I've always been a bit of a movie nerd.

For me, following the story of a film from start to finish–all the writing and re-writing, the casting and re-casting, the shoots and post-production and all the changes and tweaks made along the way–is often just as interesting as the movie itself. In many ways, knowing these seemingly minute details about a film informs my expectations and experience of watching the final product.

Here's an easy example to understand what I mean: when Christopher Plummer replaced Kevin Spacey in last winter's All The Money In The World after serious sexual assault allegations were made against Spacey, the story of the film changed. What was perhaps just another awards-season historical drama instantly became a dynamic and buzz-worthy meta-tale about the success of the #MeToo movement, a microcosm of the gains sexual assault survivors had made in Hollywood–and a reminder of how much further we as a culture had to go for equality. The story of Plummer stepping in for last-minute reshoots skewed the story of the film, and how we reacted to it.

On a more personal level, I've become aware of how my identity and experiences in the world have skewed the way I consume entertainment–and how the entertainment I consume conversely shapes my identity. It's this awareness that drove me to partner with Level Ground to create SKEW, a new monthly online magazine devoted to exploring these intersections of identity, spirituality, social justice and pop culture. Level Ground has always sought to build dialogue, not division, and inspire empathy through art, making it the perfect home for this kind of thing.

Our team is small, but our drive is immeasurable. Our writers and editors are dedicated to building a space where we can explore ideas with nuance; where we can disagree earnestly and authentically; where we can ask questions without feeling the pressure to settle on a simple answer.

We're not here to tell you what shows to watch, or music to listen to, or games to play (though we're happy to make some recommendations!) but rather to represent and engage with a diverse array of identities and perspectives–and to begin bridging the gap between our consumption of culture and what we put back out into the world in our thoughts and actions. Level Ground is already doing so much of this, but by developing this publication, they're deepening their commitment to these goals.

This all sounds a bit lofty, I'm sure. Maybe we're biting off more than we can chew, you think. So I'll be honest: we might get some things wrong along the way, and we'll almost certainly get in disagreements with each other. We're trying something new, and like anything new, there'll be growing pains. But more important than all this is our commitment to always pushing on, always questioning more, always going deeper. We're small and we're scrappy and we're here to skew it up.

Welcome to SKEW.

Sincerely,
Donald Scherschligt
Editor in Chief