Advice

Howdy, my film familia!  In this installation of Diary of a DP, I offer you a survival guide where I will be sharing my experience and things to remember when shooting music festivals or concerts. Once upon a time, as a young strapping lad, I was taking various shooting assignments to further my operating skills. Shooting music events or music videos has its own rewards. It is fun and will challenge you in every way. I learnt a helluva lot for sure. Shooting music events and music videos are...

The power of social media and digital media has literally changed the face of filmmaking. Theo Dumont, the co-founder of Hollyshorts, chats with Stage 32 at a previous Hollyshorts event about what's different today.   Click Here To See What Theo Has to Say!       Remember, if you haven't subscribed to our YouTube page, make sure you do so you don't miss any of our announcements.   Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below! Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated wi...

Throughout our CrowdSOURCING video series, we’ve shared how content creators can spread the word about their film, TV, or digital projects. Is this next video, Stage 32 CEO Richard “RB” Botto, author of the best-selling book Crowdsourcing For Filmmakers: Indie Film and the Power of the Crowd, talks about the most viable ways to spread the world about any creative project so that it is seen, heard, and funded. More exclusively, he hones in on why some filmmakers don’t believe they have to say o...

Good Morning, all! This week I wanted to take a left turn inside Stage 32 and share some content that caters to our members who are playwrights or work in the theatre. If this is you, please give us a shout in the comments below. Let us know your role in the industry! We're starting this morning with a brew of Kicking Horse coffee. (If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it.) That, coupled with our first video, Playwriting Tips from Dennis Kelly, ought to get our juices flowing. Writing...

Life is precious because you never know when someone else, or you yourself, won’t be there anymore. Series finales used to be meaningful because it was the end of a show and its beloved characters. All shows are cheapened now because when they end, the audience thinks, “It’ll just be rebooted in a few years.” Nostalgia Can Be Fun     To be fair, I enjoyed the reboots of Boy Meets World (Girl Meets World), Full House (Fuller House), and Roseanne (The Conners). I even said aloud while wa...

One of the most exciting aspects of being in a creative industry (writing, music, filmmaking, etc.) is that once your content is out there, it’s OUT THERE—for all eternity. Courtesy of the Internet Age, that content can be discovered (or re-discovered) at any moment via simple Google search.   Participatory Journalism On Steroids     In the late-90’s, I was following in my literary idol Hunter S. Thompson’s footsteps, engaging in participatory journalism—primarily for hip men’s lifes...

"True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure. The greater pressure, the deeper the revelation." ROBERT MCKEE     Robert McKee returns to Stage 32 with a rare online teaching appearance! In this exclusive Masters of Craft webinar, Robert McKee teaches the secret to writing complex protagonists, including lessons on: The principles of character creation Characterization vs. true character The essentials of character dimension The tools required to...

Our next video in the CrowsSOURCING series is important, as it talks about using social media when crowdsourcing. And if you’re looking to create a buzz about your film, TV, or digital project, social media is going to be one of your most powerful tools. In his book, Crowdsourcing For Filmmakers, Indie Film and the Power of the Crowd, Stage 32 CEO Richard “RB” Botto shares case studies of projects that used social media to attract massive attention. But just how they did it is key. In the vi...

One Stage 32 blog post.Two hours to write.Three opportunities as a result. (And one of them is in Scotland!)When Stage 32 member Joey Madia wrote his first Escape Room narratives for an organization, it was in 2017. He wrote them for two 5-star escape rooms on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. Those rooms are still active today. Not long afterwards, he wrote and published a blog post right here on Stage 32 called Seven Steps for Writing Escape Room Narratives (And How to Find Opportunities...

Hello, Creative Army! It's that time of the week again! That time where we brew a cup, have a seat, and educate ourselves with some of the finest how-to videos out there. We see questions in the lounges pertaining to filmmaking quite often. So to give ease to those questions and start our week off right, let's hit play on our first video, 7 (USEFUL) DIY Filmmaking HACKS/BUILDS. Next up from cinematographer Matti Haapoji, 5 Tips for Filming at Night. Last week we shared a video that showed...