Why I Started You've Got Media

The one where I explain what I'm doing here.

Before social media took over and the internet became a land of algorithms, there were genuine voices, talking about whatever they were passionate about.

Whether it was movies, airplanes, or cake-making, people were sharing their passions to audiences who felt like they were a part of something.  That form of blogging died many years ago. Why? I'm pretty sure it's because everyone became addicted to Facebook and Twitter. Nobody realised they were addicted, but their brains changed and a whole art form was lost. 

In recent years, with fake news and AI, there's increasingly no way of knowing what's true. I'm not even talking about hard facts - like whether people in Springfield, Ohio, are really eating cats and dogs. I'm talking about truth as in the personal truths of just sharing who you are and how you feel. That side of humanity has been brushed aside in favour of arguments about ARE YOU LEFT WING OR RIGHT WING? ARE YOU WOKE OR NOT WOKE? ARE YOU ON MY TEAM OR THEIR TEAM? 

Of course, there's value to all of that, but somewhere along the way we've lost the humanity in-between. The discussion, the passion for human storytelling, the joy. 

Now I'm not saying 'You've Got Media' can fix any of that, but I do think there's room for me to process media-related things in a personal, heartfelt way, and I think people may need a bit of that. I know I need it, so my hope is other people will too. 

Now that we have Substack (the platform on which you are reading this), we have a great place where you can read honest, nuanced writing, about whatever you and the writers you are interested in are interested in. 

I've been working as a screenwriter and filmmaker for many years but I realised that I was no longer talking about it, I was just doing it. But now it's fun to think about things, like what do I think about having followers on social media? And how do I feel about 90s rom-coms? Also, what's going on in Hollywood? 

This place will often be about breaking news, but it will just as likely be about old Billy Wilder films and reminiscing about video stores. 

It's a place where we can have a community that cares about TV, film, and the arts in general - but in a way that I hope feels relatable and open. 

I am not just a commentator or a viewer, I'm a participant. I work with actors on a daily basis, creating professional showreels for actors, and I am a content creator with over 200 million views. I've shot documentaries in post-genocide states and I've had short films in festivals that you've definitely never heard of. 

I'm in the arena doing the work and I'm also admiring the work of other people (and sometimes critiquing it). I'll be interviewing artists you know well and other artists I think you should know well, meanwhile I'll be watching all the Netflix shows you watch. I'll be doing all that and I'll be processing it here in real time. 

(Here’s me, talking about some comedy sketches I created and how they’ve been received in the community.)

This is a labour of love, it's a chance to write and explore my mind and if eventually it's a place where people pay to subscribe, it'll be another place where I can work to make a living. 

Thanks for being here and I hope you stick around.