I know that nearly everyone in America is busy saying “Thanks!” today for this and that. Even before I woke up this morning, I received about a dozen private and public messages from folks thanking me for being their friend, for writing this blog, for reading their blog or listening to their podcast, and for just being me. And to them I say: “Right back atcha!”
But I feel it’s very important for me to thank YOU today for reading my blog. It truly means the world to me! And not just because I made $5.97 over the past week in ad revenue (although, hey, nothing to complain about).
I’m thanking you for two reasons…
1) Love it or hate it, you’re coming here to read what I write, or listen to the folks I interview. That feels amazing, especially since I put so much time and effort into this blog. Whether it’s a multi-part blog feature about the history of a long-running fan series, a 2o00-word editorial, a short 350-word news update, or an hour-long audio interview, all of that takes time to produce.
For example, tomorrow I’ll publish a 55-minute audio interview with the show-runners for the just-released fan film GHOST SHIP. In addition to watching the half-hour fan film (and then re-watching it), I also had to set up the interview (clear time in my schedule to match theirs), conduct the interview, go back later and remove the “um”s and long pauses and places where we accidentally talked over each other (that took about three hours to edit), listen through the finished interview once again, take screen caps for the feature image and interviewee photos, and then write a 400-word intro for the blog. So it’s nice to know that at least a few hundred (or few thousand, if I’m lucky) people are reading and listening.
2) I love fan films. I don’t know how it happened, but it did. And now that I’m hooked, I want to spread the love and appreciation. It’s why I keep doing this blog: not just for me as an ego trip, and not just for you as a fan base…but for all of the fan film creators out there who work even harder than I do. They deserve our support, and Fan Film Factor is here to celebrate them all (or as many as I can cover before I run out of time!)
So on behalf of myself and of the FANtastic community of fan filmmakers out there, thank YOU for visiting my blog.
an a big thank you right back at cha.
I love the journalistic insight you bring to the fan film scene.
I truly appreciate the compliment, Andrew.
Hi Jonathan,
I wasn’t going to do an annual Gratitude moment thing because I’m pretty vocal (too vocal?!) about things when they happen. But, as an atypical irregular reader, I appreciate (and thank you) for the insight into issues like the recent one on censorship. I only have my experience, in a vacuum, over here to go by and having your thoughts on a matter that affects me is not only informative and helps me better articulate my own thoughts but lends me some emotional support: hey Jonathan gets what I’m feeling too!
Also, thank you, again, very much for your material help in much the same manner. Materially it helps, of course, but it also helps me emotionally for the same reasons I mention above. Caring from a stranger (whether it takes the form of a donation, fact-checking information presented for accuracy, doing the behind the scenes production work, or even passing a kind word) is very much felt. Thank you for being a good Samaritan to me.
It would do former USSR countries like Poland a world of good, culturally, to have a Thanksgiving Day.
From what I’ve heard, Poland doesn’t have much to be thankful for at the moment (other than the fall of the Soviet Union a quarter century ago–my, how time flies!). But here’s hoping that things start looking up for you folks in Polska and around the world in general…and for you and your family, R.A.
It can be said that those are the moments to have the biggest storehouse of gratitude. I’m not a religious type but I say my prayer every night, quite seriously. And I have tried to teach my daughter the same. Every night I try – harder on some nights – to be grateful about something or some aspect of the day without sounding too pathetic. I think that plants a seed that grows the next day.
Contrary to what I was told, Poles are not very spiritual-minded despite the reputation of being all Catholic. And, of course, you know that the observance of God was outlawed in the USSR countries. So it’s an uphill battle all around. Good people like you I am in contact with make it easier on us.
Hi Jonathan,
je dirais tout simplement MERCI !
You know I took Spanish in high school, Claude? 😉
High school French and Google translate reviewed… google translate won’t do you wrong if you use it on the original message in this thread. 🙂 Great hanging with you at Axacon and thanks for all your work.
Ans thank YOU for the Axacookies, Richard!
You’ve done great things for this community and your efforts are much appreciated. Thank you for all your hard work!
Thank YOU Jonathan. For the past 2 1/2 years you have been doing a great job promoting fan films and telling the truth when others choose to besmirch Axanar. We greatly appreciate your efforts.
Alec
For those who don’t know, this blog was originally Alec’s idea. At the time, neither of us realized how much I would be standing up for Axanar (back in January of 2016, most of us thought the lawsuit would settle quickly and Axanar would be good to go). Nope, what Alec wanted was a place where I could dive more deeply into fan films beyond the limited once-a-week “Fan Film Friday” blogs that I wrote for the Axanar website. It’s actually been nearly THREE YEARS! And I’ve published (according to my WordPress dashboard) 658 blogs! Sheesh!!!
So…um…thanks, Alec (I think) for keeping me really busy for the past 33 months! 🙂
Really nothing to thank, but you’re welcome and thank you too.
Keep on boldly going. 🙂
I boldly will! 🙂
Jonathan, yours is the only blog site (in this general field) that I follow. I’m an enthusiast rather than an avid fan(atic) for fan films. With limited spare time to devote to this topic (my interests are many so I subscribe to quite a few diverse sources – and also I really need time to actually DO things), you give a thorough, wide-ranging, impartial and, as far as I can tell, accurate survey of the material you cover. Needing to be economical with my time, it’s clear there are other sources that don’t necessarily share your positive qualities and I’m not prepared to go sorting the wheat from the chaff – so thank YOU, for keeping me informed (and entertained!). Also, thank you for becoming a friendly contact in our occasional correspondence across opposite sides of the globe.
In general, I like people. So I’m nice to people. And it’s nice when they’re nice back. If enough people tried that, Bryan, the whole world would be a better place. 🙂