Advice

Happy Sunday Creative Army! Have you had a creative weekend so far? I have some content here for you that is sure to get the creative juices flowing, so grab your coffee and let's dive in. First up, AlterCine has compiled 10 tips on directing from Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Pacific Rim). He talks about "orchestrating accidents", fighting for your art, never giving up, and more. Next up, the folks over at Apurture have an epic video about...

When should you first start talking to distributors to sell your film? Unless you’re an industry veteran, I bet you’ll be surprised to find out the answer. In this article, I’m covering Stage 32’s Film Finance Summit 2021 - the distribution portion. In the first portion of this article, we go over where distributors look for films, when to talk to them, and what’s in demand. In the second portion, I share wisdom from the panelists about backing into your budget, what films are going to theate...

Welcome back to another Stage 32 Blog, filmmakers! Your host today is a master screenwriter and a master worldbuilder, an award-winning director, and a leader in the independent film community. My name is Tennyson E. Stead, and today’s the day we talk about adapting other people’s stories for the screen. When I agreed to write this article a month ago, I had no idea what September had in store for me… but as fate would have it, I wound up getting hired to run my pitch on a film adaptation past...

Happy Wednesday Stage 32! I hope you are having a beautiful and creative week! Recently, our fearless leader and CEO Richard "RB" Botto joined John Abbas on his podcast "Mentor Nation" to speak about networking, mindset, and building relationships. No matter what hat you wear in the entertainment industry, whether you are in front of or behind the camera, networking is an essential tool in the entertainment industry. In this podcast, RB shares how to find, nurture, and cultivate lasting re...

Will blockchain technology create a paradigm shift in the business practices of the film industry? The film industry on many occasions been fundamentally changed by technology over the years.………. from film; to video; to broadcast; to cable; VHS; DVD; broadband, streaming etc. Will blockchain and the distributed ledger technology be that next force for significant change? Is blockchain is a total paradigm shift? Blockchain technology can provide innovative opportunities to address issues...

Happy Motivation Monday Stage 32! I hope you are having a beautiful and creative week so far. As many of you know, in the past 10 years we have had some pretty epic Stage 32 success stories. From Ireland-based screenwriter Ronika Merl optioning her first script to Pennsylvania-based screenwriter Joseph Downey taking his feature Chick Fight (which went on to star Malin Akerman, Bella Thorne, and Alec Baldwin) from pitch to post through Stage 32, we have celebrated some amazing wins within our...

Happy Sunday Creative Army! I've got my coffee in hand and your weekly dose of content coming in hot - grab your coffee of choice and let's dive right in. First up, Variety has a wonderful series called Actors on Actors where working actors discuss their craft. In this video, they feature Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, Little Women) and Emma Stone (La La Land, Cruella, Birdman, The Help). Timothée and Emma discuss everything from how they got started in their careers to...

It didn’t take me long to figure out that making money as a screenwriter is… difficult. Indeed, the most common ways to make money in this field are by whether selling a script or working in a writers’ room. It’s the beginning of my career and I haven’t done either of them yet, so I started researching other ways to make money and pay the bills. The good news is, there are some solid options out there. Teach a Course on Skillshare I’m not sponsored by Skillshare in any way, I just think it’...

Most people making TV and film want to know what types of shows financiers and buyers are investing in right now. Here you go... I came up with this list based on what financiers and distributors said during the Stage 32 Film Finance Summit. Note that most of them are focused on independent films, but a few people did TV and studio films. I’ve listed the biographies of each person mentioned in this article at the bottom of this article.     Types of Shows Financiers and Distributors W...

You see excitement sparking in the producer’s eyes. They tell you your concept is unique, highly marketable, and fills a void in a profitable genre… Then the big question comes - the most important question you get asked in any pitch - “why are YOU the one to tell this story?” You respond, “I chose to write this paranoid-spy-thriller as my vehicle to immerse an audience in the experience of what it’s like living with an anxiety disorder, like my own CPTSD.” They had been leaning in up til...