Write for LWLies

LWLies’ Edi­to­r­i­al Mission

Since 2005 Lit­tle White Lies has been cov­er­ing both main­stream and inde­pen­dent cin­e­ma from all around the world with top qual­i­ty jour­nal­ism and illus­tra­tion. We aren’t afraid to speak our minds on the films we love (and some­times hate), and want to offer our read­ers the chance to hear from a mul­ti­tude of voic­es from all walks of life, regard­less of writ­ing expe­ri­ence. We’re invest­ed in beau­ti­ful films and the peo­ple that make them, and want to cre­ate and curate writ­ing and illus­tra­tion that reflects this.

If that sounds good to you, please find a list of the types of pieces we’re look­ing for below, with some exam­ples to get you thinking.

Online Com­mis­sions

We only com­mis­sion around 8 new features/​interviews a month, so please don’t take it per­son­al­ly if we are unable to accept your pitch.

Please pitch all the below columns to Han­nah. You do not need to CC oth­er editors.

Act­ing Up

This col­umn focus­es on a sin­gle actor, high­light­ing notable roles or com­mon themes. These are tied to anniver­saries, new releas­es and mile­stone birth­days. The aim of the col­umn is to explore the con­nec­tions in an actor’s career, so the films don’t nec­es­sar­i­ly have to be ​“good” – this is a chance to write about the con­nec­tions we draw between past and future per­for­mances, and the jour­ney of film­mak­ing more gen­er­al­ly. Is tal­ent always a giv­en? Have some per­form­ers stopped tak­ing dra­mat­ic risks? (Word Range 1000 – 1500)

Jour­neys

These dis­patch­es from a fes­ti­val some­where in the world will offer a flavour of the pro­gramme but also ide­al­ly of the fes­ti­val and the loca­tion itself giv­ing a sense for film cul­ture in oth­er parts of the world. They are part trav­el piece, part film crit­i­cism, and have the aim of telling us about the fes­ti­val as a space, as well as cin­e­ma cul­ture and movie-watch­ing around the world. They serve as an explo­ration of a film fes­ti­val atmos­phere and why this mat­ters. Tell us about what you ate, where you went, the venues, the Q&As – these should feel like post­cards from a dear friend. We may also con­sid­er fes­ti­val dis­patch­es which are focused more on the film pro­gramme if they have a very strong the­mat­ic through­line or nar­ra­tive. These pieces could also include sim­i­lar cin­e­mat­ic pil­grim­ages, to film­ing loca­tions or places of sig­nif­i­cance to the world of film. Please note we receive many pitch­es for Jour­neys so we are only able to com­mis­sion a select few. (Word Range 1000 – 1500)

Excludes: Cannes, Venice, Lon­don, Sun­dance, Berlin, Toron­to, SXSW, Locarno (We are always ful­ly staffed for these festivals).

https://​lwlies​.com/​f​e​s​t​i​v​a​l​s​/​g​o​l​d​e​n​-​a​p​r​i​c​o​t​-​y​e​r​evan/

https://​lwlies​.com/​f​e​s​t​i​v​a​l​s​/​e​x​p​l​o​r​i​n​g​-​e​m​p​a​t​h​y​-​t​h​r​o​u​g​h​-​v​i​r​t​u​a​l​-​r​e​a​l​i​t​y​-​a​t​-lff/

This Just In

Op-eds about a sto­ry in the head­lines or a new film release that offer a strong, well-argued take. These pieces will offer an inter­est­ing opin­ion or insight on some­thing that peo­ple are cur­rent­ly talk­ing about, be it the Oscars, some cast­ing news, or a new trend in hor­ror films, to give you a few exam­ples. They could pose a ques­tion or give a point of view. These should be time­ly, and have a short shelf life, so should be pitched and turned around quick­ly by the writer. (Word Range 800‑1500)

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​a​i​r​-​m​i​c​h​a​e​l​-​j​o​r​d​a​n​-​b​e​n​-​a​f​f​leck/

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​w​h​y​-​a​r​e​-​t​h​e​r​e​-​s​o​-​f​e​w​-​g​o​o​d​-​f​i​l​m​s​-​a​b​o​u​t​-​s​o​c​i​a​l​-​m​edia/

