Filmmaking

Hi Stage 32ers! I hope the following story will help to inspire you, as so many of us are struggling to break into the movie and TV industry with our creative endeavors. I’m a Finnish citizen and native, living about as far away from Hollywood as you can imagine – in Finland, north-eastern Scandinavia. I’ve always been a huge movie fan, which led to me becoming a film journalist in my early 20’s, in the late 1980’s. During those years, I befriended some truly amazing people in the industry, a...

Happy Sunday to all.  Hope you're all having a fulfilling and creative weekend. Coffee is brewed and piping hot...Let's get to the content. First up today, many great screenwriters and playwrights - David Mamet is one who comes to mind immediately - speak about the need for writers to create conflict in every scene.  Our first video today dives deep on conflict, citing examples from a plethora of revered films to drive the point home. Second, a video no filmmaker or producer is going to wa...

Learning the ins and outs of a writers room can be fun, especially for those of us yearning to take a seat at the table. A few weeks back we shared The Unknown Lingo of TV Writers Rooms. Today we're following Craig Tomashoff's article in the Hollywood Reporter where he takes us behind the scenes of shows like Killing Eve, Barry, and Better Call Saul to discover the little things that help create the big thing: An episode. Give the link below a click to discover how writer's move around bl...

“Power is a place as well as a verb. It is inside the information tent.” -Lynda Obst The quote above is from Hello, He Lied, a must-read book on producing.The book is written by a trailblazer who did it all and saw it all, Lynda Obst. Being a female producer in Hollywood isn't easy. When I decided to expand my horizons and became a film producer, I felt I was ahead of the game because I knew what it took to finance a movie as worldwide sales agent and distributors’ rep. How hard could it be...

With ebbs and flows and highs and lows, every one of us asks ourselves from time to time, "How Do I Stay Motivated as a Creative?" Stage 32 CEO Richard "RB" Botto answers the question during his free "Ask Me Anything" webinar. And what's more, he offers how screenwriters should handle script notes, especially in the beginning of their screenwriting career.     Click Here For RB's Advice!           Remember, if you haven't subscribed to our YouTube page, make sure you do so you don'...

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...

Happy Monday Stage 32 Creatives! We're halfway through June and as the summer gets into full swing our writers are having a ton of success with their projects! Later this month, Christine Torres, the winner of our 4th Annual Television Writing Contest will go on a round of meetings with executives from RoseyTV, ABC, History Channel, and Industry Entertainment, among many others. These meetings were all set up through Stage 32 as part of her winning the contest. Christine recently met with deve...

Happy Sunday, everyone. And Happy Father's Day to all fathers and father figures across the globe! Hope you're day is off to a fantastic start and that you've been active, contributing, and making those invaluable connections during Introduce Yourself Weekend. Don't miss out, there's still 24 hours to go! As if that wasn't enough to motivate you, here's another edition of Coffee & Content. When we talk with the executives who work with us through Stage 32 Script Services about the main issue...

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? Or at least some of its history on how the show challenged racism in the late 60's and early 70's? There's no question that the children's television show was a front runner when it came to diverse casting and cultural education. Author Anne Harrington digs into how it came to light. It took a group of men, unlike any other group of it's kind, to change the face of television.   “Episodes featured a strong black male role model (Gordon, a sch...

There are those who answer the call of duty by joining the military, becoming a doctor, or pastor or something else noble. Like me, there are those insane enough to work in the entertainment business. Even crazier, some actually thrive in it and enjoy it. Well, mostly. But once you are in it and experiencing the reality of the challenge of making a consistent living, one can’t help but think, “What in the world am I doing?” I am not exactly sure when I heard the call to join the circus of Hol...