Filmmaking

  I'm climbing up on my chair now so you will pay attention to what I'm about to say. Okay...I'm up here...waiting for you to listen. Ready? Don't Cast Less Than Great Actors In Your Film! It seems to me that casting is oftentimes a second thought to Indie filmmakers. Then guess what happens? We are subjected to films that are difficult to watch. Even if the script is great, bad actors can absolutely ruin your film. I have seen this occur time and time again. And so have you. D...

Happy Thanksgiving, Creative Army! On behalf of the entire Stage 32 team, I'd like to wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. This year, we hit a milestone of over one million members in our growing, creative community, and we are beyond honored to provide each and every one of you a safe haven to connect, be inspired, and come together to make art. We are all extremely grateful for the members of this community and for the incredible relationships and friendships that have bloomed thi...

WARNING: Objects in mirror are closer than they appear, or is it that they may not be as close as they appear? I suppose it all depends on how they appear and how blind we’ve become to a message that’s under our noses every day; I’ll come back to this. The mission you have chosen to accept in this industry is one of delivering a perspective. Whether you are a writer, actor, director, producer, costumer, or gaffer. The projects you work on will all set out to deliver a perspective through the s...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! First, congratulations to all of you who have already participated in our monthly Introduce Yourself Weekend! Thousands of connections have been made between entertainment creatives and professionals from around the globe. Whether you are a long-time member or brand new to Stage 32, take a moment to pop over to the Introduce Yourself Lounge and say hello before the end of the weekend. First up, in this video from Variety, you'll learn from Oscar-winning Directory...

My name is Tennyson, I’ve written more than 50 screenplays, I’ve helped produce some movies, I direct and edit, I’m a working script doctor, and I’ve been working on stage since I was 13 years old. For the last few years, I’ve been blogging for Stage 32… and this week, we’re going to talk in a little more detail about why I do that. EVERYBODY NEEDS HELP Showbusiness is, and has always been, a collaborative effort. Even a one-person show needs an audience to be complete, so there’s nobody i...

Welcome back to TALKING BUSINESS: Insights from the Independent Film Industry, hosted by Stage 32 Thought Leader and Business Consultant, David Zannoni, from Freeway Entertainment and Zannoni Media. In TALKING BUSINESS, David brings you in-depth conversations on the behind-the-scenes of the filmmaking business with industry veterans. In today’s fourth episode, David speaks with Octavio Marin, VP of Production & Operations for Santa Fe Studios and SF Film Services, LLC. Octavio oversees Santa F...

Hey, Creative Army! For the 8th year in a row, Stage 32 continued as the official Networking and Education partner of the American Film Market! It was a whirlwind few days, but we all had an absolute blast! We had the pleasure of catching up with so many of our members, educators, executives, and Thought Leaders who were present. This year was history in the making as Stage 32 was proud to coordinate the film market's first-ever Television panel, and to say it was a hit would be an understat...

1. The Blogger “Toxic & Elitist”, were the words circling within my head in November 2013. I’d found myself at the door of Stage 32 an artistic refugee, spiritually exhausted after a stint on screenwriting forums and a certain website that evaluates your scripts with a score. The former exposed me to trolls who’d convinced me I didn’t have what it takes to break in, while the latter had done nothing but send me in circles. While a script of mine had been selected by Amazon Studios as a “Notable...

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. This week we're talking all things lighting! So first, in this great video from In Depth Cine, you'll look at the differences between 'cinematic lighting' and 'natural lighting.' Often what we think of as 'natural' is anything but. However, there are plenty of films that do manage to use natural lighting...

When you decide to write music for Film and Television as a full-time job, you’ll soon realize that from that moment on it is not just about your music, but about the music business. There is so much to know and to learn about the process of negotiating a deal. I am going to share some of the experiences I have had so far, hoping that it will help you with your negotiations a little bit. When And Why: Signing An Agreement When you are offered a composer job, your first instinct is probably to...