Not Movies

Pieces on a new/​returning tele­vi­sion show, exhi­bi­tion, piece of the­atre or video game with a strong, clear con­nec­tion to cin­e­ma. There should be a time­ly hook to this – is the show broad­cast­ing now, or has just fin­ished? Is the play just open­ing? Has the game just come out? We wouldn’t run these pieces much after the fact so con­sid­er this when pitch­ing. We might con­sid­er an anniver­sary pitch if it’s par­tic­u­lar­ly orig­i­nal or strong. Please note we don’t do TV recaps either. (Word Range 1000 – 1500)

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​p​u​b​i​c​-​i​n​f​o​r​m​a​t​i​o​n​-​f​ilms/

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​w​h​y​-​w​e​-​l​o​v​e​-​n​e​t​f​l​i​x​s​-​y​o​u​-​e​v​e​n​-​t​h​o​u​g​h​-​w​e​-​a​l​l​-​a​g​r​e​e​-​i​t​s​-​t​e​r​r​i​b​l​e-tv/

The Long Read

A longer piece (2000−4000 words) about some­thing inter­est­ing – could be a ​‘How we made’ style inter­view, could be a deep dive on some ele­ment or issue impact­ing the movie land­scape, could be an oral his­to­ry. Well-researched, well-writ­ten and valu­able are the key terms here and these pieces will pos­si­bly include inter­views, as well as a more exten­sive writ­ing and edit­ing process. We only pub­lish one of these pieces a month.

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​t​h​e​-​c​a​s​e​-​f​o​r​-art/

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​t​h​e​-​s​i​m​p​s​o​n​s​-​t​r​e​e​h​o​u​s​e​-​o​f​-​h​o​r​r​o​r​-​h​a​l​l​o​w​e​e​n​-​s​p​e​c​ials/

Anniver­sary Pieces

Our ​‘In Praise Of/​Why I Love/​What X Taught Me’ essays are opinion/​personal essay based, and usu­al­ly – but not always – linked to an anniver­sary (the year has to end in a zero!). Oth­er hooks could be a birthday/​rerelease/​new release/​screening event, but if your idea is inter­est­ing enough, we will con­sid­er it with­out a time­ly ele­ment. These pieces usu­al­ly focus on one film, one per­for­mance, one actor, one theme, or one film­mak­er, and always have a strong through­line. We are look­ing for unique sto­ries and strong con­nec­tions with pas­sion­ate writ­ers behind them. We are not look­ing for gen­er­al overviews or appreciations.

We are like­ly to be very selec­tive about these, so please don’t feel too dis­heart­ened if it’s a no – anniver­sary pieces are just real­ly sat­u­rat­ed, so we want the LWLies ones to stand out in a crowd­ed space. Please check if we have cov­ered the title before, include the date of the anniver­sary in your email and do not pitch them more than two months in advance unless there is a heavy research aspect involved. We are more like­ly to com­mis­sion pitch­es about under­seen and under­ap­pre­ci­at­ed films – there are plen­ty of cult titles which have been writ­ten about to death – so have a long, hard think about your idea and what makes it unique. (Word Range 1000 – 1500)

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​g​i​r​l​s​-​w​i​t​h​-​g​u​n​s​-​h​o​w​-​t​u​e​s​d​a​y​-​w​e​l​d​-​s​e​t​-​t​h​e​-​b​l​u​e​p​r​i​n​t​-​f​o​r​-​m​i​a​-​goth/

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​w​h​y​-​i​-​l​o​v​e​-​s​o​n​g​-​k​a​n​g​-​h​o​s​-​p​e​r​f​o​r​m​a​n​c​e​-​i​n​-​t​h​e​-​host/

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​t​h​e​-​d​a​r​i​n​g​-​g​e​n​d​e​r​-​n​o​n​c​o​n​f​o​r​m​i​t​y​-​o​f​-​e​d​-​w​o​o​d​s​-​g​l​e​n​-​o​r​-​g​l​enda/

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​t​h​e​-​u​n​l​i​k​e​l​y​-​p​r​e​s​c​i​e​n​c​e​-​o​f​-​s​p​r​i​n​g​-​b​r​e​a​kers/

