MOVIES, SCREENWRITING & INDEPENDENT FILM

The site has finally moved into it’s rightful home!

This blog has certainly evolved a lot since 2009 and continues to evolve everyday.  In the last few weeks alone I’ve completed a number of big projects:

I’ve also done some work on my archives eliminating outdated posts, unnecessary tags etc…

Why the movie?  Over the last few years I began to promote other people’s films. Slowly, this site shifted from a personal blog to a full blown movie website. A blog dedicated to movies, screenwriting and independent film.  It just didn’t seem right to run the site from www.jaymckinnon.com anymore.

Today I’m happy to announce The Athletic Nerd’s new home!

WWW.THEATHLETICNERD.COM

Makes sense right!? I thought so too.

I’d like to thank the fine folks at 3magine for their help migrating the site seamlessly. Check them out if you have any design or development needs.  I’d also like to thank WPZOOM for creating my new theme Meeta.

Now that all these changes are behind me, I can focus on creating better content.

One final note, I’ve decided to change my posting schedule slightly. I will still post at least 3 articles per week but now you will see them on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  For the next few weeks, I’ll be tinkering with a few things so be sure to let me know if you catch any strange bugs.

You can reach me at my new email address: jason@theathleticnerd.com

MOVIES, SCREENWRITING & INDEPENDENT FILM

2012 is over.  I’ve recapped my favorite movies, trailers & my favorite moment.  I’ve also previewed the most anticipated movies of 2013.  It’s time to start writing brand new stuff!  This being the first week of new content, I thought I’d introduce the new logo I’ll be using in 2013.  It’s basically an update on the logo I created in 2012 with a lot more detail.

It’s part of a new look I’ll be rolling out in the coming weeks right before… THE SITE MOVES!

I’m currently in the final stages of reorganizing The Athletic Nerd which includes clearing out old posts and graphics.  It’s all in preparation to finally move this blog to it’s rightful home: www.theathleticnerd.com.  I’ll have more on the big move soon.

In the mean time, I’d also like to announce that my other blog, People Tales, is no more.  I’ve taken the site down in an effort to better focus here and on my screenwriting.  It was fun to write my little short stories and you never know, a few movie related tales may pop up here in the future.

Until then, here’s a look at the old logo:

XTRA | Photoshop cures writer’s block?

XTRA | Confessions of a wannabe animator

I really don’t want to redo this animation…  But I probably will.

Here is a collection of all my 2012 movie reviews:

ZERO DARK THIRTY | Zero Dark Thirty & The True Stories We’ll Never Forget

DJANGO UNCHAINED | DJANGO UNCHAINED: New Quentin Tarantino Movies Don’t Come Around Every Day!

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE | The Trouble with the Curve & The 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

LOOPER | More Movies Like Looper Please!

21 JUMP STREET | The Unexpectedly Awesome 21 Jump Street

END OF WATCH | End of Watch Is Right Up There With Training Day

TOTAL RECALL | Sometimes Remakes Like Total Recall Just… Work.

THE BOURNE LEGACY | They Should Have Left Jason Bourne’s Legacy Alone

THE CAMPAIGN | Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakas, The Campaign & The Undecided Voter

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey With Detours

THE WATCH | For those who didn’t know The Watch was about aliens

BRAVE | A Sunday morning with Pixar’s Brave

MOONRISE KINGDOM | Why didn’t I love Moonrise Kingdom?

LIFE OF PI |  Life of Pi & The Cinematic Comfort Zone 2: The Review

SKYFALL | Skyfall, James Bond & the Characters we Love

ARGO | Argo See This Movie

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 | Want to know more about the Paranormal Activity Demon Toby?  Me too…

SINISTER | Bughuul Rule #1: Don’t move into Sinister houses

INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE | Why creative people HAVE to see Indie Game: The Movie

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES | The Dark Knight Rises is the blockbuster we need AND deserve

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN | A Spider-Man story we’ve seen before is still amazing

TED | Were Ted’s trailers over-stuffed with jokes?

