Michael Sragow Joins the Orange County Register As Film Critic

We don’t often get to write about new film critic jobs, especially at newspapers, but here is one: the Orange County Register just added their first staff movie critic in over a decade. It’s Michael Sragow, who has been at the Baltimore Sun since 2001. Here, from the Register‘s announcement of the hiring, is Sragow on his plans for his new gig:

“My goal is to bring more energy into the conversation about individual movies and the art form. I am looking forward to returning to Southern California, where passion for movies runs deep. I am eager to work for the Orange County Register, a newspaper that sees culture, high and low, as an exciting and essential part of its readers’ lives as well as a source of creative energy for the newsroom and the community.”

The 60-year-old Sragow has had a long and prolific career in criticism working for publications like the Boston Phoenix, Rolling Stone, and the San Francisco Examiner. In September of 2011 the Sun reassigned him off the movie beat, prompting a letter of support from director and Baltimore native John Waters. In an interview with FishbowlLA, Sragow explains why he decided to move west:

“I got in touch with the [Register] editors, who directed me to the job posting,” he continues. “Just the way they were talking about the position, and how they wanted someone who could talk about a wide range of movies past and present… It was so unusual in today’s world of cultural journalism that I really jumped at it.”

Congrats to Sragow on his new gig — which he is scheduled to start in March.

Read more of “Register Hires Michael Sragow as Movie Critic” and “Meet Michael Sragow, the Orange County Register’s New Film Critic.”