Reviews

Film reviews are extreme­ly cov­et­ed assign­ments and at LWLies they are large­ly con­duct­ed by our edi­to­r­i­al team or by free­lancers we’ve worked with before on fea­tures. We may con­sid­er pitch­es for reviews of smaller/​independent films and reviews of inter­est­ing titles that have gone under the radar, but we ask you do not email ask­ing to review the lat­est block­buster or a high-pro­file film. We only have a small bud­get every month, and we have far more requests to review films than we can rea­son­ably ful­fil, so we tend to focus on films receiv­ing a cin­e­ma release across the UK and major stream­ing titles. We also are not like­ly to com­mis­sion a review more than a week after a film’s release unless there is a very good rea­son to do so.

We work to the UK cin­e­ma/​streaming cal­en­dar so please keep this in mind when pitch­ing reviews. If you’re look­ing for infor­ma­tion on the LWLies scor­ing sys­tem, check here. (Reviews are 500 words each unless agreed with editor.)

Inter­views

Major inter­views with film­mak­ers and actors are con­duct­ed by our staff and reg­u­lar con­trib­u­tors, usu­al­ly for the mag­a­zine. How­ev­er, we love hear­ing about peo­ple mak­ing inter­est­ing films or doing cool things in cin­e­ma, and are open to pitch­es, par­tic­u­lar­ly with a strong angle/​approach or unique access.

https://​lwlies​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​s​/​h​o​w​-​d​o​-​y​o​u​-​c​r​e​a​t​e​-​a​-​r​e​a​l​-​f​a​k​e​-​l​a​n​g​uage/

https://​lwlies​.com/​i​n​t​e​r​v​i​e​w​s​/​m​e​e​t​-​m​e​-​i​n​-​t​h​e​-​b​a​t​h​r​o​o​m​-​i​n​t​e​r​view/

Fes­ti­val First-Look Reviews

Major film fes­ti­vals (Cannes, Venice, Lon­don, Berlin, Sun­dance, Toron­to, SXSW, Locarno, NYFF) are cov­ered with first-look reviews and LWLies usu­al­ly has a reporter on the ground. You are wel­come to pitch us reviews from these fes­ti­vals but please note we give pri­or­i­ty to our own staff and to the writ­ers we have an exist­ing work­ing rela­tion­ship with, as these com­mis­sions are sought-after and involve turn­ing around great copy on a tight dead­line! We do not tend to com­mis­sion inter­views or fea­tures at fes­ti­vals unless there is an amaz­ing opportunity.

Gen­er­al Pitch­ing Information

Please put ​‘PITCH’ at the start of your email sub­ject line so we can tell what the email is about eas­i­ly, along with a short sum­ma­ry. You can put your actu­al pitch in the email body – no need to attach it as a sep­a­rate doc­u­ment. Please avoid send­ing more than 1 – 3 pitch­es in a sin­gle email, as this makes it quite long for edi­tors to read. Your pitch should be around 100 – 200 words, out­lin­ing your idea clear­ly, your sources (if nec­es­sary) and when the piece can be filed. You should be spe­cif­ic and include exam­ples where necessary.

If you are pitch­ing a piece linked to an upcom­ing release, birth­day, event or anniver­sary please include the date of this too. If you do not receive a reply from an edi­tor with­in four days, feel free to fol­low up (or soon­er, if it’s a par­tic­u­lar­ly time-sen­si­tive pitch) but please don’t chase us every day. Please note we don’t work week­ends or bank hol­i­days. We work on a print issue 2 – 3 months in advance. Online we work 1 – 2 months in advance.

All com­mis­sions are paid, so please do not offer your ser­vices for free. Please do not sub­mit fin­ished drafts for edi­to­r­i­al con­sid­er­a­tion unless request­ed – we don’t have time to read them. We also do not accept pre­vi­ous­ly pub­lished work unless by pri­or agree­ment, and we don’t real­ly ​‘assign’ pieces, so there’s no need to email us with a gen­er­al offer of your writ­ing services.

