Posted by Richard "RB" Botto

Welcome to the weekend everyone. Much to get to this week!

Under ENTERTAINMENT AND INDUSTRY NEWS, the raging debate on “pay for play” acting workshops reaches a fever pitch; the very talented Gary Marshall passes away; why Woody Allen’s cinematographer is embracing technology; the financiers of The Wolf of Wall Street have some issues; a look inside the secrets and sale of CAA; a look at independent film production at the mid point of 2016; an anatomy of a filming accident; why this year’s acting Emmy crop is the most diverse ever; the Weinsteins are under the microscope; STX and Paradigm make some moves; more people are cutting the cord and much, much more.

In the VIDEOS section this week, an amazing look at the cinematography of Inception, John Williams gets a surprise and Martin Scorsese lays down some admiration.

Under TIPS, I have advice on how to be insecurity plus, filmmaking, screenwriting, producing and film financing legal advice.

As for everything happening around the platform, be sure to check out STAGE 32 NEWS, STAGE 32 EDUCATION, STAGE 32 MEETUPS, STAGE 32 SUCCESS STORIES and POPULAR AND INTERESTING LOUNGE DISCUSSIONS.

As always, I welcome thoughts and discussion in the Comments section below!

Enjoy the content and have a terrific and creative weekend!

RB

 STAGE 32 NEWS

The Hype About Type: Six Questions To Get You Thinking About Yours - Lots of actors dread the question, “What’s your type?” Especially when you’re first starting out, there’s a sense that once you figure out your type you’ll magically be given a key to unlock every door to the acting business. Find out the easiest way to think about type Here.

What's New at Stage 32 This Week - Hello to everyone in the Stage 32 community! It is a busy week here with Stage 32 Next Level Education with 3 really exciting webinars and 1 class starting. I'm covering social media for filmmakers, supporting characters & subplot, VOD distribution to Amazon, iTunes, Hulu & more, and breaking into screenwriting. If you are a producer, filmmaker, screenwriter or actor take a look at my video below to see what is in store! 

Stage 32 Happy Writers 2nd Annual Feature Screenplay Contest Quarter-Finalists Announced - Results are in for the quarter-finalists of the 2nd Annual Stage 32 Happy Writers Feature Screenplay Contest! Our judges were simply amazed by the amount of writing caliber that was submitted this round. Join us as we congratulate these talented scribes! Click here to get the full list! 


STAGE 32 EDUCATION

Understanding Indie VOD Distribution & How To Deliver Your Film! Hosted by Zahida Kazar, Operations Manager at independent film distributor Gravitas Ventures. An LA native, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Film from UCLA and has since worked behind the scenes on various shorts, indie features and a web series. In this Stage 32 webinar, Zahida will provide you with a greater understanding of the VOD space, how to prep your film for delivery, why delivery is so important to the bottom line, and what to expect when your movie is released. She works with independent filmmakers every day facilitating the delivery of their film to the various online platforms and cable operators.

This webinar will help walk you through the steps of film delivery, from getting your movie and trailer files to an encoding lab for quality control, creating closed captioning and subtitles, the movie poster and artwork, and what happens when your movie gets to the marketplace. Click here to get the details and register now! 

Audition Ammunition: Booking The Room - Ready to make the transition into new areas of acting work? Or are you just starting out and looking to learn more about the different formats of auditions? Even the best actors can stumble when faced with starting out in a new medium. Especially if your experience or training is mostly in theater, there are key differences between theater auditions and television auditions and commercial auditions. Expanding your skills into every aspect of the business is key as you continue to build your career.

In this Stage 32 Next Level Webinar, accomplished actors Uma Incrocci and Christian Pedersen are back by popular demand to walk you through what happens in the audition room – and discuss the differences in each kind of audition, including theater, TV, film, voiceover, new media, and commercial auditions. They’ll also take a look at some sample materials for each kind, and share tips on how to prepare. Self-taped auditions are becoming more and more the norm, so they’ll also review how to make a high quality audition video. To review the entire list of things you will learn and to register, click here!

