{"id":81261,"date":"2026-07-09T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/?p=81261"},"modified":"2026-07-08T13:33:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T17:33:42","slug":"customer-story-cinejourneys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/de\/blog\/customer-story-cinejourneys\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Former Film Critic Built a Successful Online Membership Site for Serious Movie Lovers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Watch how CineJourneys founder Aaron West built a home for a niche audience and turned it into his dream job.<\/em><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a4fad678269a\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">WHAT'S INSIDE<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a4fad678269a\"  \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/de\/blog\/customer-story-cinejourneys\/#Turning_a_hobby_into_a_business_%E2%80%9Cwe_put_together_kind_of_a_manifesto%E2%80%9D\" >Turning a hobby into a business \u201cwe put together kind of a manifesto\u201d.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/de\/blog\/customer-story-cinejourneys\/#From_a_simple_page_to_a_real_platform\" >From a simple page to a real platform<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/de\/blog\/customer-story-cinejourneys\/#MemberPress_became_the_one_system_running_everything\" >MemberPress became the one system running everything<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/de\/blog\/customer-story-cinejourneys\/#Turning_a_book_into_another_reason_to_join\" >Turning a book into another reason to join<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/de\/blog\/customer-story-cinejourneys\/#The_result_one_person_one_system_a_business_that_grew_past_what_he_expected\" >The result one person, one system, a business that grew past what he expected<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/de\/blog\/customer-story-cinejourneys\/#His_advice_%E2%80%9Cgo_for_your_dreams_man%E2%80%9D\" >His advice \u201cgo for your dreams, man\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/de\/blog\/customer-story-cinejourneys\/#Where_to_find_CineJourneys\" >Where to find CineJourneys<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/cinejourneys.com\" title=\"\">CineJourneys <\/a>runs today as a subscription film school of sorts: online classes taught by working critics and scholars, live discussions on specific films or directors, and a growing library of film history content, <strong>all sitting behind one MemberPress-powered membership.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It's also Aaron West's full-time job, and a successful, sustainable business built entirely around something he loves. It didn't start that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Watch the full interview <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"ZzYDaitXb3EbOmKWrGLfGjOl9p4vgVA2F1JXPl55vBhkuMkWHrTfcogTSN7pR3oIhV2i8Bd9qu7cmqyUCAM8dKNeEyJ\"><div class=\"responsive-video\"><iframe title=\"How This Former Film Critic Built a Business Around Classic Movies\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wGdA0x2dOls?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/span>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">WATCH HOW A FORMER FILM CRITIC BUILT A BUSINESS AROUND CLASSIC MOVIES<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Aaron had already lived a few professional lives before any of this: film criticism in the early 2000s, a tech company he built and sold in the 90s, years in enterprise IT.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Film was the one constant running underneath all of it. He'd been podcasting as a hobby for over a decade, launching <em><a href=\"https:\/\/criterioncloseup.com\/podcast\/\" title=\"\">Criterion Close-Up<\/a> <\/em>and then <em><a href=\"https:\/\/criterioncast.com\/category\/podcast\/criterion-now\" title=\"\">Criterion Now<\/a><\/em> in 2017 with Jill Blake joining as co-host.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe already had the podcast and we had podcasts about the Criterion Collection,\u201d Aaron says. \u201cThat was our passion, that was our hobby \u2013 just talking about movies, talking about discs and physical media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The podcast led to a Patreon. The Patreon led to a Substack. The Substack led to a Facebook group that grew to around 3,000 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1480\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-1024x692.png\" alt=\"Quote card with blue background: 'What I'd say to people that use MemberPress or are entrepreneurs\u2014Go for your dreams, man. It was the best decision I could have made.' \u2014 Aaron West, Co-Founder, CineJourneys.com\" class=\"wp-image-81284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-1024x692.png 1024w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-300x203.png 300w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-768x519.png 768w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-50x34.png 50w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-252x170.png 252w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-840x568.png 840w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-1012x684.png 1012w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-700x473.png 700w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-156x105.png 156w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-1080x730.png 1080w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2.png 1480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1480px) 100vw, 1480px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Then there were the Zoom calls Aaron and Jill called \u201cjourneys\u201d: Film club sessions for friends and followers who wanted to go deeper on movies than everyone else did.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>None of it was engineered to become a company. <strong>Slowly, it became clear there was something real there<\/strong>: an audience willing to show up, engage, and eventually pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CineJourneys' own About page puts the motivation plainly:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe decided to create CineJourneys after seeing changes in the online film community, especially on social media. While we've had great interactions on those platforms, the overall experience was unpleasant. There was too much noise, too much negativity, and not enough of what makes the film community special. We wanted more engagement in the form of thoughtful discussion and camaraderie, but realized that what we wanted did not exist.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At MemberPress, <a href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/blog\/the-rise-of-niche-community-sites\/\">we\u2019ve known about this trend for a while<\/a>: people are leaving big platforms in search of real connection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aaron and Jill spotted the market for building curated, positive online spaces, and set to work building a business model from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Turning a hobby into a business: \u201cwe put together kind of a manifesto\u201d.