Advice

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...

Back in October, I sat in my chair and started a journey that really put a lot of things into perspective. It was an adventure I never really thought much about. I love music - it’s in my blood. So, when I stumbled on the 21 Days of VGM challenge a while ago, I thought “Oh, I got this.” Making music every day isn’t so bad. Easy. However, I got a rude awakening. It seems simple right? Sit down, get some notation paper, or open your DAW and make about 16 bars of music every day and, to be hone...

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...

Having been in film for decades, producing and distributing many films and documentaries, I am very aware of the difficulties in trying to fund independent films. After some deliberation, my approach to project funding has changed. New technologies and changes in funding legislation have created innovative funding sources that should be incorporated into an updated "hybrid film funding strategy". New funding sources have become available, but it is also important to identify the involvement and...

There is no Business like Show Business. And possibly that is true, as there is no place, other than politics, that a good or bad reputation can travel faster than a supersonic jet. You have to treat your reputation as your most prized possession in Hollywood. There seems to be a misunderstanding about what reputation truly means. A solid reputation is built on professionalism but even more so on how good a human being you are on a solid ground of authenticity and I, for one, quote more than...

When considering projects for development they often arrive at different stages. A lot of the time there is a pilot script and a rough idea for how the rest of the show will play out. But when it comes to presenting your work to an executive, the pitch deck becomes essential. This can sometimes take weeks or even months to get right, but over the years I’ve always seen one thing come out of the process – the whole project improves. If you’re doing your pitch deck right, there are several reasons...