Originally only available as part of the membership to ‘The Derann Club’, a group who also had access to exclusive super 8 offers, it was launched in September 1985, a magazine of just 20 pages and looking like a large fanzine! Try as we might we couldn’t find writers who had the expertise or time to produce a regular column on cine cameras, projectors and the like, so it ended up being filled with articles on Super 8 releases, current cinema releases, film soundtracks, book reviews, and generally anything to do with the medium of film. Members were encouraged to send in their own articles on their home cinemas, film collections and cinematic experiences.
By issue 6 non-club members had begun ringing up and ‘demanding’ that they should have access to the special offers with such regularity and aggressiveness that we eventually relented, closed the ‘Club’ and from issue 14 the magazine was available only through subscription or by visiting the shop.
Issue seven of FFTC saw the addition of Keith Wilton’s excellent publication ‘Super 8 Film Review’ a small format, but popular fanzine, that we had been printing and retailing for a number of years. It was given the 6 center pages and was generally printed on coloured stock to give it its own identity and Keith Wilton and his fellow reviewers continued to give their candid views for the remainder of the life of FFTC.
The addition of ‘Super Eight Film Review’ really gave FFTC some added punch and it quickly became a 40 page journal with the occasional 68 page special. To begin with the majority of the magazine was filled out with pieces written by members of the staff, The MD, Derek, never missed an issue unless he was away. Editor Dave Worrall was well traveled in the film world and he was always quick to put pen to paper. Mike Dimmock was a regular and yours truly produced a column picked from the pages of ‘Screen International’ and my library of ‘Films and Filming’.
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