Latest Blogs

There Is No Fluency Level to Getting Bamboozled by Bots and Trolls Whether you’ve been around a while or are new to the platform, you may not realize when an account is fake or real. It’s an issue all over cyberspace, and Stage 32 is not immune. The good news is that when a nefarious character raises their head, once alerted, the powers that be behind the scenes are usually quick on the draw to carefully vet that the person is real. If they’re fake or perpetually combative, they are soon zapped...

Happy Thursday, Creative Army! There is a moment that happens at every festival, market, and summit I have ever attended. Someone leans in, lowers their voice a little, and says some version of the same thing: "We have the incentives. We have the locations. We just do not have enough trained people on the ground to crew the productions when they come." I have heard it in Los Angeles. I have heard it in Cannes. I have heard it from commissioners representing regions on nearly every continent....

Welcome to our next installment of The Filmmaker Files. My name is James Kicklighter, director of The Sound of Identity, Angel of Anywhere and the 2024 film The American Question. In this series, we’re tackling the relationship between directors and members of our filmmaking team, in the hopes of helping first-time directors have a better experience as they begin their journey.   Our guest today is editor Davide Fiore, who has worked on numerous projects, including Unzipped: An Autopsy of Amer...

In creative industries, we’re often taught to chase success with carefully mapped-out plans. Land the perfect agent. Win the right competition. Meet the right producer. Build the perfect network. But sometimes, the opportunities that change our lives come from the things we never planned at all. Recently, I asked the Stage 32 community a simple question: What have you done that resulted in unexpected success? The responses were honest, inspiring, emotional, and deeply human. What stood...

Lights, Camera, Action! Okay, technically, it would be called out as "Sound, Camera, Mark It, Set, Action." It's literally built into the DNA of every film and television production, and yet, as a genre, ACTION can be incredibly difficult to execute well. I had a chance to catch up with my friend and filmmaking mentor, Shane Stanley. He generously shared some insights during our special Produced Script Coverage Report (Mondays in the Writer's Room). We reviewed what it took to greenlight his...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! I hope your weekend has been a creative one so far. Whether you have been writing, filming, editing, or sketching out the next spark of an idea, I have something today that will give you a boost. So grab your coffee, and let’s dive in. This week’s featured video comes from CorridorCrew- We Recreated a 47 Year Old Effect: How Hard Could It Be? If you’re a fan of practical effects, visual effects, horror, or just the magic of creative problem-solving, this one is a...

Stage 32 Reader, we meet again! Most of you know me as a prolific script doctor and as a working screenwriter, but I’ve also got more than a decade of experience working in the trenches of film finance. My career has given me a front-row seat to the rise and fall of packaging and presales as a business model for Hollywood, and I’ve blogged extensively on the unsustainability of any entertainment business plan that cashes out of a project’s risk before we’ve actually sold any tickets. Our succe...

A few days ago, I found myself sitting on my couch staring at my suitcase, trying to convince myself to unpack it. My voice was still raspy. My feet hurt. My inbox was overflowing. And despite having just spent an incredible 8 days in Cannes representing Stage 32, I felt completely and utterly exhausted. To make matters even more exciting, my journey home turned into a 33-hour travel nightmare involving delays, missed flights, airport chaos, and far more time sitting in uncomfortable chairs...

Happy Thursday, Creative Army! As many of you know, I like to judge markets and festivals not against each other, but against where they were a year ago. Last year, the prevailing conversation was cautious optimism. The industry was still finding its footing after years of disruption, and many people were wondering what the next chapter would look like. This year the conversation has changed. The overwhelming feeling throughout Cannes 2026 was momentum. Not blind optimism or wishful thinking...

Do want to shoot award-winning films and gather millions of views yearly? As a filmmaker, having some technical understanding on your resume will guarantee your prospective thriving future. I have picked up the 10 most valuable skills you should acquire to land a perfect job in the filmmaking industry. Read on to find everything out in-depth. 1. Learning Technology No matter how banal it sounds, coming to grips with the filmmaking cornerstones is vital for your prosperous career and success....