Many CCA members may already know me from our various interactions, either online or in real life at events like the annual CCDAs, or even from my involvement in the CCDA and Super Awards nomcoms, which I’ve been involved with from the beginning of both.

For those who don’t know me, I’ve been writing and doing video reviews and filmmaker/actor interviews for a variety of outlets since 2001, covering a wide variety of film genres, including documentaries, foreign films, and smaller indies. I’m currently freelancing but I’ve been reviewing movies under the moniker of “The Weekend Warrior” for nearly 25 years.

I have very specific reasons why I’m running for the CCA Board, which I’d like to share with anyone taking the time to read this. I generally like the way the CCA has been run in my 13+ years as a member, and I hope to continue making this one of the premier critics/awards groups in the world. I’m especially pleased with the way the CCA has been at the forefront of diversity and equality in terms of membership, and I’d like to keep that going even if I’m just another white male critic. I do think I would bring a lot of new ideas to the group, including more ways that the membership from across the globe can communicate with each other, since that sort of camaraderie should be one of the benefits of being a CCA member.

I’d also like to try to make things a bit more even and fair for some of our freelance and independent critics in the group. Let’s face the fact that most of the entertainment outlets are owned by one or two corporations. While corporations can be good for a few things (like buying tables at awards shows), I feel that places like Rotten Tomatoes (owned by one such corporation) are making such a big deal about diversity and equality while creating a very unfair system for those of us who work hard to provide reviews for our readers/viewers but might not have the corporate clout of others. 

Another thing I hope to bring to the Board is that I would like to be the voice of frugality, where maybe some costs can be cut. I know that the current government has been doing a lot of shady things to cut costs, but there’s a good point to keep things on budget, and maybe someone can look at how money is being spent in CCA to ensure that there is money for important things that the membership would like to get behind.

I will say for the record that I have not been a fan of the way MAC has been run — no shade meant for Jacqueline, who has done as good a job as can be expected without having much direction — and part of my involvement, if I’m elected, will be to create a better way for members to interact with the Board, which includes the transparency that a few members have requested. It might be as simple as having a “suggestion box” where members can provide ideas for the Board to consider. 

I hope you’ll consider my words and know that I do not take the position of helping to run CCA lightly. This is a group I’ve loved being part of for the past 14 years, mainly because I enjoy interacting with other members, as much as having pride in what CCA has achieved and what it means to the industry as a whole.

Thanks for reading this.