June 13, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Online Film Critic MaryAnn Johanson Joins Webby Academy
New Blog Extends Johanson's Digital Pop-Culture Domain

New York, NY (June 13) -- Independent film critic MaryAnn Johanson, one of the most popular, most respected, and longest-posting movie reviewers on the Internet, has been invited to join, and has accepted membership in, The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

The organization that bestows The Webby Awards, the IADAS (http://www.iadas.net) is an invitation-only group of the "leading influencers in the realm of digital arts and sciences." Other IADAS members include David Bowie, Francis Ford Coppola, Scott "Dilbert" Adams, Vinton Cerf (the creator of the Internet), Matt "The Simpsons" Groening, and many other familiar names in the creative online arena.

"I'm elated at receiving this important recognition from people who know the Web that what I'm doing with FlickFilosopher.com matters," says Johanson. "It's one of the biggest stamps of approval I can imagine."

Johanson notes that no other film critic who's made a splash on the Web is a member of this prestigious body. "Harry Knowles isn't a member," she says. "Neither are James Berardinelli or Roger Ebert, nor the critics at Salon, Film Threat, or FilmCritic.com."

As befits a leading influencer in the realm of digital arts and sciences, Johanson has just launched a new weblog, Geek Philosophy (http://www.geekphilosophy.com), at which she explores and comments on geek culture through a Generation X perspective. Plans for the blog include expanding it to book form.

FlickFilosopher.com debuted on the Web in 1997 and has been continually publishing since, ranking it among the granddaddies of all movie sites online. Internet traffic service Alexa.com places the site in the top 1 percent of *all* sites online, and *Variety* has named Johanson, a New York City-based freelance writer, "one of online's finest" film critics.

More information on FlickFilosopher.com:
http://www.flickfilosopher.com/flickfilos/press.shtml

Interview contact:
MaryAnn Johanson
thechick@flickfilosopher.com
914-843-9136

Links:

FlickFilosopher.com:
http://www.flickfilosopher.com

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences
http://www.iadas.net

Geek Philosophy
http://www.geekphilosophy.com

-30-