Dearest Readers,
On Sunday 28 January 2024, The Film Magazine will cease to exist unless we secure immediate funding to cover essential renewal costs.
Our zero-budget independent publication—home to more than 2.5 million freely accessible words on cinema—faces permanent removal from the internet if we cannot pay for hosting and security renewals. As of Sunday 21 January 2024, we do not have the funds required to maintain our online presence.
Without immediate financial support, The Film Magazine will be forced to shut down. We urgently need your help.
In the interest of transparency, the renewal options and costs are:
3 Years = £175
6 Years = £745
Because of a special arrangement with our hosting provider, we can renew for three years at the price normally charged for two. A one-year renewal is not currently available.
Earlier in January 2024, generous donations from readers allowed us to renew ownership of our URL on 5 January. The remaining balance covers ongoing expenses for servers, website security, and SSL certification—services that are essential for the site to function and remain safe for visitors.
If you would like to help, please follow this donate link to contribute via PayPal (a secure payment method).
More information
Our modest revenue streams—on-site advertising, profits from our RedBubble store, and affiliate commissions—help cover monthly operating expenses such as a single website-specific email account and one Adobe subscription. Any surplus is placed into a renewal fund. In many months, however, these earnings are negligible and do not add up to a reliable income.
Over the past five years, renewal costs for hosting and security have increased by more than 300%, placing severe pressure on small independent publications. At the same time, advertising revenue has declined: ad networks now pay far less per click or view than before the pandemic. Search engines increasingly display answers directly in search results, reducing the amount of traffic that reaches independent sites and undermining the advertising and readership model that sustained many small publications.
Our partners at RedBubble have introduced new fees that reduce per-item returns, while increased platform competition and higher delivery costs—exacerbated by Brexit and the pandemic—have also reduced sales and profit margins. Affiliate income is sporadic and insufficient; payouts may occur only once every 18 months to two years, which makes planning for renewals difficult.
This is a widespread issue affecting independent publications and online journalism generally, through no fault of the writers and editors who create the work.
The Film Magazine has existed in various forms for almost ten years—first as a blog, then a store, and then as a full website. During that time we have published more than 2,000 articles by over 100 writers from at least ten countries. That archive represents a significant body of film criticism, interviews, reviews, essays, and cultural commentary that we believe is of lasting value.
We believe this writing matters. Our content—reviews, features, social media, videos, and quizzes—has promoted cinema and encouraged readers to discover films and visit cinemas. We stand by the cultural importance of informed, independent film criticism.
We believe in our impact. We believe this publication deserves to continue.
If you share that belief, please donate to us via PayPal.
Every contribution, large or small, helps preserve this archive of film writing and keeps our independent voice alive. Donations will be used specifically for hosting, security certificates, and essential services that allow the site to remain accessible and secure.
Thank you for reading, for supporting independent criticism, and for considering a contribution in this critical moment.
Joseph Wade
Founder | Editor