Advice

If you’re a first-time filmmaker, you should market your film or other project first. This is what Stage 32 CEO Richard “RB” Botto covers in the next video in his continued series that dives deep into crowdSOURCING for filmmakers. Rb is the best-selling author of Crowdsourcing For Filmmakers: Indie Film and the Power of the Crowd, and he covers this crucial point in the video below. Most of the time, as a first-time filmmaker or content creator, no one really knows who you are. Therefore, p...

Good Morning, Creative Army! Happy Sunday to you all. Today's edition of Coffee & Content focuses on the cost of creating a music video. Our friends at Indy Mogul have some really great video content out there that delves into ways to save and still put out a high quality music video. First up, How Much Do Music Videos REALLY Cost. This content talks about what is needed to produce, prep, and plan the creation of a video, regardless of your budget. After that, take a look at How to Make a...

Growing up I had a love for books and movies. When Stranger Than Fiction came out I fell in love with the writing. But more importantly, I fell in love with the value of two forms of entertainment rolled into the ticket price of one movie. It was value I enjoyed so much, that I wanted to be more than an author; I wanted my books to be optioned for movies. When the first real literary success came across my life path I went headlong into daydreams of the silver screen. These flights of fantasi...

  The most important thing in life is showing up. I am blown away by your ability to show up. (Keanu Reeves, Hard Ball)   Prologue Primarily being a writer, and one who does a lot of historical research, I spend a lot of time alone. So, when I’m hired as an actor, director, storyteller, or teacher, it gives me an opportunity to test my philosophies of keeping motivated and inspired and doing the same for others. For three weeks in June I toured as Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in a...

Last month in my post, When Your Dreams [In the Filmmaking World] Fade, I left you hanging with me barely keeping control of my bowels, frozen in panic as my short life flashed before my eyes upon hearing my homeroom teachers voice on the phone. "Put your mother on the phone now," she barked a second time. I dropped the phone on my bed and ran downstairs to my parents screaming, "Mrs. Rankin is on the phone!!!" No matter how punk rock I try to be, I often have this reaction interiorly to...

If you're an actor, you may be wondering what it's like working alongside A-list actors. What's more, what can you learn from them? Let's find out from a true pro. Allen Maldonado, an actor who stars with Tracy Morgan in The Last OG (created by Tracy Morgan and Jordan Peele) talked to Stage 32 at Film Con Hollywood about what it's like working along side the likes of Denzel Washington and Jennifer Aniston. Allen discovered the value he gleaned from these long-time actors wasn't just tucked ins...

As we continue to post the Stage 32 CrowdSOURCING video series each week, questions come up from those soaking in the videos. One question that has come up more than once is, “Can you crowdfund a TV, film, or digital project without crowdsourcing that project first?” Stage 32 CEO Richard “RB” Botto, author of the best-selling book Crowdsourcing For Filmmakers: Indie Film and the Power of the Crowd, takes this question head on in his book, and briefly in the video below. Take a listen:  ...

I’ve been writing a long time - initially novels, then drama for the stage and radio, and then screenplays. Over the years I have built a portfolio of ten feature scripts and two TV pilots, which I have been pitching and submitting to competitions and mentoring programmes. At first, every submission made me nervous, and I waited impatiently for the response, finding it hard to turn my thoughts to other projects. If the answer was a pass I could be floored for a day or two before picking myself...

Good Morning, Creatives! This morning's post is inspired by those of you prepping for auditions that require an accent or regionalism. It also comes on the heels of one of our more unique blog posts from Idit Tekeli, How Not to Mess Up Your Auditions When You Have an Accent. In Idit's case, she's not American and needs to learn to be. But no matter where you're from or what your accent or regionalism is, help is always just a Stage 32 blog post away. First up, Vanity Fair shows us an actor w...

We always talk about writing, filmmaking, and other industry aspects here on the blog, but we don't touch base too often with the business side of it. And if you're a writer, director, producer,  or other kind of contracted film worker, you're essentially in business for yourself.   What we do is hard. No question. And it takes a certain level of strength to do it. Not just physical strength, but emotional strength as well. Give the link below a read for a peek into why we need emotional...