tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

Some of the most amazing and beautiful sites on the net are created by fans of movie stars. As a webmaster, I have some idea of how difficult it is to create a website - design and development wise. It is equally important to have dedicated people who will manage the site and update it with fresh, interesting content. In salute to some of the best fansites out there, The Movie-Fanatic is launching its fourth Fansite of the Month.

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JimSturgessOnline is a fansite dedicated to the talented British actor Jim Sturgess. As a fan of the actor himself, I often visit the site for the latest news and updates - what is Jim up to at the moment? Is he joining the cast of a new movie? Are there video clips I could watch featuring the actor? Are there new (even archived) interviews that will help me get to know Jim more as an actor and as a person? These questions and a lot more I expect to get answers from JSO. At the moment, I have to say I'm more than happy with the results.

As our latest fansite of the month, we asked the co-founders of JSO - Liz and Diane - what makes JSO the awesome, quality and entertaining fansite I have come to know the past months...
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Part 1 - About Jim Sturgess:

1. How would you describe the first time you watched Jim Sturgess? What was the movie and what impressions did it get from you?

Diane - The first time I saw Jim was in Across the Universe. Most of our forum members became fans around that time as well. For me it was the very first frame of the film -- Jude sitting on the beach singing Girl. Bamm!! Love at first sight. What's made it an enduring fanship is that Jim is so talented. He's not a one-movie actor. He has an amazing range and ability to transmit feeling in his acting. IAnd love the fact that I "found" Jim at the beginning of his career. He has so many great movies ahead of him and I'll have an opportunity to follow him throughout his journey as an actor.

Liz - I have to agree with Diane here. The very first frame in Across the Universe - Jude on the beach singing "Girl" -- got me saying (out loud) "Wow, who is this guy?" As the movie continued, I became more and more captivated by Jim and his incredible charisma -- not to mention his amazing talents as an actor who can sing extremely well and act at the same time. As soon as the movie ended, I immediately googled him because I just had to know more about him.

2. What made you a bonafide Jim Sturgess fan? Why Jim and not somebody else?

Diane - Jim has that indefinable something special on screen. Charisma, heart....you can't take your eyes off him, no matter what role he's in. For example, I know many fans who didn't know anything about Jim Sturgess when they saw The Other Boleyn Girl and even though it was a small part, they came out of the theater saying, "Who was that guy??" Most put two and two together and were amazed it was the same actor who played Jude and Ben in 21. Personally, the reason I'm such a huge fan is because Jim is such a nice guy in real life. Everyone who works with Jim, meets him, or even just has a chance encounter with an autograph signed, is struck by his down-to-earth, friendly, but polite niceness. He's just a good guy.

Here's a quote published last week from an interview with Capone, Ain't It Cool News: And I would be remiss if I didn't add that Jim Sturgess is an immensely nice guy that is easy to talk to whether the recorder is going or not. We had a bout 20 minutes to talk before the Q&A began, and we just talked about the movies whose posters were on the wall at the theater.

Liz - I am not a young woman and I can honestly say that I've never been as taken by a celebrity as I have with Jim. Something about him just struck a cord with me. It started with his character, Jude, in Across the Universe, because in real life, I was "Lucy" and ATU reminded me so much of my own youth! But the more I've seen of his film work, as well as his own persona as a down to earth, regular guy, the more I become enamored. No other celebrity has ever had this effect on me... ever!

3. It's always nice to hear when actors try to correspond and personally approach website publishers and admins. In the case of Jim, how did he contact the site? How was he as a person?

Diane - To tell you the truth, we contacted him. *grin* We were able to correspond with his agent, and through her, send him a birthday gift. But Jim, being the nice guy he is, responded almost immediately with a personal message of thanks and a picture. As a fansite, we understand the difficulty there would be for him to correspond directly with us, but based on his responses, we know that Jim has a personal knowledge of our work and is very grateful, so that's more than enough for us.

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4. If you've been given the chance to introduce Jim to a new audience, which movies would you recommend and what would you say about him as an actor - in order to provide the audience with enough facts and details and convince them to watch his movies and maybe become fans too?

