Advice

I wanted to take a moment to thank Stage 32 member Sarah Delpizzo for writing an article for her blog "My LA Lifestyle" featuring Stage 32 and our fearless leader, Richard Botto. In the article Sarah has RB take us on a trip down memory lane about the origins of Stage 32, best practices of how to benefit from being on Stage 32 and the evolution of the industry right now. It's a must read for every creative.   "There is a famous saying in the entertainment industry, “It’s all about who you k...

It was another incredible year at the American Film Market (AFM). Due to the sheer amount of content being created, purchased and distributed in the current climate, the attendees had a little jump in their step this time around. For the second straight year, I had the pleasure of leading the Producing Studio Films on an Independent Budget panel. This was a lively and passionate discussion featuring both similar and diverging opinions on the current state of indie film producing, film financin...

I reached out to Tiffany Boyle from Ramo Law, whom I met through Stage 32 and worked with on some other projects, I recalled her saying she knew of an animation distributor, so I asked her if she’d send the pitch package to them, she did and they came back with something along the lines of, it wasn’t the type of material they were looking for at the moment. But she did know of another entertainment company that may be interested. She sent it off, and voila´ we are now in agreement to get it goin...

Most of you have no doubt heard one of the sayings along the lines of, 'an overnight success 10 years in the making,' or 'you have to put in 10,000 hours of practice before you are truly ready.' And even if you haven't, if you are in this business (or any creative endeavor) you certainly know the emotional roller coaster of waiting for your work to get noticed in some way, shape or form. So what do you do to pass the time in between those 10 years or 10,000 hours? There are two avenues and b...

  Happy Sunday, everyone. Taking a quick break from speaking and mentoring at the Seattle Film Summit to bring you some insightful and useful content to go with your coffee. First up, Steven Spielberg shares his 10 Rules for Success. Next, the legendary Joe Eszterhas shares his thoughts on screenwriting.  Never a dull moment when Joe is involved. As always, all I ask is that you pay it forward and share this content through your social media (or other) channels. Sit back, enjoy, and...

Our fearless leader, RB, spent some time with Stage 32er Dave Bullis on his uber-popular filmmaking podcast recently. On the podcast, RB and Dave discuss a wide variety of topics including:     1. Why RB thinks it's never been a better time to be a content creator   2. How do you get studios attention?   3. What does star power mean now?   4. With so much content being created and competition, how do you find your tribe (aka audience)?   5. The power of community from film to you...

Getting yourself out there can be hard to do, especially if you are new to the industry. When I first started creating and working in my field, I kept a lot of my work to myself and only showed it when asked. I unfortunately adopted the 'only speak when you are spoken to' mentality. I was very introverted. Networking, to me, was a monster I wasn't quite ready to face and that showed to my potential clients. I wasn't closing deals or getting placements. I knew I had skill and that my music was...

If you're a writer, director, actor or producer, I have good news for you. Science fiction can put you on the map! First off, a definition. By science fiction, I'm also including fantasy and a certain kind of horror, that with a magical or mystical element. And here's my definition of science fiction vs. fantasy: science fiction is any fantasy story where the fantastic element is given a technological or pseudo-technological reason. Of course, there are many other possible definitions. My fa...

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 th...

Part of the challenge of building a crowd in support of a film project is understanding what inspires and moves the individuals within. If you’ve been thorough with your planning and honest with yourself in identifying the true scope of your target audience, your crowd will inevitably consist of people with varying interests and passions. For first time filmmakers — or those launching any content project for the first time — a common mistake is the belief that those interests and passions will b...