Amy Nicholson, who has been L.A. Weekly’s film critic since July of 2013, will become MTV News’ first Chief Film Critic, according to Deadline. She starts her new gig February 1. Starting the same day as Lead Music Writer will be Molly Lambert, formerly of Grantland.
Along with hiring Pitchfork’s Jessica Hopper as its editorial director for music, the move represents another major move under new editorial director Dan Fierman, who previously held the same position at Grantland. Nicholson’s departure follows that of her Village Voice/L.A. Weekly colleague Stephanie Zacharek, who left for Time in Novemember.
“MTV was my first film school,” Nicholson said in a statement to Deadline. “It introduced me to some of the best directors today—Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, David Fincher—and some of the biggest, like Michael Bay, Gore Verbinski and F. Gary Gray. I recorded stacks of VHS tapes full of videos and watched these mini-movies over and over again, learning how to tell a full story in a fast image. MTV News correspondents Chris Connelly and Kurt Loder let me meet the actors and artists making the coolest Hollywood flicks, and even taught me about special effects. (In the summer of 1991, I must have watched MTV’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day documentary 12 times.) I’m grinning from ear-to-ear at the opportunity to join MTV News’ brilliant new team and share my film obsession with the next generation.”
Big news. My brain is exploding. I’m going to be the Chief Film Critic of MTV News. https://t.co/sobf7TSub9 pic.twitter.com/FoOUnfXq1K
— Amy Nicholson (@TheAmyNicholson) January 12, 2016
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