Final­ly, please remem­ber that LWLies is run by a ded­i­cat­ed but very small team, and while we do try to reply to every sin­gle pitch we get, we do some­times miss things, and we are not able to offer detailed feed­back on all the pitch­es we receive. If you are not suc­cess­ful the first time please don’t let this deter you!

Do I need to be based in the UK to write for LWLies?

Nope. We pub­lish writ­ers from all around the world. You need only good ideas, a strong grasp of writ­ten Eng­lish, and a bank account/​PayPal that can accept inter­na­tion­al payments.

Who should I email?

Send your pitch to the rel­e­vant per­son below.

Mag­a­zine Edi­tor
David Jenk­ins
david@​tcolondon.​com
(Long Lead & Print: Reviews, Inter­views, Profiles)

Dig­i­tal Edi­tor
Han­nah Strong
hannah@​tcolondon.​com
(Short Lead & Online: Reviews, Inter­views, Fea­tures, Fes­ti­vals, Podcast)

How do I get pub­lished in the print edition?

The best way to become a print con­trib­u­tor is to start by work­ing with us online! Most of our print con­trib­u­tors start­ed out as online con­trib­u­tors. We don’t real­ly take pitch­es for the print edi­tion as the film we fea­ture every month informs our edi­to­r­i­al decisions.

How do I pitch illustration?

LWLies is pow­ered by orig­i­nal illus­tra­tion and we’re always look­ing for new col­lab­o­ra­tors. We are not able to offer feed­back to all sub­mis­sions, but if you’d like to be con­sid­ered, send your port­fo­lio and a short note to our artis­tic direc­tor, Lau­rène Boglio: laurene@​tcolondon.​com.

What are your terms and how do I invoice?

Please refer to our contributor’s terms before under­tak­ing a com­mis­sion for LWLies. Please refer to our Style Guide for for­mat­ting advice. Con­tact your edi­tor if you have any ques­tions. All con­tri­bu­tions to LWL are paid so please don’t offer your ser­vices for free. We pay 30 days from invoice date, and you can invoice as soon as your piece is live unless oth­er­wise agreed. All invoic­es need to go to accounts@​tcolondon.​com and include the title and date of your piece, plus your edi­tor, the URL of the piece and the fee agreed, plus your per­son­al and pay­ment details. You can use this tem­plate if you like (download/​copy and fill in). We pay via bank trans­fer or Pay­Pal. If there is any prob­lem with your invoice or pay­ment, please con­tact your com­mis­sion­ing editor.

Is there any­thing you’re not look­ing for?

At LWLies we try to pub­lish irrev­er­ent and unique writ­ing, so we’re not look­ing for takes we’ve seen before, or for pieces that are direct respons­es to arti­cles pub­lished in oth­er out­lets. We’re not big on lis­ti­cles unless there’s a very inter­est­ing angle, and we try to avoid being too ​“inside base­ball” about film. We want to be a wel­com­ing space for film lovers and while we wel­come a bit of snark, we avoid punch­ing down.

AI Pol­i­cy

We are firm­ly anti-AI and will nev­er use AI in our edi­to­r­i­al or illus­tra­tion. If you are some­one who uses AI in your writ­ing or art, we are not the pub­li­ca­tion for you, and we will decline any pitch­es which have used AI. We are not inter­est­ed in review­ing or spot­light­ing films that are cre­at­ed pre­dom­i­nant­ly using AI. Cre­ativ­i­ty is at the heart of Lit­tle White Lies and we firm­ly believe there is no place in our pub­li­ca­tion for it.

Can you review or fea­ture my film?

We’re a very small team, and we have a lot of films to review each week, so we can­not com­mit to review­ing every film that is sent for review consideration.

Can I intern at LWLies?

As stat­ed we are a very small team, so we very rarely have oppor­tu­ni­ties for intern­ships. You can express your inter­est to adam@tcolondon but please note that we are unlike­ly to be able to accom­mo­date you.

Are you look­ing for new staff at LWLies?

When we have roles avail­able, job post­ings for LWLies are post­ed on our com­pa­ny web­site. Please do not send your CV on spec as we do not keep them on file. We do not have reg­u­lar crit­ic or review­er roles at LWLies.

I have a ques­tion not list­ed here…

Email us and we’ll do our best to answer!