If you know me well, then you know that I can rarely retain my excitement when it comes to the realization of my dream of being a real film critic some day. And ever since we went online with Film School Rejects last February (Exactly 1 year ago Thursday), and I started this little blog experiment, things have been growing at a rapid pace. So I thought I would take a moment to share with you some of the most exciting parts of the one year long journey that has left me believing that I could actually pull this off…

At some point during the year, I made friends with Mark Pfeiffer (Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema) who is the coordinator of the in-crowd when it comes to being a film critic in Central Ohio. Through this well-timed relationship and with Mark’s unexpected kindness, I was able to sneak into the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (cofca.org), where I join some awesome critics who actually get paid for what they do…

Also this year I watched as Film School Rejects took off into the stratosphere of film sites online, syndicating out to the web fronts for news leaders such as Reuters.com, USAToday.com, FoxNews.com and others. And we got paid for it. Woo hoo for the Rejects!

FSR’s writing staff went from the original 5 (myself, my good friend Brian, Tara Settembre, Jarvis Mishler and Matthew Alexander) to a crack staff of over 60 writers from all over the frickin’ world! We have writers in Greece, Canada, England and all over the US. It is just amazing to see how many people were willing to jump on board and be a part of something fresh and help it grow. If it were not for their hard work, I would just be another loser online with a blog and a dream. At least now I am the leader of an online community! But I am still a loser for the most part.

I got to meet some very cool people, such as Zach Snyder, director of 300 who I interviewed just last week. I also got to see over 200 films, most of which were free and prior to their official release! That will make you feel cool.

Some other cool things are happening — Northern Ohio Live Magazine did an article about local film buffs and chose to interview Brian. They also mentioned yours truly. I have also been invited (tentatively) to appear on the morning show on Channels 6 and 28 (ABC and Fox) here in Columbus on February 23 to talk about the Oscars. So as long as I don’t make any inappropriate comments about Clint Eastwood on live television, they may invite me back. Cross your fingers for me!!

As you can see, it has been an extremely busy year. I have slacked at my real job, disenfranchised friends, family and my lovely girlfriend in pursuit of my dreams (and somehow she has stuck with me), but it has been worth it. Every step has been a blast, and I am really looking forward to the next 365 days of being in the world of film. This year I am planning on attending the Tribeca Film Festival, continuing to drive Film School Rejects and possibly get noticed by some new outlets! Newspapers and television, here I come! Thanks to everyone who has supported me (and my sites) over the past year. I assure you the best is yet to come…