Interview: Gareth Von Kallenbach, Founder Of SKNR

We spoke to Gareth Von Kallenbach, a syndicated movie & game critic, writer, author and frequent radio guest. His work has appeared in over 60 publications worldwide and he is the creator of the rising entertainment site “Skewed and Reviewed” as well as Skewed and Reviewed: The Magazine. Gareth has worked in the video game industry and has written three books of reviews and interviews and is a well-received and in demand speaker on the convention circuit. It was great speaking with Gareth and let’s hear what he has to say about the gaming industry.

 

NoobFeed: Tell us a little about yourself and your background.

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I got my B.A. in International Studies from the University of Washington and I also have a M.A. in Teaching. I worked on my Prep School and College Newspapers. I was an early adopter of the Internet and as such; offered my reviews and content to sites. I had at one point over 60 publications carrying my work before I started my own site.

 

NoobFeed: What are your duties at SKNR? Tell us why you decided to establish SKNR and how is it going for you so far?   

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I own it so I pretty much oversee all aspects of both offices and the magazine. Assigning reviews, marketing, P.R. lead reviews, convention coverage etc. I do have a great set of staff at both offices that help out but I am very Hands on and know when to delegate.

 

NoobFeed: You appeared in “Postal” and “Far Cry” video game-based films and voiced a character in the Postal 3? Care to share your experience and how did you get involved in those projects?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I had already done a couple of movies prior. I was asked by the Publicist for Uwe Boll to come up and see him as well as speak at a convention and in the course of doing so they asked me to walk on the film. After the first one; they asked me to repeat it for the next film. It was a lot of fun. “Postal” was one day at an abandoned tourist attraction done up as a German theme park. Uwe and Vince from Running With Scissors were there as well as several cast members. I remember it was very warm when we did “Far Cry” and the black Body Armor and weapons added to it. We had to work under Canadian Union Rules so I could be in the scene but could not fire the weapons. So we worked me into an escort roll for an action scene and then added one of me in the control room at a computer.

 

NoobFeed: As a journalist and a founder of a gaming website, what trends have you noticed in the gaming industry recently? Do you support where it’s heading?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I was one of the first if not the first to combine film and game and now that has become a standard.  I see many companies coming in with style over substance looking to make a big splash and they fade just as fast as they come on the scene as they are all about sensationalism and Click Bait. Nothing bothers me more than outlets who churn old news by doing Click Bait titles on social media. If it is over 24 hours old, move on. People are so concerned about clicks, and followers, and what they can commercialize versus reporting and reviewing as unbiased as they can. I sadly think this is not changing as long as companies value short term viability versus sites and outlets with long term stability and history.

 

NoobFeed: Esports focuses on its social aspect a lot these days. Do you think there’s a lot more potential in terms of the social aspect of Esports than there currently is?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I think ESports is also an area that is getting bigger than people expected. I go into many classrooms when I can and I see and hear so many students talk about how they do not care about their grades and school as they are going to be an Influencer or eSports star. They do not seem to grasp how competitive it is and how short-lived it can be.  People see players sponsored and hear about the big prizes and do not realize how this only a small portion of the gaming public. Lots of kids play Baseball but only a small percentage can play in the Major Leagues and even fewer can last there.

I also think we are seeing games that cater more to eSports as we see more and more games that are simplistic, lacking a detailed plot, and lots of variations. I also think this practice of paying streamers huge amounts of money to stream a game should come with disclaimers as look how the player base for Apex Legends dropped once the checks stopped.

 

NoobFeed: Do you supervise the effective approach to prepare, rewrite and edit copy to improve readability?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I think it is different for everyone. I can usually write quickly so I tend to write out what I have to say, edit and spell check and go. My wife will spend much longer going over every word to make sure it is right.

 

NoobFeed: What is the most challenging part of your job?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: This would be dealing with P.R. reps. Most are simply amazing people who are a huge asset and are so much fun to work with. Then there are those who promise the world and do not deliver. We are not pay to play but if we are constantly giving you coverage and you vanish and cry poverty come review time; it is like saying our time and outlets are not valuable. We also deal with people who cannot grasp that we are multi-outlet. I have said for decades we have a Website, a magazine, 8 newspapers, syndication, and a radio show. Yes, it is all branded by the site, but the Radio Show and Newspapers are a much larger audience. So they want the exposure but want to treat us based on the traffic of the site alone. The travel is fun but it can be hectic as well.

Thankfully with the AZ office getting to shows in California and Las Vegas is much easier than when we only had the WA office. Staff is great at picking up some of the other shows out of the area but look at this week as an example; D23 Expo in Anaheim Thursday to Sunday. Home late Sunday and then we fly out Wednesday for a week in Seattle covering PAX and some down time. Thankfully it is business as usual for us after that until CES in Jan as staff have the other shows.

