Entertainment news website (2008?2021)
HitFix, Inc.
|
Type of business
| Wholly owned brand of
Woven Digital
|
---|
Type of site
| Entertainment news
|
---|
Available in
| English
|
---|
Founded
| December 2008
; 15 years ago
(
2008-12
)
|
---|
Dissolved
| 2021
; 3 years ago
(
2021
)
|
---|
Successor(s)
| Uproxx
(pre-existing website of owner)
|
---|
Headquarters
| ,
United States
|
---|
Area served
| Worldwide
|
---|
URL
| www.hitfix.com (defunct)
|
---|
HitFix
, or
HitFix.com
, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television.
[1]
In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,000,000 unique users per month milestone.
[2]
HitFix had been cited as a source by
Time
,
Los Angeles Times
,
HuffPost
,
E! Online
, and
The Daily Herald
.
In April 2016, it became a brand of
Woven Digital
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
and is now a part of the Woven Digital property
Uproxx
.
[8]
As of 2021 the HitFix web address redirects to Uproxx.
[9]
Founders
[
edit
]
HitFix was founded by ex-
Reed Business
Information Development executive Jen Sargent and former
L.A. Times
and
MSN.com
film editor Gregory Ellwood. Sargent and Ellwood's goal was to create a site that fit into the gap between trade publications and gossip- or celebrity-scandal-driven sites, such as
TMZ
, and to target an audience slightly skewed towards males ? a unique approach in a female-driven industry
[10]
? while catering to 18- to 34-year-olds.
[11]
Angel investment
[
edit
]
HitFix received its first funding from Golden Seeds, the fourth largest angel investment group in the United States, in 2009. Since then, HitFix has twice benefited from investment from the
Tech Coast Angels
, one of the largest angel investment networks in Southern California.
[12]
The first such investment came in February 2009 in the amount of $850,000. In June 2010, the Angels added to their commitment investing an additional $1,600,000.
[13]
In addition to Golden Seeds and Tech Coast Angels, HitFix investors include HBS Angels, Liquid Capital, and Gordon Crawford.
Contributors
[
edit
]
Gregory Ellwood
[
edit
]
In addition to being one of its co-founders, Ellwood reports on movies and awards for HitFix.
[10]
Drew McWeeny
[
edit
]
Formerly known as “Moriarty”, McWeeny previously wrote for
Ain't It Cool News
. In addition to being a screenwriter and movie critic, McWeeny now covers the movie industry for HitFix. McWeeny announced his move to HitFix in 2008 in a review of
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
.
[14]
On September 20, 2016, McWeeny announced via Twitter that he would no longer be working for Hitfix.
[15]
Alan Sepinwall
[
edit
]
After 14 years at
The Star-Ledger
, Sepinwall?also known for his blog, "What's Alan Watching"?moved to HitFix full-time in April 2010. Last spring,
[
when?
]
NBC
executives went so far as to credit Sepinwall by name for his role in earning a renewal for
Chuck
.
[16]
Slate
credited Sepinwall with having "changed the nature of television criticism".
[17]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Hitfix.com - HitFix - Entertainment News, Events, Exclusives & Reviews for Movies, Film, Television, Music"
.
Site Info Tool
. Retrieved
April 14,
2013
.
- ^
Jones, Deborah (June 28, 2010).
"Tech Coast Angels Joins $1.6m Investment in Hitfix, Unique Content-Driven Entertainment Website"
.
Tech Coast Angels
. Archived from
the original
on July 23, 2013
. Retrieved
April 14,
2013
.
- ^
Carbone, Nick (August 14, 2011).
"Groovy, Baby! Mike Myers Will Return for 'Austin Powers 4′"
.
TIME
. Retrieved
April 14,
2013
.
- ^
Boucher, Geoff (December 13, 2009).
"
'Avatar' weekend roundup and fearless predictions"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
April 14,
2013
.
- ^
"
'Austin Powers 4': Mike Myers Signs For New Sequel"
.
The Huffington Post
. August 13, 2011
. Retrieved
April 14,
2013
.
- ^
Malkin, Marc (July 14, 2010).
"The Hulk: Is Mark Ruffalo Replacing Ed Norton?"
.
E!
. Retrieved
April 15,
2013
.
- ^
"Contestants? It's TV talent judges basking in fame, cash"
.
The Daily Herald
. May 17, 2012
. Retrieved
April 15,
2013
.
- ^
Todd Spangler (April 17, 2014).
"Showbiz Site Uproxx Acquired by Guy-Focused Digital Media Firm Woven"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
12 November
2015
.
- ^
"www.hitfix.com"
. Retrieved
15 October
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Article on Variety.com
Archived
November 7, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
socaltech.com
Archived
May 13, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Venture Capital Totals $603.2M In Southern California In Q3"
.
socaltech.com
. October 18, 2011.
- ^
Tech Coast Angels Joins $1.6M Investment in HitFix, Unique Content Driven Entertainment Website
Archived
2013-07-23 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
McWeeny, Drew (7 December 2008).
"Moriarty Has Seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button!!"
.
Ain't It Cool News
. Retrieved
3 September
2011
.
- ^
DrewMcWeeny [@DrewMcWeeny] (September 20, 2016).
"I appreciate every one of you who reads my work. I'm not sure where you'll read it next, but it is no longer at HitFix"
(
Tweet
) – via
Twitter
.
- ^
Georgian, Laura (April 26, 2010).
"The Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall Moves to HitFix.Com"
.
Business Wire
. Retrieved
April 15,
2013
.
- ^
Levin, Josh (February 14, 2011).
"The TV Guide"
.
Slate Magazine
. Retrieved
15 February
2011
.