UPDATES at bottom of the story  

I’ll admit I’m very sick of Variety and The Hollywood Reporter not crediting the online movie community when they write a story. Time and again I’ve watched as either myself, or one of my fellow online journalists (cause that’s what we are) break a story only to be reported sometimes days later in Variety or The Reporter with no mention the news was already online. Like before they posted it…no one had the story.

The thing that bothers me the most is…we link to them almost everyday. Look on Collider right now and you’ll see tons of links to Variety. We always credit them…like we do for any website when they break a story.

While you might think I’m complaining over nothing….trust me…ask any webmaster on any of the big movie sites and they’ll have at least one example of a story being stolen with no credit given.

And the reason it really gets under my skin is pretty simple…unlike Variety and The Hollywood Reporter which are GIVEN their major scoops by the people in the stories…all of us in the online community work extremely hard to get anything. It’s not like George Lucas decided to let Collider break the news about his new live action TV show. And it’s not like Steven Spielberg’s publicist picked up the phone and told me he was dropping Chicago 7. I frackin’ worked to land those exclusives.

But perhaps I should mention a story that was posted almost a year after I reported it…with no mention that a report was already online and had been linked all around cyberspace. I’m specifically talking about my Lone Ranger story.

Back on May 24th of 2007, I posted a big scoop about an upcoming Lone Ranger movie. Then, on March 27th of 2008, The Hollywood Reporter wrote a story which pretty much had what I wrote. I’m talking about how writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were going to do the project.

Look, I was just looking for a quick mention that said Collider reported it awhile back and Disney has now confirmed it. Or I’d even take Disney has confirmed the online rumor that…

Ultimately, I just don’t think it’s right for major news publications to not credit others when they have the same story. I view Variety with a tremendous amount of respect…but I’m sorry to say, with every story they write that doesn’t credit the online community…I get more and more frustrated, and I’m done holding back.

So…starting today I’m going to launch a new initiative on the site. Every time I see Variety or The Hollywood Reporter take a story that originated on a movie website first and not offer any credit…I’m posting a story here.

Also, I’m going to email every webmaster I know and tell them they need to start emailing me when it happens to them. I’m done lying down to publications that have their scoops given to them.

Again, I’m just trying to point out a situation that needs to change. Sometimes you have to stand up and pick a fight when you’re being picked on…this is one of those times. I just hope I’m not alone in fighting this battle.

And now the reason for this story….two days ago Latino Review posted a story that broke the news of what Jason Reitman was working on next. Then, after the story exploded on cyberspace, Variety posted the same story with no mention of Latino Review.

This is just another example of what’s been happening for years and years.

Again, I’m done being raped in the face. I’m going to point this out every time starting now. And below the update is what Cal wrote about the Latino Review story:

Update #1 – Collider will no longer provide links to Variety or The Hollywood Reporter in any article. We will of course credit them for posting the story, but we will not provide the link. Once they change their ways, we will, of course, change ours.

 

I have spoken with a number of webmasters and they’ve agreed to stop linking to both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter until they change their practices. As soon as they start crediting the online community, the links will start again.

 

Once I figure out exactly who is joining me in this battle, I will list the websites here. More updates as they happen.

 

Update #2 - A number of websites have joined the battle, here's the list plus a link to any articles they've written: Latino Review, Film School Rejects, Screen Rant, SlashFilm, First Showing, IESB, Moviehole and Bloody-Disgusting. Also, JoBlo has written something...and who knows...they might join the battle pretty soon as well.

 

Update #3 - Variety has posted a story about Guillermo del Toro's involvement in the movie "Haters." The info was already reported online, but they didn't write a word in the article. Click here to read.

 

 

 

Written by Cal Kemp

Those friendly folk over at Latino Review have the scoop; Jason Reitman's next project will be an adaptation of Walter Kirn's "Up in the Air" which he'll begin production on at the end of the year.

"Up in the Air" investigates working in corporate America and is set in a bizarre alternate reality where traveling businessman Ryan Bingham attempts to achieve his dream of accumulating one million frequent flyer miles before quitting his job. Kirn is author of previous book-to-film "Thumbsucker".

Reitman will also provide the adaptation's script which he allegedly started just before coming on board "Juno". It'd be hard to argue that that delay didn't pay off for him in a pretty big way. While I'm not the biggest fan of that film, I really liked Reitman's "Thank You For Smoking" and think "Up in the Air" is a damned interesting way to go.

Plus, I'll get to see posters at the theater and shout, "Look! 'Up in the Air!'" You can't buy that kind of self-amusement.