Stage 32 Success Stories

I’m surprised and extremely happy to have received the honor of a Stage 32 Double Recommend twice in less than one month.

My script A Tale of Two Mothers is a psychological thriller with strong social commentary, exploring moral ambiguity, justice, and the lengths people will go for those they love....

Expand post

What a year and festival season so far! ᕕ(⌐■_■)ᕗ ♪♬ ᕕ(⌐■_■)ᕗ ♪♬ ᕕ(⌐■_■)ᕗ ♪♬

THANK YOU to Stage 32 because through REEL REVIEW Script Services consultations I got excellent advice from industry executives and that has helped me to build this momentum!

So very well worth the investment!!

How?

# 1 - w...

Expand post

What a year and festival season so far! ᕕ(⌐■_■)ᕗ ♪♬ ᕕ(⌐■_■)ᕗ ♪♬ ᕕ(⌐■_■)ᕗ ♪♬

THANK YOU to Stage 32 because through REEL REVIEW Script Services consultations I got excellent advice from industry executives and that has helped me to build this momentum!

So very well worth the investment!!

How?

# 1 - write a truly outstanding screenplay that you as the writer love with passion and trust 100%

(no matter how long it takes; it took me 7 feature specs and 15 years of writing before I was ready to make this first film)

# 2 - make a distinctive film you love with whatever resources you can apply to the project

(and with 4 years here on Stage 32 this has been my online film school experience along with extensive independent study) I went with miniature action figures, RC toys, hand-built mini-sets, and limited stop-motion animation shooting with phone, keeping the budget under $2,500 for Episode 1

# 3 - make your film SHORT ! (I started this project as a proof-of-concept reel, at 30 minutes, the consultants all agreed, "Make it shorter!"

I know many of us including me want to write and make features, this film comprises Act I of a feature script, but if you are going the accessible festival launch route via Film Freeway, event programmers need the flexibility to find a slot and add your film to an extensive condensed program

and audiences online and in screenings will love you for not overly challenging their attention span - I am succeeding with both cuts but the real sweet spot is the short version at 15 minutes!)

# 4 - position your project (Film Freeway lists a superb database of more than 10,000 global festivals,

I have reached this point by mostly seeking out relatively unknown international events some in their first year or two of startup with low entry fees, it's turned out to be a really successful launch and I am glad I started small)

# 5 - be relentlessly persistent (I have 3 more Episodes in Post-Production #superturbojetboats and with more than a year of shooting these fun projects I am gaining social media support and momentum, it takes time)

# 6 - aim for very specific narrow target audience (the story and tone of this comedy piece are literally tuned in to the sensibilities of students, film-school people, industry people and festival staff and audiences, it's a spoof of art-house cinema in some ways so I got lucky with a confluence of my own interests with my target audience and it required some thoughtful work to figure all that out)

# 7 - reinvent yourself (I studied the industry from the sidelines for 15 years while writing spec scripts and learned a lot by osmosis of just constantly reading and connecting, research is a lifelong pursuit so there are tools out there that will help you build your own direction and intuition in order to decide who you want to be in creative cinema and how your work will contribute to the world)

# 8 - choose a different path (the received wisdom in Hollywood is that American comedy does not often travel well internationally, already I have discovered that my project breaks through that trope and so if I listened to every established best practice I would not have found this way in to global expansion through film festivals, be prepared to question expert advice while also being willing to consider it)

Anyway there's lots more and we're all working on different things,

these are just a few notes about my recent experience I am glad to share and obviously

two months ago I did NOT know how this would go,

I received my first screening World Premiere and Award for Best Comedy Short Film at

Anatolia International Film Festival in ISTANBUL on August 8th and it has been a rollercoaster ever since, even though I have yet to attend a screening the film has been screened also in Moscow, Colombia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta and many other locations with more to come!!

Keeping micro-budget very low enables me to focus on gradually building views and screenings online through Vimeo and social media and with an extensive Film Freeway rollout that is going great so far!

Keep writing !!! ᕕ(⌐■_■)ᕗ ♪♬

Maurice Vaughan