The two high points of my life career wise have been working for the Atlanta Film Festival and writing for CinemATL. For the later, I never got paid to do it. In fact, I still have CinemATL debt sitting on my credit cards from tickets, trips and equipment.

What we did at CinemATL was and has remained unique. Although we did reviews and coverage on major releases, we were one of the few online publications that made covering local film and filmmakers our primary focus. Long before THE SIGNAL was accepted to Sundance, we covered it. From Urban MediaMakers to the Rome International Film Festival (aka RIFF) to MondoHomo, we were covering local events and giving our perspective. Seeing a void, Eric Bomba-Ire and Martin Kelly started an entity that in under two years became a beloved and respected go to resource in the ATL community. 

Founded in the summer of 2005, with our first issue going live in October of that same year, CinemATL will soon be 5 years old. While in 2005 CinemATL was needed, I believe now in 2010 CinemATL is required. As Atlanta's film industry continues to explode we still have to grow the community and Atlanta's film culture. Someone needs to be pushing and encouraging great conversations about film and filmmaking from an ATL perspective. Someone needs to be highlighting who's who and why you should give a damn.

To those ends, we're working on a new site design and a new format. At the rate we're progressing you should see the new version as soon as next week. With the new format you'll see some old faces return to grace us with a few words from time to time. Hopefully, we will also add some new voices who will augment and expand the dialogue and keep you in the know.