There's not much good news to report about Filmtracks from the first half of 2020, the site hibernating for much of that time. My day job at the City of Seattle required more than 50 hours per week as I led a website redesign project for the city's utilities that launched at the end of June after three years of development.

Work on that employer project completely stifled all time and energy for Filmtracks, and the site suffered as a result. Only one new review debuted in the first half of 2020, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and no update of existing coverage was attempted. I was already six months behind in coverage at the end of 2019 because of my work hours, so the additional delay really hurt.

Traffic to Filmtracks declined in 2020 expectedly, as did revenue. Without coverage of all-new film scores, the site lost some of its more casual and mainstream readership, and Scoreboard activity diminished despite viewers stuck at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I had never sacrificed Filmtracks to this extent for my day job before, and I really hope such a scenario doesn't happen again.

There is a glimmer of good news, however. With my work hours stabilizing back to normal, I have started writing again; four all-new reviews and four rewrites have been done so far in July, some still awaiting debut. And because the pandemic has slowed production of new films, the site will have more time to get caught up on 2019 and early 2020 titles. Look for the 2019 Filmtracks Awards to be published after 12 to 15 additional 2019 scores are covered over the remainder of this year.

While my family and I have been spared the direct impacts of COVID-19 thus far (living on a rural island has its benefits), there is always the chance that I, like many working for struggling local governments, will lose my job, which could affect my Filmtracks schedule. I extend my thanks once again to everyone wishing us well during these extraordinary times, and I remain optimistic that there will be better days for Filmtracks ahead.

Christian