Rotten Tomatoes Revamps Critics Criteria, Adds New MembersPosted by Wilson Morales
August 28, 2018
Rotten Tomatoes, entertainment fans’ go-to resource for movie and TV show recommendations, has debuted revamped critics criteria for its popular Tomatometer rating system. A world-renowned entertainment review aggregator, the Tomatometer reflects the collective opinion of thousands of Tomatometer-approved critics. Each Tomatometer score represents the percentage of positive reviews for a given film or television show.
Rotten Tomatoes’ revamped criteria have an increased focus on the critic’s individual qualifications and body of work, rather than basing Tomatometer approval primarily on their publication or employer. This strategy will allow for a wider and more diverse pool of critics’ perspectives to be included in the Tomatometer.
In addition, the criteria have expanded beyond the written review to include newer media platforms. Now individuals and outlets that produce reviews for podcasts and digital video series with a strong social media presence and audience engagement will be considered for the Tomatometer. Most recently, over 200 new Tomatometer-approved critics have been added with many more to come.
The criteria can be found on the Rotten Tomatoes site, along with an application to become a Tomatometer-approved critic.
“Over the past few years, our team has added hundreds of new voices to the Tomatometer on top of the thousands we currently have, with the goal of creating a critics pool that closely reflects the global entertainment audience,” said Jenny Jediny, Rotten Tomatoes critics relations manager. “We took another key step today by revamping our critics criteria that both shifts our focus to approving critics individually rather than through publications, and introduces updated guidelines for newer media platforms to be a part of the Tomatometer.”
To help critics gain access to key film festivals, Rotten Tomatoes has established a $100,000 grant program. Over the next year, Rotten Tomatoes will provide grants to non-profit organizations that help critics with costly expenses associated with festival attendance. The first grant of $25,000 will go to the American Friends of TIFF fund for the Toronto International Film Festival, September 6-16, 2018.
“Rotten Tomatoes plays an important role in connecting fans with trusted information and recommendations on what to watch in theaters and at home,” said Paul Yanover, president of Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes’ parent company. “Advancing inclusion in criticism continues to be a priority for Rotten Tomatoes and we plan to expand our work with media outlets that hire critics, film festivals and other groups, so as an industry we can better serve consumers.”
In an effort to help foster the next generation of film critics and entertainment journalists, the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and Rotten Tomatoes announced earlier this month the second recipient of the Rotten Tomatoes Fellowship in Digital Innovation and Entertainment Criticism, for academic year 2018-19. Graduate student Sophie-Marie Prime, who recently received an undergraduate degree in film and media studies at University of California, Berkley received this year’s fellowship.
Established in 2017, the multi-year graduate fellowship combines academic coursework from USC Annenberg and USC’s six art schools with on-site experience working at Rotten Tomatoes. Students gain tuition support and professional experience working with Rotten Tomatoes’ editorial staff and leaders, across its online, mobile and social platforms.
Today marks the first phase of Rotten Tomatoes’ new enhancements to its Tomatometer rating system, designed to better serve audiences around the world with their entertainment viewing decisions. New critics will be spotlighted on the Tomatometer Critics home page, so that entertainment fans can discover new voices in criticism from a variety of backgrounds and platforms. Rotten Tomatoes plans to introduce more new product features over the next year to deliver even more value to fans.
About Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes and the Tomatometer score are the world’s most trusted recommendation resources for quality entertainment. As the leading online aggregator of movie and TV show reviews from thousands of critics, Rotten Tomatoes provides fans with a comprehensive guide to what’s Fresh – and what’s Rotten – in theaters and at home. And the Tomatometer is just the beginning. Rotten Tomatoes serves movie and TV fans with original editorial content on its site and social channels, produces fun and informative video series, and holds live events for fans across the country, with its ‘Your Opinion Sucks’ live shows. For entertainment fans looking for a recommendation, or to share an opinion, Rotten Tomatoes is the right place.
TOMATOMETER CRITERIA
WHO ARE THE TOMATOMETER-APPROVED CRITICS?
The Tomatometer includes reviews from two different groups:
Individual professional film and TV critics who are Tomatometer-approved and whose reviews are included on the site regardless of where they are published.
Tomatometer-approved publications, such as websites, online video outlets, newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, alt-weeklies, podcasts, radio programs, and TV shows. If a publication is approved, its review of a movie or show is included on the Tomatometer regardless of which individual critic produced it.
HOW DO I BECOME TOMATOMETER-APPROVED?
Critics who wish to apply should first review our guidelines below and may submit applications here. All candidates will go through an approval process.
In considering potential critics and publications, the Rotten Tomatoes curation team looks for those that embody our key values and meet our eligibility guidelines.
KEY VALUES
Insight: Criticism can be many things: a deep dive into the filmmaking craft, an analysis of subtext, a discussion on social commentary, an enthusiastic argument. We look for engaging content that has a distinct voice and offers perspective on a film or TV series, not just a plot summary.
Audience: Our intention is to reflect and represent the moviegoing and TV viewing audience with our Tomatometer-approved critics community. To cultivate a rich, varied, and inclusive space for engaging perspectives and debate, we seek critics who reach a wide audience, but also those whose film and TV coverage serves underrepresented groups.
Quality: Reviews should observe grammatical rules and demonstrate clarity and structure, whether approved by an editorial staff or self-published. In the same vein, video and podcast reviews should be well structured and have clear resolution and sound.
Dedication: Whether you’re a podcaster producing multiple shows per month or an alt-weekly contributor, we recognize that there are varying degrees of output among critics. Contribution minimums are outlined in the eligibility guidelines, but we also look for overall consistency and demonstrated commitment to the field. Additionally, memberships in critics organizations are recognized as a sign of merit, but are not essential for inclusion.
We expect critics to honor journalistic integrity and uphold publishing ethics. We do not tolerate plagiarism, obvious trolling, discrimination, or other breaches of conduct across all platforms.
ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES
INDIVIDUAL CRITICS
Written
Consistent output for a minimum of two years.
Demonstrated film/TV coverage at a publication outside of a self-published website. However, we will consider critics who solely self-publish if their site and work reflect our key values.
Broadcast
A regular appearance on a major and/or well-regarded local/national/international TV or radio outlet.
Video
Consistent output for a minimum of two years.
A minimum of 30K subscribers on a video publishing platform qualifies for broad audience reach. Critics reaching underrepresented groups will also be considered on a case-by-case basis.
PUBLICATIONS
Written:
Consistent output for a minimum of two years.
A minimum of 500K unique monthly visitors as reported by Alexa.com qualifies for broad audience reach. Publications reaching underrepresented groups will also be considered on a case-by-case basis.
At least three individually approved critics contributing to the publication on a regular basis.
Demonstrated social media presence and engagement (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, and/or Instagram).
Broadcast:
Eligible TV and radio outlets and programs should be broadcasting on a major and/or well-regarded local/national/international network or station.
Demonstrated social media presence and engagement (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, and/or Instagram).
Video:
Consistent output for a minimum of two years.
A minimum of 200K subscribers on a video publishing platform qualifies for broad audience reach. Video channels reaching underrepresented groups will also be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The show should feature multiple critics.
Demonstrated social media presence and engagement (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, and/or Instagram).
Podcasts:
Consistent output for a minimum of two years.
Publish at least four episodes per month.
At least 200 ratings on iTunes with a minimum score of 4 stars. Podcasts reaching underrepresented groups will also be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Demonstrated social media presence and engagement with audience (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, and/or Instagram).
