Chris McClure: Screenwriter in Toronto, Canada.

Congratulations on your book, as well!

Hi everybody. I'm an actor and dancer from Toronto, Canada. I've been on this site for almost a year now and for me, it is without a doubt the most comprehensive and well thought out site for creatives available. Most of us here have a dream, and the entire staff and members are extremely supportive of these dreams. I have met someone here who is in the process of securing 10-15 million dollars for his feature and has hired me to choreograph and act in his movie. How magical is that? I wish that all the members (new and old) will actively participate here and use the incredible resources. Richard Botto gets it!

Hi all, Chris here. I live in Toronto and am looking to get involved in film. I've started writing screenplays: one about a 70s band in Detroit that also involves a car factory. Before this, I taught political theory at Harvard and UC Davis. I have a book on Thomas Hobbes on the way with Cambridge University Press. cmcclure.com

I'm going to throw it out there for discussion that I flinch internally when I hear someone refer to writing as an art. To me it's always been a craft, because craft implies something more hands-on: you can't observe from a distance, you've got to get down there in the mud and muck and wrestle around with the words, get yourself dirty. I think this is especially true of screenwriting. Maybe it has more to do with process than anything. What say you, Stage32? (and none of this is meant to denigrate art, BTW, I just think writing ISN'T) =)

My take on this Coen Brothers film: “What kind of man are you?” This is the unanswerable question put to Ed Crane more than once in the Coen brothers’ The Man Who Wasn’t There. Ed Crane, aptly named on account of his attempt to reach up beyond his situation, can’t answer the question very well. He wants out of his humdrum situation, but doesn’t know quite how to do it. He married into the hair cutting business, just as the Texaco attendant in No Country for Old Men married into his situation. Both characters have allowed fate to have its way with them rather than taking charge themselves. Ed Crane, though, has decided that enough is enough. He’s going to look for a new Ed Crane. He will no longer sit passively while his wife carries on an affair with her boss. But when Ed finally does get around to doing something, he doesn’t have much subtlety and fire. His attempt to escape is almost as impassive as his ordinary routine. Ed, as we know, fails. But he is still in search of some sort of contact with greatness, and he thinks he’s spied it in a neighbor’s daughter. Ed is going to get Birdie out of the doldrums and set her on a path to international stardom with her piano playing. If Ed can’t get out, at least Birdie can, and he’ll know he did something with his life. Birdie, though, wants to take care of birds and isn’t much interested in becoming a concert pianist. The more experienced teacher in San Francisco agrees – Birdie doesn’t have what it takes. Ed winds up in jail and dead for something he didn’t do. A foreshadowing echo of the refrain from “A Serious Man” – I didn’t do anything. Ed hasn’t done anything. He wants to, but he doesn’t have it in him. What kind of man is he? An ordinary man. In looking for something extraordinary in himself, he is looking for the man who wasn’t there. http://americanfilmtheory.com/2012/11/23/who-is-the-man-who-wasnt-there/

Hi, I'm an academic, and I've written on various aspects of political philosophy. I'm looking for a change, and want to get into screenwriting! I'm hoping to meet interesting people on here, and learn about how to get started. Cheers, Chris

Hi Chris. I'm RB, Founder and CEO of Stage 32. As a screenwriter, producer, actor and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work, landing representation, launching projects, securing funding and simply making the connections that will make a difference in their careers. That's why I created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 400,000+ members representing every country on the planet making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth.

This is a network for you, built by you. Like most things in life, the more you participate, the greater the rewards. We ask all new members to pay it forward by inviting 5 fellow creatives to the network and by spreading the word of Stage 32 through other social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The more creatives, the stronger the network. The stronger the network, the more opportunities.

Thanks for joining the movement and for being a part of this most talented and inspiring community. I very much look forward to your contributions.

Thanks, and have a creative day!

RB

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