Advice
Advice Stage 32 Blogs
The Art of Falling: Part Three
Many people have asked me what acting has to do with stunts. Well, everything. We are not just stunt people. We are not simply daredevils hungry for the next big thrill or buzz junkies craving our adrenalin fix. We are actors who perform stunts in character. It does not matter whether it's doubling or a role with no lines. It's still a performance, and it still needs a believable and three-dimensional character. That said, what is stunt acting? What is involved in the process? What is a stunt ac...


How to Break Negative Thought Patterns
Negative thoughts are extremely addictive thing. Whether triggered by an actual event, situation, or anticipation of events, it’s very easy to fall prey to their bleakness. They kind of suck you into them, and it’s like a never-ending abyss that you keep falling into. There is something inside you that sees the darkness as a familiar territory and keeps pulling you there. It’s an indicator of the fact that you have resided in this space for far too long or your mind is conditioned to keep fal...


32 Tips For Making An Indie Film
I’ve made a lot of movies. I started off as a Runner and worked my way up. I worked on 13 movies as a 1st AC & 2nd AC and Director of Photography before I became an award-winning Director & Writer in my own right. Having gone from runner to director, I have experienced the whole gauntlet of filmmaking, from the biggest shoots to tiny micro-budget one-man crew shoots. I have seen many ways to do things effectively and simply. There are 6 main areas of filmmaking for the indie filmmaker: Develop...


From Idea To Premiere: A Filmmaker's Journey
In 2003, I walked past a former monastery in a Dutch city several times a week, and there were the following words above the portal: 'I was sick and you visited me.' (Bible - free quoted from Matthew). I imagined that a house could be 'sick' and be visited by people who had just died and would find out there that they were dead. Whereby the house could 'cleanse' itself. I knew I had a story. Three years later, I published this suspense story in a collection with other horror authors in the Ne...


7 Lessons I Learned From Film Festival Rejections
For many filmmakers, the film festival acceptance is one of their biggest dreams realized – even now, as more people share and stream content from their homes than ever before, the allure of the festival hasn’t dampened. Not for me, at least, and I imagine many of you too. The feeling of going up to the theatre, seeing your name and your film in the program, and most of all – seeing your work play in front of a real live audience. Not to mention networking with your fellow filmmakers and maybe e...


When Is It Okay To Say 'No' To An Opportunity?
I had a recent experience that we all more or less long for, regardless of which facet of the entertainment business we’re in. We all want an opportunity to knock at our door, right? And that “door,” so to speak, can be a text message, a phone call, an email, a social media direct message – heck, someone walking up to our table in a restaurant or (wow, I’m dating myself) standing on the WELCOME mat and ringing the doorbell. The bottom line is somebody has work for us, and we need to listen bec...


How to Find Your Creative Voice - Part 2: Working with Your Voice
We’ve talked about activating, listening, and preserving our Voice as a path to personal success. But what exactly is our ‘Voice,’ and how do we work with it in more detail? Your Voice is Not a Muse or a Brand Wiki-how says, “Muses were goddesses to whom poets prayed for the gift of divine inspiration.” No point in praying to your Voice. You’d just be praying to yourself. I’d suggest that great works of art are not our Voice either. Art is a gift from our Voice, the product of our Voic...


The Questions Up-and-Coming Screenwriters Need to Ask
Welcome to Stage 32, a community of creatives, the biggest of its kind on the globe. We are here to help you develop your career, regardless of the number of successes you’ve had or if you are totally new to this and think that screenwriting is where you want your future to be. Many come to the site and ask, "How can I sell a script?" "How can I break into the industry?" Or "I'm a new writer; how can I find an agent to help me with following a career in screenwriting?" We understand why the...


Pitch Tank Practice Sessions: Overcoming Pitching Fears Together
For many writers, the written word comes much easier than the spoken one. It could be nerves and that speaking about your work places you in a position of vulnerability... What will they think of my script? Will they understand what I'm trying to convey with it? Can they share my vision for my script? Or a writer may feel doubt about their ability to talk about their script. Is my voice clear and inviting enough? Can I show enough excitement and passion so that an executive will believe in my sc...


Breaking In: What It Takes To Be A Production Assistant
As a person working in the entertainment industry, I have found there are amazing opportunities and learning experiences for those aspiring to land a position as a TV writer. Many paths lead to the writers' room by working your way, but first, you'll need to develop the skills required to thrive in that environment. A frequent starting path for people looking to break into the industry is to work as a production assistant (also known as a PA). There are different types of PAs in production: th...

