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5 Things You Need to Know About Hollywood in The Year 2018

My agent once told me that he was more than happy for me to write my little character drama about a man who lives a double life robbing banks. He then asked me if I could also build him a time machine back to 1975 so he could sell it. Point taken. Hollywood is a fluid business where trends change in a matter of months. Some genres, in fact, go completely dormant. In 2009 The Proposal, It’s Complicated, and Couples Retreat all grossed 100M+ domestically. Know what the highest grossi…

The “Magic Touch” in Booking Commercials

My name is David Banks and I’ve booked over 100 national commercials. Recently, I was a featured guest at Film Con LA and was asked how it’s seemed so easy for me to book spot after spot and what’s my magic touch. How it’s easy? That’s quite funny. Although it may appear like I have some kind of “magic touch,” my current method never fell into my lap. It was derived from MANY years of hearing no after no after no and having no clue how to remed…

Coffee & Content - Get Your Short Film Screened at Festivals & Editing: Holding Long & Cutting Short

Happy Sunday to all my creative friends.  Hope you're all having an awesome weekend.  First up for Coffee & Content this week, with so many Stage 32 members creating short films and short form digital content, I thought it might be worth having a look at Filmmaker IQ's recent video How to Get Your Short Screened at Film Festivals.  Certainly interested in hearing your thoughts on this one! Next, from our friends at Cinefix, yet another comprehensive video.  This…

How I've Been Able to Make 6 Feature Films In 2 Years

It’s been two years since I began the crazy notion of directing and writing my feature films. In that time I’ve written a book that’s been published that I’m turning into a movie later this year, I have completed 6 feature films. All totally different genres. I have met an incredible mentor who supports me in ways I never thought possible. I am speaking on a directors panel at Cannes Film Festival and I have won various awards at various film festivals. The reason…

10 Things I Did To Land My First PAID Screenwriting Gig

We’ve all read those “14,962 Things You Should Do to Become a Successful Screenwriter” lists before, right? Well, halfway through this article, I’m going to give you a slightly different kind of list. It’s a revolutionary, paint-by-numbers guide to how you can become a paid screenwriter, just like me. THUNK! Phil falls off his chair. Rolls on the floor. His face stretched. Tears on his cheeks, laughing – or is he crying? Sorry… I’m ok. …

6 Tips On How To Gain Confidence As an Actor (Or Other Creative)

The mother of all skill is repetition! To have the confidence you want to show on stage, or in the audition room, you have to be willing to go the extra mile. Be willing to rehearse and practice more than others and go beyond what your body and mind think is enough. When you go the extra mile and drill your work over and over, that is when your skills become sharp and your confidence grows. This past year I was asked to perform my current solo show, The American Soldier, plus a new sol…

The Importance of Professionalism for Your Career

"I’m the guy that does his job. You must be the other guy.” – Mark Wahlberg playing Dignam is The Departed.     When I told Rosalind Winton that I wanted to write another blog here on Stage 32, there was one topic I had been looking to address for a while, but also one that is quite timely in light of what’s going on in the entertainment business: Professionalism. It’s the reason I led with Mr. Wahlberg’s quote from the Oscar-…

Stage 32 Success Story: The Making of TAXII (India & US Production)

I am from the small town of Dibrugarh in India, situated on the banks of Brahmaputra river. My love for theatre and cinema goes back to my childhood. Growing up in an artistically inclined family, I was actively involved in drama right from my school days, I acted and participated in a number of plays. In Class VI, I wrote and directed a one-act play on my own. I was also a founding member of Dibrugarh Aakhara Ghar, a drama workshop. Drama has always been an undying passion for me and my…

Success Quest: Self Care - YOU Are The Most Important Person You Know

Who, exactly, is a DreamWeaver? DreamWeavers pull together the threads of relationships, career, education and experience, then reach beyond their grasp and weave a unique life tapestry. That would be you, yes?     YOU are the Most Important Person you know… No one else can fulfill your dream, no matter what they may say. And Honey, you can’t fulfill the dream of anyone else, either. Dreams are individual. Unique. Others may support yours and vice versa; you …

Success Quest: How To Fulfill Your Creative Dream

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it. Begin it now.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe    Do you love what you’re doing? If you could change anything, from tiniest niggle to largest adjustment, what would you do? Would you keep forging ahead for the dream du jour? Or would you modify, skew slightly left, leave the beaten path entirely? What will it take for you to pursue your dream? As a child, I dreamed of b…

When to Bring On a Crowdfunding Campaign Manager

Crowdfunding for independent film has grown up quite a bit since the very first edition of Crowdfunding for Filmmakers came out in 2013, and as such, those who partake in the privilege of inviting a crowd in to fund your latest movie must adapt to the changing landscape. As Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder sings, “It’s evolution, baby!” and one such evolution has been the advent of the campaign manager.   Yes, crowdfunding’s a booming industry, one that has…

The Story of a Painter in Recovery

The way we communicate has changed more in the past two decades, than it has since Gutenburg invented his printing press in 1440. But now Gutenburg's been replaced by Zuckerburg, and we're no longer analogue creatures. We're carefully curated digital representations, information junkies – constantly in the loop, all wired up to The Matrix. You may regard our new digital reality a dystopian wasteland – a bleak place punctuated by selfies, pornography and neon virtue-signaller…

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