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The Rise & Struggle of Independent Filmmakers: Sustaining Creativity in a Studio-Dominated World
Advice For Screenwriters From An Award-Winning Producer & Repped Screenwriter
The Secrets To Mapping Out a Multi-Season Story
7 Lessons I Learned From Film Festival Rejections
The [Ultimate] 5-Step Sound Guide for Great Sound on Set
Happy Thanksgiving From Stage 32: We Are Thankful For YOU
Announcing the 10th Annual Short Film Contest
Mapping Out a Multi-Season Story Part 2: Where Do You Get Ideas For This Much Story?
Why Filmmakers Must Study Birdman: Lessons in Screenwriting, Dark Humor, and Storytelling
Time To Breakout Of Creative Blocks
Mapping Out a Multi-Season Story Part 2: Where Do You Get Ideas For This Much Story?
In my previous blog post about mapping out a multi-season story, I talked about how to write up your vision for the future of your series in different ways depending on the format of your show. But a lot of writers struggle with finding ideas for a season arc and ask me if there is a process for that idea generation phase of the process. As a literary manager, part of my job was brainstorming with writers to help them craft the best version of their vision. As a producer, I actually have…
The Secrets To Mapping Out a Multi-Season Story
Working with writers as an instructor, consultant, and producer on developing television series, writing pilot scripts, and pitch bibles, I have found that the most exciting – and most difficult – part of the process is imagining that the show is being made and working out what the first season and subsequent seasons might be about. Sure, there will eventually be a writer’s room that will “break” the seasons (decide what happens in each episode), but before …
The Power of Comps: How They Break (Or Make!) Your TV Pitch
You’re ready to pitch your TV series idea. You’re there, in the room or on Zoom, you’re nervous as hell but you know your stuff, you’ve got this, you draw a deep breath, you say that much-practiced logline and end with “it’s X meets Y!” Someone somewhere told you to use “comps”, so you picked two shows or films that bear some resemblance to your show and put them together. They told you to pick comps that were profitable to show your …
Why Do You Need A Pitch Bible For Your Television Series?
In this era of Zoom pitches, writers sometimes question why they need a written pitch bible for a television project at all. Can’t you just pitch your show in a Stage 32 pitch session or to a contact in a meeting, send over a pilot script, and sell your show? Can’t the rest of the details be worked out later? Who would read your pitch anyway? Actually, writing a pitch bible may be the most important step you take toward selling your show. Here are f…
Intellectual Property 101 from an Entertainment Executive
These days in Hollywood, Intellectual Property is king, particularly in television. It seems as if every other day, we hear about a show being sold or picked up based on a book, an article, a podcast, a true story, or another adaptation of some kind. Intellectual Property (aka IP) has always served as source material for television and film projects but has become increasingly important over the past decade with the explosion of the volume of content. Why is IP so central to developing a…
![How to Tackle an Idea That's Already Been Done [While Still Making it Unique]](/sites/stage32.com/files/cake/5c1978423c38a-fixed.jpg?abc)
How to Tackle an Idea That's Already Been Done [While Still Making it Unique]
You’re in the middle of working on the best pilot script you’ve ever written. It’s fresh and unique, and you couldn’t be more excited about it. You even did your homework before beginning – you did lots of research to see what similar shows were out there and you were reassured that there was nothing quite like your concept. Then a new show is announced or (worse) airs, only for you to discover that this is the very same idea you’ve been working on, ju…
What Do Showrunners Look for When Hiring Writers?
I recently attended a panel discussion on writer’s rooms and wanted to share some of the insights offered by the panelists who are two prominent showrunners from network and cable: A streaming network executive, and a production company executive. The questions they answered were: - What do showrunners look for when they hire writers? - What is the process for hiring? - How are rooms different in network vs. cable and streaming? - What if you create a show and the studio wants to …
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