The Indiependent spoke to Shelby Cooke founder and editor of Film East, which publishes yearly anthologies of film criticism, alongside its online platform, podcast and in-person events. Its titles include SCREEN DREAMS (2021), Eating the Screen (2022), Queer Projections (2023) and Screen Britain (2024) which was launched at the BFI in February (you can read our review here).
Do you think there is something particular about presenting ideas as a book? And do you think that by collecting different essays together you can create a greater impact than if someone had read the essays individually?
What I really love about our style of collections are the varied voices that come with them.
When you read a newspaper or magazine, most writers are the same from edition to edition. If you read them religiously, you really only get the same opinion over and over. If you read online, each article kind of lives in its own microcosm; each writer’s piece is on its own unique page separated from everyone else’s, and there aren’t necessarily connections made between articles. You take the link to the specific article you want to read, and then move on.
In an anthology, you’re getting articles from people with all different backgrounds, lived experiences and ways of thinking. Our books include writers from across the world. Some have Master’s degrees in film studies, some are just hobbyists; some have extensive publishing history, some none. You never really know what the next article is going to bring because the author of each article is so individualist in their ideas and arguments. Here, you’re getting the full range of ideas and perspectives on one specific topic, all in one place.
Your anthologies are organised thematically – how do you go about that as an editor?
I find this to be one of the most fun parts of the whole process! Our very first anthology, SCREEN DREAMS, was actually created as an e-book as a companion to our double-bill screening of Rocketman and Velvet Goldmine. We wanted something the audience could take away and continue to learn about how music manifests on screen. The book featured an article on both Rocketman and Velvet Goldmine and allowed us to show attendees that, in addition to putting on screenings, we also had a budding criticism outlet.
Since that first music anthology, we continued with the thematic approach to the books. Themes are chosen based mainly on our interests as a group. But we also have to make sure that we can garner enough interest from contributors for that theme. When I originally pitched the idea of the British cinema book, I thought we’d be very short on people wanting to write on that topic, but to my surprise, we had the most submissions of all our call-outs. So, sometimes it is worth taking the risk on the theme.
One of my favourite parts of putting these collections together is deciding the article lay-out. What story are we going to tell with the order of essays? The call-out for Screen Britain was just “You must write about a film or TV show that is set in Britain or made by a predominantly British crew,” so we had a wide range of subjects for the essays. Some people wrote about Britain’s place in world cinema, some about Britishness and cultural identity, and some about bigger social topics using British films as case studies. It was really interesting finding correlations between these seemingly unrelated articles and matching them up to tell a bigger story when put together.
What does being an independent publisher mean to you?
It’s exciting being an independent publisher because we get the freedom to produce the content that we want to create. One of the reasons why I started the criticism side of Film East was because I couldn’t really find any outlets that were publishing the type of criticism that I wanted to write (non-academic, long-form analysis with more of a focus on contemporary movies). I personally find traditional film journalism kind of boring; I don’t enjoy writing reviews, I hate that features on older films are pretty much only commissioned on anniversaries so you can only write them once every five years, and find that the news cycle moves so quickly and everyone is so rushed to get to the next ‘big thing’ that you never have a chance to actually properly critique a work before it’s considered outdated. I figured there had to be other people out there like me, wanting to focus on slow criticism and write more thoughtful articles instead of catering to the SEO Gods. And it seems like there are!
It’s also extremely challenging. I don’t want to sugarcoat it: it’s hard, hard work with lots of long hours, lots of money spent and emotions felt. I’m a one-woman editorial team here, so I had to make it all happen by myself (on top of having a regular 9-5 and trying (failing) to have some sort of a social life). But it’s so rewarding when you overcome the challenges and can say, “Look, I’m actually doing it!”
In more day-to-day terms, what does an average day of publishing look like for you?
Unfortunately, I don’t get to be a publisher full-time; I need a real job for a stable income to exist in this capitalist world. The majority of my work with Film East comes after my 9-5 and on weekends. When we’re in progress with a collection, I spend about 40 hours a week on the book (I have insane time management skills!) for about nine months. Screen Britain was first pitched as a concept in early June 2023 and went to the printers at the end of January 2024.
