Ritual Zine Debuts in L.A. Theaters with Patton Oswalt

SkimNews Take
The zine's blend of physical print and digital QR codes reflects a broader trend of media creators using tangible objects to curate and elevate digital content, offering a more deliberate and lasting engagement than purely online formats.
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- Ritual launched as a print zine celebrating movie‑theater culture, now sold at select Los Angeles theaters, retail outlets, and via its Instagram account.
- Greg Longstreet created the zine through his L.A.-based public‑relations firm Empirical, which specializes in representing film directors.
- Patton Oswalt contributed a piece to the debut issue, joining other film journalists and IFC executive Danielle Freiberg.
- Edgar Wright supplied a curated playlist for the issue, accessed through QR codes embedded in the publication.
- Ritual uses QR codes throughout to link readers to playlists and supplemental content that expands on the stories inside.
Why it matters: Film aficionados gain a portable, tactile source of evergreen writing; theaters and retailers gain a new revenue stream and a way to deepen audience engagement while waiting for movies.




