Happy Wednesday, Stage 32 Community!

Our Stage 32 Team has been working diligently to bring in as many new resources and opportunities as possible to enrich your experience here in our community!

At Stage 32 you have direct access to award-winning industry executives and professionals who’ve written, directed, produced, composed, developed, performed, and represented acclaimed projects such as THE KING’S SPEECH, LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER, CATASTROPHE, BREEDERS, ROSEANNE, A DIFFERENT WORLD, SAVED BY THE BELL, MARVEL’S MUTANT X, WIFE SWAP, SEX EDUCATION, JOYLAND, MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, JOHN WICK, THE HUNGER GAMES, THE COLBERT REPORT, THE MIDDLE, THE CROODS: FAMILY TREE, LUTHER, and many others.

So without much further ado, let's roll out the red carpet and welcome some of the fantastic new people joining our Stage 32 Community this March!

New Stage 32 Educators-

Guillaume Esmiol, Executive Director of the Marché du Film of the Festival de Cannes

Guillaume Esmiol is the Executive Director of the Marché du Film of the Festival de Cannes. Before assuming this role in 2023, Esmiol first joined the Marché in 2020 as Deputy Director, tasked with enhancing the film market's activities and operations. Esmiol also serves as the Co-Executive Director of Ventana Sur, Buenos Aires' leading LatAm audiovisual market, and the Director of Cinando, the premier online network and database for film industry professionals.

Before his current roles, Esmiol was the Chief Marketing Officer at the startup studio Wefound and was Innovation Director at TF1 group. There, he managed startup programs, supervised an investment fund, and led the development of new products and business ventures. He previously held several other key roles at TF1 Group, including Digital TV Project Manager, Innovation Project Manager, and Head of B2B Partnerships & Content Acquisition for TF1's digital activities.

You can still register for Guillaume’s webinar- How to Navigate the Cannes Film Festival Marche du Film

Gareth Ellis-Unwin, Academy & BAFTA Award-winning Producer, CEO of Bedlam Film Productions

Gareth Ellis-Unwin is the CEO of the London-based Bedlam Film Productions. After 13 years as a 1st AD and Line Producer, racking up dozens of film and TV credits, Gareth decided to move into Producing and formed Bedlam Productions in 2006 with partner Simon Egan. In 2009, Gareth produced the British thriller EXAM, which was nominated for a BAFTA and won Spirit and Dinard awards. International recognition followed soon after with the record-breaking, critically acclaimed 2010 film THE KING’S SPEECH. It went on to become the highest-grossing British independent film of all time. It debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival where it took home the celebrated Audience Award before winning seven BAFTAs (including Best Film and Outstanding British Film) and four Academy awards, including Best Picture, presented to Gareth by Steven Spielberg. The film would eventually win more than 80 internationally recognized film awards and gross over $450m worldwide in theatrical receipts alone. He would go on to produce a further 6 feature films. Gareth has recently stepped down as Head of Film & Animation at Screenskills, the national charity in the UK for workforce development and those wishing to join the screen industries. Gareth led the delivery of the BFI Future Film Skills 10-point action plan and set the overall strategic direction for the Film Skills Fund. He was closely involved in the development of the COVID-19 Safe Return To Production guidance and has won PGGB awards for his career film, FIRST DAY; ON SET.

You can still register for Gareth’s webinar- Breakdown of a 3 Country Feature Film Co-Production - UK, French, Israeli Case Study

New Stage 32 Executives-

Alexandra Kundrat, Independent Producer & Creative Consultant

Alexandra Kundrat is a Producer and executive who served as the Manager of Development at Avalon Television, which produced LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER (HBO), CATASTROPHE (Amazon) starring Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, and BREEDERS (FX) starring Martin Freeman. During her tenure she worked across the series FLATBUSH MISDEMEANORS (Showtime), EVERYTHING’S GONNA BE OKAY (Freeform), and THE READ (Fuse) and pilots at FX, Fox, Freeform, and Max.

Previously, she spent time in representation at Grandview, where she gained insight into the feature business and honed her ability to find fresh, exciting voices, and at Creative Artists Agency in both the scripted and unscripted television departments. Her first job in entertainment was as an Associate Producer on the beloved HGTV franchise HOUSE HUNTERS. She was selected as an inaugural fellow for the Women In Film Business Fellowship.

You can meet with Alexandra about your Pilot here or your Feature here.

