RB's Stage 32 News, Notes, Discussions and Other Fun Stuff (December 11, 2015)

 STAGE 32 NEWS

Get Your Hustle On - Your Indie Film Hustle! -  Have you ever wanted an easy blueprint to make it in the film business?  Alex Ferrari, filmmaker (and Stage 32 member) hosts an extremely popular indie film podcast, Indie Film Hustle.  In this podcast, he interviews Richard “RB” Botto from the online film community Stage 32.com.   RB discusses the Blueprint to Make it in the Film Business with Stage 32.  Stage 32 is a US-based social network and educational site for creative professionals who work in film, television and theater. Stage 32 links professionals in the entertainment industry including directors, writers, actors and entertainment staff.  Stage 32 caters to film industry professionals with featured bloggers, online education taught by industry professionals, news from Hollywood and filming locations around the world, Stage 32 meetups page, an online lounge and a film business jobs page that allows members to connect with others on film ventures, along with standard social media functions.  To hear Alex's podcast with RB, Click here: Get Your Hustle On - Your Indie Film Hustle!

The Annual Stage 32 Happy Writers Search for New Blood Screenwriting Contest brought out some of the most impressive undiscovered voices in the suspense/thriller/sci-fi horror genres. The competition was fierce and scores were very, very close in the final rounds. The creativity and imagination of our writers continually came up from our judges. Ultimately we discovered some amazing new writers as a result.  As promised, all Stage 32 Happy Writers contests are about giving our winners access and exposure to the top decision makers in Hollywood. Our top 3 scripts have already been requested by dozens of industry execs and our writers have received interest from some of the top literary management companies, agencies and production companies in Hollywood including Gersh, Benderspink, ICM, WME and more. And our winner will be brought to Los Angeles to meet directly with multiple industry executives face to face. To see the winners and read about the contest, click here:   Annual Stage 32 Happy Writers Search for New Blood Screenwriting Contest

Why Crowdfunding Is The Single Best Form Of Independent Film Financing - RB is thrilled and honored to announce that not only will Stephen Fallows be a contributing a number of columns for the Stage 32 Blog, but he will be teaching the first ever Stage 32 Master Class in early 2016. Stephen's Master Class will be on crowdfunding, and it will be the most inclusive, insightful and factual (backed by more stats than you could imagine) class ever taught on the subject.  It's an honor to welcome and introduce to you, the incredible Stage 32 community, RB's friend, Stephen Follows.  Click here to read Stephen Fallows first blog on Why Crowdfunding is the Single Best Form of Independent Film Financing. 

STAGE 32 EDUCATION

Saturday, 12/12 Stage 32 Next Level Webinars presents Writing the Producible, Low-Budget Script hosted by James Kicklighter, a multi-award winning writer/director who is currently developing projects with Richard Saperstein (The Mist, Se7en) and Beau Turpin (Counterpunch) and whose films have been featured in The Hollywood Reporter, The Times of India, Film Courage and FilmInk Australia! In this webinar, James will teach you how to develop a film that can be made without large budgets and resources. He will arm you with the knowledge to create a scene that shows the narrative arc without telling it, as well as go through simple elements that often drive up budgets, elements that have been forgotten or unconsidered by filmmakers of all experience levels. You will learn how to optimize your script to show and not tell the story with nominal resources, providing valuable guidance for the novice and a refresher for the experienced veteran. You will leave this webinar knowing exactly how to write a producible, low-budget script!
You will leave this webinar knowing:

• How to understand the marketplace
• How to choose material
• The process of creating compelling characters
• Optimizing the screenplay for production
• Writing accessible locations
• Shifting the shooting schedule
• Showing and not telling
• Modifying the script in production
• Building partnerships for release
• Attaching talent

To read more about this webinar, see a video from James and to register, click here Writing the Producible, Low-Budget Script

 Tuesday 12/15 Stage 32 Next Level Webinars presents Script Protection and Idea Theft - hosted by Jaia Thomas an entertainment attorney who specializes in federal copyright registration and licensing as well as film financing, production and distribution. Jaia will navigate you through the copyright registration process, going step-by-step through the process of registering a script with the United States Copyright Office. Ms. Thomas will also outline some of the key distinctions and misconceptions between registration with the US Copyright Office and the Writers Guild of America. The webinar will also outline some of the key legal precautions writers can take to protect their ideas and scripts during the collaboration and pitching process, as well as provide attendees with a list of technologies available to assist with script protection.

You will leave this webinar knowing:

• Copyright Registration
• Writers Guild Registration
• Idea Protection and Theft
• Mobile Apps
• Digital Watermarks
• Confidentiality Agreements
• Non-Disclosure Agreements

To read more about this webinar, see a video from Jaia and to register, click here Script Protection and Idea Theft

Monday, Jan 11 Next Level Webinar presents: Advanced Crowdfunding For Filmmakers Master Class - Launching a crowdfunding campaign is easy – ensuring you actually reach your goal is not. Especially if you need to raise a large amount or you’re competing in a crowded marketplace. Hosted by Stephen Follows an established data researcher in the film industry whose work has been featured in the New York Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Mirror, The Evening Standard, Newsweek, The News Statesman, AV Club and Indiewire. In Session one, Stephen will help you build the best possible campaign based on research into over 50,000 film crowdfunding campaigns, conversations with filmmakers and interviews with key people behind major crowdfunding companies.

You will leave the first session knowing:

• Picking your platform based on your needs
• Crafting a powerful campaign
• Inspiring action in your audience and turning viewers into backers
• How to road-test rewards, ideas and copy before launch
• What makes people share campaigns to their friends and family
• A model for a $1 million crowdfunding campaign

To read more about this webinar and to register, click here: Advanced Crowdfunding for Filmmakers Master Class

Monday, Jan 18 Next Level Webinar presents: Advanced Crowdfunding For Filmmakers Master Class – Session 2 - Hosted by data researcher Stephen Fellows an established data researcher in the film industry whose work has been featured in the New York Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Mirror, The Evening Standard, Newsweek, The News Statesman, AV Club and Indiewire. In our second session Steven Fellows will study what makes the most compelling video message, what other types of videos you should be making and the results of Stephen’s research into 5,200 top performing crowdfunding videos.

You will leave the second session knowing:

• Systematically building a high-converting video from scratch
• How to decide on your style and approach
• Creating the personal touch in a professional manner
• Measuring the effectiveness of humor
• Video adverts and seeding
• Hard-learnt lessons from the professional online video frontline

To read more about this webinar and to register, click here: Advanced Crowdfunding for Filmmakers Master Class

Monday, Jan 25 Next Level Webinar presents: Advanced Crowdfunding For Filmmakers Master Class – Session 3 - Hosted by data researcher Stephen Fellows an established data researcher in the film industry in Session 3 – Marketing and outreach he will show that all crowdfunding filmmakers need to reach new people but if you’re going to run a big campaign, a bigger task than most. But by using the tools of professional marketers you can reach millions of people and convert them into the backers you need.

You will leave the third session knowing:

• Identifying your key audience groups
• Building brand awareness with a tiny budget
• Professional lead generation
• Facebook marketing
• Retargeting to follow your audience online
• Metrics for success and benchmarks
• Special industry expert guest
• Live Q&A with Stephen

To read more testimonials about this master workshop and register for the three part program, click here: Advanced Crowdfunding for Filmmakers Master Class

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