Latest Blogs

Happy Thursday, Stage 32 Community! I hope that the last month has been joyful and productive for you all! Our Stage 32 Education Team has certainly been hard at work to bring incredible education opportunities and resources to this fantastic community. This October, you'll have the chance to learn from knowledgeable industry executives, award-winning writers, producers, consultants, authors, podcast hosts, and representatives. Impressive creative professionals who have worked on or represen...

Do you partake of the opportunities to pitch Industry folks through Stage 32 Script Services or do you complain about how your manager/agent never sends you on Generals? What? You don’t have a manager? Are you worried you can’t get through to Hollywood types and others can? Would you like a manager? I recommend that you stop complaining that you never get any breaks and look into pitching with Stage 32. I got my current manager from a pitch and recently signed a shopping agreement from another...

Have you ever wondered how a movie or TV show set is managed throughout each day of production with all of the moving parts, all of the people, all of the action, and only so many hours in the day? Or how the production manages to always get the same information into the right people’s hands at the right time during all of the controlled chaos? Moreover, how does each day's schedule fit into the bigger schedule of shooting the entire film or show? Who is running the set to make sure that the dir...

So you landed a job as a composer for a Film. Congratulations! But now where do you start? I think a good point is to build a positive relationship with your Director. That could definitely contribute to the success of your gig. Like any other kind of human relationship, there are no rules to make it work and there is always room for improvement, but here you’ll find some tips and thoughts, based on my experience, that I think might be helpful. Let’s suppose you have negotiated the deal, the...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! First, congratulations to all of you who have already participated in our monthly Introduce Yourself Weekend! Thousands of connections have been made between entertainment creatives and professionals from around the globe. Whether you are a long-time member or brand new to Stage 32, take a moment to pop over to the Introduce Yourself Lounge and say hello before the end of the weekend. In this video from Corridor Crew, they’re diving into the history of one of the...

It’s true that the writing sample is the most important part of any query letter. However, you need to spend some time making sure that the query letter is solid as well. First impressions matter, and you can rub agents the wrong way if your query letter isn’t up to snuff. Here are the 10 biggest mistakes screenwriters make when querying. 1. Using A Generic Greeting If you are submitting a query letter, address the agent properly by name in your greeting. It’s unprofessional to use a...

Friends, family, project collaborators, social media connections—I’m sure your network is abundant. But in all likelihood, you’re missing out on a mastermind group—a creative support network of individuals who guide each other through professional challenges. Mastermind groups are well known in the business community, yet rarely used by filmmakers, writers, actors, and other artists. Personally, I think it’s time creatives start leveraging this idea for themselves.     What Is A Mast...

There is nothing like auditioning. The range of emotions an actor feels stepping into a room full of decision-makers is considerable and often damaging to the quality of the audition itself. One way to keep those emotions and the mistakes they cause in check is to know how to work on a script in a hurry. And I will let you in on a secret: Good readers make better auditioners, whether you get the sides a week, a day, or ten minutes before the audition. So, if you don’t read aloud, it’s tim...

I wrote my first screenplay in my mid-twenties when Syd Field’s Foundations of Screenwriting was the major go-to for the craft. “Spa Wars” was a parody steeped in small-town politics and, of all things, an ongoing economic rivalry between two competing health clubs. Really tacky stuff. I requested script notes from Sam Havens, Professor Emeritus at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Solution: rewrite the damn thing. I did what most mystified young screenwriters do—chalked up the project...

This was the first and last question I was asked as a student in film school. Is it something that we see on a big screen? That can’t possibly be the answer, you can see just about anything on a “big screen” these days and most cinematic experiences now happen in your home. I remember playing Metal Gear Solid on my Play Station and remarking that it was quite a “cinematic experience.” Yet, when I watch the news, I don’t feel like it’s a cinematic experience. So, in this, I can understand the...