Grae Drake is an American host, entertainment journalist, and film critic.
Drake is best known for her work as a film critic and her celebrity interviews.
Drake is a recognized "geek culture" personality in
fandom
A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...
circles, and often serves as a panelist, moderator and panel host at major pop culture conventions and events nationwide including
New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006.
History
The New York Comic Con is a f ...
,
WonderCon
WonderCon is an annual comic book, science fiction, and film convention held in the San Francisco Bay Area (1987–2011), then—under the name WonderCon Anaheim—in Anaheim, California (2012–2015, 2017–present), and WonderCon Los Angel ...
,
SXSW
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
, and
Comic Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
.
She is uniquely notable for her approach to celebrity interviews, where her use of costumes, props, and comedy serve to both disarm and engage her celebrity guests in unexpected ways.
Early years
Prior to her journalism career, Drake worked in many facets of the entertainment industry. She has previously worked behind the camera for
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
, Oceangate Productions,
Motion Theory and Prometheus Productions.
Drake has also produced, appeared in, and is credited for video editing work on a variety of projects for film and television,
including ''
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'', ''
Ancient Aliens
''Ancient Aliens'' is an American television series that explores the pseudohistorical and pseudoarchaeological ancient astronauts hypothesis, past human- extraterrestrial contact, UFOs, government conspiracies and related pseudoscientific topi ...
'', and ''
How to Look Good Naked
''How to Look Good Naked'' is a television program, first aired on British Channel 4 in 2006, in which fashion stylist Gok Wan encourages women and men who are insecure with their bodies to strip nude for the camera. The programme is unique am ...
'' with
Carson Kressley
Carson Kressley (born November 11, 1969) is an American television personality, actor, and designer. Beginning in 2003, he appeared in the Bravo series ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy''. He was also the motivational host of the TV show ''How to ...
.
Drake became well known in the "geek community" and coupled with her work in the entertainment industry led to a successful self-start in podcasting. In 2004, she founded and hosted a weekly movie podcast called ''The Popcorn Mafia'' that ran for over 8 years, and included such notable guests as
Diablo Cody
Brook Maurio (''née'' Busey; born June 14, 1978), known professionally by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American writer and producer. She gained recognition for her candid blog and subsequent memoir, '' Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unl ...
,
Andy Dick
Andrew Roane Dick (born Andrew Thomlinson; December 21, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, musician, and television and film producer. Known professionally as a comic, his first regular television role was on the short-lived but influential ...
,
Ahmed Best
Ahmed Best (born August 19, 1973) is an American actor, comedian and musician. He is known for providing motion capture and the voice of the character of Jar Jar Binks in the '' Star Wars'' franchise.
Best likewise collaborated with director G ...
(aka.
Jar-Jar Binks),
Max Landis and
James Marsden
James Paul Marsden (born September 18, 1973) is an American actor, singer, and former model. Marsden began his acting career guest starring in the television shows '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' (1993), '' Touched by an Angel'' (1995), ' ...
. The weekly podcast produced at least two shows that were recorded in front of a live audience. The Andy Dick episode was recorded at the Silent Movie Theater in West Hollywood CA, and the Diablo Cody episode was recorded at the
New Beverly Cinema
The New Beverly Cinema is a historic movie theater located in Los Angeles, California. Housed in a building that dates back to the 1920s, it is one of the oldest revival houses in the region. Since 2007, it has been owned by filmmaker Quentin Tar ...
in Los Angeles, CA.
Journalism career
Drake is a member of
Broadcast Film Critics and is a participant in the
Critics' Choice Movie Awards
The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...
.
Drake was the Senior Movie Editor for
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, and co-hosts their Sirius Radio program. Drake continues to work as a film critic for
Fandango
Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...
, Movies.com and provides movie review segments and reports on entertainment industry events on CNN.
In contrast to her work as a serious film critic and journalist, Drake's approach to celebrity interviews are notorious in
fandom
A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...
circles for being comedic, irreverent and entertaining in their own right. Many are re-broadcast in part or whole
as segments on mainstream television news programs, talk shows, and entertainment websites.
Drake is notably one of the first legitimate film critics who began using, and continues to use the internet as a medium for entertainment journalism. Drake has spoken to this new paradigm and the changes in the media landscape as a panelist for
Comic Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
's "Masters of the Web" in 2012, 2013 and 2015, with peers including
John Campea, Ryan Turek, Evan Dickson, James Oster, Heather Wixson, Lawrence Raffel,
Adam Wingard
Adam Wingard ( ; born December 3, 1982) is an American filmmaker. He has served as a director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, actor, and composer on numerous projects.
Following an early career as a member of the mumblecore ...
and
Simon Barrett.
Drake is a frequent guest on assorted television programmes and web streams including ''
Good Day L.A.
''Good Day L.A.'' is an American morning television news and entertainment program airing on KTTV (channel 11), a Fox owned-and-operated television station in Los Angeles, California, owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox Corpo ...
'',
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
, and
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
where she provides current news topical to the entertainment industry and popular culture in general.
In March 2019, Drake was selected to become the leading brand personality for
Moviefone
Moviefone is an American-based moving pictures listing and information service. Moviegoers can obtain local showtimes, cinema information, film reviews, and advance tickets, as well as TV content and a comprehensive search tool that allows users ...
. Under the moniker "Ms. Moviefone", Drake will be responsible for interviews with celebrities and film industry professionals, oversee existing video content, and host new video content for the Moviefone brand.
References
External links
*
Grae Drake: Rotten Tomatoes Critic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Grae
American women journalists
American television personalities
American women television personalities
Living people
1980 births
American film critics
American women film critics
Moody College of Communication alumni
21st-century American women