Advice

You’re ready to pitch your TV series idea. You’re there, in the room or on Zoom, you’re nervous as hell but you know your stuff, you’ve got this, you draw a deep breath, you say that much-practiced logline and end with “it’s X meets Y!” Someone somewhere told you to use “comps”, so you picked two shows or films that bear some resemblance to your show and put them together. They told you to pick comps that were profitable to show your project will be too, but what does “profitable” even mean in t...

Hey, Stage 32 Community! A great animated film or TV show combines adventurous storytelling, colorful character development, visually stunning animation, and a imaginative spirit to create an immersive and memorable experience. Classic animated shows like THE SIMPSONS or SOUTH PARK are some of the most watched series of all time, in the television and film spaces. Current animated franchises like DESPICABLE ME, INSIDE OUT, and MOANA have fans waiting on the edge of thei...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! Have you had a creative weekend so far? I have some content here for you that is sure to get the creative juices flowing, so grab your coffee, and let's dive in. First up, in this video from Writer Brandon McNulty, he’s breaking down how to write strong and effective dialogue--with examples from The Dark Knight, Game of Thrones, The Godfather, and more! He highlights what he feels are the “3 Higher Purposes of Dialogue”, looking at how in success, dialogue presen...

Behind every animated film, there's a creator. These creators' contributions to this industry have shaped the industry in large ways. From their visual style, color combinations, the stories they tell, use of inclusive representation, and more, these artists have helped impact their own industry and audiences who love their work. In this article, you will find nine animators who shaped the world of animation and a few lessons we can learn from their experiences. So let's get into it! Hayao...

NOTE: To bypass all potential arguments or misunderstandings, I have renamed the Hero’s Journey to the Heroic Journey to encompass both genders. When you decide to master storytelling, you step into a new environment known as the Heroic Journey. It is an eternal narrative structure that has shaped countless tales of triumph and self-actualization (on-screen). As you venture into the heart of this narrative archetype, you experience what is known as the Heroic Quest, which is composed of the ca...

Staring at a blank computer screen, hoping the words will come. Seeing the idea you have been secretly working on for months was just purchased by a major studio from another writer who had a similar idea. Bitter clashes over creative differences. All realities in our creative world. How does one maintain that peaceful, easy feeling inside when one's head and heart are exploding with anything but peaceful, easy feelings? Well, first, take some quiet time to just breathe—long inhalations, long...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! Have you had a creative weekend so far? I have some content here for you that is sure to get the creative juices flowing, so grab your coffee, and let's dive in. First up, in this video from Frame Voyager, they’re breaking down “The Cameron Effect” and how James Cameron has repeatedly set the bar for what can be accomplished in the world of visual effects. This has inspired countless filmmakers including Wes Ball and the choices he made for the recent Kingdom of...

One of the greatest aspects of creative projects in any discipline is the synergy and surprising turns that occur in the process. You start with a vision and then one happy accident after another takes you down a rabbit hole to something far beyond expectation. This was exactly true of my re-entry into the music world with the video for my act This Mad Desire's Operators Are Standing By. To date, it has been viewed over 200,000 times on Youtube, spawned more videos, created occasions for me to p...

Happy Thursday, Stage 32 Community! I hope that the last month has been joyful and productive for you all! Our Stage 32 Education Team has certainly been hard at work to bring incredible education opportunities and resources to this fantastic community. This June, you'll have the chance to learn from knowledgeable industry executives, award-winning screenwriters, producers, directors, showrunners, actors, consultants, VFX artists, authors, and representatives. Impressive creative professiona...

Audio dramas are a fun way to bring your project to life without the cost of television production. Think War of the Worlds. When radio was the only medium available to digest content from, dramatic shows gained popularity but fell to the wayside with the introduction of visual media. However, with the introduction of podcasting and its resulting popularity, audio dramas are making a comeback. I published my first novel, Day After Disaster, in 2014. It became book one in a series of novels ti...