Diane - Jim's body of work isn't that large in terms of major roles, but a new fan should definitely start with Across the Universe and then move on to 21. His true break out roles in terms of acting acclaim are still yet to be released --- Fifty Dead Men Walking, Heartless, and The Way Back will all bring industry attention and critical acclaim with their releases. There will be no stopping Jim's career once those films are out!!

And to get a taste Jim's Brit TV roots, fans can check out our video archive of clips from his early films & TV roles - He was in a Brit telefilm called, Thursday the 12th where he played a troubled teen and he was excellent even at a young age.

Liz - I have personally introduced many people to Jim's work. Most especially through Across the Universe and 21 and that's primarily because these are the only two movies that have been released so far that feature Jim in a starring role. Crossing Over had has some very respectful acting merit for Jim - and he gives a solid performance as his character, Gavin Koseff, but the film is flawed mainly due to creative differences between the director and the producers, and it shows in the quality - or lack of quality/cohesiveness - of this particular film. I absolutely loved Fifty Dead Men Walking and believe it's his finest dramatic role yet. I enthusiastically recommend it to everyone, because Jim's performance is incredibly powerful. But sadly it is not getting the promotion it deserves or a wide release in the US co most people will have to see his amazing performance as Martin McGartland, on DVD.

5. Jim has been paired with some of today's up and coming actresses - Evan Rachel Wood, Kate Bosworth, Alice Eve, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johannsen and Clemence Poesy, with an upcoming movie with Saoirse Ronan. Are there certain actresses you think would be great co-stars of Jim in future movies?

Diane - Evan and Jim had a special magic as a couple on the big screen, so more romantic roles, especially romantic comedy, would be great. Abby Cornish is a great young actress, as is Anne Hathaway. I'm thrilled with the pairing of Jim with Clemence and Saoirse, so I can't wait to see what comes with those films (Heartless and The Way Back respectively).

Liz - I too would love to see Jim do a romantic comedy. What red-blooded girl wouldn't? As far as a co-star goes, I think the best young actresses of the day would have to be non-blondes Natalie Portman or Keira Knightly. Both actresses also have the talent and screen appeal that is the feminine equal to Jim.

6. Did you ever experienced having to defend Jim from someone who said/wrote/mentioned something completely false and unfair to the actor? If not, what's the most critical commentary you've heard about Jim Sturgess?

Diana - Again, Jim is such a nice guy who doesn't seem to have any issues, so there hasn't been any false or inflammatory stories that we've had to worry about. He's in a long term relationship with his girlfriend, Mickey O'Brien, so there's no romantic gossip to dish on him either. We're lucky to be fans of such a nice man, as well as such a talented actor.

Liz - To this day I haven't heard anyone say, write, or mention ANYTHING negative about Jim personally, or professionally. He also seems to share many of the same qualities as some of the older, more established actors like Hugh Jackman, George Clooney, and Tom Hanks whose talents, good looks, and charm, appeal to both men and women alike.

7. As of this interview, which among Jim's new movies are so most excited about? Why is that?

Diane - Even though I'm extremely excited about FDMW, since it's been out for awhile, it really doesn't seem to fall in the category of "new movie" anymore. FDMW is my favorite of all Jim's roles and after reading the book I was blown away by how well Jim captured the essence of Martin's cocky arrogant, yet loveable personality.

I also think Heartless will be an outstanding role for Jim, but I don't particularly like horror films so I'm not thrilled about that one. I have to wait until someone I know has seen it and can tell me HOW SCARY it is before I can go to see the film.

BUT, I'm really, really excited about The Way Back. I've already read The Long Walk, the book it's based on and Jim's role is the lead in the film. He plays a Polish soldier falsely imprisoned in a Russian gulag, who later escapes with a number of his fellow inmates by walking from Siberia to India. It was a thrilling read and the amount of human suffering and heroism is beyond belief. Think back to Jim being beaten in ATU, 21, and FDMW....and you'll know that he will be amazing in the torture scenes. I can't wait to see Jim get beat up AGAIN!! No really, we've found some hilarious coincidences in Jim's roles concerning being beaten &/or jailed.

