Filmmaking

It's an active week here at Stage 32 Next Level Education. I've brought in some great teachers for our writers, actors, producers and filmmakers!   Writing Contracts: What You Need To Know Tuesday, August 16 at 1pm PDT I've brought in Jordan Barel, an entertainment attorney and development executive to go over 3 types of writing contracts: Purchase Agreement, Option Agreement and Negative Pickup agreement. Reading To Earn: An Audiobook Narration Primer Thursday, August 18 at 1pm PDT...

We have an exciting week of events lined up at the HollyShorts Film Festival beginning this Friday! If you are in or around the Los Angeles area, you are more than welcome to come join us for any one or all of our special Stage 32 panels, parties and screenings! "HollyShorts is the benchmark most up-and-comers are striving for - and the festival is impressively dedicated to advancing the careers of its filmmakers", says Daniel Sol, Co-Founder of HollyShorts. "We are equally impressed, dedicate...

It's a great week here on Stage 32 with 2 extremely informative webinars for filmmakers, writers and producers, and for those members based in or around LA, we have an educational panel on Friday at the Hollyshorts Film Festival! Let's get to it!     Distribution: Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix 101 - Wednesday, August 10 If you are interested in distributing your project via a VOD platform, I've brought in Chad Miller, who has spent over a decade in on-demand entertainment and specializes i...

This article focuses on the issues that can arise and the pitfalls to beware of with respect to collaborations between and among creators of books, screenplays, stories, theatrical plays and television show scripts. Under the US copyright law, although ideas alone are not protectable, an author or creator owns a copyright in his or her work the moment the author’s expression of the idea is 'fixed in a tangible medium.' (i.e., when the expression of an idea is written down or recorded in some m...

I remember being at work, in addition to being a filmmaker I'm a full-time bus driver for one of the largest transportation companies in the country. So I'm driving and out of nowhere a thought popped into my head. Why aren't there any award shows for indie filmmakers in Philadelphia? The talent is here, so why nothing to acknowledge that? Then a second thought popped in there, why don't you create one? And that started a year and a half long journey that culminated with the Philadelphia Indepen...

Collaboration is paramount in today’s competitive and rapidly changing film industry. It has been said that there is 'strength in numbers' or that 'a three-fold cord is not easily broken'. Well, three Stage32’ers (Terrell Lamont, Justin Lewis and Art Thomas), along with Alicia Cole Heinrich, Heather Webb and 51 others, took that sentiment to heart and successfully collaborated to produce the dramatic thriller ‘HUSH MONEY’, a feature-film. Shot on-location in Denver, Colorado, over a three-week p...

What time is it? I bet you already guessed it! Time for the July 2016 edition of On Stage with RB! of course! This month it'll be taking place on MONDAY, August 1st at 1PM PDT! Yes, August for July! As you may know, every month our Founder & CEO, RB, brings on special guests who work in the industry, such as filmmakers and executives to offer advice to our community in an online webinar. Plus, he discusses the best way to use Stage 32 to help your career. Check out RB's message for this mont...

I’m standing at the bar like a fish out of water at the local networking event when three women approach my corner. Looking at my name tag one says “So Michael Campo, what do you do?” It’s times like these I think about all the creative answers I could give, each a little funnier than the last but with three sets of peering eyes staring I decided to tell the truth. “I’m a filmmaker.” This answer is usually greeted with one of two responses. Wow, that is really cool what films have you ma...

I want to let you in on a secret that no accomplished composer wants you to know. So why am I telling you? Honestly, it’s because I am a teacher and it’s just in my blood to teach. The thing is, I will actually be making my life much harder by teaching you this secret because as many of you know, it is extremely competitive in the world of film score composing. It’s not because there are just soooo many unbelievably talented composers out there, it’s simply because there are just so many fightin...

When you make a film, it is a personal reflection of your vision. This vision is realized with the help of others. Everyone involved leaves a piece of them in the finished project. Everyone will see your film differently and that's a really good thing, but once the film is shown, people will have their own opinion and may offer unfavorable criticism, even the ones that worked on it with you. If these criticisms, the bad and also the good, are not taken personally, they can be used to improve you...