Financing

“Move to Montana” is not the advice you’ll get when you tell someone you want to break into the entertainment business. Especially, if like me, you were working at one of the biggest magazines in the country owned by a parent company that also ran TV and movie studios. At that job, I interacted with bold face names and their publicists all day and as writer also interviewed Grammy, Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe winners. You’d think this would be the place to work if you were an aspiring screenw...

On behalf of the entire Stage 32 family, I'd like to wish you all a happy, healthy, and loving Christmas and remainder of the holiday season. While the holidays are a time of celebration, I hope everyone will take a moment to reflect on the many blessings life has offered and afforded all of us. We personally feel blessed to have had so many of you enter and enrich our lives. The Stage 32 community has grown to over 800,000 members from around the globe, and we are beyond honored to provide ea...

A few years ago,  I had the devastating privilege of teaching television and film production to teenagers. Yes, oxymoron intended. Two things became clear early on: these students had no respect for the equipment because they were issued cameras like pacifiers, nor did they understand the value of their human resources due to the emphasis put squarely on technology above all. Guess what we did for the first week? We learned about networking. Man, were they mad. Then again, that could have been b...

Happy Wednesday Creative Army! Stage 32's continued mission is to democratize the entertainment business and the industry is taking notice in a big way. We are incredibly proud and honored that Stage 32 has been featured recently in Forbes Magazine, Business Insider, Inc. Magazine, and now, for the second time, Hackernoon.  As many of you have likely heard, we are partnering with Netflix (again!) to bring even more education to entertainment creatives and professionals from around the globe...

Several years ago I decided that I wanted to get a degree in film and television from the highly competitive film school at New York University. There was one major obstacle though... I was a high school drop out. What are the odds of my being accepted into this school and program? Not very good, but I decided (call it naivety, blind faith, insanity or whatnot) it was not only possible, but it was going to be my reality. I put one foot in front of the other, busted my butt as if it were life or...

My very good friend, composer and sound designer / mixer Scott Szabo said there are three kinds of work: Art, Craft and Rent. He's absolutely right. Art is the stuff you are proud to have your name on, and you showcase on a website or reel, promoting shamelessly on social media! Craft might, or might not, be something to hold out as an example, but it will call upon your advanced skills and challenge you. Rent ... well, you show up, do a great job, make the client happy, cash the check and get o...

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...

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...