Filmtracks received a few major upgrades in June this year, the most important of which a mobile-compliant redesign of the site's presentation of content. Development on this design started in February and collected feedback from the site's users, especially in the revisions to the Scoreboard Forum, to provide the best user experience possible within the site's forum format and retro-look parameters.

The extensive amount of time dedicated to the site's redesign restricted the number of reviews that I had hoped to write this year, though even with the two-month break in coverage while the upgrade work was most intense, I still managed to write 26 new reviews and 12 re-writes in the first seven months of 2015. The goal for the whole year was 30 new reviews and 25 re-writes, so overall production is actually up. In fact, only 27 new reviews were written in all of 2014.

Unfortunately, the review output will diminish greatly for the remainder of the summer because Filmtracks will be moving from Wyoming back to Seattle, where the site was located between 1998 and 2000. I have accepted an offer to be the Director of Web Services at a college in the Seattle College District, and I hope to devise a routine of reviewing film scores during my daily commute on a ferry across Puget Sound. When I have a new mailing address ready to provide, I'll post another notice.

One of the few disappointments after the debut of Filmtracks' new designs in June has been the continued inability to increase revenue to the site. The mobile ad placements have been particularly challenging to earn an expected return upon. The site is still covering its basic costs, but only barely. On the upside, the net increase in bandwidth usage (due to the heavier image and font load of the new desktop designs) has not resulted in a significant cost increase for the site.

Once my family and I get settled in the Seattle area, I plan to resume writing as normal. Hopefully, this time will come in October. I'll keep all of you updated on the site's status more regularly on the Scoreboard. Thanks again to everyone for your support during these difficult years in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Such diversions on the journey of life are at least the stuff of good storytelling. I hope to never again witness a person willingly snacking on Styrofoam.

Christian