Premiere.com Lets Kenny Go: Another Critic Bites the Dust

This makes me crazy. Premiere.com is letting go of their marquee critic, Glenn Kenny, the one guy who drives some traffic. But it's a sign that even Premiere.com isn't making a go of it. They probably think that they can get cheaper younger talent to do what Kenny does so well. They'll probably pick up Real Guys to take his place. It's all about short video bites now. Lucid, knowledgeable, erudite? Who needs that shit anymore? Here's his farewell post.

UPDATE: Hachette U.S. Publishing CEO Jack Kliger has presided over the demise of many magazines and I don't think I will ever forgive him for so mishandling Premiere and its bonafide, established, globally recognized movie brand. He could have started a movie portal if he had seen the light--but Hachette was thrilled they had dodged the dot.com bullet and refused to invest real money online.

All they had to do was publish Premiere properly and keep it alive on the internet. Look at UK movie mag Empire. It's going strong, and has taken over the global space Premiere and its nine editions around the world used to have. Look at the Premiere website. It's lame. How can it compete with all the lively entertaining professional stuff out there? Real media ventures are plowing real money into their sites and seeing real returns. Look at New York Magazine, and Conde Nast Portfolio, which is sending my old Premiere colleague Fred Schruers to Cannes.

Comments

[Edward Wilson]

I guess the Real Guys won that battle...

[David C]

Does this mean we'll never get our expense payments?

[Keith G]

Agreed, Anne. I was lamenting the loss of Premiere magazine only a couple of weeks ago at Kenny's blog.

Now the only reason to visit the site is going - one of the most knowledgeable film critics in the world is now homeless. Boo, Premier.com!

[A.J. Benza]

Has everyone lost their minds? The only contact I ever had with Glen Kenny was those two nights of give and take concerning our "Real Guys Movie Review." After a few nasty comments from Glenn....I managed to calm him down and we actually ended up agreeing to disagree. I wouldnt know the first thing about getting someone fired from a blog job. Jesus...I'm no one in that respect. Anyone who even thinks that, and that includes Ann Thompson, is insane. I couldnt tell you the names of ANYONE at Premiere. And I want all of us to keep our jobs, no matter how much we disagree. It's just discourse. It's fun. And I learn a lot from you guys. This is all new to me. I'm sorry about Glenn's dilemma. But I have no idea why it happened.

[T.Holly]

Other way around, you're A.J. Benza, only now you have a blog job as a movie non-reviewer, and it's Premiere that reads Thompson. I wouldn't contact Glenn right away, give it some time.

[Anne thompson]

No one thinks AJ had anything to do with Glenn's departure. Apologies for any misunderstanding. AJ, you took a ribbing with good grace. I wish Real Guys well. There's an audience for what you're doing--and Glenn will keep his audience too.