Clare Couchman, Executive Producer

Clare Couchman is an Executive Producer based in London, UK. She worked on Season 4 of SEX EDUCATION for Eleven Film/Netflix, created and written by Laurie Nunn, and starring Gillian Anderson, Asa Butterfield, Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey, and Aimee Lou Wood. The International Emmy and BAFTA-winning series received widespread critical and popular acclaim and was one of Netflix's most-watched and most successful original formats worldwide. Clare worked on the show from script editing Season to story producing Seasons 2 and 3 and executive producing Season 4. Each season, Clare ran the writers' rooms, found the writers, and guided them through the writing process, in close collaboration with showrunner Laurie Nunn, and working closely with the directors and producers (from pre-production through to post-production) to steer the show editorially, within budget and to schedule.

Before this, Clare was Development Executive at Balloon Entertainment, where she ran the company’s Comedy and Comedy-Drama slate. During this time, she script-edited Bryan Elsley’s Channel 4/Netflix series, KISS ME FIRST, and optioned and developed NEWARK, NEWARK, written by Nathan Foad, which was later commissioned and made by UKTV. Clare started her career working in production, working on shows including LUTHER and EPISODES, at the BBC, Big Talk, Hat Trick, and Lookout Point, before moving to The Agency, where she was an assistant, working with writers and directors.

*Clare is currently sold out, but keep an eye out for her availability to open up to discuss your Pilot here, Feature here, Pitch Deck/Bible Reviews, or Adaptation review.

Perry Dance, Executive Producer & Screenwriter

Perry Dance is an accomplished television writer/producer known for his ability to craft stories across multiple genres. His list of credits encompasses writing for numerous sitcoms (ROSEANNE, A DIFFERENT WORLD, SAVED BY THE BELL), multiple animated series (MTV’s SPY GROOVE, STAR TRIP - his first pilot), and a syndicated comic-book adaptation (MARVEL’S MUTANT X). He is in the development and writing stages of two exciting series, a nostalgic reality series, one being a music-based scripted series. Additionally, he is excited about a collaboration with an Emmy-winning former colleague and close friend on their third project. Together, they are developing a biographical limited series based on a book that chronicles the life of a prominent political figure from her childhood.

A shift into reality TV further showcased his versatility, as he helped deliver back-to-back hits for over a decade (THE SIMPLE LIFE 2, JOE MILLIONAIRE, JENNY MCCARTHY'S DIRTY, SEXY, FUNNY, MTV'S MAKING THE BAND, THE RAP GAME, CHRISLEY KNOWS BEST, WIFE SWAP, PARIS IN LOVE). Among the accolades for his work are the WGA Award for “Top 100 Sitcoms of All Time,” as well as nominations for The Teen Choice Awards, The Humanitas Prize, and GLAAD.

You can receive premium notes from Perry about your comedy Pilot here or for a Career Development Call here.

Apoorva Charan, Producer

Apoorva Charan is an LA-based Producer who was born in India, raised in Northern California, and started her career as a digital producer in Singapore. Her producorial feature debut, JOYLAND premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, the Queer Palm, and Best International Film at the Independent Spirit Awards. The film was Pakistan's entry to the 95th Academy Awards, was the first film from Pakistan to make the shortlist, and has screened at festivals around the world including Sundance, TIFF, and BFI London Film Festival. She has also served on the jury for the Palm Springs Short Film Festival. Charan was a 2019 Project Involve Creative Producing fellow, a 2020 Film Independent Creative Producing Lab fellow, a 2021 Women in Film Emerging Producers fellow, a 2022 Sundance Creative Producing Lab fellow, a 2023 BAFTA Breakthrough, and has worked in development at Big Beach, Walt Disney Studios' live-action department and Blue Harp.

Charan has produced multiple award-winning short films including LONELY BLUE NIGHT which won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at AFI Fest 2020 and is available to stream on HBO Max, DISTANCE which won Film Pipeline's Best Film Award in 2020, and INTERIORS which premiered at TIFF.

You can meet with Apoorva about your First 10 Pages, Pilot here, Feature here, or Pitch Deck/Bible Reviews.

Alice Coulthard, Head of Development at Superbe Films

Alice Coulthard is Head of Development at Superbe Films. Working from London, Alice is the essence of the development process of all UK and international productions. The most recent feature film success for Alice and Superbe Films is MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, made with EOne, Focus Features, and Universal, grossing over $30m worldwide.

