Advice

Running this site has afforded me the opportunity to speak in front of creatives from all over the world about the power of networking, particularly online networking.  Often, questions I'm asked during these teaching moments inform some of the blogs, resources, and classes we feature here on Stage 32.  There's one question I'm asked most often which sparked some changes and new features we're introducing today.   That question is:  What's the biggest mistake creatives make when it co...

"When it comes to art, you're either in, or not in. If you're half in, you're not in." -- Richard "RB" Botto Our thanks to Duane Barnhart from The Door Post Project for having our Founder and CEO, Richard "RB" Botto, on his highly popular podcast featuring entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry. For an hour Duane and RB discussed RB's background from New York to LA, how he got into the entertainment business, and the evolution of Stage 32.  They went over breaking into the busines...

Whether you're new to the site, a lurker, or a fairly active participant in the Stage 32 community, the question often arises as to how best to navigate the waters of all that is Stage 32. After coming off a mind blowing week at the Austin Film Festival, as I processed all (that I remember) happening – somewhere between laundry, writing, catching up on correspondence and making sure that the pop-up zombie's fog was coming out of his mouth and not his armpit – it occurred to me just how much this...

1,000 Stage 32 members from 36 countries joined our Founder and CEO, RB, for the October 2014 edition of On Stage with RB.  For almost 3 hours he went over site features, answered Stage 32 community member questions and brought on 2 special guests for exciting interviews – Mitchell Peck and David Rountree. 25 year producing veteran Mitchell Peck talked about the current state of the film industry as it relates to production and development. Mitchell also explained how he raised funding for an...

A career as an actor, for me, has been like riding a roller coaster.  I’ve done my fair share of student films, low to no budget indies, and the like. While I’ve been thankful for each and every one of these opportunities, it is so incredibly satisfying to see a progression and evolution to my work as well.    Highlights of this year include seeing the release of two feature films I appear in and learning that A Crime to Remember – a show I had the lead in for the pilot episode - won an Emmy i...

One lesson I learned very early on:   You can’t drive yourself forward in the industry with the fuel of your own ego reveling in the cool projects you’re working on.    Many projects you take on may seem silly or downright horrible, but they still demand your disciplined work.  I come in to the studio and squeeze my brain over a shot not for the prestige of the project, but for the pride of making great imagery.   Over the years, my technical skills broadened and I learned the nuances of...

Despite the fact that my job as a visual effects artist is anything but glamorous, I was asked to write about my experience of building a career that has lasted over two decades. I’ll work to avoid being self-indulgent and try and extrapolate out some bits of wisdom relevant to anyone working to sustain a career through a creative endeavor.   As is the case for essentially all visual effects artists of my generation, I spent my childhood constantly drawing, building models, obsessing over Star...

I have resented the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” from as early as I can remember, which lands me in my sixth grade play wearing a tennis outfit, surrounded by classmates dressed up as doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professions that were sure to evoke prideful smiles from their parents, beaming at them from the audience. How the hell was I supposed to know? I was twelve. I liked tennis. I was good at it. And, having just returned to California after living in England...

My name is Taylor Hay. I am fifteen, an actress, and a cancer survivor. I am telling my story to attest to the fact that anyone, at any age, with whatever hardship life has thrown at them, can still be happy and successful. My story starts at a young age. I started acting when I was four, after literally bugging my mom to death after watching her work in the industry. I begged her for an agent, classes, or anything that would help me be more like her. After pestering her for months, she fina...

I first started out at Warner Bros. as a creative executive in 2009. Being out of college, I was definitely still wet behind the ears, but had worked enough internships to give me a jump on the job. People assume that I went to film school, but I actually studied History at UCLA - which is really just story telling - but it’s a subject I loved and quite frankly became very handy. You realize that in this business no one really cares what kind of degree you have, so it starts everyone out on an e...