Industrial Context: History of Magazines

The very first magazine was published in Germany during the 17th Century, which led to the introduction of magazines across Europe. The earliest magazine ever published is believed to be one called Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen, started by Johann Rist, a theologian and a poet of Hamburg.

One of the first film magazines was Moving Picture World, which was established in 1907, but the first film fan magazine was established in 1911 by J Stuart Blackton, the head of Vitagraph Studios. The first fan title, The Motion Picture Story Magazine combined short-story adaptations of popular films as well as advice on how to break into the film business and profiles of stars. The magazine was a hit, and in 1914 its name was shortened to Motion Picture Magazine, and it continued to be published until 1977. 

The most popular film magazine, however, was Photoplay. Photoplay was established in the same year and gained an edge over its rival by balancing studio tie-ins and an "independent" editorial voice. They were given access to sets and stars, but at the same time spoke to fans through their campaigning editorials. 

This edition was released in October 1920, featuring Mary Pickford on the front cover. 

The majority of film-goers were women, so they chose to target their audience by including fashion and beauty hints, as well as relationship advice. 

Other early film magazines born in the early 1900s such as The Kinetograph and Lantern Weekly focused on business developments in the film industry and short film reviews. 

Picturegoer was established in 1913 and ran until the 1960s and was one of the earlier consumer magazines about film, including articles titled "how to get a job Hollywood".

Variety Magazine remains a popular magazine and platform for entertainments news today, and was published in 1905, when it would mainly cover theatre entertainment. Nowadays, it covers a wide range of not only film news, but also lots of other news from different platforms of the entertainment world. 

One of the most popular film magazines today is Total Film. It was launched in 1997 and is available as a print magazine as well as an interactive website, iPhone app,  and various social media platforms. It is an in-depth magazine which features interviews, making-of pieces, future releases plus a section where readers can send in letters. 

However, the most popular film magazine of today is Empire, which was established in 1989. Their first issue featured an article which went over the life and death of Freddy Kreuger from A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Editions include film reviews, competitions, interviews, quizzes, news and exclusive behind-the-scenes and upcoming content.