PROMETHEUS | The big questions of Prometheus

DARK SHADOWS | Dark Shadows cursed my wallet

THE AVENGERS | The Avengers anticipation is over now…  It makes me sad

THE HUNGER GAMES | If only I was part of The Hunger Games fan base

JOHN CARTER | John Carter, Woola, Barsoom, Helium, Zodanga, Tharks, Jeddak, Therns… What!?

CHRONICLE | Chronicle, action figures & the super powered dream

THE GREY | Wolves are scary, Liam Neeson is bad ass but The Grey still falls short

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy… Patience

MOVIES I SAW BUT DIDN’T REVIEW

THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT | I liked it…

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS | Decent but over-hyped

AMERICAN REUNION | Not the greatest

BATTLESHIP | A classic Transformers parody

SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN | Saw it on a plane.  Seriously disliked airlines taste in movies.

MEN IN BLACK 3 | Also on a plane.  Not a great movie

MAGIC MIKE | Story wasn’t great

XTRA | Top 10 2013 Summer Movies

IT ONLY TOOK 3 YEARS

I launched The Athletic Nerd on September 15, 2009.  Since it’s inception it’s always been about movies, screenwriting & independent film.  Today I’m thrilled to announce that I didn’t lose interest within two weeks!  Over three years later, I’m posting my 1000th article.  Time flies when you’re having fun.

MOVIES

I wanted to write about the movies that inspire the aspiring filmmaker.  This section has evolved a lot since day one and now includes reviews, all time best, countdowns, 10 flicks and series like Movies That Changed Everything.

SCREENWRITING

I’m addicted to screenwriting but like many aspiring screenwriters out there, I struggle at times.  This section chronicles my own personal screenwriting journey.  A journey that now includes a 20 part series called The Summer of Screenwriting.  I challenged myself to be a better writer and finally completed a new feature length film.  The passion is back and I’m hard at work on another script.

INDEPENDENT FILM

This section began as a look behind the scenes of my own films.  I’ve directed a few over the years but that was a while ago now.  Since then, this section has evolved into one of the most popular on this site.  At the center of it all is a regular feature called: The Post.  Here you will find hundreds of independent film projects from around the world.  Short films, trailers, features, animations, documentaries and more from dedicated filmmakers.

You’ll also find exclusive interviews with some of these filmmakers as they discuss what inspired their films and the challenges they faced along the way.

1000 POSTS LATER: WHICH ONE STANDS OUT?

I love writing for this website.  After 3 years I’m still just as devoted to creating new (and better) content.  1000 posts is a lot when you factor in the graphics I’ve created, videos I’ve included & research I’ve completed.  Not too mention the constant promotion required in order to gain more readers.  Through everything, one post does stand out because it’s the most personal:

SCREENWRITING VS ANXIETY: MY LAST LINE OF DEFENSE

The post is about my anxiety and how screenwriting helps keep me calm.  It’s something I don’t talk about often but this blog has been a wonderful outlet for me and I was happy to finally write down how I felt.

WHAT’S NEXT?

I took last summer off from this blog in favor of my screenplay.  I missed it but I reached my goal and finished my script.  Once I started writing posts again, I scaled things down to 3 posts a week to give me more time to balance screenwriting and this blog.  For the first time in three years, I’m planning my posts well ahead of time.  This gives me more time to write better posts.

The next 1000 posts will definitely be better.  I feel like I just got momentum going and it took three years of hard work to get to this point.  Now it’s up to me to raise the bar even higher.  Another thousand posts will most likely take another 3 years to complete at least.  Who knows where this site will be then.  All I know is, I love this blog and I can’t wait to write another 1000 posts.

A NEW ERA BEGINS…

Since this is a new beginning, I thought it would be nice to reintroduce myself and this site.  My name is Jason McKinnon and I’m a professional editor working in the live television world of sports.  I’m also a passionate screenwriter, a Photoshop nut and an independent filmmaker.  My interests can be summed up in two categories:  Sports & Movies.