All our anthologies start with just a conversation with the main Film East team to see if people like the theme and what articles they want to contribute. I then do a call-out on our platforms for pitches related to the anthology theme. This typically happens within the first two months of production. At the same time, I begin working on book design. I start to mock up a cover, decide on the fonts, format how the chapters will be laid out, create a visual aesthetic for the curated collections and lots more. I’m not a natural graphic designer (I slowly learned some skills from my career in marketing), so this is something that is ever-evolving throughout the months.
During months three to seven, everyone is working on their articles. It’s a really collaborative process between myself and the writers, with them sending me drafts along the way so we can work to make their article the best it can possibly be. I’m also working on my articles for the book, and I sometimes even send mine out for others to read if I’m stuck and need some opinions on it.
The last two months are the final stages of putting the book together. I add articles to the file, make sure the layout looks good, write copy for the collection, create promotional graphics and marketing material and PROOFREAD! I think I read through the book at least six times to catch all the errors and typos (and some still slip through… that’s one of the worst parts about not having a team of proofreaders available). I fiddle around with the file, make minor adjustments over and over until I finally have to send it to the printers to be made (and hold my breath that I don’t find a glaring typo right after I hit submit…). I typically order about 50 first-edition prints (which we sold out of for Screen Britain and Queer Projections) before doing another proofread and fixing little things before sending it to the printers again. Then the process continues until I discontinue the print book or until I die I guess?
When we’re not in anthology production, I spend my dedicated “Film East time” working on other projects for the group (we host screenings, hold workshops, have a podcast, attend film festivals, interview creatives in the industry, etc.), in addition to continuing to work with new writers who have pitched articles for our online site!
Do you have any advice for anyone looking to go into indie publishing, aspiring writers, or alternatively, for any reader who wants to learn more about the industry?
It’s very easy to set up a basic website and just start writing! My journey as a writer started with a dysfunctional half-beauty/half-entertainment blog in 2013 (I wanted to be Zoella… remember her?), which helped me hone my voice and learn how to actually write well (it took a LOT of bad writing to get to the good stuff). I was then the film editor for my student newspaper, which allowed me to start thinking about how I would run a publication (everyone was so aghast because I wanted to feature more than just film reviews in the sections!). Then I started the publishing side of Film East. If you feel like there’s a gap in the market that you want to fill or if you’re very passionate about a specific idea, just do it! No one is going to do it better than you are going to do it yourself!
In terms of the actual ins and outs of the publishing business, I learned those ropes all on my own, and I’m still learning every day! (It only just now occurred to me to send editors emails asking if they want to review the book, duh!). But there are some really useful tools online, particularly YouTube videos, that will help you with all the steps you need to take etc. Waterstones’s website also has a pretty good guide for independent publishers, which I found quite useful. Ultimately, Google is literally the best place to learn everything you will ever need to know about anything.
Should people be prepared to pay more for quality criticism, to support paid opportunities for writers who are just starting out?
This is something I have battled with since starting Film East’s publications. It’s so tricky because, on one hand, yes, I do think there should be an expectation to pay more for something that is independent and self-funded. But, on the other hand, consumers just don’t want to pay more. Big publishing houses can afford to price their books at £15-20 because they have a huge operation, where they print in-house, have staff that serve on multiple publications and have low overhead costs. So can make a fair return on each book sold.
The reality of our situation is I’m often in the red when it comes to producing our books. My costs include writer fees (albeit, it’s not at all a competitive rate, and I know this and am working hard to be able to increase it in the future), marketing, ISBN numbers, barcodes and copyright fees all before you even think about printing! On top of all that, I don’t pay myself at all for the work I do on these projects (writing multiple articles, editing, designing, proofreading, promoting). I pay for all of this out-of-pocket under the assumption that I probably won’t be able to sell enough books to make any sort of return.
