Freelancer of the fortnight: Anna Smith, UK

Click here to view Anna Smith's full freelance profile on Journalism.co.uk.

Why did you choose to become a freelancer?
After years as an editor and deputy editor of music and women's magazines, I decided to specialise in film. Freelancing was the best option. By this stage, I had the experience, and I knew exactly what an editor wanted: great copy, no fuss, on time (preferably early).
 
If you trained, where? If not, how did you become a freelancer?
I took the one-year NCTJ Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism Studies, University of Wales, College Of Cardiff – an excellent no-nonsense grounding.
 
Do you specialise in any particular field and what areas do you write about?
Primarily I'm a film critic – I'm vice chair of the Critics' Circle Film Section - but also I write about television, travel, women’s interest and lifestyle. I appear as a pundit on TV and radio and present TV interviews for MSN Video every month.
 
Which publications have you been published in?
ELLE, Empire, Time Out, Sight & Sound, New!, Metro, Observer, TV Times, Zoo, Big Issue, Wax, Minx, Mixmag, Arena, FHM, High Life, First, New Woman, World Travel Guide, Time Out Guides, Beautiful Weddings, handbag.com, BBC Movies, Channel4.com/film, virginmedia.com, rottentomatoes.com, ign.com.

Which articles, in which publication, are you the most proud of?
I always enjoy reading back my Sight & Sound film reviews: it’s my chance to be thoroughly analytical. My favourite English class at Uni was Gender and Popular Culture and that's stayed with me. I love deconstructing romantic comedies – I met a reader recently who said she loved my intelligent approach to chick flicks. It made my day!
 
What are the best and worst aspects of freelancing?
Best: I work from home and can travel when I choose to. I enjoy adapting my style to different publications and working with a variety of editors – it's a social job, but also completely independent. Worst: I’m much better at delivering copy than I am chasing payment. I’m probably still owed something from 10 years ago.
 
Do you have any interesting anecdotes in relation to your experience as a freelancer?
I once spent a night locked up in a detention centre in downtown LA with a group of illegal immigrants. I was due to interview Jim Caviezel – it was after 9/11 and they'd decided to clamp down on journalists entering the States. No-one had thought to arrange me an I Visa, so I was interrogated, searched, fingerprinted, detained and frogmarched back onto a plane home the next day. Suffice to say, I now have an I Visa - and better Spanish.

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