July 08--Two days shy of its second anniversary, Pitchfork Media's stylish online film site The Dissolve has shut down, leaving some of the most avid critical voices in Chicago without a platform.
Founder and editorial director Keith Phipps posted a farewell column titled "The End" Wednesday morning. He cited "various challenges inherent in launching a freestanding website in a crowded publishing environment, financial and otherwise."
Phipps added that Pitchfork has been "incredibly supportive of our vision. We couldn't have asked for a better partner."
The site, named after the cinematic technique denoting one shot transitioning into another, failed to attract the advertisers needed to sustain a well-staffed venture. Phipps came from The A.V. Club pages of The Onion, as did several fellow Dissolve colleagues: Scott Tobias, Tasha Robinson, Genevieve Koski, and Noel Murray. Nathan Rabin, another A.V. Club alum, wrote for The Dissolve until getting laid off earlier this year.
"If anyone reading this knows of a way we can continue to work together, please don't hesitate to be in touch," Phipps wrote in his last Dissolve piece.
Tonight, as scheduled long before the site's demise, Phipps and Tobias will lead a discussion of "The Third Man" following the 7:20 p.m. screening at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. It's an appropriately bittersweet film considering the circumstances.
mjphillips@tribune.com