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe decided that we had something [\u2026] so we put together kind of a manifesto on a way to turn it into a business,\u201d Aaron says. \u201cNow we didn't think we were going to be billionaires in two years, but we did want to hopefully employ ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The motivation wasn't only their own paycheck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA lot of our friends had been facing challenges with employment and keeping their jobs,\u201d he says. \u201cWe really just wanted to build something that helped our friends make money and create their own gigs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That's more or less CineJourneys' business model today: working critics and scholars, several of whom had lost income in journalism and academia, teaching classes on their specialties, and earning a cut of what those classes bring in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"From_a_simple_page_to_a_real_platform\"><\/span>From a simple page to a real platform<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>CineJourneys existed on paper before it existed online. For months after incorporating, the website was, in Aaron's words, \u201cjust a blue placeholder page\u201d, this was around August 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A web designer built the backbone. Aaron finished the rest himself, with a couple of developers handling the heavier code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They added <a href=\"http:\/\/memberpress.com\" title=\"\">MemberPress<\/a> in early 2024, once the site was far enough along to need real membership infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"MemberPress_became_the_one_system_running_everything\"><\/span>MemberPress became the one system running everything<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>By early 2024, CineJourneys had three separate audiences spread across three separate tools: a Patreon, a Substack still actively collecting subscribers, and a Facebook group with no billing attached to it at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consolidating them meant picking one system to handle who gets access, what they pay, and how classes actually get delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMemberPress is basically all the rules, all the memberships, all the payment processing \u2013 that's all MemberPress,\u201d Aaron says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"692\" src=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-1024x692.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-81288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-1024x692.png 1024w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-300x203.png 300w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-768x519.png 768w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-50x34.png 50w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-252x170.png 252w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-840x568.png 840w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-1012x684.png 1012w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-700x473.png 700w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-156x105.png 156w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation-1080x730.png 1080w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-consolidation.png 1480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than ask his Substack subscribers to sign up again somewhere new, Aaron brought them in directly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt's not the smoothest to port people over, so what we did is we just imported them as members from the Substack,\u201d he says. \u201cSo if they had signed up there, they still have access here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He still keeps the Substack running as a billing record, but the membership itself (the plans, the access rules, the classes) all live in one place now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That one place also holds the classes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Working critics and scholars like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tyburrswatchlist.com\/\" title=\"\">Ty Burr<\/a> <\/strong>(a Pulitzer finalist formerly of the Boston Globe and HBO), <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cinejourneys.com\/guides\/imogen-sara-smith\/\" title=\"\">Imogen Sara Smith<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cinejourneys.com\/guides\/adrian-martin\/\" title=\"\">Adrian Martin<\/a><\/strong>, and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cinejourneys.com\/guides\/chrisyogerst\/\" title=\"\">Chris Yogerst<\/a><\/strong> teach live and pre-recorded courses through the same membership, gated by rules Aaron sets himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A free plan and a paid monthly plan run side by side, \u201cbasically like a Patreon,\u201d he says, but under a single login instead of scattered across platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"744\" src=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-1024x744.jpg\" alt=\"CineJourneys classes\" class=\"wp-image-81289\" srcset=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-1024x744.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-300x218.jpg 300w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-768x558.jpg 768w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-50x36.jpg 50w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-1536x1116.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-234x170.jpg 234w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-840x610.jpg 840w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-941x684.jpg 941w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-1418x1030.jpg 1418w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-700x509.jpg 700w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-156x113.jpg 156w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription-1080x785.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CineJourneys-subscription.jpg 1602w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It's also why CineJourneys skips tools like Zapier. \u201cIt's just easier to control everything within our own system,\u201d Aaron says. \u201cSince it's behind a paywall, that's actually an extra layer of simplicity \u2013 we don't have to pass credentials through a third party.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Turning_a_book_into_another_reason_to_join\"><\/span>Turning a book into another reason to join<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the membership side was running on its own, Aaron had time to write. The result was <em>The A24 New Wave<\/em>, a 500-page book tracing the classical film influences behind modern movies like Dune and Moonlight, built from about 2,000 sources over two years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover-683x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-81286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover-33x50.webp 33w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover-113x170.webp 113w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover-409x614.webp 409w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover-456x684.webp 456w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover-687x1030.webp 687w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover-345x518.webp 345w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover-104x156.webp 104w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/A24-New-Wave-Book-Cover.webp 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The book didn't stay separate from the membership either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the roughly 2,000 sources Aaron pulled from, only 300 made it into the printed index. The rest became bonus digital content on the site, unlocked through the same account system that runs the classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u201cAll those sources I can't fit in the book will be built out as digital access on the site,\u201d Aaron says.