Producing

Hey Grace Minton - Welcome to Stage 32 - glad you're with us! If you're thinking of getting into producing, Stage 32 has some great certification classes that can help with understanding that lane. I've taken a few myself and love them. Once you obtain certification, you'll be listed in their database and linked to film commissions globally. Here's the page for the classes but if you have any questions, reach out to Sam at certification@Stage32.com. All the best!

Grace Minton I am the head of the Independent Producers Guild. Add me here and DM me. We can discuss some things that might be of interest to you. Meantime check out stagescreen.org and the PUNC program there.

Grace Minton Hi Grace - I would love to connect and share intel. I started traveling the world in October 2024 after a banking career for the last 30 years. It has been so much fun and an experience of a lifetime for sure and I am researching for my creative projects during my travels.

Welcome @graceminton and congratulations for finding @stage32. You will find an abundance of information, education, and helpful fellow creatives along your journey. Bravo!

Hey there Grace Minton. Welcome to our Stage 32 community. You'll find tremendous resources here with workshops and seminars/webinars. Let's connect and if you'd like to DM me, I have some additional ideas for resources and advice. Best of luck in your new pursuit. :)

I'm thinking about writing a script about Flip the Frog, Ashley Renee Smith.

Congrats on your film! I think you have an opportunity to look at tax incentives available from Western countries and also Eastern countries (or states in the US) to get more money on your projected budget. If you decide to film some in a native Eastern language with subtitles you also have an opportunity for global streaming release. we have a good webinar on this: https://www.stage32.com/education/products/navigating-todays-distribution-landscape-to-successfully-release-your-film

I’d say you’re spot on about the cycle. Funding slows everything down, and when budgets are tight, promotion becomes its own uphill battle. What I’ve learned is that indie creators end up wearing ten hats: filmmaker, marketer, strategist, hype squad. It’s exhausting, but also kind of the game right now.

For me, the only workaround has been consistency. Even when the money isn’t flowing, the visibility has to. Promotion is slow magic. It stacks over time, even when it feels like nobody’s watching.

I also think it’s okay to grow later than others. The people who “pop” fast usually had resources behind them that weren’t visible. For the rest of us, it’s a marathon built on patience, community, and showing up even when it feels like you’re shouting into the void.

That’s been my experience so far.

Dave Cj What are your answers to promotion?

Having a creative marketing campaign can help, Dave Cj. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money, like a social media game that ties into the movie. Maybe give the people who win movie tickets, digital copies of the script, etc.

Hey :) I recently discussed this topic with a director client of mine. He wasn't sure whether having a poster was important to promote his short film, and whether the image gpt created would be enough. When I explained the various critical issues and saw my work, he understood the value of a critical eye in promoting a videographer's work. It doesn't take much, but for now, it's important to enhance your film with something that highlights its uniqueness, not something banal and obvious like so many others.

To write this answer I relied on the online translator since ENG it is not my first language, I apologize for any typing/mistakes :)

Fantastic!

>_< \m/ ye!!

Very impressive the leaps and bounds Certification is making around the globe! Bravo @samsokolow @stage32 @mauricevaughan

Thank you very much.

Happy New Year.

The same to you, have a great, productive, and rewarding year.

Happy New Year Aleksandr Rozhnov !

Based on the concept and the world.

That means a great deal to hear—thank you, Hermina Orcsik . You articulated something I’ve been circling around: the idea that awareness itself can be the resolution. I’m drawn to stories where the shift is internal rather than external, where nothing “wins” but something is finally seen clearly. Those moments tend to stay with me longer than neat endings.

Thank you, Meriem Bouziani . I’m glad the world itself came through for you. I’ve tried to let the concept shape the environment rather than explain it—so the repetition, the atmosphere, and the emotional echoes do as much storytelling as the plot.

That’s so good. I wish you good luck on your journey. Nasir Lone

Nasir Lone I completely agree. I believe real change begins within a character’s inner world, and only then becomes visible on the outside.

When that inner shift is felt, it naturally reaches the audience as well—and in some cases, even inspires them.

Thank you

You're welcome, Mark Simmons. I hope you get the financing!

Great work @marksimmons With that package of talent and distribution LOI you should be in good shape to attract investors. I wouldn't spend or waste time raising $30k for a concept video. Use those funds for development expenses. How is your budget, finance plan, pitch deck? Contact me for advice, help on these as I have 30 years creating those for myself and my clients of www.filmbudget.com - good luck!

Mark Simmons The only thing you need to show real film investors or a real producer is the logline and script. Anything else is irrelevant and a waste of time, regardless of what anyone who isn't putting their own their money into your project tells you. Faith based films have an obvious constituency - consider getting churches involved in a crowd fund for the film, or at least an actual short version of it (which can be shown at festivals, churches etc as its own thing, instead of a mere POC). If you want to do "faith based" you also have some minefields to navigate. "Faith based" usually means catering to a specifically North American Protestant evangelical audience, so both writing and marketing has to be done with due consideration of the biases of that market (ie. with respect to mainstream denominations, etc.). Some good films which focus on other denominations or use articulates symbols as in other denominations have tanked in the market specifically because of that bias. Angel Studios holds the lead in faith based distribution, so look there to see if there might be funding or producing interest. My understanding is that as far as funding for most films they operate pretty much like every other distributor, ie. they want your product completed and given to them with no advance (there are exceptions for high profile films). However, they also have groomed a large and connected community user base so there may be good crowdfund potential there.

Thank you all for your advice, I have been in contact with Angle studios, they require a POC in their application process so members can vote on if the project should be funded. I also talked to some film festival organizers and they suggested that you have a POC to show to people attending.

I am also willing to share my script with anyone who’s interested in reading it.

Wounded Pride, th Prodigal Son as a western

LOGLINE

“A young Montana rancher, Joseph, blames his father, Montana and their ranch for his mother’s sickness. Joseph tries to convince his family to move to Denver where he feels his mother will get better treatment, the family refuses to move as they love Montana and the ranch they have built, Joseph demands his inheritance so he can move away, he is given what he feels he is owed and leaves only to fall in with a blood thirst gang that will kill him and his family if he runs.”

I’m not only faith based but also family friendly. I worked in Hollywood for 15 years and got tired of films that used gay relationship and showed men and women kissing, I also got tired of the over use of sexual activity between men and women. I believe people’s imagination is a much more successful tool in that respect then actually showing that activity.

I’m a Christian and feel that you can have a great film with less sexual activity, swearing, when it’s over used ashen not called for or need in the scene, and other woke activities.

I want to show people, without hitting them over the head, about Gods loving grace, and his forgiveness. My films are meant to give all people a look at a world where we forgive each other, love each other, though we hate the sin. My films are meant just to get people to think and ask questions about God and his word.