Advice

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...

Happy Wednesday Creative Army! Since 2011, the Stage 32 team has been working tirelessly to help you stay connected, creative, motivated, and informed. As always, we are committed to bringing you networking opportunities, education and mentoring from top-level industry executives and professionals, and access to decision-makers around the globe all from the comfort of your own home. Recently our efforts have been noticed by the media in a big way. We are incredibly proud and honored that Sta...

My fellow creatives, we’ve chosen a path that’s not for the faint-hearted. You have to believe, all the way down into the core of your being, that you can do this thing -- that you can create worlds, that you can bring imagination to life. And we ride the pendulum, sometimes on the daily, as it swings between godlike swagger and the abject fear of not being enough. And then there’s dealing with feedback. We are our own harshest critics in so many ways, but we all have our blind spots. Part o...

An Innovative Solution for an Innovative Problem I look great on paper. In fact, I work best on paper. Especially if that paper is uncoated 60-lb. cream-colored trade paperback book paper. I've sold over 100,000 books as an author (in print and digital). As a result, I've risen to the #1 spot on Amazon's Children's Action & Adventure Sci-Fi Bestseller list, #1 on Amazon's Steampunk Bestseller list, and in the top ten of several other bestseller lists. I look amazing on paper. But all thi...

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, our friends over at Film Riot have put together a video about how to edit your next project faster and more efficiently. Specifically, this video lays out 10 tips for faster editing that covers everything from organizing your files to adding special effects.   Next up, the folks over at StudioB...

Independent film projects deal with business and legal aspects all the time. Bigger production companies generally have an in-house or external business and legal affairs manager. This is however less common for small production companies. In this article we will discuss the role of business and legal affairs in independent film, and explore the areas covered by a business and legal affairs department or manager.     Business and Legal Affairs in Independent Film Business and leg...

Drawing the Boundary Between Actor and Character: Prioritizing the Actor’s Mental Health in the Portrayal of Human Suffering & Emotional Distress Stanislavski talks about the many inspirations an actor draws from to create a character from himself. From the power of observation and different art forms to the actors’ own experiences of life to imagination itself. The only stipulation Stanislavski states is that the actor must not lose their own identity in the process of becoming the character....