A New and Improved 'Room Tone'

Hey pals, Daniella Mazzio here! If you have followed me long enough, you may have noticed that my old Substack Room Tone has been dormant these days — and frankly, I won't assume that you've missed it. But, on the off chance you have, I wanted to share some recent updates since then:

• The big one: I've quit my day job! There were multiple factors that influenced this decision, but for the time being, I'm making this next life chapter about focusing on my writing and freelancing. Which brings me to...
• I have been named a 2025 Chicago Film Critics Association & Rotten Tomatoes Emerging Critic! This is very exciting to me, because (1) I love Chicago, (2) I am excited for the momentum in my film writing, and (3) I seem to be the only person who remembers the short-lived Rotten Tomatoes TV Show on Current TV (also short-lived).

One of the reasons I've been absent from my newsletter is that I had a great past year in my professional writing, including a cover story for the Chicago Reader on the history of Spanish-language movie theaters in Chicago, an essay for Autostraddle on the influence of theatre on 2024's best films, and a reported feature for Indiewire on the various people who are preserving and championing Mexican cinema.

Which leads me to the last update...

• I'm pleased to announce I'm relaunching the newsletter (and moving away from Substack). With a more flexible schedule, I'm excited to use my newsletter as an additional outlet for writing about movies, TV, pop culture, life, American collapse, etc. etc.

In this next phase of life, I'll also be converting this to a paid newsletter. I am still getting used to the idea of "getting paid" to "write," but here we are.

I will be sharing more information about this in the coming days/weeks, but I am also offering paid subscribers a free, surprise gift. Gifts will vary between subscribers; in fact, think of it like a Wonder Ball or Pokemon cards. This is a fun incentive I've drummed up and I have a very silly list of possible (often homemade) gifts you could receive, so don't miss out! Subscribe today:

You can also send me a tip if you like my writing (or just because) here: https://room-tone.ghost.io/#/portal/support

Money is on everyone's mind right now and there are certainly causes more important than my forthcoming review of The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man (no, really, keep an eye out for that as this rebooted newsletter's inaugural post), but if you like my writing, any and all support you're able to provide sustains the writing and journalism I pursue that uplifts marginalized voices and parts of the film ecosystem that are overshadowed by Hollywood. I don't know exactly what this next era will hold, but I hope to continue doing what I love to do while maintaining time for priorities like family, health, and community advocacy as well.

Thank you for reading and for sticking with me. As a token of my gratitude, here is a photo of my dear cat Stanley at the vet after he housed a bunch of puree treats.

XOXO
Daniella