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Coffee & Content: The Genius of Weapons and How to Know When Your Script Is Ready
Stage 32 + DramaBox Join Forces to Launch World's First Vertical Drama Incubator
My Stage 32 Story: Persistence, Healing, & Creative Breakthroughs in Year 3
Talking Business: Key Agreements in Film Financing Part 2
Stage 32 Now Certifying Centro de Portugal Film Commission!
4 Reasons To Have Audio Description On Your Film
How to Get Help from Stage 32: Meet the Teams Behind the Scenes
Insider Intel: Packaging your Project- The Chicken or the Egg Dilemma
Coffee & Content: Why Your Pitch Needs to Be Human
Insider Intel: 2026 Predictions
Building Safe Spaces To Foster Creativity
If branding is a demonstration of what we consistently do, then the heart of my professional brand is “Builder of Safe Spaces to Foster Growth & Creativity”. Looking over my track record, I consistently create safe spaces for people to talk and grow. As a massage therapist, during film school as a casting director making auditioning more fun, as a producer making directors feel more supported, my early days in television where I helped to create an internship/mentorship p…
8 Questions To Ask Before Shooting Your Short Film
Let’s go back to basics! If you are thinking or overthinking about producing your first short film, you are not alone. These are the 8 things that were around my head when deciding to go for it. 1. Is making a short worthwhile? I hate to reply to this with another question, but you have to ask yourself first: Why do I want to do it? Maybe you want to be an actor and it can be a way to get material for your reel, get credits and exposure. Same with a director or DP. If you are a…
Check Out Richard Botto's Latest: 7 Actionable Steps Toward Overcoming Procrastination
Our fearless leader, Richard 'RB' Botto, has a brand new article over on Medium and we've got a first look for you here on the Stage 32 Blog. Check out this preview of his latest piece, and be sure to click here to read the full article. If you struggle with procrastination, don’t beat yourself up. We live in a world designed to distract you. From the emails and newsletters that fill our inbox, social media, push notification, telemarketers, and so on, everything around us i…
7 Tips for Producing Your Own Film Projects
Several years ago I decided that I wanted to get a degree in film and television from the highly competitive film school at New York University. There was one major obstacle though... I was a high school dropout. What are the odds of my being accepted into this school and program? Not very good, but I decided (call it naivety, blind faith, insanity, or whatnot) it was not only possible, but it was going to be my reality. I put one foot in front of the other, busted my butt as if it were …
Balancing It All As A Creative
As a working actor, I am often asked: How do you balance your acting career with the rest of your life? It usually comes from those who aren't actors/artists or those who are actors but are struggling to find that balance. This got me thinking about balance and I asked myself whether "balance" is just an abstract idea or something practical to have in your life. More importantly, is it even possible to have balance with all the things we have going on, all the tasks we have to perform…
5 Steps To Grow From Amateur to Professional Screenwriter
I became a screenwriter because of a felony. Not mine, but one that changed my career forever. Fresh off the high of publishing my debut sci-fi novel, Space Unicorn Blues, my publisher requested a second book in the series. I was ecstatic to finally realize my dream of making a living as a writer. As is customary, my literary agency received my advance for the action-packed sequel... except they didn't pass the money along to me. I asked. I demanded. I threatened. No money arrived. The …
Coffee & Content: When Studio Interference Is A Good Thing
Happy Sunday, Creative Army! First, congratulations to all of you who have already participated in our monthly Introduce Yourself Weekend! Thousands of connections have been made between entertainment creatives and professionals from around the globe. Whether you are a long-time member or brand new to Stage 32, take a moment to pop over to the Introduce Yourself Lounge and say hello before the end of the weekend. First up, I often see as we're having fun debating films in the lounges t…
How Perfectionism Kills Your Craft & Crushes Your Spirit
At age 17, my artist-father was taught a mantra. ‘Near enough isn’t good enough. It has to be perfect.’ So he hustled for his mentor, re-doing work over and over again until one day, the mentor was moved to tears and whispered; ‘now it’s perfect. And that’s near enough.’ But the damage was done. With over 60 years of painting, dad couldn’t bring himself to have an exhibition. Nothing was perfect. It robbed him of so much joy and satisfacti…
How To Break Into Film & TV In A Work-From-Home World
Before lockdown, it seemed easier to break into Film and TV. Once in, it seemed easier to get your next job. You just had to be a hard-working and dependable human pinball. But in this post-pandemic WFH world, how can you be a human pinball, creating and networking and getting your work in front of as many people as you can, when there are no other people around you, for you to bounce off? It was easy to be a pinball when I was starting out. My first job was as a production assistant o…
An Interview with Composer & Screenwriter Michael A. Levine
I’m always amazed at who you can come across on Stage 32. Our global community is so vast that there’s no chance of knowing who’s who, unless you take the plunge and start connecting with people you meet whilst sharing comments in the various Lounges or the Blog. Phil Hardy and I had just published our latest article “How Can You Sell Your Screenplay To A Studio" and I noticed a comment from Michael A. Levine. Michael, by the way, is an award-winning compose…
4 Reasons Your Characters Aren't Working & How To Fix It
I love, love, love how you write descriptions! The words jump off the page! When you first read these notes, you're excited, you finally wrote the winning script that'll change your life forever. Hell, it might even make you a millionaire! But then suddenly reality hits you like a ton of bricks. Even though people are saying you are talented, your scripts are still rejected, you never make the finals, you get high scores on your coverage reports, but it leads nowhere, and your query le…
How To Use An Escrow Account To Secure Financial Transactions On Independent Films
There are multiple financial transactions on an independent film project, to finance, produce, and distribute the film. An example can be an investor that pays money to the production, to invest in a film, with the aim to earn the investment back and receive a return on investment and share in the film’s profits, if any. Another potential scenario is an international co-production. The co-producers from different countries jointly produce a film and each of the co-producers provi…
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