The Athletic Nerd began with the simple goal of writing about the movies that inspire the aspiring filmmaker.  Over the years, it evolved and focused on three main areas:  Movies, Screenwriting & Independent Film.  You can navigate to each of those categories using the menu above.  I like to write about anything and everything related to movies.  From the scripts that inspire to the features we admire.  I’m also a big fan of indie films and regularly promote other people’s work on this site through a feature called The Post.

This site has evolved a lot in three years.  I’m proud of this blog but most of all, I’m proud that I stuck it out all these years.  So many blogging sites around the web talk about bloggers losing interest within a year.  I think 6 months is the average burnout.  Some people just get bored or they aren’t satisfied with the results after hours of hard work.

Getting high levels of traffic isn’t easy.  It’s frustrating.  If you don’t have time to comment on other sites, write guest posts and more then you’re already slowing your progress.  Likewise, not everyone can afford to advertise their blogs online or anywhere for that matter.  Personally, I’ve never spent a penny on advertising.  But my daily traffic has been the same for roughly a year now.  Is there room to grow?  Can I crash through the traffic barrier and gain new readers?

That’s what Year Four is all about:

BETTER CONTENT.  MORE TRAFFIC.

This blog is somewhat established now but it’s time to grow.  I’m talking about traffic growth but also personal growth as a writer.  Year Three was a groundbreaking year in terms of overall design and style but I feel like the content could have been much better.  I want Year Four to represent an ambitious leap forward.

The first major change is my posting frequency.  In an effort to deliver better articles in a structured way, I’ll be posting three articles a week from now on.  (Or more depending on the week.)

• Mondays will typically be reserved for Independent Film, news & reviews.
• Wednesdays will mostly deal with Screenwriting.
• Fridays will be all about movies including features like All Time Best.

Reviews, Interviews and other featured posts will pop up at any time.

MORE MOVIES.  MORE SCREENWRITING.  MORE INDEPENDENT FILM

This schedule isn’t set in stone and will most likely change so I don’t feel like I HAVE to come up with a screenwriting post every week.  Speaking of which, this new approach gives me more time for screenwriting as well.  I can’t wait to finish my next screenplay.

During my time away from this blog, I eliminated a bunch of features in order to simplify the site but I strengthened others.  This year The Post will receive the biggest boost with regular articles and interviews promoting filmmaker’s work from around the world.

Have a project you’d like to promote?  Contact me using the CONNECT menu above.

THE SUMMER OF SCREENWRITING

The screenwriting section of this website is home to hundreds of articles but never a series like this.  When I took my break from blogging, my main goal was to finish a screenplay called Strangers.  I accomplished that goal!

While I was finishing the script, I was writing posts about my journey.  Starting this week, I’ll begin posting over 20 articles about the journey to FADE OUT.  As an added bonus, I’ll be including a LOOKING BACK feature updating each post with my thoughts now.

It’s my hope to attract other writers like myself who have gone through similar journeys.  This summer I rediscovered my love of screenwriting.  I shouldn’t have put it off in the first place.

XTRA | Screenwriting vs Anxiety: A Personal Tale

GUEST POSTS

I’m also happy to announce that Year Four will be the first time, I’ll be accepting guest posts.  I’m going to be extremely picky but I’d LOVE to hear from anyone who loves movies, screenwriting and independent film.  I’m looking for articles about what inspires you.  What fuels your love for film.  I want to share the projects you’re passionate about.  So hit the CONNECT button above and get in touch if it’s something you’re interested in.

YEAR FOUR BEGINS

In addition to an updated set of graphics and a new promotional strategy, I’m ready for another year of movie blogging.  I hope you all enjoy the content that’s on the way.

As always, I’d love to hear from you.  Tweet, email or comment!

Time to get going!