A quick 25-year history of TVJerry.com
In 1998, the world wide web was starting to get attention and local video producer Jerry Williams wanted in, so he launched TVJerry.com on March 1, 1998. Jerry says, “I didn’t just want to post my resume and demo, because that’s a one-time visit. Since I know a lot of people in the local production community (and I love to gossip), I started Tales from the Grips, which featured weekly updates of news and dirt from Richmond’s production community.
Local designers David Gau and Michael Reynolds created the site using HTML. In the original banner, it’s Mike’s feet resting on the C-stand and Dave holding (not smoking) the cig. Jerry noted, “This was so long ago that people had to send me their info via fax! E-mail wasn’t common yet and AOL was 2 years away.”
Here are the other 2 banners that were used over the years. One with the tattoo, grip stand and light and the other featuring 2 real grips wearing their belts.
Williams, who reviewed film as “The Man in the Dark” for CBS-6 and Style Weekly, also published his new reviews as an add-on to the site. In 2013, he went one step further and created SIFTER, a discriminating and sometimes snarky guide to Richmond. It featured more than film, including theatre, restaurants, music and more, but was gradually whittled down to the current site, which features reviews of film/TV/streaming.
On January 2021, SIFTER expanded in to include a podcast: SIFTER FOR THE EAR. The shows feature film/TV/streaming with a Virginia connection, including actors, designers, producers, editors, musicians, writers and more. It also airs on WRIR (97.3FM) every Friday at 11:30am.
As of March 1,2023, there have been more than 2900 reviews on TVJerry.com and there’s no reason to stop til the site hit’s 50 years!
