Advice

The way we communicate has changed more in the past two decades, than it has since Gutenburg invented his printing press in 1440. But now Gutenburg's been replaced by Zuckerburg, and we're no longer analogue creatures. We're carefully curated digital representations, information junkies – constantly in the loop, all wired up to The Matrix. You may regard our new digital reality a dystopian wasteland – a bleak place punctuated by selfies, pornography and neon virtue-signallers. A lonely dimensi...

I started acting a little later than most of my fellow thespians. I’d always been a creative person: writing, drawing and playing music, but acting was something I feared. “Who am I to act?” “Who would possibly be entertained by my performance?” So, out of fear, I never tried acting. That was, until my 30s. My career in the toy industry had stalled and I was feeling less connected to myself. I was getting sick a lot, and I was having trouble finding direction or inspiration. In other words, I wa...

Hey guys. Very often, I hear from members of the community who are having a difficult time navigating the business side of the industry.  Honing their craft, no problem.  Building relationships, winning champions and getting past the gatekeepers, a challenge that not only puts many through the wringer, but dampens their creative spirit as well. I'm here to tell ya, the fear, the resistance, the reluctance can all be overcome.  And it doesn't take much.  In fact, just a few changes in commitm...

Last week we brought in the Emmy-award winning producer Kip Konwiser for an incredible 90 minute Q&A that left all of the creatives listening motivated and inspired. Kip has had a storied career having worked with Netflix, HBO, Sony Pictures, 20th Century FOX, Paramount, Lionsgate and more. For nearly three decades he's worked with some incredible talent including Darren Aronofsky, Laurence Fishburne, Clint Eastwood and much more. In this inspiring webinar we talked about whether or not you n...

We’ve all heard the stories. Paranormal Activity, a film with a budget slightly less than a used Honda, made $193 million worldwide and launched a profitable franchise. That film’s progenitor, The Blair Witch Project, had a $60K budget and turned out a $250 million box office haul. The most profitable films from 2010 to 2015 were all horror films. 10. The Last Exorcism ($68M gross vs. $1.8M production budget) 9. Annabelle ($257M vs. $6.5M) 8. Chernobyl Diaries ($37M vs. $1M) 7. In...

As part of the writing services team at Stage 32 handling a lot of the pitch sessions, I get a lot of questions about pitching, as well as some pretty keen insight into what executives like and dislike about pitches. Before me, Allen did the same thing and therefore experienced the same growth in KNOWLEDGE (said with an echo). So together he and I came up with a list of the ten most common mistakes we see in the pitches here. We then had a brutal fist fight to see who would have to go on cam...

Just when you feel like parking your pitching for the moment, along comes a breakthrough to give you new hope – this is my takeaway sentiment this Christmas just gone, and I would like to share with you all what I am talking about, as hopefully it will encourage you to keep pressing forward and to keep striving for your goals/dreams in 2018. I was reluctant to write this article, as I felt it was a little premature, but encouragement from Rosalind Winton, the wonderful official editor of Stage...

On January 5th, for the second straight year, we were proud to celebrate National Screenwriter's Day with our friends from Screenwriting U. Hal Croasman led a spirited online panel with TV writer, Nicole Ranadive (24, THE LIBRARIANS, HAWAII FIVE-O, SMALLVILLE), Patrick Raymond, Development Executive for Mandalay Pictures (BIRTH OF A NATION, BURNING SANDS) and yours truly. Over 500 writers attended the nearly 2 hour event.  As you might imagine, we covered a ton of ground including the craft, c...

On behalf of the entire Stage 32 team, I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year!    So what are your goals for the year? Have you laid them out? Broken them down? Arranged them in a sensible fashion which will make the journey fun and rewarding as opposed to filled with pressure and anxiety? I'd love to hear what you're looking to attain in the coming 12 months. Further, for those willing, I'd also love if you'd share your strategies designed to set yourself up for success. Let's...

  I'm climbing up on my chair now so you will pay attention to what I'm about to say. Okay...I'm up here...waiting for you to listen. Ready? Don't cast less than great actors in your film! It seems to me that casting is often times a second thought to Indie filmmakers. Then guess what happens? We are subjected to films that are difficult to watch. Even if the script is great, bad actors can absolutely ruin your film. I have seen this occur time and time again. And so have you....