Advice

I have an awful confession to make: I’m a corporate video scriptwriter. I’m not sure how many scripts and proposals I’ve written for the corporate and public sector market. More than 100? Easily. 150? Perhaps. I don’t do it full-time anymore, thank the stars, but I keep my hand in as a freelance, working on an average of a project a month. To be absolutely frank, it subsidises my other life as an author and screenwriter, thus obviating any need to tend bar or sell body parts. I’ll be the f...

Just DO IT! Don’t let a PASS get you down! Get Up! Go on and WRITE! Be successful by NOT having everything you want! Do you want to be a screenwriter? If so, you probably like to write and write and write. If you don’t like to write, this job is not for you. What I’ve realized about this industry is that it’s not as glamorous as everyone thinks it is. It’s hard work and you have to be proactive and highly organized to stay on track. Thanks to Stage 32, we have everything at th...

Upon graduating from UC Santa Cruz in 2004, I knew I wanted to work in the entertainment industry. However as many recent graduates soon discover, there isn’t a clear path and soon, that dreaded “what now?” question emerges.   The logical thing to do was to find a way to get my foot in the door. With that said, I polished my modest resume (which at the time consisted of one internship at a small startup film company) and knocked on the doors of every major studio in Los Angeles...

We've all heard it somewhere. The sentence that grinds the gears of anyone with the dream of working in the entertainment business. You have to live in Los Angeles to make it happen. They say you can only make the relationships you need by being there. They say LA is the only place with enough work to build a career. But they're wrong. And I'm living proof. I've lived nine of the last ten years in Connecticut, and in that time, I've written, directed, produced, production managed and...

Here’s a short story from my college days, which by the way, takes us back to 1973. My composition teacher, Dr. Walter Hartley, told the class one day that, if you are going to be composer then you have to start with a note. And if you are going to become a good composer you will pick a second note, and it will be the right note. Well, as a senior in a fairly prestigious music school (at least within the New York State University system), I smugly thought to myself, “Of course it...

Our fearless leader, Founder & CEO, Richard Botto was featured on the enormously popular podcast Entertainment Drive Thru hosted by Anna and Dan Zerin. In the nearly 45 minute broadcast Anna, Dan and RB talked about all things industry, including:   The origin of Stage 32 Orson Welles connection to Stage 32 Today’s evolving business, Stage 32 is creating opportunity for free Independent theater scene The importance of collaborating around the world The story of how a writer...

I asked myself, “What are ya gonna do?” You live in Hawaii and you’re making a documentary film in New York City and you want to go to Europe to capture interviews? How can you find a cameraman in Europe? How are you going to raise $7,500 to pay for all this? And how can you begin to get all this lined up? That’s what I was facing back in August 2014. Let’s start with what I did to find an affordable, experienced, European cameraman. I turned to Stage 32 and did a search — cameraman + A...

STAGE 32 NEWS It’s that time again! Time for the February 2015 edition of On Stage with RB. Every month our Founder & CEO, RB, in a webinar setting goes over the best way to use Stage 32 to help your career. He brings on special guests who work in the industry, such as literary managers and development executives to offer advice to our community. Afterwards, he opens up the floor to you for a live Q&A session about anything and everything in the industry. Best of all, this is FREE, exclusively...

I remember when I had my epiphany. I was sat slumped on my sofa watching Grey’s Anatomy. It was an episode where Dr. Hunt and the recently demoted Dr. Webber were putting together competing proposals to perform a difficult tumor surgery. While presenting their intentions, acting Chief Shepherd said he felt more comfortable with Hunt’s plan and Webber responded with this: “He doesn’t have a plan, he has an attitude!” And, for a brief moment, I stopped stuffing my face with chocolate. Th...

STAGE 32 NEWS Producer Foundry is conducting important market research for the film industry and they want to learn from you, indie filmmakers on Stage 32. As a filmmaking Stage 32 member, you’re invited to take part in this 10-12 minute survey and you will receive a free three month trial of Fandor: Take the survey here! It's been an incredible week and a half here on Stage 32 for a number of members of our remarkably talented community. In the past 10 days, a director in Amsterdam was hired...