HOME   ABOUT THE AUTHOR My personal "who, what, where, when, why, and how"   NOW PLAYING A selection of contemporary clips   THE NOSTALGIA FILE Links to more senior stories still available on the Web for browsing   "BETWEEN PRODUCTIONS" Blogging about entertainment   RESUME   CONTACT ME

: ABOUT THE AUTHOR The clips gathered on this website speak for themselves. But allow me to speak a little for them as I set a first foot forward on the Web. I started writing about arts and entertainment back in the sixth grade, in my hometown of Randolph, N.J., when Jaws was an actual movie and not an anniversary edition DVD. The subject is not the only string in my bow; over a career in journalism that has taken me across country and overseas I've also written and edited features about the nuts and bolts of the computer world and general business topics, and a bit of copywriting besides. But it strikes the deepest chord. At Northwestern University, I was the campus film critic for four years. I see The Daily Northwestern hasn't gotten around to including my many pieces (which at this point may call more for an archaeologist than an archivist) but the seeds of my future career were planted. I received bachelor's and master's degrees from the prestigious Medill School of Journalism, then entered the workforce-not in the U.S., but in Hong Kong. The Asian Sources Media Group (now Global Sources) was importing fresh talent, so off I went on a globe-trotting adventure. The experience changed my life in many ways, not in the least by introducing me to my future wife, Lora Western. Asian Sources brought me to Silicon Valley for a couple of years, but I decided to move back east to further cultivate my interest in arts journalism. It's here that Googling my name strikes the oil of bylines. For seven years I worked for Entertainment Design and Lighting Dimensions, trade magazines dedicated to the craft of design in the performing arts. I edited the latter publication for five, practicing all the tools of the editor's craft. Now a New Yorker, I began to pursue freelancing more earnestly. I landed articles in publications including Time Out New York, Playbill On-Line, Newsweek.com, and Stagebill, joining the staff of that magazine, as managing editor, in 2002. Alas, the curtain rang down on the 80-year-old Stagebill later that year. So I applied myself to freelancing. Entertainment Design and Lighting Dimensions (now merged into one publication, Live Design) welcomed me back into the fold to contribute some of their more in-depth features. I contributed nine sections, on topics ranging from musical theater to dinosaurs, to The World Almanac Book of Records, published in April 2006. I have been gratified to pen a few pieces for The Wall Street Journal (which accepts very little outside writing) and happy to see that one of them was itself commented upon. Read about that here. I was also amused to see that stage actor Gregory Jbara got a pull quote out of me for his website, regarding his appearance in the Broadway musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. That's here, and I thank him for placing me above the likes of John Simon and Michael Feingold. I am, of course, pleased to accept reviews of my own. "I have to tell you, Robert, I think your stuff is great," says Roger Harris, publisher of the New York Theater News newsletter, which I've been writing for since early 2004. "So glad you're a part of NYTN. With your review of Fiddler on the Roof [an early cover story for the newsletter], you added immensely to the quality of the publication." Bonnie Davidson, editor of IN New York, an around-the-town publication I write for, said the two words every writer longs to hear after a job well done: "You're swell." And a source for a feature I wrote for Live Design magazine wrote the editor, commenting, "I am extremely proud to have been part of this project, and Robert’s article makes it even that much more special." Paying me a high compliment, the all-volunteer army at Cineaste, which I've been writing for since 2001, has made me an Associate Editor, editing its pages and dispatching me to film festivals, and also its marketing coordinator, getting the word out about each new issue. As I say, I exist to serve. Rather than rest on these and other laurels, and to add to my growing collection of reviews, interviews, and feature stories, I invite interested editors to contact me directly, at rcashill@nyc.rr.com. And feel free to stop by my little patch of the blogosphere, Between Productions, for news and views from the cultural landscape. My reviews are often linked by the daily news section of GreenCine, a top aggregator for film- and DVD-related writing, and also appear in the "external reviews" section for each individual film entry in the Internet Movie Database. The TokyoDrifter site called my posts "intelligent and involved." Enjoy.