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buying the book gets readers more than the book itself: they also get early access to chapters of the sequel Aaron's writing now, delivered to their account as each one is finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CineJourneys is now planning a fall book with contributions from about ten of its guide instructors, and folding a second site, <a href=\"http:\/\/CineJourneysPress.com\" title=\"\">CineJourneysPress.com<\/a>, into the same platform so books live in the LMS the same way classes do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_result_one_person_one_system_a_business_that_grew_past_what_he_expected\"><\/span>The result: one person, one system, a business that grew past what he expected<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Aaron still runs the website himself, day to day. What's changed is what \u201chimself\u201d can support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What was once a hobby now funds <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>classes taught by working film professionals, <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a <a href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/blog\/author-site-memberpress\/\" title=\"\">self-published<\/a> 500-page book, <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a second book in progress, and plans for a third<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>all through one recurring membership instead of a patchwork of Patreon, Substack, and manual invoicing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He's candid about what's still rough around the edges. CineJourneys runs on WordPress with no real source control or version history. It's a gap Aaron, with his enterprise IT background, knows exactly how to name.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA Fortune 250 company can capitalize their DevOps,\u201d he says. \u201cWe were basically using personal finance and membership subscriptions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He's just as honest about add-on sprawl: \u201cMake sure you're up on your add-ons, because an add-on update can destroy your website.\u201d CineJourneys keeps its plugin list short on purpose. <strong>MemberPress does most of the heavy lifting<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What he hasn't had to worry about: losing subscribers or rebuilding billing every time the business adds something new.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Account numbers and mailing list growth, he says, came in \u201cfar higher than expected.\u201d He won't share the figures. He doesn't have to, the surprise is in his voice<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">His advice: \u201cgo for your dreams, man\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Aaron's advice for anyone sitting on a hobby, a side project, or an audience they've built almost by accident is blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cWhat I'd say to people that use MemberPress or are entrepreneurs \u2013 go for your dreams, man,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was the best decision I could have made.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you're already doing the thing (writing, recording, teaching, building an audience around something you actually care about) CineJourneys is proof that the hard part usually isn't finding the audience. It's giving that audience one place to become a business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MemberPress's rules and membership plans handle the access and billing side once you're ready to make that move.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/demo\/\" title=\"\">See how it works.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"full-width-cta blue image-left\">\n\t<div class=\"full-width-cta-container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"full-width-cta__image\">\n\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/themes\/memberpress-theme\/images\/Guy1.webp\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"cta character\"\n\t\t\t\tloading=\"lazy\"\n\t\t\t\twidth=\"485\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/themes\/memberpress-theme\/images\/transparent.gif 1w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/themes\/memberpress-theme\/images\/Guy1-mobile.webp 543w, https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/themes\/memberpress-theme\/images\/Guy1.webp 485w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 1px, (max-width: 1023px) 543px, 485px\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"full-width-cta__text\">\n\t\t\t<h3>Get MemberPress Today!<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<div><p>Start getting paid for the content you create.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"pricing-cta\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/de\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"cta-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\tGet MemberPress Now\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/wp-content\/themes\/memberpress-theme\/images\/long-arrow-right-white.svg\" class=\"arrow-red\" alt=\"arrow\" width=\"20\" height=\"14\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/memberpress.com\/de\/features\">See All Features<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_to_find_CineJourneys\"><\/span>Where to find CineJourneys<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If any of this sounds like your kind of thing, CineJourneys has a free membership tier to get you started. Paid plans unlock classes, community access, and a growing library of content from some of the most knowledgeable film minds working today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Website: <a href=\"http:\/\/cinejourneys.com\" title=\"\">cinejourneys.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The A24 Book: <a href=\"http:\/\/cinejourneys.com\/a24book\" title=\"\">cinejourneys.com\/a24book<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instagram: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cinejourneys\/\" title=\"\">@cinejourneys<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aaron on socials: @awest505<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Enjoyed this interview? Subscribe to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@MemberPressPlugin\" title=\"\">MemberPress YouTube channel<\/a> for more conversations with membership site owners and online entrepreneurs building businesses around what they love.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>You can also find us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/memberpress\/\"><strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a><strong>,\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/memberpress\"><strong>X<\/strong><\/a><strong>,\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/memberpress\/\"><strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a><strong>, and\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/showcase\/memberpress\/\"><strong>LinkedIn<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Watch how CineJourneys founder Aaron West built a home for a niche audience and turned it into his dream job. CineJourneys runs today as a subscription film school of sorts: online classes taught by working critics and scholars, live discussions on specific films or directors, and a growing library of film history content, all sitting [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73814,"featured_media":81295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_strive_editorial_status":"complete","_strive_copy_of":0,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_strive_checklists":"\"\"","_strive_active_checklist":"62291e2bb2422","_strive_post_notes":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[144,942],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-81261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"category-customer-stories","9":"entry"},"acf":{"plans":["scale"],"is_featured":false,"download_source":"none","mothership_slug":"","download_url":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 4.9.6.2 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Watch how CineJourneys founder Aaron West built a home for a niche audience and turned it into his dream job. 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