I originally priced the anthologies at a higher cost with the thought process that academic edited collections are more expensive than regular non-fiction books (and with the desire to at least cover printing costs). But the majority of feedback I got from potential customers was that it was priced too high. So to even have a chance in this market, I have to price our books competitively with the big publishers. Everyone says they want to support small businesses, but they don’t often want (or, in some respects, even afford) to pay for it. I’m in a very privileged position in that I have a day job and can afford to dedicate a portion of my income to Film East. It would be nice if consumers were more aware of what exactly they’re paying for when they buy something from a small publisher. That the extra £5 you spend for an indie book compared to a Random House book is likely making all the difference in helping that small publication to survive.
What do you think the future of film criticism holds, especially in terms of written publications?
I don’t foresee criticism going anywhere. Art needs critics, and it has always had and always will have critics. Will criticism continue in the written form? Maybe not. The rise of podcasts and short-form videos (like on TikTok) has made spoken/broadcast criticism much more popular. It is less structured and very casual. While it might have merit, I think there is still a lot of value in being thoughtful and precise with criticism, taking time to find the exact right words to convey your analysis and argument.
In terms of physical media, so many industries are wondering if tangible products are going extinct. Will people continue to buy books when they can read them online? Will people still go to the cinema when they can stream the movie at home? I do think consumers are starting to see the value in collecting things again. The reintroduction of vinyl has shown younger consumers that it can be cool to have physical media again. Maybe off the back of this, we will see that people will want to start buying print books and ‘collectables.’ But if I knew how the market would swing and what would sell best, I would be a millionaire!
Are there any other publications/publishers you want to highlight?
There are a couple of publications that really served as the inspiration for the Film East books. Seventh Row is a Canadian film organisation publishing e-books dedicated to specific directors, films or themes. When I saw what they were doing, I was so impressed with how they were able to do all this independently, and became obsessed with trying to figure out how I could also do something cool like that. Written primarily by Orla Smith and Alex Heeney, I love how their books intermix traditional criticism and analysis with interviews with filmmakers and casual journalism. Plus, all of their books are focused on contemporary films, putting them at the forefront of respectable criticism of modern films.
Christina Newland’s anthology, She Found it at the Movies, was also a huge inspiration for the concept of our books. Her book was the first casual film criticism book I ever saw incorporating essays by multiple people. I was used to seeing this style of anthology with academic texts, but the way Newland brings all these different voices together, lets their personal voice shine through and conveys intelligent analysis without being academic was inspiring! I wanted our books to be like that, and I hope we achieved that in some way.
Can you share any upcoming projects or initiatives that readers can look forward to?
At the moment, we are on a pause with our print anthologies. Considering all the challenges I mentioned above, as well as the extreme burn out I got doing Queer Projections and Screen Britain back-to-back, I need a little break (a girl’s gotta touch some grass and lower those stress levels!) But, we still have our online publication and are always open for submissions from writers who are interested in slow criticism! To learn more about pitching to us, head over to our website.
Film East itself is always doing different things outside of the publications. We have a criticism podcast, called Film East Chats, and we just did our first season of full film commentary episodes, designed so you can watch the movie along with us (all our movie choices were based around ‘lust,’ so we chose films that featured our celebrity crushes or beautiful people… it was very hot and steamy!) We host screenings and events in the UK and the US (we’re hosting a film criticism workshop in Norwich in October if you want to learn more about how to get into the industry… shameless plug). And we’re always doing filmy things to share with our audience. The best place to keep up-to-date with us is by following us on social media (@films_east) or our email newsletter on our website.
And to finish: What are you currently reading? Is there any book/writer you think everyone ought to read?
In terms of film studies, I just bought David Forrest’s New Realism: Contemporary British Cinema, which I’m excited to get stuck into. His writing on the films of Joanna Hogg and how she has contributed to a new wave of British social realism was a big inspiration for one of my essays featured in Screen Britain (Forrest’s writing only addresses Hogg’s first three films, whereas my article takes this theory and applies it her latest films, The Souvenir (Part 1 and 2)).
But outside of film books, I’m a HUGE Sally Rooney fan (Normal People is my Roman Empire), so I can’t wait to be devastated by Intermezzo.
This interview has been lightly edited for style and length.
Interview conducted by Ed Bedford
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