An Unexpected Introduction

In which the writer behind this new Substack introduces himself and shares how he almost missed discovering the platform.

Hello there, and welcome! To be honest, this is a bit embarrassing, but let’s start with introductions.

My name is Eirik Bull. I’m a Norwegian film and TV journalist, critic, Golden Globe voter, hobbyist screenwriter, and occasional jury member at international film festivals.

Currently, you can find my work on the newly established Norwegian website Narrative.no, where I review films, television, and write various articles. Most notably, I've also contributed to the well-known Norwegian website Filmmagasinet.no, the prominent Danish film site Moovy.dk and the massive JRR Tolkien fansite TheOneRing.net.

So, why Substack? And why did I find it embarrassing? My first venture as a journalist was a website called FilmLore (now defunct), which focused on science fiction, fantasy, and fandom. We tried to combine my love for film and mythic storytelling, giving it a “fantasy flair” with the word “lore” in the title. To reach a broader audience, everything was written in English.

A year or so after establishing FilmLore, I was offered the chance to take over the website for Norway’s then-largest print film magazine, un-creatively called Filmmagasinet. I ran Filmmagasinet.no as editor-in-chief with a buddy of mine for a while, but life and circumstances led me to other projects in early 2024. Eventually, I found myself writing for Narrative.no.

But ever since the FilmLore days, I missed writing in English. Norway's film industry is small, insular, and set in its ways (releasing mostly low-budget drama and, on average, 2-3 World War II movies each year), so I kept looking for opportunities beyond my home country. More specifically, I was eager to get back to writing about my main interests in film and television: science fiction, fantasy and fandom.

I tried website solutions like Wix and Squarespace, but all I wanted was to write, not fiddle with settings and widgets. I even explored blogging platforms but never found anything that truly clicked. Gradually, I gave up on the idea of maintaining an English-language website.

For some reason, I never realized Substack was right in front of me. Despite already subscribing to newsletters, the thought that the platform might be a perfect fit for my writing needs never occurred to me. But this morning, after seeing a random post on Threads (my go-to social media platform), it finally clicked. So here I am!