Latest Blogs

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....

You’re the writer-director of a new movie. It’s 6:05 pm. You put on your Oculus headset and watch the actors on the set act out the final scene. You say, “That’s a wrap”. The actors and crew look into the camera, smile and say goodnight. You take off your headset and slip under the covers. Is VR film production truly that easy? In a word, yes. But in another word, no. I virtually attended the NVIDIA GTC conference in April 2021 and discovered an impressive arsenal of VR production tools th...

Every filmmaker has a dream, a vision and a desire to make a mark on the world and to have their voices heard, but without specific steps taken and followed “development hell” becomes a reality and many projects fall into the graveyard of lost and dead projects. An escape from the graveyard of lost projects isn’t impossible. It comes down to strategic and transparent foundations; the less flashy, much-needed groundwork required to give a production a fighting chance right out of the gate....

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 FilmStack- When a Director Needs a Hundred Takes: David Fincher. David Fincher has built a reputation as one of the most meticulous directors working today. From Seven and Fight Club to Zodiac,...

Whenever I’m asked to critique or fix a script, the first thing I want to know is: what’s the theme? Not the story, not the plot- the theme. The theme in a movie is its underlying central idea or message, explored through story, character, imagery, music, and design. Theme is the foundation, the beating heart, the thing that makes your story about something instead of about nothing. Without theme, ninety minutes of a bunch of people muttering about their problems is just ninety minutes of a bu...

I know this isn’t a must-know topic for introverted, bathrobe-wearing writers who hate talking to people almost as much as they hate leaving the house, but I went to Cannes Film Festival for the first time, and thought I’d weigh in to tell you about my experience. I’m an author, screenwriter, and fairly newish producer of ultra-low budget movies. I use the term movies, not films, to show you that anything I make as a producer (or write for that matter) will never be up for the Palm D’Or or ev...

In a land not so far away, in a time not so long ago, the veil to the film world was a mighty feat to cross. I'm not saying it still isn’t tough to get out there and become a financially stable filmmaker. However, we hold the power now. What started as a simple picture of myself that I shared on Instagram, one taken while I was filming a Docuseries using the RED Epic and Cooke Anamorphic, turned into a wild adventure called social media. That one picture launched me into so many opportunities....

Imagine you have pitched a twenty-five-word book logline to a publisher that not only lands you a four-book contract but also attracts interest from nine movie production companies in one week. Let that sink in. How would you feel? On top of the world? Like all your dreams have come true? As if you’ve been sprinkled with pixie dust and all your worries are over? Well, it happened to me, and while I did feel those things, my central emotion was panic. Why? Because the cinematic catnip I’d us...

At some point, most filmmakers come across a great idea for a documentary film. It might be an interesting topic or personality, and you just know there is a story that must be told. But similarly to narrative filmmaking, there’s a huge difference between having an idea and being able to carry it into a finished motion picture. We talk about “packaging” in scripted films, attachments, pre-sales, and budgets, but oftentimes overlook the importance of doing the same thing in documentary films....

This was inspired by a recent webinar here on Stage 32 with Janice Lee as the executive. Her words – ‘find your weirdo’s’ changed the game for me! It’s easy to sit on the sidelines of this industry and feel like you’re falling behind. You watch other writers land Open Writing Assignments. You see option announcements. You read about scripts being packaged, developed, and moving forward. And somewhere along the way, a quiet thought creeps in: Maybe I’m not good enough. Maybe there’s somethi...