Listicles, where-are-they-nows, and Disney Princesses re-imagined as Black and Decker appliances are just some examples of the types of movie and pop culture articles flooding the web these days. And internet users eat them up, sometimes on the bus, sometimes while zoning out of a sub-par Netflix movie, and even sometimes on extended bathroom breaks at work (but don’t tell my boss that).

Before I moved down here to Portland from Juneau, Alaska I was essentially in-between jobs waiting for the new chapter of my life to start. I wanted to be doing something in the journalism field while packing my life up. I wanted something newer than the radio pieces I’d published back in undergrad, for my portfolio, but nothing that would be too high stakes either, so I could focus on moving. I looked into how to write for a movie and pop-culture news site I’d enjoyed called Movie Pilot.

If you don’t know what Movie Pilot is, it’s the website probably most famous for first publishing the Pixar Theory, the theory that all the Pixar movies are interconnected and exist in the same extended universe. The post went viral and was picked up by publications all over the world and Disney has since confirmed it’s validity. Movie Pilot frequently comes up with movie theories, but they also write movie news, ‘mock-ademic’ pieces (e.g. ‘The Future is Now: Nasa Working on Real Warp Drive”), insane trivia, trailer breakdowns, fan art, and much more. The only criteria, really, is that the the articles have to be in some way connected to pop culture or movies.

I discovered that it’s quite easy and completely free to take the courses necessary to become a certified creator for Movie Pilot. And you can even make money, $1 for every thousand hits of your article. But if an article of yours gets picked up by Movie Pilot, it introduces you to a much wider audience than would be likely possible on a private blog.

It requires creating a free account and completing 10 assignments through Creators Academy. Those assignments are not only extremely informative and can apply to journalism principles far outside the realm of Movie Pilot, but the assignments themselves are submitted using an extremely user friendly multimedia blogging platform called Creators Co and you can create slick pieces that look decent in a portfolio, that others can see, with little effort.

Some of the things I’ve learned at the Creators Academy that I continue to apply to journalism broadly are things like web-optimization in the writing of articles (i.e. using the most important search terms within the first 100 words of an article), useful tips for mining trend data of other websites for inspiration of writing your own articles (i.e. The Question Method), integrating social media posts into articles, and using Google image search’s advanced settings to search for non-copyright restricted images.

You can use Google to search for non-copyright restricted images.

I have yet to complete all of the assignments to become a certified creator for Movie Pilot, but that’s ok because the courses are also self-paced and can be completed at any time on the user’s schedule. In the meantime, I’ve generated something on my portfolio that I can show others to say, “hey, I’ve been active. I’ve been creating something.”

They may not be Pulitzer prize worthy articles or anything, but maybe some people who read them will spend just a little bit longer on the toilet, on their company’s dime, thanks to me.

Sign up for Creator’s Academy to write for Movie Pilot here:

https://creators.co/academy

See below to read some of my Creators Co Articles:

10 Facts About ‘No Country for Old Men’ And ‘There Will be Blood’ That Will Give You Chills

Artist Creates ‘Native Wonder Woman’

Is Split Problematic?

-Danny Peterson

Profile of a Publication: High Country News

High Country News (HCN) is a multimedia publication based in Paonia, Colorado. In existence as a print magazine since 1970, HCN has 33,000 subscribers and continues to develop active online community. A bi weekly magazine with lots of photographs, a meticulously curated online archive, an engaging and responsive social media presence, periodic short videos on YouTube, and an audio series produced with Paonia community radio station KVNF constitute HCNs’ current forms of publication.

In addition, HCN recently announced a forthcoming film series called American West(s), to be produced in conjunction with Forrest Pound, a San Francisco based documentary filmmaker.

When contacted, Pound expressed excitement about the project’s potential. He remarks, “My hope is that the American West(s) film series will help to bring HCN’s reporting to new audiences, in the way that only video these days can. In addition to online distribution, we hope to take the films on tour to select western cities to start an in-person conversation that may help bring our divided country closer together.”

Ultimately, American West(s) will consist of five to ten short films per year. HCN is crowdfunding the initial round of three films, and the publication is well on its way to its goal of $36,000.

High Country News is a non-profit organization. Most funding comes from subscriptions and reader contributions and gifts. A smaller percentage comes from advertising.

HCN focuses on the issues pertaining to the American West.  On their Submission Guidelines page, editors spell this out clearly for those making pitches. “ High Country News will consider stories on any natural resource or environmental topic, as long as it concerns the American West as a region.  We define resources to include people, politics, culture and aesthetic values, not just coal, oil and timber.” High Country News concisely sums up their brand identity in their mission statement:

High Country News is a nonprofit 501(c)3 independent media organization that covers the important issues and stories that define the American West. Its mission is to inform and inspire people—through in-depth journalism— to act on behalf of the West’s diverse natural and human communities.

HCN clearly defines itself as an independent group that values thoughtful analysis and commentary on issues related to the American West and it’s people.

The group that contributes to High Country News is diverse. The publication uses content both from staff and from freelancers, and uses work journalists that are both established and up and coming. The publication also has an essay contest, The Bell Prize, which encourages young writers (ages 18-25) to submit their writing for a chance at publication and other prizes.

In its text, video, and audio pieces, HCN largely approaches their storytelling from the Journalistic/ Authoritative and Interview (both contemporary) traditions. Writers on the Range, HCN’s widely syndicated opinion pieces, make up a traditional op-ed style column that is thoughtful, diverse and poignant.

Because of their history of consistency, their dedicated readers, and their thoughtful web strategy, High Country News is well positioned to successfully evolve with the shifting media landscape, and will no doubt maintain their place as respected and far reaching multimedia publication for topics related to the West.