Welcome to Scribbled Loose!
est. 2025
For those who like reading between the lines and scribbling it loose: Ruminations on inventive creation and cultural interrogation through art.
A twice-weekly newsletter by writer, director, Alexx Simone Johnson, committed to the generative scribbles of the creative process.
What we do
Scribbled Loose traces the chaotic spirals of creative cognition and channels them into digestible, immersive conversation, probing the under-sung exploration and discovery behind the work that redefines. Through the lens of life, world and system by which the essentially interrogative artistry emerges, the focus remains on innovative creation and the thinking, writing, crafting it takes to get there
I’ll also share updates on the projects I’m developing via this newsletter.
Find my work on my website.
BUT we keep it loose over here in more ways than one.
Scribbled Loose: The GameShow
Guess the film. Or get lost in what it means.
Yes. We made a game show. It lives on YouTube (primarily). Contestants submit their most provocative, original cultural claims about a movie’s deeper significance to them, filling in provided categories on theme, world, character, craft, plot and key quotes. Me and a bundle of special guests then try to identify the film behind these interpretations. It’s super fun.
Every few weeks, the submission form will refresh with new films. Find it on this page, but also follow the Scribbled Loose Instagram if you don’t wanna risk missing a damn beat… or if you enjoy thoughtful posting :) If you see a film in the form that you’re a particular zealot about, give us all you got!
And there’s plenty more…
Paid Subscriber Benefits:
The Game Show – exclusive episodes of the game show (in progress!)
Bonus releases – behind-the-scenes videos, process insights and more
Great Creations – a catalog of top-notch works, of all forms, made with heart.
Free Subscriber Benefits:
Tidbits – short-form musings on cultural/creative curiosities
Movie Meditations – interior reflections on films, not reviews
The occasional paid subscriber post – select content made available for free
Whichever winding path you choose, you’re promised at least ONE of the two succulent reads per week.
Our most popular posts are here.
The site Directory is here.
Why no movie reviews?
Although I talk about movies in most of my posts, what you won’t find here are any classically prosaic movie reviews, thus the genesis of our “trademark” Movie Meditation’s. As frequently flattening as I find movie reviews to be, the primary reason for this embodies the value system behind this entire project. I aim to foster an environment of considered “looseness,” where curiosity leads and the scribble is as meaningful as the statement. I care about how the abstract and personally specific interact with the world and vice versa. As such, I can’t say I’m interested in any closed-form film synthesis. As such, I defer to the Movie Meditation, a reflective, associative wandering through a film’s sticky undercurrents, rather than a verdict on its exterior form.
However, if you want to hear my occasional jotted down movie take you could follow me on Letterboxd.
Why pay to subscribe?
This newsletter is entirely reader-supported and entirely fueled by my fervor for unearthing the creative truths of cultural innovation. I am somewhat of an insatiable film and media consumer, but I’m also a filmmaker. As such, I concern myself with the components of story and the message underneath them from the perspective of a practitioner and critic invested in art that stands counter to the oppressive logics of capital.
This is what corporatized entertainment media will, inherently, never embrace. The material they pump out are gimmick-first, ravenously seeking what’s flashy, profitable and illustrative of the sweeping, conformist conclusions about said movie or project. The chance for meaningfully unfiltered reflections from creatives, whose processes are everything but conclusive, become washed of all their juicy nuggets of ingenuity. It’s my mission to preserve those nuggets. How will I do that? By remaining a student. By protecting and cultivating my sense of curiosity about those preciously confrontational cinematic gems that are born out of the margins, through a collective, inspired exchange of ideas. The gems we lovingly consume and forget to honor for the treacherous, life-consuming journey they took to get to our screens. The same journey they took to create. Let us return to a value over spectacle mindset!
Subscribe to keep committed creative coverage alive and independent. In an era of AI slop and derivative media strategy, spend your hard earned $5 on a monthly promise for real discovery, deeper questions and richer answers from the artists who live and breathe their craft.
Emails stuck in the wrong tab?
On a Computer: Move the email newsletter to the Primary inbox by selecting the email and dragging it to the Primary tab.
On a Phone: Select the 3 dots at the very top of one of our emails and select Move To→ Primary
Stay up-to-date and find us on social
Once subscribed, every new post is sent directly to your inbox.
Follow us on Instagram, Tiktok and Youtube.
For a spam-free, ad-free reading experience, plus audio and community features, get the Substack app.