 

NoobFeed: Have you ever gone above and beyond the "call of duty" for SKNR?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I would say that as the owner we do it often especially when we have to juggle multiple requests so we do the best we can to take care of everyone.

 

NoobFeed: Have you ever received negative feedback on a piece of your website? What was your response?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: Take your pick. I had one person get on me from my review of “Crossroads” saying I was a terrible person and Britney Spears was amazing. I pointed out how bad the reviews were at Rotten Tomatoes and how poor the box office was and was told that doesn’t matter. I also had one person say I was a traitor in my review for “Pearl Harbor” when I said that I wished they had done a bit more to show why the Japanese thought they had no other option than to attack. So after calling me all sorts of names: I mentioned that I was a Gulf War Veteran who suited up for my country to give you the right to say what you did even though you are showing you do not know a thing about me and I was there when it counted; were you? I never heard back.

 

NoobFeed: What have you found to be the best way to monitor the performance of your work and/or the work of your team?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I simply say write what you want and just be honest. If an audience finds it great; if not be happy with what you wrote. I have seen things I was sure were going to be huge be ignored and I have seen things that I thought were nothing become massive traffic generators. You cannot guess what the public will click on, what will become syndicated, and such. Put it all out there and like the public decide but give them fresh and quality work.

 

NoobFeed: Can you tell us about a time when you developed your own way of doing things other than following others?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: That is pretty much how it was always done. A site I contribute for now and then told me years ago to make my own site. I did not know coding but I managed to get a basic site up; and learned by looking at code on how to improve it. In time we grew to have a Web Tech and Content Management System.

 

NoobFeed: We all have experienced this at least once. Will you share an experience when your ethics and patience were tested? How did you keep your emotions in check?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I had a story I did where a Major and I do mean Major outlet posted it without credit to me or the site. I had to call them out on this even though I think it closed to door on future content. It was not an oversite. I also arranged a charity Laser Tag event between Star Wars and Star Trek fans in Washington many years back and as the event grew close; I saw an article in the Seattle paper where the head of a fan club took all the credit and told the reporter it was his idea and so on. I called him on it and he said well we consider you part of the fan club now and as such I am the President of said club and I speak for all of us. I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of it, told the paper and the venue as well as all members present at the show. He tried to do it without me the next year and it failed big time. We were able to do it for a couple of years in AZ as well. It just became tricky as people did not want to drive when they had convention meetings.

 

NoobFeed: What in gaming excites you the most? Outside of work, how much time do you spend playing video games in an average week?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I like sports, I like to go out with my wife and just have adventures roaming around. I like going to Theme Parks, going on our Disney Cruises and of course seeing my son and our Granddaughter. We never get enough of that. I love going to the movies and watching them as we cover many film screenings and premieres as well. I like to take pictures and video and do radio as well.

Gaming wise it depends on the games. I am at times like Stephen King in that there are often several things in various stages of completion. I recently completed the games I had in my review and play que so it is mainly when I have the time. Now when releases come out that I am covering; 10-20 hrs or more depending on the week. I can do a lot in the morning and such but never at the expense of family time.

 

NoobFeed: What experiences would you personally like video games to deliver in the future?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I would love to see how interactions will change especially with V.R. I can see a day where “Ready Player One” can happen and it would be amazing to actually be the Solider instead of controlling it.

 

NoobFeed: As a founder of a website, you get a lot of developers trying to get your attention and to play their games, but they may not know the best ways. Do you have any tips that you can impart to make their pitches towards you and other journalists more effective?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I find we get several cut and paste e-mails which I get; it is a numbers game. But I tend to look longer at the ones with some kind of personalization beyond and auto-fill and ones that tell me why this game is unique and worth my attention.

 

NoobFeed: With so many gaming websites and independent journalists trying to reach the same target audience segment, do you think the correct messages are being spread across?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: I like to think that most people have the right ideas. I do think there are many who are here just to make a fast buck and see what they can get. Usually they do not last.

 

NoobFeed: Why is it important for gamers to maintain a healthy lifestyle? What advice would you have for a gamer looking to take the first steps towards a healthier lifestyle?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: We go to the Gym and try to eat better. I have seen people develop some serious issues from a sedentary gaming lifestyle fueled by Junk Food. Like in life; balance is key as is taking care of yourself.

 

NoobFeed: What are the future plans for Gareth Von Kallenbach?

Gareth Von Kallenbach: We have dabbled with a second site which is a total aggregate. Marketing it has been a challenge and I found it was hard to allocate resources of staff between them but it is not gone forever. I have kicked around writing another book and having this one be about convention experiences. We also will be looking to add more people to the mix, more coverage options, and even more convention coverage.

 

Tons of thanks to Gareth for doing the interview with us. We wish him all the very best with all of his ventures.

 

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