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Insider Intel: Don't Miss the Opportunity to Pitch to 15 Executives This Week!
Short Films, Big Plans: How to Build Powerful Indie Shorts That Launch Careers- Join Stage 32 + SAGindie's FREE Webcast!
How to Shoot Horror Films That Scare The Bejesus Out Of Your Audience!
The Importance of Proper Script Formatting
November Write Club Week #1: How To Find & Build The Creative Community That You Need!
Coffee & Content: The Difference Between Story and Narrative
The Making of After All Part 1: The Director's Journey
Insider Intel: Your Logline Is Your First Impression—Make It Count
Why Letting Go Now Matters in Your Creative Work
November Write Club Week #2: Insights From The Stage 32 Matchmaker — What You Should Look For In A Collaborator!
The Importance of Finding Your Niche
An Emmy-nominated VFX supervisor and a sound designer at Universal have recently both come to me expressing their frustration about the business. They wanted to know if everyone was feeling the squeeze or if post-production was just getting the short end of the stick? Both asked me for advice: Is there a segment of the business that's safe? The answer: yes and no. No one's safe. Ever. In any business. But I'm finding more and more that the business is welcoming hyper-specialization. He…
5 Lessons from Growing a Local Film Festival
I recently sat down with my friend Simona Muresan, co-founder and programming director of the Hollywood Florida Film Festival (HFFF). She was in the middle of prepping the festival’s 9th edition, wrangling over 90 films, sponsors, and an elevated jury lineup, but carved out time to chat about what it really takes to grow a local film festival into something meaningful. What followed offered valuable insights not only into how to scale a festival, but also into how filmmakers can b…
Stage 32 Now Certifying Film Tampa Bay!
Happy Wednesday, Stage 32 Creative Army! I am thrilled to share some exciting news that was just featured in the Tampa Bay Business Journal: Stage 32 has partnered with Film Tampa Bay to bring our Production Assistant Master Certification Program to the region! With more filming opportunities, grants and regional incentives coming to the state of Florida, Tampa Bay wants to ensure they have top trained talent that can work on film and television productions in the area. With the help o…
3 Ways Ghostwriting Can Empower Your Creative Career
As a ghostwriter, I’ve discovered that one of the best ways to grow as a creative professional is not always through your own words – it’s through the words you write for someone else. When many people think about ghostwriting, they might focus first (and perhaps exclusively) on the paycheck that comes with it. Let’s make no mistake: ghostwriting can be a lucrative addition to your business model. But the benefits of working as a ghostwriter extend far beyond the …
How Forgiveness Frees Your Writing and Filmmaking
As creatives, we carry more than our scripts, edits, or pitches. We carry experiences—collaborations that went sideways, rejections that stung, betrayals that cut deep. These can live inside us longer than we realize. What often goes unsaid is this: forgiveness is not about forgetting what happened. It is about changing your relationship to what happened so it no longer dictates your future work. The Difference Between Forgiving and Forgetting One of the most persistent myths is …
Coffee & Content: Capturing Characters On Screen and On the Page
Happy Sunday, Creative Army! Have you had a creative weekend so far? Whether you’ve been writing, filming, editing, or simply dreaming up your next big idea, I’ve got some inspiring content to fuel your passion and keep you moving forward. So grab your coffee, and let’s dive in. Let’s start with this brilliant video essay from Panavision: Oona Menges, BSC on cinematography, collaborating, and Ruby Speaking. Oona Menges has had a decades-long career as a cinemat…
7 Tips To Strengthen Your Screenplay’s Dialogue
Writing dialogue is more than just studying how other people speak. It helps to move your story forward and gives a voice to what you’ve put down on paper. Here are some tips to make this voice as strong as possible. 1) Do Your Research An upper-class woman in Victorian England is going to have a very different life from a teenage boy in 2010. Know who your character is and how they navigate life based on their occupation and social status. Find out as much as you can about t…
Stage 32 Certification Journey: Central American Cinema Breaking Global Records!
I’m proud to share how my Stage 32 Certification equipped me with the skills to produce and release Paradise Falls: A Christmas Story, a film that has set a historic record for Central American cinema. The certification gave me essential knowledge, from project management to international distribution, that helped me navigate the complexities of a global release with confidence. Thanks to those tools, Paradise Falls: A Christmas Story achieved an unprecedented milestone: premierin…
Stage 32 Partners with STARZ, NALIP, and NFMLA for the #TakeTheLead Writers’ Intensive!
Hello, Creative Army! Another day, another partnership, another opportunity for the incredible, talented members of the Stage 32 community. I’ve always said the mission of Stage 32 is to democratize access to industry-level opportunities. Today, I’m proud to share proof of that mission in action. As announced exclusively in Variety, Stage 32 is an Education Partner for the STARZ #TakeTheLead Writers’ Intensive with the National Association of Latino Independent P…
The Proof is in The Proof of Concept
The Proof is in The Proof of Concept - or is it? For the past few years, I've been advising thousands of writers, actors, and creators (probably 5,000+) NOT to shoot proof of concepts for their projects. They rarely communicate what the final product would actually look like, and more often than not, poor production quality works against them. A proof of concept needs to WOW an executive, producer, or financier to really move the needle. But a bad proof of concept can tilt the scale of …
Your Guide To Filming Great Interviews
Hello, my fellow creatives. In this survival guide, I will be focusing on a checklist and things to keep in mind when shooting a documentary or good old fashion interviews. There are many ways to skin a cat, and it is up to you to test and refine what works so you can effectively handle any curve balls and do your job efficiently while keeping on schedule. Choosing The Right Space It goes without saying that picking the right location for your documentary or interview is important. Doe…
Coffee & Content: The Tools, Routines, and Relationships That Drive Creative Success
Happy Sunday, Creative Army! Have you had a creative weekend so far? Whether you’ve been writing, filming, editing, or simply dreaming up your next big idea, I’ve got some inspiring content to fuel your passion and keep you moving forward. So grab your coffee, and let’s dive in. Let’s start with this insightful roundtable by Panavision, where a group of world-class DPs share the tools, routines, and instincts they rely on throughout the filmmaking process. From …
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