Filmmaking

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. First up, our friends over at StudioBinder put together a great video about all the scene transitions you can use in when cutting together your film. Specifically, this video shows nine types of edition transitions: fade, dissolve, match cut, iris, wipe, passing, whip pan, smash cut, and the J-cut. You wil...

Being a creative professional is more complicated than most people think. Whether you’re a writer, actor, or producer, your productivity levels are directly proportional to your organizational skills. Becoming an organized individual isn’t just about working in clean environments or managing time properly. It is also about organizing your thoughts, emotions, and actions in such a way that nothing and no one can stop you from reaching your objectives. In today’s post, I’m sharing 20 ideas tha...

Every great story has five basic elements. These elements allow novelists and screenwriters to grab their reader’s attention and create a worthwhile story. They are connected like building blocks and they carry their respective loads to keep your story balanced. In this post, we are going to share with you the main screenwriting theories that help writers systematize their goals, structure, and techniques when writing a script. Let’s get started! 5 Key Elements of a Great Story Every gr...

When I started I didn’t have directing and producing experience, never went to film school. The only time I came close to a film set as a filmmaker, had been as an extra in a short film once or twice and acted in 2 or 3 NGO short films as well, until I got a chance in 2016 to work as a line producer on a film set. That was about all the experience I had in filmmaking, except writing all the stories I wanted to one day do when I gain enough experience. When I started writing The White Line sto...

Happy Wednesday Stage 32! Since 2011, the Stage 32 team has been working tirelessly to help you stay connected, creative, motivated, and informed. As always, we are committed to bringing you networking opportunities, education and mentoring from top-level industry executives and professionals, and access to decision-makers around the globe all from the comfort of your own home. Recently our efforts have been noticed by the media in a big way. We are incredibly proud and honored that Stage 32...

I’ve loved movies since I was a kid but I’ve also loved books. When I decided to become a writer after an early career as a film publicist, I chose screenwriting, not novel writing. Why? Well, for starters, it seemed like a more possible and immediate way to make something happen, get a toehold in a new business, find some level of creative fulfillment and--maybe (big maybe)--make a living. I had some friends who worked in the TV world who recommended I start writing TV spec scripts and parla...

NETFLIX AND STAGE 32 INTRODUCE A NEW INITIATIVE TO HELP ASPIRING SERIES AND FILMMAKERS CREATE ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE Earlier this year, our two organizations teamed up for a workshop on Television Pitching that was attended by 100,000 aspiring creators in over 160 countries. We knew it would be a natural fit, but it was amazing to see the global impact of the workshop. That’s why we’ve decided to once again partner on the Creating Content for the Global Mark...

Happy Sunday Creative Army! I've got my coffee in hand and your weekly dose of content coming in hot - grab your coffee of choice and let's dive right in. First up, Focus Features has a great series called "Reel Destinations" about the locations that make our favorite movies come to life. In this episode, host Alicia Malone explores Soho, London - the backdrop for Last Night in Soho - with director/co-writer Edgar Wright and co-writer Kyrsty Wilson-Cairns. They talk about how they transition...

From the inception of the film industry in Los Angeles, it has been dominated by major power brokers namely, studios, distributors lawyers and or agencies. This traditional film business model has created an environment that is far from perfect. Many issues are clear and obvious including the many numerous legal, agent and financial middlemen; lack of transparency and trust; piracy; violations of intellectual property rights; inefficient and lengthy procedures for payment of funds and a general...

How do you know if you're ready to level up from a Production Assistant (PA) to a Production Coordinator (PC)? PCs are not necessarily the fastest PAs, but they are the ones taking on the most responsibilities. Are you guarding receipts with your life? Do you protect the integrity of lunch orders as if they were a precious commodity? Have you started to program everyone's phone number into your phone, so you don't have to take the extra time to look it up when you have to dial it? Oh, yes. PCs a...