A few months ago a friend came to DotLot asking for some help in producing a PSA for an organization he was involved with called Know Newspapers. His goal was to produce a short spot that he could put up on the website of his organization whose primary goal is to save newspapers and prevent the downfall of the printed word. 

According to Newspaper Death Watch, no fewer than 11 newspapers have failed in the past two years, and I have heard several stories of other papers in Chicago and San Francisco that are faltering, too. 

Then, today, the crisis hit our industry, too. In a lengthy email from Studio/Monthly’s Beth Marchant titled “Last Letter From The Editor”, it was announced that Studio/Monthly will no longer be publishing a paper copy of it’s monthly film and video industry trade mag. As a director and as someone who runs a stage rental facility, this is big news to me. Our little production niche has been hit hard over the past year by a faltering economy and reduced client budgets. Those people who I work with frequently all tell the same story - “We’re holding on, but it’s tough.”

I’m glad that Studio/Monthly will continue to publish its online version, and from the info in Beth’s email, it sounds like they might even be expanding their coverage. But as any grip who has ever spent six hours in a dimly-lit green room knows, it’s still nice to have a few magazines laying around. 

Here’s the full text of Beth’s email…

“Dear Readers,

Maybe it was prophetic that the coverline on Studio/monthly’s June issue included the words “to Web.” I wrote that coverline long before the decision was made to end the magazine’s four-and-a-half year run as a standalone print and digital publication. But the Web is where The Studio Group is strongest and where we’ll continue to grow. Studio/monthly will deliver the same award-winning content at www.studiomonthly.com. The magazine online will do what it’s done from the start: provide practical, well-edited product reviews, in-depth tutorials, first-person advice and analysis of emerging trends at Studiomonthly.com and through our portal, Studiodaily.com. You’ll see the site evolve, however, as we refresh it more often with the kind of dynamic content that a monthly magazine could simply not deliver.

The flow of the magazine-its visual impact, its organization and the way each article was designed and edited-was thoughtfully constructed with you, the reader, in mind. I’m proud of what we built. And I know from my conversations with many of you that Studio/monthly, when it was launched in 2005, gave you exactly what you needed: practical advice that helped you improve your kit, your skill set or your business. One special word of thanks to those who wrote to tell me over the years how much you valued the magazine in its initial print form for giving you the chance, however briefly, to step away from the computer without leaving your work entirely. You read it on set, on the train, on a plane, in a facility lobby, or even far away from the dark cave of your edit suite under a shady tree. I had hoped you’d be able to do that for years to come on a Kindle. We’ll certainly be thinking about ways to curate selections of our content for viewing devices like the Kindle.

Due to the end of the print/digital editions, the position of managing editor has also been eliminated. I’d like to thank Jessica Clegg for her talent and dedication to developing the magazine, Web site and spin-off e-newsletters into valuable components of The Studio Group’s broad and deep network of production and post-related content.

Stay in touch and come back often.

Regards,

Beth Marchant
Editor-in-Chief
Studio/monthly”