Open letter to anyone working in film distribution & marketing during end-of-year awards/Top 10 list season (a short thread, & yes I know this is a niche subject for film critic types, but good film coverage benefits us all!) 1/a few

Those of us who write on film really appreciate your work in getting screeners out to us for review, & we understand that this year they are more likely to be online viewing links than physical DVDs. However...

...the process of accessing & viewing those links is getting more & more byzantine, requiring the downloading & signing into multiple hyper-secure apps & third-party verification services. And for those of us w/o hi-end smart TVs, links also mean watching on small laptop screens.

More and more, these viewing links are being sent with very short windows in which to watch them--so short that if you have any technical glitches along the way or get interrupted (by your trapped-at-home-by-Covid family), you run out of viewing time before you run out of movie.

If I get a physical DVD screener of a movie in the mail, I am far more likely to A) watch it B) enjoy it (bc that's the only way I can see it on my best-quality home screen) C) review it/give it an award/place it on a Top 10 list.

The pile of to-be-watched screeners is one of the great pleasures of writing on movies at the end of the year. But those DVDs are also important work tools that make critics better at doing their jobs, & getting the word out about the films you ostensibly want us to help promote.

So please, at least for next year when (God willing) the COVID crisis will not be at the dire place it is now, distributors, consider going back to the practice of sending out physical media for your end-of-year review screeners. Thank you & happy holidays!