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Hollywood will be pleased to know that longtime Variety lead film critic Todd McCarthy, who was laid off by the trade two months ago, has found an outlet for his reviews at IndieWire. He “will not be silenced,” the venue just announced. “At Todd McCarthy’s Deep Focus, we will work with Todd to build an even larger audience for his work: reviews and dispatches on film from his home in Los Angeles and at festivals around the world.” Meanwhile, Variety head Neil Stiles told me at the time of McCarthy’s 
layoff that it was the cost-cutting decision of editor Tim Gray. I told Neil it was a pisspoor allocation of Variety‘s limited resources. Because at least Hollywood reads McCarthy. Unlike the useless Brian Lowry, who makes $200,000+ at Variety but never breaks any news about the TV biz in his lame column.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I’d really hoped that he would have landed at your pad, Nikki. I have always relied on Todd’s superb judgement on pictures, either big or small. Variety screwed themselves when they unceremoniously let him go. Indiewire is lucky to have him.
IndieWire?! LOL….He must be desperate.
“He will not be silenced.”
Nor will he be paid. Good luck paying the rent with your “IndieWire” job, Todd.
Good to see Todd back in action after Variety threw him under the bus. Best of luck to him, and it’s good to see veterans like Todd can still keep going in a very dangerous journalistic climate.
Who cares…? He deserves to be writing for the Penny Saver… He’s
a prima donna and a snob… He doesn’t care about movies. He cares about
showing how smart he is – which he does with tired prose and predictable
observations. Sometimes you wonder if he even sees the movies that
he writes about because he is notorious for phoning it in. BTW, does
anybody but marketing people read reviews now anyway? This guy is
a dinosaur who should take his opinions and fade away. He is boring,
small minded and petty. It’s great that he lost his perch – now his mighty
pontificating and blowhard critiques might find the audience that they
truly deserve – no one…
do they still have the penny saver?
Next time, Aaron, make a good movie. You’re taking Todd’s review of whatever crap you produced too personally, as if you were a 2-year-old. Grow some and move on.
I worked alongside Todd for many years (in LA, NY and Cannes) and edited his reviews, not that they needed much editing. He is most assuredly not a prima donna or a snob as Reed, who obviously doesn’t know him, suggests–and believe me, there were many of those types at Variety in the ten years I worked there, so I can recognize the pathology, as it were. I can also report that Todd never “phoned in” a review; if anything it was the opposite. He labored (at his desk, not on the phone) intensely on his reviews, and I often had to wrench the copy from him late at night as our printer waited. I could allow him to go past deadline because I knew the review he filed would need very little, if any, revisions. So you can say what you want about his opinions–that’s a matter of opinion, by definition–but his work habits and personality are matters of fact, and Reed simply has the facts wrong.
Todd is the man. Smart as hell. I like his reviews because he delves into what works and what doesn’t about the film he’s reviewing.
If “breaking news” is your yardstick for value at Variety (or anywhere else I suppose), how is Todd more valuable then Brian?
Typical Nikki cronisium.
Lowry is one of the best trade writers in our industry. His punditry and analysis is second to none.
I’m as happy as anybody Todd landed somewhere and thought it a big mistake on Neal’s part to let him go but I’m not sure how useful it is to knock someone else that needs to make a living for your friend.
All paid journalist are the survivors these days.
He’s a first-rate critic.
The fact that Variety got rid of him says something about that pathetic newspaper….And they keep the moronic (and pompous) Brian Lowry?
Todd M is respected and smart. He had his quirks. But who doesnt?
And compare him to the duds at the LATimes and the self-important AO Scott and Manohla…..Todd M, towers above them..,
Just wanted to say that I think you are underrating Brian Lowry. I have found him an observant and saavy critic of comedy and comics and always enjoyed his writing in the LA Times.
Brian Lowry is great, I always read his column first