Tuesday, October 4th 2022
They publish essays on films. On the Recovery theme, “we’re looking for
stories of people who faced immense challenges and found a way to come out the
other side. ... Recoveries can be successful, or valiant in the mere attempt.
They can be noble, or they can be attempted for all the wrong reasons. There
can be little better narrative material than stories of recovery, and we can’t
wait to see all the ways you interpret the theme.” See guidelines for examples
on addiction narratives, stories of overcoming physical setbacks, wartime
experiences, abuse; stories taking on supernatural notes, psychological horror,
or those that are abstract, realistic, stylized, or eerie.
Length: 2,500-4,000 words
Pay: $50
Details here and here.
Deadline: October 6th, 2022
Friday, November 26th 2021
They want writing on cinema, and they publish themed issues. For ‘The Best of
2021’ they have extensive guidelines, including “Send us your writing about movies
from this year that surprised you, moved you, riled you. More than anything, we
want to read about movies that made you feel something this year, a year when it was often
easier to feel nothing. Feel free to get meta, go long — make it your own.”
Longer, creative essays are 2,000-4,000 words. Pay is $100. Details here.
Deadline: December 13th, 2021
Friday, January 22nd 2021
They publish
essays, interviews, profiles, formal analysis, cultural criticism, personal
essays, and humor pieces on movies and TV series. For their next issue, the theme
is Dynamic Duos. They have extensive guidelines. Jumping-off points
could be fictional stories of friends, foes, siblings, uneasy allies, and
mentors; noteworthy on-screen pairings from frequent on-screen romantic
partners, performers whose roles together form a significant element of their
legacies, real-life siblings who’ve frequently shared the screen, and real-life
couples whose rocky relationships can be traced on-screen; significant
behind-the-scenes pairings, be it director and performer or purely
behind-the-camera. Critical essays are usually 2,000-4,000 words. Pay is
$100, and the deadline is 9 February 2021 for this theme. They’re also looking
for unthemed submissions. Details here
(pitching guide) and here
(theme details).
Deadline: 9 February 2021
Friday, December 18th 2020
They publish
essays on movies and TV series, and are looking at music on film for the
February 2021 issue; the theme is ‘Music Redux’. They have extensive
guidelines, including “While we’d love to see essays on Singin’ in
the Rain, Stop Making Sense, and Sing Street, we’re not solely
looking for “movies about music.” We’d be equally excited to see essays that
look at how music functions within movies that might not automatically fit the
label”. Pay is $100, and the deadline is 7 January 2021 for the themed issue.
They’re also looking for unthemed submissions. Details here.
Deadline: 7 January 2021
Friday, November 20th 2020
They publish
essays on movies and TV series, and they’re reading now on the ‘The Best of
2020’ theme. Their guidelines say, “For our January issue, we’ll be
highlighting the best movies and TV that 2020 had to offer. We fully appreciate
that the words “Best of 2020” might well sound like a contradiction in terms;
this year has been tough on just about every level for just about every one of
us, and it’s radically altered the media landscape. Yet for all its
disruptions, 2020 has been chock full of movies and TV that have entertained,
provoked, inspired, and comforted us, and the extenuating circumstances have
offered a valuable chance to reevaluate how we relate to stories and how they
relate to our world. Art, as Stephen King once put it, is a support system for
life, and we’ve rarely needed that support more urgently.” They publish
critical essays between 2,000-4,000 words, though they also publish in other,
longer formats. Pay is $100, and the deadline for this theme is 7 December
2020. They are also accepting unthemed submissions. Details here.
Deadline: 7 December 2020
Thursday, September 17th 2020
They publish essays on movies and TV series, and
they’re reading now on the ‘Farce’ theme. Their guidelines say, ““Farce” may sound like a specific subgenre, but think
of it as any story about characters tripping over themselves as they try to
keep a ludicrous plan in the air. There's the prototypical European farce (La Cage aux Folles; The Importance of Being Earnest),
but the term can apply to everything from classic slapstick (the Marx brothers)
to uncomfortably current satire (In the Loop). Farce can be
pure escapist mayhem (What’s Up Doc?l It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad,
Mad World) or something far more pointed (The Producers; Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to
Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb). ... Beneath all the wordplay and
mayhem, though, farce points out the absurdity of the world around us, and
asks: it’s funny, right? The answer is usually yes—but then there’s the harder
question that follows: why? And what does our laughter say about our tastes,
our perspectives, and our needs?” They publish critical essays between 2,000-4,000
words, though they also publish in other, longer formats. Pay is $100. They are also accepting unthemed
submissions. Details here (pitching guide) and here
(Submittable).
Deadline: 3 October 2020 for themed; no deadline for unthemed
Sunday, July 19th 2020
Bright Wall/Dark Room is an online magazine that is dedicated to “exploring the relationship between movies and the business of being alive.” They are accepting submissions for their September issue which will celebrate the life and works of Billy Wilder. They are looking for essays that shed new light on him. Their critical essays are generally 2,000 to 4,000 words. They pay $100 to $300 per essay. For details, refer to this Tweet and this page.
Deadline: July 31st, 2020
Saturday, April 25th 2020
Bright Wall/Dark Room is an online magazine
that is dedicated to “exploring the relationship between movies and the
business of being alive.” They are accepting pitches and submissions. They have
raised their freelance rates. They will now pay $100 to $300 per piece. To
learn more, refer to this Twitter thread
and this page.