About Pajiba

Based on Portland, Maine and Santa Monica, California, Pajiba started in 2004 as a political blog written by a guy who was furious about the Bush administration and couldn’t find anyone willing to publish him.

We started with a tagline — Scathing Reviews, Bitchy People — that described our attitude more accurately than our actual content, which was mostly movie reviews written by people who cared too much and got paid nothing. The politics eventually faded, came back, faded again, and will probably return again at some point. The movie coverage stayed. Our attitude has never changed.

Over the years, we became something harder to categorize: part film and television criticism, part cultural commentary, part celebrity gossip operation, part community. We added TV coverage, book reviews, the occasional deeply reported investigation, and a comment section that somehow produced Joanna Robinson who spent several years writing for us before progressing to a senior writer at Vanity Fair and a nationally famous podcaster at The Ringer to co-authoring a New York Times bestselling book.

We’ve broken things. We were among the first outlets to report on the allegations against Max Landis. Kayleigh Donaldson published the investigation that got Handbook for Mortals removed from the New York Times bestseller list, and her reporting on Caroline Calloway’s creativity workshop helped expose that particular disaster before most people knew who Caroline Calloway was. Courtney Enlow wrote the all-caps feminist screed about Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton cited by NPR, which remains one of our prouder moments and also one of our weirder ones. Our alumni include Roxana Hadadi, now at Vulture, and Mike Redmond, who spent a decade as the voice of The Superficial before finding his way here. A lot of people you’ve read over the years in the crumbling entertainment media ecosystem have spent time at Pajiba, as well.

Along the way, the Cannonball Read spun off from the site — an annual book challenge that began as a bet between two readers, one of whom died of cancer before she could finish, and has since become an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has raised thousands of dollars for the American Cancer Society in her memory.

The tagline has changed a few times. Scathing Reviews, Bitchy People gave way to Sweetened by Mock, Lightened by Droll, which gave way to what we are now: Old School. Biblically Independent. Twenty-plus years in, no corporate parent, no studio relationships, no junkets, no sponsored content, no advertisers telling us what to say. Just a small, loud, opinionated website that has somehow survived the complete destruction of the media landscape around it through a combination of stubbornness, reader loyalty, and a continued willingness to say things other outlets won’t.

Pajiba is a made-up word. We’ve been saying it for over two decades. At this point, pronounce it however you want. For more about the origins of the name, read here.

For business inquiries, contact Dustin Rowles. Technical inquiries should be directed to Seth Freilich. If you are interested in purchasing video or display ads on our site, we offer advertising services through our ad partner, Freestar.com. For advertising inquiries, contact FreeStar.

Editorial Offices	Business Offices
Portland, Maine	Scathing Websites LLC 950 4th Street, #303 Santa Monica, CA 90403

Are We Hiring?

Probably not. Have you seen the media landscape? We’re not immune to it.

The Pajiba Staff

Showrunners

Dustin Rowles, Publisher: Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. Prior to that, he worked in legal publishing. He writes about politics and pop culture and was a senior TV editor at Uproxx for a decade. He is an Eddie Redmayne truther and believes that Denzel is the greatest actor on the planet. He also appears weekly on the Podjiba podcast. He lives in Portland, Maine, with his wife and three kids. You may email him here.

Seth Freilich, Technical Development/Senior Editor: Seth Freilich co-owns this site and helps keep the lights on, the servers humming, and the ban hammer cocked and loaded. He's also a Senior Editor and sometime critic. Seth lives in L.A. and loves it, though a piece of his black heart will always reside in the home of the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. You may email him here or follow him on Twitter.

Executive Producers

Tori Preston, Managing Editor: Tori Preston spent a decade working in film and television, then gave it all up to move to Vermont and complain about the cold and the bears. And now she's here, writing and Podjiba-ing! You can follow her on Twitter.

Kayleigh Donaldson, Features Editor: Kayleigh is a features writer and editor for Pajiba. She offers top-notch hot takes on pop culture, Hollywood shop talk, celebrity gossip & star studies. She's Scottish and yes, her accent is amazing. You can follow her on Twitter.

Kaleena Rivera, TV Editor: Kaleena writes about television and pens the occasional film essay for a little extra seasoning. She's Pajiba's resident Floridian and you're not allowed to hold that against her. You can follow her on Twitter.

Editor and Pajiba Love

Lainey Bobainey, Copy Editor & Linkmaster: Lainey spent a decade working in Human Resources, but realized she doesn't particularly care for humans or being a resource, so now she wears pajamas while working in her spacehouse. Technically, she lives in a Lustron along with her husband who creates games, and a Siamese cat that squeaks. She's pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, pro-BLM, and pro-Oxford Comma. She enjoys red-lining errors for business and for pleasure. You can Tweet at her on Twitter.

