Filmmaking

Happy Wednesday Stage 32! I hope you are having a beautiful and creative week! Recently, our fearless leader and CEO Richard "RB" Botto joined John Abbas on his podcast "Mentor Nation" to speak about networking, mindset, and building relationships. No matter what hat you wear in the entertainment industry, whether you are in front of or behind the camera, networking is an essential tool in the entertainment industry. In this podcast, RB shares how to find, nurture, and cultivate lasting re...

Will blockchain technology create a paradigm shift in the business practices of the film industry? The film industry on many occasions been fundamentally changed by technology over the years.………. from film; to video; to broadcast; to cable; VHS; DVD; broadband, streaming etc. Will blockchain and the distributed ledger technology be that next force for significant change? Is blockchain is a total paradigm shift? Blockchain technology can provide innovative opportunities to address issues...

Happy Motivation Monday Stage 32! I hope you are having a beautiful and creative week so far. As many of you know, in the past 10 years we have had some pretty epic Stage 32 success stories. From Ireland-based screenwriter Ronika Merl optioning her first script to Pennsylvania-based screenwriter Joseph Downey taking his feature Chick Fight (which went on to star Malin Akerman, Bella Thorne, and Alec Baldwin) from pitch to post through Stage 32, we have celebrated some amazing wins within our...

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, Variety has a wonderful series called Actors on Actors where working actors discuss their craft. In this video, they feature Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, Little Women) and Emma Stone (La La Land, Cruella, Birdman, The Help). Timothée and Emma discuss everything from how they got started in their careers to...

It didn’t take me long to figure out that making money as a screenwriter is… difficult. Indeed, the most common ways to make money in this field are by whether selling a script or working in a writers’ room. It’s the beginning of my career and I haven’t done either of them yet, so I started researching other ways to make money and pay the bills. The good news is, there are some solid options out there. Teach a Course on Skillshare I’m not sponsored by Skillshare in any way, I just think it’...

Most people making TV and film want to know what types of shows financiers and buyers are investing in right now. Here you go... I came up with this list based on what financiers and distributors said during the Stage 32 Film Finance Summit. Note that most of them are focused on independent films, but a few people did TV and studio films. I’ve listed the biographies of each person mentioned in this article at the bottom of this article.     Types of Shows Financiers and Distributors W...

You see excitement sparking in the producer’s eyes. They tell you your concept is unique, highly marketable, and fills a void in a profitable genre… Then the big question comes - the most important question you get asked in any pitch - “why are YOU the one to tell this story?” You respond, “I chose to write this paranoid-spy-thriller as my vehicle to immerse an audience in the experience of what it’s like living with an anxiety disorder, like my own CPTSD.” They had been leaning in up til...

Happy Wednesday Creative Army! 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 Sta...

My fellow creatives, we’ve chosen a path that’s not for the faint-hearted. You have to believe, all the way down into the core of your being, that you can do this thing -- that you can create worlds, that you can bring imagination to life. And we ride the pendulum, sometimes on the daily, as it swings between godlike swagger and the abject fear of not being enough. And then there’s dealing with feedback. We are our own harshest critics in so many ways, but we all have our blind spots. Part o...

An Innovative Solution for an Innovative Problem I look great on paper. In fact, I work best on paper. Especially if that paper is uncoated 60-lb. cream-colored trade paperback book paper. I've sold over 100,000 books as an author (in print and digital). As a result, I've risen to the #1 spot on Amazon's Children's Action & Adventure Sci-Fi Bestseller list, #1 on Amazon's Steampunk Bestseller list, and in the top ten of several other bestseller lists. I look amazing on paper. But all thi...