Today we were lucky to have two practicing, internationally published film critics here for the MIFF Critics Campus — Simran Hans and Philippa Hawker — spend an hour with us answering our questions and telling us about their lives as freelance film critics. Talking to creative professionals about their work can sometimes be maddening (because, by the nature of the work, it is often hard for a writer to be self-aware enough to understand their own process), but Simran and Philippa were fantastically open with us about the life of a critic, their techniques for overcoming writer’s block, how to pitch, what they use Twitter for, and much more. I really got a lot out of this session and am so glad that we were given the opportunity to talk to these two writers.

I found particularly valuable their advice for pitching:

• Cold pitching is difficult but often necessary
• Find a contact (any contact) for the publication you’re hoping to pitch to
• KEEP IT SHORT — if you don’t know them, introduce yourself in a short paragraph (and link to three relevant examples of your work)
• Don’t waste your pitch by being too general (“I want to write for you”) — have a particular story in mind
• Pitch a story, not an idea — have an angle and keep it specific
• Include specs if helpful (e.g. word count, suggested title, short summary, etc.)
• Follow up if you don’t hear within a week
• If you are successful, your reply email is a good time to bring up payment (“What is the deadline and fee?”)

In fact, participating in this Q&A has given me a new enthusiasm for trying to freelance myself. I’ve dipped my toe in the fraught waters of freelancing before — most recently in March’s Studio Ghibli edition of Bright Wall/Dark Room — but I’ve never had the dedication to actually give it a proper go. I know a few people who are freelance writers, and intellectually I know that the only thing stopping me from being regularly paid to write myself is that I haven’t pursued it strongly enough, so perhaps today’s session was the kick in the bum I need to actually do it.

First step: I’m resurrecting The Essential, a website of film/music criticism I co-founded in 2013 and which has languished for the better part of two years. Hopefully having somewhere to put my writing will encourage me to write more often, which will then help me build up a portfolio to use when pitching. The first piece I’ve published is an expanded version of my Call Me By Your Name review I posted here earlier in the week.

It feels surprisingly good to be using The Essential’s ancient, terrible, impossible-to-use CMS again!