Advice

You need greenbacks.Cash.Money. Just a bit more to help you get your production off the ground. Our friends at No Film School compiled a list of grants you just may qualify for. Most of them are for documentaries, but keep digging. You just might find what you need. For the Full List Click Here: A Massive List of Winter 2019 Grants All Filmmakers Should Know About   Like this blog post? Please share it on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email etc) by using social media...

Let me start with a disclaimer. Any advice I give is worth just what you pay for it. What do I know? I drive a 15-year old pickup and my last royalty check was twelve dollars. But during a tumultuous advertising career I won more than 200 awards. I have enough chrome and lucite to make a couple of Buicks, some of which were even meaningful. Like the one for a literacy campaign. That award got me a presidential citation. (Maybe Carter or Lyndon or one of those.) I wasn't big on politics. Nor am...

Happy Sunday, everyone.  Welcome to December. Let's get warm with a steaming cup of java and some red hot content. First up today, something a little different.  As many of you know, and some may not, having a qualified script supervisor on set is a must.  There are just some things that can't be saved in post and if you don't have the coverage or continuity, you're screwed.  Here, courtesy of Vanity Fair, Martin Scorsese's long-time script supervisor, Martha Pinson, lays down the knowledge...

There is nothing like auditioning. The range of emotions an actor feels stepping into a room full of decision-makers is considerable and often damaging to the quality of the audition itself. One way to keep those emotions and the mistakes they cause in check is to know how to work on a script in a hurry. And I will let you in on a secret: Good readers make better auditioners, whether you get the sides a week, a day, or ten minutes before the audition. So, if you don’t read aloud, it’s tim...

Award-winning filmmaker James Kicklighter has been featured in the Hollywood Reporter, The Times of India, Ain't it Cool News and more and has been directing narrative films for the the past 12 years. His films have screened at the Cannes Film Festival and more! He has spoken all over the world on filmmaking. Kicklighter offers tips for aspiring directors, suggesting they start with two important things before diving in. Kicklighter suggests directors start with two important things before div...

I’m sure that you're all familiar with the “Feature Film” format. You have a single story (okay, it may be rather complex) with a single set of actors and characters and a single directorial team. The final product is a consistent product that draws you in and takes you through its “Oh sh..” moments until the end.   Smells like a human to me (Image courtesy of Arijana Rubin)   An “Anthology Feature,” on the other hand, is different. It is a little analogous to a collection, or anthology,...

Hello, Creative Army.  Hope all who are celebrating are enjoying the remainder of the Thanksgiving weekend. Let's get right after it, shall we? First up, a look at one of my favorite films of the 21st century, the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men.  This one is from our friends at Lessons from the Screenplay and comes with the mandate - don't underestimate the audience! Next, short and sweet, some sage acting advice from the versatile Hugh Jackman. As always, I ask that you share thi...

Everyday, we here at Stage 32 do our very best to offer blog posts that educate and inspire. We get contributions from filmmakers, writers, actors, and other creatives at every level of success. And when we don't share a contributor post, we share links to posts from other creatives out there in the world. Sometimes the posts we share fit you and your needs more than they fit someone else's.Sometimes they won't fit you at all.That's going to happen. With over 500,000 thousand members all ov...

There is a Chinese proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now.” Although this is not the story of a tree, and I can’t say that it has been twenty years in the making, the implications of the proverb still hold true. This story is for the up-and-coming director that may not know the next step in their journey. To the high school student filmmaker that is trying to find their way on the toad to success, and might be looking for something of...

On behalf of the Stage 32 team, I'd like to wish all celebrating a very Happy Thanksgiving. We are all extremely grateful for the members of this community and for the incredible relationships and friendships that have bloomed over the years. Truly, we feel blessed. As I've mentioned in past Thanksgiving blogs, I like to use the end of each Turkey Day for some quiet reflecting on the year thus far. What was I hoping to accomplish? What can still be done with the month remaining? I find this to...