Carter Dawson: Actor, cinematographer and director in Los Angeles, California.

So yesterday my crew and I had our 48 hour film screened at The Directors Guild of America & we were all so excited about it. On the website they made the festival look insanely prestigious and we had had made the top 16 which seemed like a big deal to us at the time. We got there and had a panel & CEO Richard Botto of stage 32 was there speaking to the young film makers in the audience. He spoke about festivals & particularly sketchy film festivals & how they take so much money from young film makers bc It can look like a big opportunity for them. As long as they have a good professional looking website right? Wrong unfortunately... So then the awards ceremony starts and the 48 hour staff could not keep an organized show for their lives. They kept messing up the screening for nominees and when the CEO of the 48 hour festival went on stage to announce best director he announced best actor which was already called right before that. So after the 3 and a half hours of watching mostly horrible films there was about 10 people left in the theater. Nobody came back on stage to announce the peoples choice award! or the second runner up award. Which was so clearly stated on the 48hr site. So I guess there isn't an award for that anymore?? They didn't even come up and thank everyone for coming. Anyway things didn't get heated until after the event when we had to ask a staff member where the after party was because apparently It was an off location after party which was never stated ANYWHERE in the prior emails or on the website. The staff member didn't even know so she had to ask somebody else which is when they told us that afterparty will be at Skybar on Sunset. It was late but we were determined to go because we were a little skeptical about the festival but the after party was where we would pass out business cards and hopefully make some connections. Also me and my 5 friends all paid almost $80 extra to get a VIP ticket which got us closer seating, and a ticket into the after party which included a free drink. We finally find parking and get inside Skybar and obviously they don't let any of us into the party because we are all under 21. They never told us that when we purchased the way more expensive tickets! and It's a Student Festival! We were all really looking to make those connections and I'm sure many other people were too. So then we get the CEO of the 48 hour film project to come over and talk with us. (Fransecco Vitaly) He comes over and tells us we cannot get in and that he's sorry but that's how it works. Then we asked him for a refund and to show us where on the website it says the after party is at Skybar. we pull up the site for him and he cannot show us where any of that information is because I'm positive it was never there. At this point we just wanted a refund for the difference between the VIP tickets and the GA tickets ($82) The man was so rude and he just walked away while we were trying to talk to him. We asked the bouncer to ask him to come back but he then declined. Our night was over and it was honestly an embarrassment for the many family members my friends and I brought out. And for us as well. I wouldn't be writing this if it was just me who was hurt. I can't imagine the feelings from more than half the crowd who all flew out from all around the world. It seem's the more festivals I get into the more I'm just getting scammed into seeing my film on the big screen and simply taking home a certificate. If anyone read this thanks for sticking to the end and hearing my thoughts. I really hope this doesn't happen to more filmmakers like myself.

Hi Carter. 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 1,000,000+ 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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Hello Carter -

Welcome to the community! I'm Amanda Toney, the Managing Director at Stage 32. Since 2013 I've been proud to oversee Stage 32's Next Level Education, which provides you the most up-to-date tools necessary to become a better creative.

Over the years Stage 32 has worked with over 500 industry executives and professionals to teach online webinars, classes and intensive labs exclusively for you - our Stage 32 community. We bring you instructors who have worked directly on some of your favorite films, TV shows or theater productions to teach you in-the-trenches information that you won't find anywhere else on producing, directing, financing, writing, packaging, acting and more.

Our Next Level Education has a 97% satisfaction rate and averages 4.5 out of 5 stars. Plus, we've had the honor to be called "LinkedIn meets Lynda.com for film, television and theater creatives" by Forbes Magazine.

I encourage you to take the next step to continue learning and expanding your career by clicking here, or clicking "education" on your top menu bar.

I'm grateful you've joined the Stage 32 community. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Amanda