Submit to Minor Mogul!

No, not that way. Well, all right, that way as well; welcome your new media overlords! But that’s not the only way that could be taken . . .

Minor Mogul invites submissions from anyone who has something to say on the subject of making movies independently. You should write for an intelligent but non-specialist audience, including creators, hardcore cinephiles, less-ardent movie fans, and civilian viewers. Minor Mogul also seeks reviews of movies, books, and gear. Please send a query letter to the Editor at the email or postal address — or just send the completed article if you want to do the work upfront.

We are definitely not interested in “how to break in to / work in Hollywood” articles. Some good movies come out of the Hollywood entertainment-product manufacturers, and they can be lots of fun to watch. But for Minor Moguls everywhere, Hollywood is irrelevant to our creative and business careers. If you want to read articles about that stuff, check out pretty much any movie-making site on the Web; you’ll find more stuff than you could read in three lifetimes. That’s why we don’t cover it here.

Articles are usually between 1,000 and 2,500 words, but any length is acceptable. “Say what you have to say, say it as well as you can, and then shut up.” You will receive a response in three weeks or less, usually less. The Editor will return your edited article for your approval prior to publication, and give you a chance to amend that version. Your article is accepted when we both agree upon the version to be published.

You retain all copyright to your work. Minor Mogul wants to publish your article on the website (in perpetuity) and in the print magazine (once), and wants a three-month (from the date of acceptance) exclusive use of your article. After that, you can publish it elsewhere or do anything you want with it; it’s yours, after all.

Payment is a mere pittance: ten cents a word (“That’s what they pay me . . . ”), paid on acceptance of the article. So if you write a 1,000-word article, you’ll get $100. If it takes you three hours, that works out to about $30 an hour — a living wage. Of course, if it takes you 20 hours, that works out to five bucks an hour — not so good. Don’t pad out your text to try to make more money; the Editor will just cut out the flab anyway, and you’re only paid for the word-count as published.

Review a movie

Minor Mogul welcomes discussion and analysis of all movies, from Hollywood blockbusters to undiscovered gems hidden in the corners of YouTube. The key factor is that the movie you review must be available for an audience to watch; there’s no point in reviewing a movie that nobody can see. Don’t worry if we have already reviewed a title; if you’ve got a fresh view, send it in.

Include as complete a list of the movie’s credits as you can, and link to the movie’s IMDb page if it has one. Credit where credit is due! Also, say where the movie can be seen.

Give us a brief summary of the story. Don’t worry about spoilers. We’re here to discuss movies; you should assume that the readers have seen the movie under discussion. But this summary should not be the main component of your review.

Include any (substantiated) tales from the making of the movie. We love insider gossip! Especially useful to creators are behind-the-scenes descriptions of how the movie was made.

The heart of your review is your analysis of the movie. Describe what worked for you, what didn’t work for you, what excited you, what actively annoyed you. Discuss the movie’s ambitions and how well or poorly it achieved them. Place the movie in context — historically, creatively, societally. How does it compare with similar movies? How was the movie received by audiences and critics, and how has that judgement changed over time?

Submit your movie for review

If you wish to submit your movie for review, please contact the Editor, who will attempt to match it with an appropriate reviewer.

We focus primarily on narrative fiction, and review movies of any length, genre, or content. We do not review music videos, fan-films, or AI-generated slop.

Review a book

Going to film school is a popular way to learn how to make movies, but it’s not the only way. It is perfectly possible to teach yourself how to make a movie! There’s a plethora of magazines, websites, discussion forums, YouTube tutorials — and, of course, books. And learning is not just for newbies; it’s a life- and career-long project. You learn something new every day — if you’re lucky!

We also learn from case studies of other creators’ ventures. Stuff about “how to break in to / work in Hollywood” isn’t relevant to Minor Moguls who make movies independently, so we don’t cover that here. Likewise, stuff about “how to found / run an event-videography business” isn’t appropriate for this site.

Biographies of creators can be fun to read, but don’t usually make for interesting reviews, so make sure you have an interesting take before submitting such an item. For example, it might be illuminating to compare “official” biographies with unofficial ones or with facts from other sources, to show how creators choose to portray themselves.

Review gear

Independent creators live all over the country and the world — often in cities that do not have movie-making industries or gear-rental houses. As a result, we often don’t have the chance to handle or test movie-making gear. We rely on others’ reviews to help us decide what gear we should buy.

When reviewing a piece of equipment, tell us how good the item is for its purpose. Does it do the job? Is it easy and quick to set up? Is it flimsy, or does it last? Can you compare it with other items of the same type? Tell us the facts and figures, and give us your subjective evaluation.

Keep the audience in mind. There’s not much point in reviewing IMAX cameras; independent creators can’t afford to shoot with them.

Minor Mogul especially welcomes how-to articles on upgrading commercial gear or making DIY gear. The audience doesn’t care how you get the shot!

Submit to the Showcase

Minor Mogul invites all independent creators to submit your movies to the Showcase on this website, for whatever value that might give you.

We focus on narrative fiction, and accept movies of any length (features, shorts, serieses) or genre (comedy, drama, sci fi, thriller, horror, musical, war, romance, crime, etc.) and content (we are not censors or moral guardians). We are not interested in documentaries, music videos, biographies, fan-films, AI-generated slop, travel vlogs, “experimental”, “how to”, or “reality” projects. Please note that Minor Mogul has no obligation to showcase your movie, and won’t argue with you about your particular project.

Your movie must be hosted on a video-sharing site (eg. YouTube, Vimeo, your own website) and embeddable here. Any monetization is up to you, but movies must be free to watch. If viewers must pay to watch your movie, this Showcase is not for you; please consider submitting your trailer to the Trailer Park instead.

Your movie must be independently-made. This is a somewhat arbitrary standard, but a good rule of thumb is: If your production receives funding from Telefilm or the Canada Media Fund, or if your cast are UCBP / ACTRA members, or if your crew are IATSE members, or if your movie premiered at TIFF or Sundance or SXSW, then you are already too much a part of The Industry for this Showcase.

Comment on an item

Minor Mogul welcomes thoughtful, informative responses to anything posted here. Discussion, debate, and criticism are how we improve and advance!

This website does not (and will not) have a commenting facility. Hopefully this deters all but the most thoughtful and determined commenters. If you wish to make a comment on an item, please send your response to Minor Mogul’s email or postal address. All correspondence is assumed to be intended for publication.

Sometimes, lord knows why, people get the urge to vent their feelings about something they’ve read on this website, or something that someone on this website has said elsewhere. Hate mail is segregated in the Hall of Shame.

Thank you for your interest in Minor Mogul, and in making movies independently!