Advice

Happy Sunday, Creative Army. It's been an amazing and rewarding week here at the Austin Film Festival.  Always a thrill getting to hang with so many Stage 32 filmmakers and screenwriters.  We'll have more on all the happenings from the last few days soon, but in the meantime, let's get to the coffee & content. Tony Gilroy has built a 20 plus year career by writing a wide variety of screenplays including NIGHTCRAWLER, TONY GILROY, THE BOURNE IDENTITY and ROGUE ONE.  Here's a screenwriting lec...

If you're reading this post, you're in business for yourself. Most indie creatives are. You are an entrepreneur and you work for you. Therefore, you are responsible for just about every aspect of your business. I am a screenwriter, actor, and ghostwriter (with a small job on the side at a bookstore). As an entrepreneur, I have to manage my books, track my mileage, invoice my clients, and market myself. Really, that's just a fraction of what I do. I also have to establish boundaries with my c...

Depending on the market you are based in, you may have a vastly different understanding of the self-tape audition. If you're based in LA or NYC, you are occasionally required to self-tape, and when that happens, perhaps you use your cell phone or go to a buddy’s house and have them tape you. I, on the other hand, am based in Atlanta. And in addition to being a full-time actor for over 15 years, I have co-owned a taping service with my wife since 2010. We were one of the first dedicated taping...

If I told you that I have interviewed award-winning screenwriters, producers, managers, and other industry professionals who have worked on projects like the Jurassic Park franchise and with studios such as BBC, Marvel, and Disney without leaving the comfort of my own home, would you believe me? And what would you say if I told you that you could do it too? In fact, let’s go a step further and say you don’t even need to get off the couch to do so. In this post, I'm going to share how I’ve be...

A few months back I published a post looking for blog contributors. I'll be doing that from time to time because, quite frankly, the Stage 32 Blog wouldn’t exist without any of you. So many of you answered the call. You told us your stories. You shared your experiences. Your expertise.Your wins, your losses, and your even better wins that come after the losses. We want to hear from you again.Our posts from you educate and inspire. And with over 500,000 Stage 32 members (and growing), ther...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army.  Hope you're all enjoying the weekend and taking advantage of participating in Introduce Yourself Weekend here on Stage 32.  Let's get to the content. First up, as we all know, there's no one tried and true approach to writing a screenplay.  But, by hearing from those who have been successful and keeping an open mind, we might just pick up a tip or two that could lead to better habits.  To that end, here's Jay Duplass speaking to his screenwriting process. Next...

Nearly five years ago I started the journey to becoming a filmmaker. At the time I had a great job with benefits, three weeks of vacation, a decent salary, and great co-workers… ...but I was miserable. I wasn’t doing the one thing that burned with an unquenchable fire within me. All I wanted to do was make movies. Now mind you, I am a father of three awesome children and husband to an amazing wife. I have a mortgage, a car payment, and of course your standard American credit card debt. But...

Writing a script is challenging in many ways. After you overcome the stress of facing the first draft review and all the reviews after that and then you see the job done it is, without a doubt, a very satisfying achievement. During the process we can make mistakes (yes, even writers make mistakes) with the way we tell the story. This is why we must keep reading and or talking about script techniques. Today I want to talk specifically about three things we must not do when we are writing a horror...

Do you have a great voice you believe can help you book more work? If you’re considering building a career with your formidable vocal pipes, you should know that there are some tips and business building techniques that can help you mold that raw talent into a golden opportunity. Curious to know what strategies successful voice over actors rely on? Voices.com, the world’s largest online marketplace for voice actors, recently compiled survey data from actors and vocal coaches around the world...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army. Let's close out the weekend with another strong cup of java and an equally potent edition of Coffee & Content. First up this week, I've been noticing many threads in the Screenwriting Lounge lately regarding the basics and the merits of writing within a 3 act structure.  One such thread reminded me of a video from Click Imagination I viewed a couple of years back.  I decided to dig it up and present it hear for consumption and discussion.  Next Up, another good...