Bronze Screen Dream has been a noose around my neck for a while now. I decided in 2022 I’d build a website that ranked the best directors ever by using a variety of sources (TSPDT, Letterboxd, IMDb, Ranker, and others I’ve now forgotten). I did this for the first year off the back of no WordPress skills, so the site looked like a mess.

It was two years of putting out small fires, improving things in one area (mainly reference pages) and trying to go through all this source data (I’m not a coder, I had no Robot to crawl for me, I had a spreadsheet and bags under my eyes). I realised in 2024 that I didn’t care for the concept I’d built everything around: ‘What is a top 250 director’ anyway?

So I put the site on the back burner. After all, the reference pages worked.

I decided in 2026 to try to restart it, not entirely, but afresh. A new coat of paint (a lot of paint, the new design is much better), and a new focus. French cinema, specifically 1945-1970, and with a magazine-influenced Issue homepage, a new one every month (or two), a new series of articles, etc. I have a degree in Journalism I wasn’t using, so really I was just paying back a moral debt. 

The site is run by just me, Christian. There’s no army, so if something doesn’t look right, I’d appreciate someone reaching out to me.

When I started the site, I was unsure of what to ‘post.’ So there’s older, shallower stuff in the archive ‘Top X’ lists, that’s not the goal anymore. Now, I want to create a site that does two things:

• The Issue – Every month, I want a new issue with new articles on subjects English-language film criticism doesn’t cover, related to French cinema of 1945-1970. 
• The Library – A backlog of references. I spent months working on 500+ reference pages from the big names to those with grandkids who don’t know what they did; clicking through them is a good way to lose time.

Plus, I’d like it to be enjoyable. Simple as that. I like writing, I like researching, I’m not as fond of aggregating. 

That’s it. That’s Bronze Screen Dream. It’s expanding. Wait until Issue 12 to insult my new website design for my peace of mind, and if you want to contact me, try either the contact stuff (forms, comments) or a Pataphysical communication method – A somuniminational device works.