Series Regulars

Alison Lanier, True Crime: Ali is a video game writer who lives in Providence, RI. She has an MFA in fiction. She has also written for BUST Magazine, Ms Magazine, Atticus Review (where she was film review editor 2015-2019), and elsewhere. She has almost definitely read more Batman comics than you.

Andrew Sanford, Staff Contributor: Andrew is a Writer and Performer living in NYC. You can find him on twitter or listen to his comedy podcast Half White Son of a Black Man.

Brian Richards, Staff Contributor: Brian Richards is a Staff Contributor for Pajiba and writes about film, television, pop culture, and social media. He lives somewhere in Brooklyn, where he spends his time dressed in all black like The Omen and coming up with creatively profane insults for anyone who gets on his last nerve. You can follow him on Twitter.

Chris Revelle, Television Critic: Chris is a freelance writer and critic based in Boston, Massachusetts where he works as an educator and avoids gangs of wild turkeys. When he isn't writing about TV, celebrities, and the internet, Chris is usually playing video games, playing Dungeons and Dragons, or idly fantasizing about a multi-volume dissertation on Showgirls.

Ciara Wardlow, Film Critic: Ciara writes about film, television, and occasionally science-y things. She lives in Harlem. Sometimes she tries to be funny on Twitter and you can email her here.

Dan Hamamura Comedy Editor and Podjiba Host: Dan writes primarily about television, comedy, and Asians, and is very happy that all three can now (occasionally) be discussed simultaneously. Dan lives in Los Angeles, which means he has done improv and has a podcast, but he swears he is not an actor. You can listen weekly on the Podjiba podcast, or find him on Twitter.

Genevieve Burgess, Features Contributor: Genny has been complaining about what's on TV 5 nights a week for more than 10 years. She lives in Washington, D.C. You can follow Genevieve Burgess on Twitter.

Hannah Sole, Staff Contributor: Hannah Sole is a Staff Contributor for Pajiba. She writes about TV and pop culture, and was probably not named after a Star Wars character. Hannah lives in Suffolk, England, and spends her days in the classroom, teaching young'uns about Literature. You can follow her on Twitter.

James Field, Staff Contributor: James is a father, writer, photographer, and neurotic mess. He can be found on Twitter.

Jason Adams, Lead Film Critic: Jason writes about movies, thinks about movies, movies movies movies. He lives in New York City because he saw the Bette Midler Lily Tomlin vehicle Big Business at a formative age. Besides Pajiba his work appears regularly at Mashable, AwardsWatch, The Film Experience, and on his long-suffering personal site My New Plaid Pants. He’s a member of the Critics Choice Association and GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.

Jen Maravegias, Staff Contributor: Jen is a writer and mom who lives in NYC. She enjoys theater, dumb movies, weird TV shows, cooking, and word puzzles. Although she would never encourage you to move to NYC, she does think it’s a lovely city to visit. Her life is a poorly managed balancing act between a day job, writing, parenting, and pet ownership. You can find her on Threads.

Lindsay Traves, Senior Critic: Lindsay Traves is a Toronto-based writer. After submitting her Bachelor’s thesis, “The Metaphysics of Schwarzenegger Movies,” she decided to focus on writing about her passions; sci-fi, horror, sports, and comic books. You can find her writing on CGMagazine, What to Watch, Grim Magazine, StarTrek.com, and Bloody Disgusting.

Mike Redmond, Staff Contributor: Mike lives in Pennsyltucky, and previously ran the gossip website, The Superficial. He covers religion, celebrity culture, and Meghan McCain. His work can also be found daily on Uproxx. You can follow him on Twitter.

Jessie Wallace, Staff Contributor: Jessie is a filthy socialist metalhead. He likes coffee, beer, and dogs. He may or may not own a toe knife. He writes about movies, politics, and climate change. Wallace lives in London.

With

Lord Castleton, Staff Contributor and Pajiba Store Operator: Lord Castleton is a screenwriter. He lives in Boston. You can follow him on Twitter.

And

TK Burton, Editorial Consultant: TK Burton stumbled into the Pajiba offices 10 years ago and drunkenly declared himself Executive Director, and no one ever bothered to tell him to leave. South Africa-born and Boston-raised, he enjoys whiskey, tacos, video games, and plotting Seth's murder. You may email him here or follow him on Twitter.

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