Liz - I'm excited to see Jim in all of his new movies and couldn't possibly choose just one. Since Jim seems to take on different kinds of roles/genres for each movie he's involved in, each one promises to show off his acting chops in different ways. Heartless it seems, will be dark with political undertones, and according to Jim himself, "bizarre" & "horrific." Also, director Philip Ridley always comes through with a great story. And with Jim playing the lead character (Jamie Morgan), this film promises to be another very unique role for him. The Way Back too will have a great director (Peter Weir) behind it, and promises to be epic. I've read the book (The Long Walk) on which this film is based, and loved it, so I'm very excited to see Jim in the lead role (Januz) again in this film. And last but not least, Guardians of Ga'Hoole. I have read this book series too. We understand that Jim has again been cast as the lead character (Soren) in this film, and it will be fun to listen to Jim voice an animated character. It's interesting too that he'll use an Australian accent for this one. He's definitely a master of dialects.

Part 2 - About the Website:

1. Give us some backgrounds about the website. Who are the people behind its success?

Diane - Jim Sturgess Online.com (JSOC) was founded about 8 months ago by friends and fellow Jim-fans - Liz, Diane, Sarah and Michelle. All of us were originally members of another Jim fansite forum; however we soon wanted to make our own statement as mature fans who were not teenie boppers. As a result we got together as a team to make the site using everyone's talents and energy, with our main goal of being the most fan-friendly place on the web.

I'm from Miami, am a nurse educator, but also a budding video artist who had a popular YouTube channel full of my video tributes to Jim. We have used my work to make a video gallery that features over 100 fan videos, trailers, interviews, and movie clips. Liz is from L.A. and is a graphic artist/toy designer by trade, so we were able to use her unbelievable Jim Sturgess Fan Art to create our own Fan Art gallery. Sarah (Chicago) and Michelle V. (New York) have worked behind-the-scenes to help with the website design, forum management, and content, etc. We also have two very dedicated reporters, Michelle H. (Ohio) and Renata (Brazil), who gather news and photos of Jim on a continual basis. And we have an awesome group of forum members who bring news from IMDb (djsmokingun, momoko) and from all over the web (SinD, Sara, Bia, Loulah, Kotsu). This is just a partial list of the many, many dedicated Jim fans who consistantly contribute news, which is posted daily on the front page by me.

3. What would you consider the top 3 most important accomplishments of the website? Why is that?

Diane - Our interactive, multimedia approach (an active fan forum and videos, photos, & fan art, all which can be posted by, and commented on, by fans), our dedicated fan base which represents all ages of Jim's fans, and our up-to-the-minute news reporting of all Jim-related news. Fans can find EVERYTHING they need to know about Jim on JSOC. I don't think there's a photo, a video, or a news article about Jim that isn't available on our website.

4. What particular web technology are you using? What are some of the 'innovative' stuff the site is implementing to make the user experience worth it? 5. What makes the site unique and what are some of the site's most important features?

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Diane - We use phpMotion for our video webpage, Coopermine for our image galleries, phpBB for our Forum, and WordPress for our frontpage/frame design. Our web design is thanks to Photogenic, who worked with us to get the edgy, yet clean look we wanted. Of the four of us, only Michelle had previous web design experience. As a result the entire team learned a tremendous amount about web-based programs in order to make our site a reality. We're especially proud of the multimedia character of the website, not just the run-of-the-mill BIO or INTERVIEW PAGES. Instead ours feature pictures, an embedded video trailer for each of the VIDEOGRAPHY PAGES, a BIO page with clips from Jim's early career, and both print and video interviews. We believe it will provide a truly different fan experience.

6. What is the site's policy regarding the use and publication of paparazzi photos? How about the publication of gossip and rumors? Are there certain criteria or standard the site follows related to content?

Diane - As a fansite we really haven't come up against this yet, but as you'll see by reading our site, it's professional and uses only legitimate news sources. We feel that by using good taste and judgment we can't go wrong.

7. What are your views regarding affiliate and partner sites? Should all Jim Sturgess fansites work together and help one another or should there be only healthy competition? What are some of your thoughts?

Diane - We haven't tried to affiliate with any other actor's fansites, not because we don't want to, but because we haven't had the time to pursue a relationship. I'm sure you'll see more affiliations in the future as we become more established. As far as other Jim fansites, two other major players recently stopped posting news and photos. As a result, we're the only viable Jim fansite currently active on the web.

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What's on your mind? Have you visited JSO already? Are you a fan of Jim Sturgess? Let us know what you think!

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