Wow, the years have raced by and today we celebrate our 15th Birthday, I still can’t believe that the website is 15 already, blimey where do the years go!
So today I thought we would take a look back over the last 15 years since the website officially launched on the 4th of September 2008 at some of the very first reviews, event coverage and more since the launch as well as some of the achievements that the website has achieved.
Movie Reviews on Blazing Minds
Let’s start with the movie reviews on the Blazing Minds website, back in 2008 I was new to the world of blogging and wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the website as it was something new so after posting random stuff I did my first movie review on the following year with a review of G.I. Joe: Rose of Cobra which was a rather short review as it was something new for me to do.
As you can expect the site was fairly new it wasn’t getting much traffic and I wasn’t posting many reviews, I carried on with cinema visits and a DVD review until I went to see Captain America: The First Avenger and wrote a review for it. Now this is where things started to take off.
The Apollo Cinema (now VUE) noticed my review and asked if I would like to be a regular reviewer at the venue, of course I said yes and after a meeting with the manager we arranged to review movies on a regular basis. This step led from one thing to another and I’ve been able to work with other cinemas since which has also led to other amazing benefits and a strong relationship with them, you will find me mostly at Cineworld in Broughton in the IMAX or 4DX screens making the most of my Cineworld Unlimited Card, or chatting with some of the fantastic staff in there.
Theatre Reviews
Along with the chance to review movies came the chance to head to the theatre and review shows at my local theatres. In 2013 I was asked along to the Rhyl Pavilion to review The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy and being a fan of Douglas Adams I couldn’t refuse.
A year later Venue Cyrmu asked me to review Cats, a show that I had never seen and wasn’t sure of but I gave it a shot and the team at the theatre loved my review and I’m still reviewing the shows at the theatre in Venue Cymru and always enjoy the productions and the catch ups with the amazing staff.
I’ve also had the honour to meet and become friends with the wonderful Magic Light Productions that bring us amazing Pantomimes at Theatr Colwyn, it’s always lovely to catch up with them for a chat backstage.
I have to say that reviewing theatre is different from films which has always been a passion of mine since seeing Star Wars in the cinema back in 1977. With theatre, there is always something special about seeing a live performance.
Sci-Fi Weekender
2013 also saw me cover my first big event when I was asked along to the Sci-Fi Weekender event which had moved to Pwllheli, North Wales. A great place for me as it was only just over an hour’s drive away.
I’d never been to a big event and looked up what Comic Cons were to see what I was getting myself into, but upon arrival for the weekend I was totally surprised that Sci-Fi Weekender was not a Comic Con, it’s a celebration of all thing Sci-Fi and is a festival of entertainment.
During that weekend in March 2013, I absolutely loved every minute of it, I returned home on Sunday afternoon and posted about the event and shortly after I was asked if I’d like to come back the following year. Now my dear readers the rest is history and I have been to every Sci-Fi Weekender since and had the chance to chat with some amazing guests and do my own photography.
At Sci-Fi Weekender in 2022 I was shocked and honoured with a SFW Ambassador Award for my dedication to the yearly event.
Radio Waves!
Over the years I have also been lucky enough to bring Blazing Minds and my sense of humour to Radio and before its sad demise I would do a radio show every Wednesday and Saturday on Phase Radio based in Prestatyn. The show became known as the craziest radio show on the North Wales coast and it was listened to all over the world.
Talking of Awards!
Things were going great with the cinema, theatre and events then in 2015 I was totally surprised when I won a UK Blog Award for the Individual Events category, which was a real honour and it showed that all the hard work that I was putting into the website was paying off.
Not only was it great that I got the award, but it also opened up many doors as several news articles were going out about the win and that set me on a path to work with some amazing PRs for some of the big names in the movie world and I still work with many of them today with the chance to preview movies and bring the Blazing Minds readers some great movie giveaways on the website.
Blazing Minds has also been honoured with being listed as one of the Top 10 UK Film Blogs courtesy of Vuelio for the last 6 or so years. The website is also listed on the Feedspot website as one of the Top 10 UK Best Movie Blogs.
15 years has flown by
I still can’t believe that the 15 years since the launch of the website have gone by so quickly and it’s been one heck of an amazing ride, but there is more to come. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and keep bringing you reviews, news and more. Blazing Minds has grown so much over the years and now the site has some amazing writers that help out with reviews and some events that I can’t get to, they have really helped with keeping the site going during times such as the pandemic when it seemed like it was the end for the site.
So thank you to everyone who has supported the site from the start or even for a short while, it’s you who gives me the incentive to keep carrying on with a passion that is extremely time-consuming but damn it’s loads of fun.
If you love what Blazing Minds does then please consider supporting Blazing Minds via one of the many options we have including Buy Me A Coffee, PayPal, Gift App or even by grabbing one of our T-shirts etc.
Thank you everyone.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
