THE STAGE 32 BLOG Subscribe

Welcome to the Stage 32 Blog. Browse the archive, browse by tags, or search to get started...

Searching for "ttps:"

We found 3963 blog posts matching your search criteria. View all Blog posts

Film Contracts Made Simple: Expert Tips To Protect Your Work

You've seen plenty of film sets fall apart over handshake deals gone wrong. Contracts might be boring, but they're what keep your project from imploding when things get messy. And they always get messy when money and deadlines collide! As you may be aware, good contracts save productions. However, bad ones kill them. We’ve seen million-dollar projects collapse because someone thought a text message was enough to secure rights. Spend the time upfront or pay for it later, usually …

Happy New Year! Let's Talk Goals!

Happy New Year, Creative Army! I hope you all had a restful, meaningful holiday season and are stepping into this new year feeling energized, inspired, and ready to create. Whether you spent the last couple of weeks reflecting, recharging, or quietly plotting your next move, today is your starting line. As many of you know, every New Year’s Day, we use the Stage 32 Blog to pause, reset, and look ahead together. This tradition isn’t about resolutions that fade by February. I…

From Beats to Boards: A Systematic Way to Plan Your Screenplay

Some of you may be familiar with Blake Snyder’s book, Save the Cat, in which he lays out the important steps for hitting all the required elements in a screenplay. For those who are not familiar with this book, I would highly recommend you read it before tackling your next script. What I want to focus on here is a template I created based on his suggestions for architecting the story before sitting down and starting to write. Given my business experience as a project manager, I…

Stage 32 Certification Expands Partnerships in Spain and Latin America

This past October, I had the pleasure of attending Iberseries Platino Industria (IPI) in Madrid, a yearly film & television market, organized by EGEDA & Secuoya Studios, where the Spanish and Latin American audiovisual industries come together to collaborate and shape the future of content creation in Spanish, international co-production, and local production incentives. Over the years, in my capacities as consultant for Freeway Entertainment, owner of Zannoni Media, delegate o…

Stage 32 Now Certifying El Paso, Texas!

The El Paso Film & Creative Industries Film Commission has just partnered up with Stage 32 Certification to bring their top-tier, industry-backed training courses straight to our talented regional film community. This strategic partnership comes at a truly transformational time for our creative scene, as our area’s film and media industry keeps growing, fueled by our trademark Borderland energy, diversity, and “can-do” attitude. Stage 32 Certification offers practi…

Coffee & Content: Know Who You Are, Know Who You’re Pitching To

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! I hope your weekend has been a creative one so far. Whether you’ve been writing, filming, editing, or sketching out the next spark of an idea, I’ve got something today that will give you a boost. So grab your coffee, and let’s dive in. This week’s featured video comes from StudioBinder and explores a question that’s fascinated filmmakers for decades: What makes Studio Ghibli’s work so powerful—and why is it nearly i…

The Author + Screenwriter Collaboration: Adapting A Novel Into A Screenplay

In 2020, I wrote a Stage 32 blog about how to use struggles as creative fuel: When Life Gives You Lemons, Open a Lemonade Company - How to Use Struggles as Creative Fuel. In the last paragraph of that blog, I wrote: "Although I did not find a new well-paid job, I would not change it for the world. And I have confidence in the universe." Shortly after posting my blog on Stage 32, a published author contacted me, mentioning that she had read my wonderful blog and would like to connect. …

11 Tips For Bringing Your Animated Characters To Life

We all have characters we love. The ones that stay with us, that inspired us when we were children, made us laugh as adults, and share memories with family as we watched. It is a truly rewarding experience when animation artists breathe life into their characters by creating movement as though they’re real humans. But how does this happen? How can you make your characters alive in animation? Here are 11 tips to successfully create characters that feel as grounded and realistic a…

Happy Holidays From The Stage 32 Team!

Happy Holidays, Creative Army! On behalf of the entire Stage 32 family, I want to wish you and your loved ones a very happy, healthy, and peaceful Christmas and the remainder of the holiday season. The holidays are often filled with celebration, but they’re also a moment to pause, reflect, and take stock of the journey we’ve all been on together. No matter where you are in the world or where you are in your creative career, I hope you’re able to take a breath, feel pr…

Stage 32 Certifying Columbus, Ohio!

As Film Commissioner for Columbus, Ohio and the Central Ohio area, I am proud to announce our new partnership between Stage 32 Certification and Film Columbus, which will offer Stage 32’s world-class, industry-endorsed film & TV crew training programs directly to our city’s creative community. This collaboration comes at a pivotal time for Columbus as our film and content media scene continue to grow. Before 2026 even starts, we already have FOUR series and a feature in t…

Talking Business: Key Agreements in Film Financing Part 2

Welcome back to TALKING BUSINESS: Insights from the Independent Film Industry, hosted by Stage 32 Certification International Liaison, Thought Leader, and Business Consultant David Zannoni of Freeway Entertainment and Zannoni Media. If you joined us for Part 1 of this conversation, you already understand how critical a properly structured financing plan is to the survival of an independent film. In Part 2, we pick up exactly where that conversation left off and move into the real-world …

Stage 32 Now Certifying the Dallas Film Commission!

As the Dallas Film Commissioner, I am thrilled to announce a new partnership with Stage 32 Certification, offering their industry-endorsed training courses to our community. This collaboration comes at a pivotal time for our city’s dynamic and fast-growing film production industry.  Stage 32 Certification provides top-tier training designed specifically to equip both aspiring and working film professionals with practical skills that are in high demand by productions everywher…

register for stage 32 Register / Log In