We at disappointment media got tired of two things: being disappointed and being called a disappointment. So what do we do? We own it! We called this website disappointment to remind us that there is always room to improve — ourselves, our writing, and the industry. After getting fed up with the status quo of film criticism, Sean Boelman decided to take a (metaphorical) axe to it and create a site dedicated to giving a voice to diverse and underrepresented perspectives. Each of our writers brings their point of view to their work, and our goal is to become a prime source for intelligent discussion of the art of film.
75% of our critics come from an underrepresented background. Our critics have covered festivals across the country, and contributors writing for the site have received festival diversity and inclusion stipends. Writers and contributors for disappointment media are members of esteemed journalism groups and review aggregators.
75% of our critics come from an underrepresented background. Our critics have covered festivals across the country, and contributors writing for the site have received festival diversity and inclusion stipends. Writers and contributors for disappointment media are members of esteemed journalism groups and review aggregators.
Managing Editor: Jonathan Berk
Jonathan Berk has been film obsessed since he was a kid, but it wasn’t until 2016 that he decided to get serious about it. He started to explore film criticism with the simple goal of expanding his taste by watching a lot more movies, while also reading about the theory behind the craft. Along with watching movies and writing about them, Jonathan was also teaching high school students film theory and film production. He joined the Critics Association of Central Florida in 2021 and started writing for disappointment in 2023. His favorite film is It’s A Wonderful Life, and he argues it is much more than a Christmas movie.
Writer: Camden Ferrell
Camden is a statistics major who likes to write and make movies on the side. Being raised on lots of great movies, it was a chance encounter with a DVD of Annie Hall at his local library that ignited his passion for film. He loves any and all films, especially slice-of-life, dark comedy, and surrealist films.
Camden started Camden Ferrell Movie Reviews in 2018 in order to share his passion for film and film criticism with the world. The website took him to cinematic lengths he had never before experienced and helped him grow as a writer and cinephile. He is thrilled to be a writer for disappointment and is excited for what the future brings.
Camden started Camden Ferrell Movie Reviews in 2018 in order to share his passion for film and film criticism with the world. The website took him to cinematic lengths he had never before experienced and helped him grow as a writer and cinephile. He is thrilled to be a writer for disappointment and is excited for what the future brings.
Contributor: Adam Donato
Adam is a graduate from Full Sail University with a Bachelor of Film Sciences degree. He produced short films from middle school through college with a strong focus on scriptwriting and directing. This love for writing led to a passion for analyzing films. In a leadership position at Entertainment Works, most of his days are spent at the movie theater talking to audiences about new releases and upcoming movie trailers. His dream is to become a full-time film critic.
Contributor: Daniel Lima
Former Contributors
Founder: Sean Boelman
Sean is a film critic, filmmaker, and life-long cinephile. For as long as he can remember, he has always loved film, but he credits the film Pan's Labyrinth as having started his love of film as art. Sean enjoys watching many types of films, although some personal favorite genres include music documentaries, heist movies, and experimental horror.
Sean started the Big Tuna on Film Blog in January 2016 because of a challenge from a teacher who wanted to inspire his students to take up film criticism. From October 2018 to October 2019, he wrote for Monkeys Fighting Robots/POPAXIOM, but he left in October 2019 to launch disappointment! Now, in addition to his work as EIC for disappointment media, he freelances for the top-ranked entertainment website FandomWire.
Sean started the Big Tuna on Film Blog in January 2016 because of a challenge from a teacher who wanted to inspire his students to take up film criticism. From October 2018 to October 2019, he wrote for Monkeys Fighting Robots/POPAXIOM, but he left in October 2019 to launch disappointment! Now, in addition to his work as EIC for disappointment media, he freelances for the top-ranked entertainment website FandomWire.
Contributor: Tatiana Miranda
Tatiana Miranda is a writer who currently resides in New York City. They graduated from the University of Tampa with a writing degree and a passion for both literature and film. These passions combine regularly for her, with some of her favorite movies being Ghost World and Jojo Rabbit. Beyond book-to-movie adaptions, one of Tatiana’s other favorite genres is coming-of-age, with Frances Ha being an inspiration for one of their tattoos and a film they quote regularly. While she loves watching movies, it’s also a dream of hers to write screenplays and she hopes to have an original of hers produced one day.
Contributor: Cole Groth
Cole Groth is a young film critic from Maitland, Florida. He’s been committed to watching a movie every day since May 20th, 2020. His favorite director is Christopher Nolan, and his favorite movie is Everything Everywhere All at Once. He’s created, hosted, and participated in 16 seasons and counting of Survivor Winter Park, a local version of the popular television show. He attends the University of Florida to major in Media Production.
Contributor: Joseph Fayed
Joseph is a volunteer coordinator who currently resides in Orlando, Florida. One of his earliest childhood memories is his father pulling him out of the theater where they were watching Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie screaming that it was christian propaganda. This event likely inspired Joseph to develop an interest in film genres such as horror and suspenseful thrillers, with Black Swan and Orphan being two of his favorites. Joseph has a passion for writing and hopes to someday leverage it into a career.
Contributor: Dan Skip Allen
Dan Skip Allen is from Lowell, Massachusetts but has lived in Florida for over 30 years. He has been watching movies for 45 years. His favorite directors are Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet, and Steven Spielberg, and favorite actors include Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Clint Eastwood. As a child, he was influenced by such films as The Godfather, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, 12 Angry Men, and The Verdict, Clint Eastwood westerns, Apocalypse Now, The Empire Strikes Back, and early Spielberg films. Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert were his biggest influences as a critic. Growing up, he watched Siskel & Ebert every Sunday for many years. That's why it has been his dream to write movie reviews for his whole life!
Contributor: Paris Jade
Paris Jade is from Orlando, Florida. Her favorite director/screenwriter is Edgar Wright, making her favorite film Scott Pilgrim vs the World. She writes and produces short films with her friends and loves to create.
Contributor: Sarah Williams
Sarah is a sailor and engineering major with a love for making films and writing about them, which logistically should not fit with any of her other life interests. She has a soft spot for anything foreign, experimental, and just plain weird. You will almost certainly hear her bring up Portrait of a Lady on Fire in any conversation. She prides herself on being able to recite the Mulholland Drive from memory, and wants to highlight representation on film.
Guest Contributor: Rafael Motamayor
Rafael is a freelance entertainment writer specializing in animation, whose work has appeared on Thrillist, IGN, Observer, SlashFilm, Polygon and several other outlets. He can talk for hours about why Digimon is better than Pokémon.