Alice has been the lead on the evolution of several projects, such as THE CONDUCTOR, financed by Black Bear and directed by Michael Hoffman, and 100 DAYS, financed by Disney, and directed by Carlos Saldanha. Alice worked in development for Academy Award-winning director, Alfonso Cuaron at Esperanto Filmoj for several years, and developed the fantasy literature series QUEEN OF THE FIRE for Lone Wolf Pictures.

She holds a Masters degree in Creative Writing, with distinction from UEA. Her work was selected for Ink Festival 2020, shortlisted for the Blacklight Channel 4 competition, and for Thousand Films 2020. Prior to her career as a successful executive, Alice had extensive experience as an award-winning actress. She played roles in productions such as THE LAST SHIP and JOSEPHINE, in which she played the title role.

You can meet with Alice about your Pilot here or your Feature here.

Jorge Alfaro-Silva, CEO, Partner, Producer at 36 Chambers Action

Jorge Alfaro-Silva is a Los Angeles-based Film and TV producer and executive at 36 Chambers Action. Over the past few years, he held the position of Director of Development & Production at Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, the studio behind franchises like JOHN WICK and THE HUNGER GAMES, where he worked on their latest installments and developed and oversaw numerous other movies for the studio while continuing working with A-list creators, filmmakers, and talent, both local and international.

After years in the studio system, he decided to go on his own to create a company that give creatives a stronger voice in Hollywood. 36 Chambers Action is a company that is destined to be a one-stop shop for all action needs, becoming a hub for action that nurtures and creates the next generation of action filmmakers in the industry. Currently projects at specialty studios like Neon, SPC, Searchlight, and Focus, as well as streamers like Netflix and Amazon, and studios like Universal and Lionsgate. Jorge has served as a judge in various film festivals around the world such as the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF), Columbia University Film Festival, Morelia International Film Festival, Guadalajara International Film Festival, and Morbido Film Fest. He has also served as a guest lecturer at UCLA, Biola University, and Columbia University. Throughout his career, Jorge has maintained relationships at Lionsgate, 87Eleven, Point Grey, Appian Way, and Lord-Miller, among many others.

You can meet with Jorge about your Pilot here, Feature here, Pitch Deck/Bible Reviews, or your Adaptation review.

Rich Dahm, Screenwriter, Producer, Co-Founder at Gazebo Springs

Rich Dahm is an award-winning Comedy producer with over 30 years of experience in television and feature writing and production. He is also the co-founder of Gazebo Springs, a TV and feature film production company.

Dahm helped develop and served as Head Writer and Co-Executive Producer on Comedy Central’s daily news satire THE COLBERT REPORT, starring Stephen Colbert. During his eight-year tenure, Dahm won multiple awards, including six Emmys, two Peabodys, four Writers Guild Awards, and seven Producers Guild Awards. Dahm also served as Co-Executive Producer on four seasons of ABC-TV’s THE MIDDLE, created by DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler. Prior to that, Dahm wrote for shows as varied as HBO’s DENNIS MILLER LIVE and DA ALI G SHOW, USA Network’s THE WAR NEXT DOOR, and Noggin’s O’GRADY. Dahm has also written and developed sitcom pilots for Warner Brothers, CBS, Paramount, and Fox TV, sold screenplays to DreamWorks and Twentieth Century Fox, and done uncredited punch-ups on films like ICE AGE, TITAN AE, and MAFIA! Dahm most recently wrote on all 8 seasons of DreamWorks Animation’s THE CROODS: FAMILY TREE.

You can receive premium notes from Rich about your Pilot here, Feature here, or your First 10 Pages.

Ann Fishman, Attorney, Producer, Screenwriter, Director at Fishman Law PLLC and Night Dove Pictures

Ann Fishman is an attorney, screenwriter, director, and producer at Fishman Law PLLC and Night Dove Pictures. Ann recently completed CHRISTMAS OVERTIME, a holiday rom-com, which she produced, directed, and co-wrote. She has multiple projects in development. Ann wrote, produced, and co-directed MARRIAGE MATERIAL starring Saturday Night Live alum Victoria Jackson. She wrote, produced, and directed SWIPED, starring Noah Centineo, George Hamilton, and Kristen Johnson which streamed on Netflix.

Her law practice focuses on business, entertainment, and intellectual property law. As a seasoned producer and entertainment attorney, Ann has a deep understanding of all aspects of the entertainment industry. Ann is a member of the Florida, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, and United States Supreme Court Bar.

Keep an eye out for Ann’s upcoming pitch session, which should be available for registration soon!

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