Eric D. Snider
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| Born: | August 26, 1974 Hemet, California, USA |
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| Occupation: | Columnist, Movie Critic, Freelance Writer, Songwriter, Singer |
| Genres: | Humor, Comedy |
| Debut works: | Snide Remarks |
| Website: | http://www.ericdsnider.com |
Eric D. Snider (born August 26, 1974) is a freelance journalist, film critic, and musician from Lake Elsinore, California. Best known in his fan community for his Snide Remarks humor column and his prolific and often satirical movie reviews, Snider has occasionally received national attention, most notably after one of his Snide Remarks columns satirizing movie junkets resulted in Paramount Pictures banning him from all Paramount film press screenings.
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[edit] Career
As a young man, Snider began writing and recording parodies of popular songs under the nickname "Eccentric Eric D." Several of these songs were played on the nationally syndicated Dr. Demento radio show. [1] [2] [3] After high school, Snider moved to Provo, Utah, to attend Brigham Young University. As a freshman journalism major, he started the first comedy troupe in the history of BYU, called "The Garrens". In 1997, Snider began writing his Snide Remarks humor column for The Daily Universe, the official newspaper of BYU. He wrote the column regularly for the Universe until February 1999, just before his graduation from BYU. He was then hired by the Provo newspaper The Daily Herald, where he resurrected Snide Remarks in August 1999.
Snider's Snide Remarks career came to its second end in August 2003, when he was fired by the Daily Herald for a (minor) ethics violation. [4] [5] Snide Remarks was revived once again in March 2004 as a self-published column appearing on his Web site.
Beginning in 1997, Snider became a film critic. His movie reviews have appeared in the Daily Universe, Daily Herald, and on several movie-related websites, including Rotten Tomatoes and Hollywood Bitchslap, as well as his own site.
Snider has also continued to write music parodies, both for the Garrens and for his own one-man show. He has released two music CDs: Will Make Jokes for Food and Monkeys and Pirates Are Funny. Both CDs are a blend of parodies and original compositions. "Why Do You Hate America?," "Is It Weird?" and "Those Were the Days," all original compositions, have been featured on the Dr. Demento show. [6] [7] [8]
Snider's Web site was mentioned in 2006 by PC Magazine as one of its "Top 99 Undiscovered Web Sites" in the "Entertainment" category. [9]
[edit] "Junket Whore" controversy
In 2006, Snider was invited to attend a movie junket in Seattle, Washington in advance of the release of the film World Trade Center. After attending, he wrote a Snide Remarks column called "I Was a Junket Whore" that questioned the ethics of movie junkets and lampooned the celebrities, invitees, and perks that he observed at the Seattle junket. Within days after the column was published, Snider reported that Paramount Pictures had banned him from all Paramount press screenings, and had pressured its advertising agency in the Seattle-Portland area to ban him from all press screenings for the other studios that the agency represented as well (The Weinstein Company, Dimension Films, and Miramax Films). [10]
This response from Paramount caught the attention of National Public Radio's On the Media program, which interviewed Snider about the incident. [11] The column and subsequent ban were also the subject of an entry in the "Pop Candy" column of USA Today. [12] To date, the ban is apparently still in effect. [13]
[edit] Discography
- The Garrens Comedy Troupe - Live! (1996)
- The Garrens Comedy Troupe - Songs of Love and BYU (1999)
- Eric D. Snider - Snide Remarks: The Album (2000)
- Eric D. Snider - Will Make Jokes For Food (2003)
- Eric D. Snider - Monkeys and Pirates Are Funny (2006)
[edit] Books
- Snide Remarks (1998)
- Snide Remarks II: Electric Boogaloo (1999)
- Two collections of humor columns published in the Daily Universe.
- Songs (2004)
- A book of piano sheet music for 10 of Snider's original compositions.
[edit] References
- ^ "Iran Scum Mudley" from Dr. Demento playlist on May 13, 1987
- ^ "Video Song" from Dr. Demento playlist on June 24, 1990
- ^ "Helpful Aliens" from Dr. Demento playlist on September 30, 1990
- ^ Snider explains his perspective on his firing from the Daily Herald
- ^ Daily Herald official stance on Snider's firing
- ^ "Why Do You Hate America?" from Dr. Demento playlist on September 5, 2004
- ^ "Is It Weird?" from Dr. Demento playlist on April 9, 2006
- ^ "Those Were the Days" from Dr. Demento playlist on July 17, 2005
- ^ PC Magazine mention of Snider's site
- ^ Snider's blog post that reports Paramount's ban
- ^ NPR's On the Media interview of Snider
- ^ "Pop Candy" entry on "Junket Whore" article
- ^ Post from Snider's blog indicating Paramount ban is still effective