How to Finance Your Film By Co-Producing with Europe - With the gap between independent films and studio films constantly growing, it has become quite a challenge for independent producers to finance their films. As a result, more and more producers are looking outside of their home territories for additional sources of finance. Europe, in particular, is very attractive for international producers: not only does it have diverse landscapes and excellent crews, but the different European countries offer fantastic funding and tax incentive schemes that can be accessed by foreign producers to finance their films.

This Stage 32 Next Level Webinar will provide you with an understanding of how you can finance your film by partnering with a European producer and accessing European funding and tax incentive schemes. You will walk away with a better understanding of the European co-production landscape, the ability to evaluate the potential of your project for a co-production in Europe, the knowledge of how to set it up and find the right partners, and an understanding of how much you could potentially get. To see the amazing things you will learn in this webinar, click here! 


HAPPY WRITERS PITCH SESSIONS

Pitch Brandon Drea - Saturday, July 23rd -  Assistant to Partner, Paper Plane Entertainment (Specializes in comedy features & TV pilots)  

Pitch Kyle Wade –  Saturday, July 23rd - Assistant to Producer, Panay Films (Specializes in comedy, drama and sci-fi features & TV pilots) 

Pitch The Gersh AgencySunday, July 24th - Agent, The Gersh Agency (Specializes in TV pilots of all genres)

Subtext – How to Add Layers to Your Story and Characters - In this Stage 32 Next Level Webinar, filmmaker Steve Desmond will help you to craft engaging subtext to layer your stories with nuance and emotion. Whether you’re going for laughs, drama, or impending fear, he’ll help you to make your screenplay feel more true to life. For directors or actors working with existing scripts, this webinar will help you to dig deeper below the surface to find the true lifeblood beneath a line. For producers, we’ll discuss tips on how to work with writers to make their subtext come alive. To learn more about this Webinar and register, click here!


 STAGE 32 SUCCESS STORIES


STAGE 32 MEETUPS


 POPULAR AND INTERESTING LOUNGE DISCUSSIONS


INDUSTRY AND ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

An Alternative Perspective on Casting Workshops: Open Letter 

L.A. City Attorney Investigating Casting Workshops Amid Pay-to-Play Controversy

Gary Marshall Leaves a Legacy of Star Grooming and Storytelling

Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro on Filming 'Cafe Society' Digitally: You Can't Stop Progress

Wolf of Wall Street Film Was Financed With Stolen Money: Feds

Inside the Saga, Secrets and Sale of CAA

5 Observations About Independent Film Production at the 2016 Midpoint

The Decline of Hollywood’s Bully Culture

Anatomy of a Filming Accident

Emmy Acting Nominations Are Most Diverse Ever

Weinstein Co.’s Movie Shifts Raise Questions Over Money Woes

Paradigm Promotes Five Trainees to Agent

STX Taps New Line’s Sam Brown as Production Chief, Replacing Cathy Schulman

Art Directors Guild Under New Management

Cord Cutting Accelerates: Study Finds 25% of U.S. Homes Don’t Have Pay TV Service 


 VIDEOS

Inception – Cinematography Analysis 

Two Musicians Played the Theme From Star Wars Outside John Williams’ House, and He Popped Out to Meet Them 

Martin Scorsese Remembers Abbas Kiarostami 


 TIPS 

1 Piece of Advice to Beat Insecurity

Directors Share the Best Piece of Advice They Received at the Sundance Labs

If You’re Not Reading Screenplays, You’re Missing Out as a Writer

The Difference Between Being a Producer and a Creative Producer

How to Talk to Your Investors About IRC Section 181


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As always, we welcome thoughts and remarks on ANY of the content above in the Comments section below...

 

What's New at Stage 32 This Week Part II
The 3rd Annual Search For New Blood Screenwriting Contest Begins Now
 
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