Composing

Greetings from London where we just finished our sold-out screening of our 4th Annual Film Program at the Raindance Film Festival.  It was fantastic to see so many of our educators and executives in attendance, at our afterparty, and during our meetings throughout the week.  We'll be sharing more here on the blog soon. Those of you who know me have heard me stress that too many creatives focus nearly exclusively on their craft.  They don't take the time to keep on top of what's happening in th...

For the past few years we've been doing a mid-year check in to see where all of you are at. What kind of projects are you working on?Have you been killing it with auditions?Where are you with writing? Networking? Pitching? Let's take a minute to do a mid-year check-in and see how - and what - you’re all doing thus far. Are you on track? Do you need a push? Did you change direction entirely?   Let's talk about it in the comments section below. And, of course, if there is the opportunity...

Welcome back, my spooky Stage32 Community!Summer is almost here and in this survival guide, I'll be focusing on a checklist of things to keep in mind when shooting a horror film. It's no surprise that horror films cost less to produce and shoot. A good example is Jordan Peele’s Get Out. James Wan made his career with the SAW franchise. Horror films bring in lots of money at the box office and audiences flock to the screen to get their fright on! With that in mind, lets dive right into the belly...

Single cover for Operators. Photo credit: Victoria Somers. 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 o...

Cannes is next week! As you all know Stage 32 has has worked directly with and have had an official presence at the Cannes Film Festival Marche du Film for the last 5 years. Also, for the 3rd straight year, Stage 32 is the official education workshop partner of Cannes and the Marche. This year, our role has expanded even further as we'll be helping to bring more of our executives and educators to the festival and conference. In addition every Cannes attendee will be receiving a free Stage 32 w...

So you're looking to have someone give you feedback on your reel, get that script read, get that film project off the ground, raise funds for your project, or simply land that job.  Let's face it, we all have goals and will do just about anything to reach them. But that doesn't mean our game plan is sound.  In fact, more often than not, our approach couldn't be more wrong.  And with so much noise out there and attention spans shorter than ever, you only have an instant to burst through that cr...

What's going on, Creative Army?   It's been a moment since we last had the time to interact in a live setting. Let's remedy that with another AMA (Ask Me Anything), pre-Cannes style.   What do you say we get together on May 8th at 1pm for another inspiring, motivating and energy-packed question and answer session? All you have to do is register, show up and bring your craft and industry questions. I'll cover as much time as possible and try to leave you with tips, tricks and actionable infor...

The Birth of a Lyricist  From the Ancient Mariner to Poetic Wonders and Everything in Between... Mention poetry and it generally strikes fear in most people. They think about learning it in school and the torture of having to read a passage from Shakespeare to the class. But not me. I was the one who put her hand up, eager to read it out, eager to study it and eager to write it. The kids all hated me, but my teachers loved me. For me, it wasn't about the subject of a piece. It was more...

For the past month the creators of 'What Lies Ahead' have taken us on a journey of the creation of their film, through to the film's launch this week. In their final post the filmmakers talk about gratitude and passion, two things that are just as important as the filmmaking process itself. If you missed any of the previous posts, here they are: Part 1 Click HERE. Part 2 Click HERE. Part 3 Click HERE. Part 4 Click HERE. 'What Lies Ahead' was put together with no less than a dozen Stage 32'ers, i...

You've been on the road (literally) with the creators or 'What Lies Ahead' for the past three weeks. This week, the filmmakers share the official trailer, as well as take us further inside the production and talk car camera equipment, talented actors, and a road game that lead to an incredible scene. (If you missed Part 1, click HERE. Did you miss Part 2? Click HERE. Did you miss Part 3? Click HERE.) 'What Lies Ahead' was put together with no less than a dozen Stage 32'ers including writer Willi...