Advice

As creatives, we sure can take some hard knocks. We put our work out there, hoping someone will like it enough to bring it to life. Then, we may find ourselves hoping again that there will be a distribution home once our project is made. Often, we, or I sure do, feel vulnerable when hitting send on anything you have written or uneasily sit as you watch something you created with an audience. You squirm, feeling like maybe you are not as good, smart, or creative as you thought. Over the years of...

Hey, Stage 32 Community! Happy Fall! Over the past month, our Stage 32 Education Team has been hard at work to bring in some incredible education opportunities and resources for this fantastic community. This October, you'll have the chance to learn from knowledgeable industry executives, video game writers, award-winning filmmakers, NYT best-selling authors, acclaimed producers, financiers, screenwriters, distributors, and representatives. Impressive creative professionals who have worked o...

Back in 2010, I shot my first feature film in HDV on miniDV tape. Once finished I formatted the hard drive to make the next project. Unthinkable really, but I did this as I knew HDV wasn’t a great technical standard and I couldn’t afford a new drive. More recently, I watched sixty or so hours of those tapes imported back into Final Cut Pro 7 for a potential remaster. It flashed me back to how naive I was when it came to the data created by film production. Whatever your role in production is,...

I’ve always told myself and heard the phrase, “Never give up” (then he sat down speech). Which is why I have continued to seek out different producers and others in the film industry for years here at Stage 32. Wanting to write music since my 30’s, I’ve been going to different schools, starting in Ohio. I started in Music Ed. At Wright State University – for two years, I learned music theory and ear training. Then I had an opportunity to perform ‘on the road’ with a group for a year, called Am...

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, audio can often make or break the quality on a film (even if more and more people are watching things with captions). In this video from the Standard Story Company, you'll see tangible ways you can get the audio you need on your productions, no matter how limited your budget. Next up, we're l...

One of the biggest challenges filmmakers and screenwriters face is to keep their creative energy fresh and high while working on projects that ask years of endurance and at times don't feel creative. What often drove us toward filmmaking - the excitement of creating stories - can quickly become the thing we connect with the less as we work toward building our careers: handling deadlines, finding an agent, raising money, applying to festivals, answering casting calls, and the 100 other tasks ou...

G. Charles Wright is a 20-year veteran of TV casting, a career he says he was studying for his entire life and didn’t know it! A graduate of USC with a degree in communications (emphasis on television, critical studies), G. has been on both sides of the camera as an actor, a casting director, a content creator, a producer, and a director. In addition, G’s been teaching actors how to audition in his private studio classes since 2002. G started in casting at 33 years old, interning for Carsey/We...

Registration. Red Carpets. Screenings. Drinks. Laughter. Conversation. Connection. The vibe when you connect with other film creatives in person is electric! But it can be gone in a flash if you’re not taking the time to exchange information. To follow up after the excitement has died down, be sure to connect with them on the recently updated Stage 32 App! Of course, you’re meeting TONS of people when attending these events. Maybe it just seems like it because you don’t normally meet ten new p...

We’ve all read those “14,962 Things You Should Do to Become a Successful Screenwriter” lists before, right? Well, halfway through this article, I will give you a slightly different kind of list. It’s a revolutionary, paint-by-numbers guide to how you can become a paid screenwriter, just like me... THUNK! Phil falls off his chair. Rolls on the floor. His face stretched. Tears on his cheeks, laughing – or is he crying? Sorry… I’m ok. (wipes his face/ retakes his seat) Where was I? Oh yes, the...

The idea of a pitch book never occurred to me until I saw Stage 32's promotion of such a couple of years ago. I had what I thought was a solid screenplay but no agent or manager. I had been fortunate to place in several nationally acclaimed contests with my story but no serious callers/producers, although I came close with CAA and Anna Sophia Robb (Bridge to Teribithia) as a possible attachment. I needed another tool. At first, this was something I thought maybe I could do on my own. I studied...