The Future of Emerald City Video
Oh, man, that sounds ominous, doesn't it?
…Yeah, I know. When a podcast (or any media enterprise) starts to generate content more and more sporadically, and then puts out a “The Future Of…” post, it generally means the end is near. Or, more commonly, that the end has been here for a while and we all missed it.
That’s not the case here. And there are a lot of specifics that I can’t get into. Still, I want to talk to those of you who have been following along and supporting me and the ECV mission for the last year or two.
Beginning in 2025, ECV Analog will be committing to publishing two books a year, as well as expanding podcasting, blogging, and other social activities. It’s likely we will reopen a Patreon account for anyone who is still not at Substack, but this is going to be our home base for new content. In short, I’m going to start running ECV like a business.
Why?
Well, you may recently have heard that ComicBook, my home base and day job, has been sold. Since then, things have been weird for me. I have no reason to believe I’ll be laid off or anything, but it’s given me a reason to think about my future outside of ComicBook…just in case.
Having been there for 14 years, my resume outside of ComicBook is fairly light. My last three non-CB jobs were with employers who no longer exist (yes, I really do miss video stores), and I need to re-establish an identity outside of the site. That’s hard to do, since I no longer post on Twitter/X, which was the social site where I enjoyed the biggest audience and the most engagement, particularly from celebrities.
What does all of this mean for the podcast (and this site)? Well, it’s complicated.
The current plan is to commit to making the podcast twice-monthly, with a rotating format that embraces the “video store” theming. More on that soon, but just know that some episodes will still be Zach and Russ talking about physical media, while others might be one or the other talking to somebody about comic books, or special screenings of nostalgic movies, or what-have-you.
In 2025, ECV Analog plans to release three books and a feature-length documentary. I can’t get into details about one of those books (I’m not writing it, just publishing), or about the documentary (yet…), but the two books that will be coming are ones that you’ve likely heard of.
Time To Be Heroes: A Totally Unofficial Oral History of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
This is, as the title suggests, an unofficial oral history of the great TV series DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Featuring dozens of interviews both new and archival, it will be the most complete look anybody has ever assembled at the show, what makes it tick, and why it’s important.
The VelociGospel
This is the official title for my upcoming companion to The VelociPastor 2. There’s no official release date yet only because the plan is for the book to come out in concert with the movie’s disc release, and until the movie has distribution and a theatrical run and all that good stuff, I can’t really guarantee when that will happen. I don’t, after all, own the movie.
I know, it would be cooler if I did. Alas.
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Yes, both of these projects are previously announced and at least partially (or mostly) completed already going into 2025. Does that mean there will be more books in 2025? Very probably, although I can’t commit to exactly what yet. There are some conversations happening with people.
You see, even though most of my books are “unofficial” companions, in order to do in-depth interviews with creatives, you have to actually have the creative willing to work with you. In many cases, this means writing a pitch and waiting for somebody to get back to you and say “Yeah, I’m in.” I have two different projects that are in the “waiting for a yes” stage of things right now. Both of them would be relatively quick projects and would definitely hit in 2025 if the creatives involved are amenable. I have another book — this one would likely hit in early 2026 — where the key creative has already said yes but we haven’t been able to reconnect since to work out specifics. And I have a long list of things in the idea stage.
Since I wrote my first book in 2021 (Best Movie Ever), I’ve put out three additional volumes (The Gold Exchange, A Legend In His Own Time (with Kevin Allen), and Getting the Fin Right (with Gavin Higginbotham). These are, basically, remastered versions of existing material that I already owned. Each one took only weeks to put together, because I’ve found that I’m actually pretty good at the publishing side of things. I have talented friends I can turn to for things like cover art and book design, and I’m good at navigating the weirdness of things like crowdfunding campaigns.
That’s why I’m working with a debut author on a project for early 2025. It’s something that I think will be a big hit regionally, but the story is good enough that I think it will have some appeal outside of its immediate geographical area. I’m in early talks to add a few more writers to the roster here.
Looking past 2025, I have two books scheduled for a 2026 release. One of them is absolutely guaranteed. The second could be delayed, but it’s unlikely. A lot of timing revolves around interviews, of course, which is why the Legends book isn’t already in all of your hands.
Anyway. The short version is, I’ll be writing here a lot more. I’ll be promoting stuff here a lot more. Time to get this thing doing what it was originally meant to do.
Thanks for listening to this little rant. Be back here by noon on the fifth day for more Emerald City Video, and always remember to rewind your cassettes.