Advice

Several years ago I decided that I wanted to get a degree in film and television from the highly competitive film school at New York University. There was one major obstacle though... I was a high school dropout. What are the odds of my being accepted into this school and program? Not very good, but I decided (call it naivety, blind faith, insanity, or whatnot) it was not only possible, but it was going to be my reality. I put one foot in front of the other, busted my butt as if it were life or...

As a working actor, I am often asked: How do you balance your acting career with the rest of your life? It usually comes from those who aren't actors/artists or those who are actors but are struggling to find that balance. This got me thinking about balance and I asked myself whether "balance" is just an abstract idea or something practical to have in your life. More importantly, is it even possible to have balance with all the things we have going on, all the tasks we have to perform every...

I became a screenwriter because of a felony. Not mine, but one that changed my career forever. Fresh off the high of publishing my debut sci-fi novel, Space Unicorn Blues, my publisher requested a second book in the series. I was ecstatic to finally realize my dream of making a living as a writer. As is customary, my literary agency received my advance for the action-packed sequel... except they didn't pass the money along to me. I asked. I demanded. I threatened. No money arrived. The literar...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! First, congratulations to all of you who have already participated in our monthly Introduce Yourself Weekend! Thousands of connections have been made between entertainment creatives and professionals from around the globe. Whether you are a long-time member or brand new to Stage 32, take a moment to pop over to the Introduce Yourself Lounge and say hello before the end of the weekend. First up, I often see as we're having fun debating films in the lounges the ide...

At age 17, my artist-father was taught a mantra. ‘Near enough isn’t good enough. It has to be perfect.’ So he hustled for his mentor, re-doing work over and over again until one day, the mentor was moved to tears and whispered; ‘now it’s perfect. And that’s near enough.’ But the damage was done. With over 60 years of painting, dad couldn’t bring himself to have an exhibition. Nothing was perfect. It robbed him of so much joy and satisfaction and held him back from moving forward in life. I...

Before lockdown, it seemed easier to break into Film and TV. Once in, it seemed easier to get your next job. You just had to be a hard-working and dependable human pinball. But in this post-pandemic WFH world, how can you be a human pinball, creating and networking and getting your work in front of as many people as you can, when there are no other people around you, for you to bounce off? It was easy to be a pinball when I was starting out. My first job was as a production assistant on PBS...

I’m always amazed at who you can come across on Stage 32. Our global community is so vast that there’s no chance of knowing who’s who, unless you take the plunge and start connecting with people you meet whilst sharing comments in the various Lounges or the Blog. Phil Hardy and I had just published our latest article “How Can You Sell Your Screenplay To A Studio" and I noticed a comment from Michael A. Levine. Michael, by the way, is an award-winning composer. He has not only composed some gre...

I love, love, love how you write descriptions! The words jump off the page! When you first read these notes, you're excited, you finally wrote the winning script that'll change your life forever. Hell, it might even make you a millionaire! But then suddenly reality hits you like a ton of bricks. Even though people are saying you are talented, your scripts are still rejected, you never make the finals, you get high scores on your coverage reports, but it leads nowhere, and your query letters...

There are multiple financial transactions on an independent film project, to finance, produce, and distribute the film. An example can be an investor that pays money to the production, to invest in a film, with the aim to earn the investment back and receive a return on investment and share in the film’s profits, if any. Another potential scenario is an international co-production. The co-producers from different countries jointly produce a film and each of the co-producers provides a financ...

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. It's Oscar weekend so there has been a pile of great content coming up online, and one of the best pieces came from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's interview with Steven Spielberg and John Williams. They've been collaborating for decades and it shows in their interactions. Williams has created numer...