this was helpful! And remember, email us at collidervideo@gmail.com

Looking To Hire Line Producer For Collider Video

As we continue to grow over here at Collider Video, more needs arise including the need for sharp, detailed oriented person to help us determine the costs and budgets for upcoming projects as well as track and manage the finances of our existing productions. Basically, we need a studio Line Producer. This vital role will be working alongside our senior management team to ensure all of our creative efforts can run smoothly and on budget.

LINE PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

• Developing budgets for upcoming and proposed projects
• Keep track of expenses of existing and ongoing projects
• Work with  Programming Coordinator and Production Manager to keep  track of  all  freelancer talent expenses
• Work with  Programming Coordinator and Production Manager to track staff expenses and reimbursements
• Work with  Complex Head Office personnel to ensure all  proper finance and expense procedures are followed correctly

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• Fluent in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets
• Experience in working with production budgets
• Dedicated to the principles of teamwork
• Able to take direction
• Familiarity with Movie Magic budgeting software
• Lives in the Los Angeles area. Office is in Burbank (not flexible on this)

The successful candidate will be a full-time staff member with a salary starting at $50k/year along with benefits.

If interested please send along a resume to john.campea@collider.com. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Thanks!

My Top 10 Movies Of 2016

Since a lot of people have been asking me to put up my top films of the year list, I thought I’d do it here instead of on the YouTube page.

Since all film is subjective, my list won’t be just like anyone else’s. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with theirs or with mine, it just means film hits us all in different ways.

Another thing to keep in mind about my list. To me, not all films have to be about heroes saving the world to be good. Not every film has to be about heroin addicted college drop outs struggling to restore a relationship with their alcoholic fathers to be good either. Great storytelling comes in all shapes and sizes and I hope my list reflects that.

Now, before I get to my list I want to highlight some honorable mentions. These films are all fantastic and absolutely no disrespect is intended for any of them for not making my final 10. The honorable mentions (in no particular order) are:

Sing Street
Silence
Fences
The Nice Guys
Midnight Special
The Jungle Book

So, without any further ado… here’s my top 10 0f 2016:

#10 – QUEEN OF KATWE

This is the kind of movie that reminds me of why I love the movies. It’s just a story about really good people doing really good things. There’s not even a villain. Just remarkable people confronting and overcoming their daunting circumstances and environment. I deeply love this film.

#9 – THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN

Honestly, I didn’t know Hailee Steinfeld had it in her, nor was I prepared for how well Woody Harrelson would play off her so hilariously. Being a teenager can suck, and I don’t think I’ve seen a better 80’s style teenage/coming of age comedy translated so well into a modern context.

#8 – MOONLIGHT

It’s a daunting task for any director to present a story to an audience that may fall well outside their worldview. However, director Barry Jenkins does just that with an amazing sense of directness yet subtlety at the same time. The film makes you walk a mile in another person’s shoes so well that you almost forget to take them off when the film ends.

#7 – MOANA

I unapologetically include MOANA on this list. Not only is it the best animated film of the year, far outdistancing films like Dory, Zootopia and Kubo, but it deserves a place amongst the best films of the year. Beautiful mythology, fantastic music, two heroes journeys as one seeks her purpose and one seeks redemption with humor, excitement and thrills along the way. It’s one of those films that gets better and better with each viewing.

#6 – DEADPOOL

On just a pure entertainment level, DEADPOOL is a hard film to beat. The outrageous nature of the character mixed with sharp wit, frantic action and a legit love story all rolled into a fourth wall breaking escapade left audiences catching their breath and dying to see it again. It far exceeded even the most optimistic fan’s expectations and deserves to be on this list.

#5 – LA LA LAND

Newsflash: Musicals are not dead. Not by a long shot if this incredible feat of sound and images has anything to say about it. Emma Stone may very well get her first Oscar for this one and she flawlessly draws us into every scene she’s in with incredible emotion. And they Gosling guy is no slouch in this either. I know musicals aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but go see this movie. No seriously… forget your pre-existing thoughts on it and just see it.

#4 – STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE

Where most of my peers seem to enjoy the second half of this movie more than the first, to me the first half is where this movie really shines. More than another Star Wars film, ROGUE ONE truly has the feel of a space western with shades of The Dirty Dozen thrown in for good measure. This movie made me look at the Rebellion in a whole new, and admittedly dark, way. And yeah… VADER!

#3 – CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

I know putting a comic book film on your top films of the year list isn’t the “cool” thing to do, and I’ve got two of them, but I really don’t care. CIVIL WAR was heart-stoppingly exciting with real dramatic tension and purpose to its awe-inspiring action set pieces all while delivering the best performances the MCU has given us thus far. Instantly one of the top 5 the genre has ever produced.

#2 – HELL OR HIGH WATER

I really didn’t have high expectations for this film. The first 2 minutes set that aside pretty quickly. If any of us had any doubt that Chris Pine can be a powerhouse performer, this movie settles the debate. Ben Foster has been in my top 3 most underrated actors list for year and Bridges is just vintage in this. Powerful, slow burn, riveting film has you exploring your own ethics, changing sides and swapping between laughing and gasping more times than you can count. A BRILLIANT film that would have been my #1 film of the year had it not been for….

#1 – HACKSAW RIDGE

Even if this film weren’t based on a true story it would still be my favorite film of the year. The fact that it’s real just highlights it even more. An incredible performance by the entire ensemble, fist clenching action that makes you appreciate the heroism and horror of war all at the same time without being apologetic for either. It’s one of those films I think is important for people to see.

So there you have it. My personal top 10 of 2016. So many great films this year. Please feel free to comment and let me know your top 10. Cheers!