Inspirational

I remember joining Stage 32 years ago, shortly after it was launched I believe. I hadn’t yet moved to Los Angeles, and I certainly hadn’t begun writing, but it immediately became a welcoming community of creatives from all over the world. I started as an actor. I performed in plays my entire life, went to college for theatre including a semester at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland, and then moved to Seattle to pursue a career on the stage. But when I began auditioning for TV and...

When the book Van Gogh Blues was brought to my attention, I read it with fervor. I was still in my 30's and struggling to understand why creating, writing, and being artistic made me so damn sad sometimes. Not when I was in it, but when it seemed to reach an "endpoint." I allowed myself to accept that creativity and depression were linked, and carried on through my creative endeavors with as much positivity and freshness as possible. Of course, there are times I still struggle. Perhaps we...

The fireworks are over and it's a brand new day, but we still have lots to celebrate here at Stage 32, not the least of which are our regular blog post guest contributors. We are, in fact, grateful for every single post that has ever come our way, regular contributor or not. All of our contributors selflessly offer their time and expertise to all of you, so that our community can grow with inspiration and education. Without these posts, so many of us would still be browsing other sites seeki...

I had a professor who worked on the show Prison Break and I went to visit him on the set one year. I was on the call sheet! Intern. First day of the shoot, my professor, the director of the episode that week, asked for me to get him a “coffee.” All right. Coffee. Um...I don’t drink coffee. Nor did I at the time. My past experience with coffee was nil. Perhaps if I had thrown it down my gullet in high school, I could have elevated to a loftier university than Arizona State, but I digress. I...

Back in 2017 I pitched a reality TV project to the VP of Development of a prominent and well-established production company specializing in reality programming. Spoiler alert: the show didn’t get picked up, but not everyone gets the benefit of a serious conversation with a VP of Development, so it was a learning experience if nothing else – an experience I’d like to share with all of you aspiring screenwriters and/or producers. Especially if you’re at a point where you’re willing to put in the e...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! Summer's here, the coffee's on, and we've got some great content to go with it. So let's stir it up, shall we? First up, for those focusing on documentaries or a single subject, a strong reminder of the importance of the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds divides the frame into a 3X3 grid, with each intersecting point offering an ideal place to frame your subject. This, and five other video composition techniques are covered in our first video from B&H Photo Vide...

Being a performer in the 21st Century is hard. In the 20th Century, we were taught to learn & think like soldiers & factory workers, not like innovative, self-determined entrepreneurial entertainment professionals. You can thank the 19th Century Prussian educational model for that. Shows like A Chorus Line taught us that us if we’re not a star, we’re a loser.This is simply not true. To make things even harder, the barrier for entry to the entertainment industry is lower than ever. As a...

Hi Stage 32ers! I hope the following story will help to inspire you, as so many of us are struggling to break into the movie and TV industry with our creative endeavors. I’m a Finnish citizen and native, living about as far away from Hollywood as you can imagine – in Finland, north-eastern Scandinavia. I’ve always been a huge movie fan, which led to me becoming a film journalist in my early 20’s, in the late 1980’s. During those years, I befriended some truly amazing people in the industry, a...

Happy Sunday to all.  Hope you're all having a fulfilling and creative weekend. Coffee is brewed and piping hot...Let's get to the content. First up today, many great screenwriters and playwrights - David Mamet is one who comes to mind immediately - speak about the need for writers to create conflict in every scene.  Our first video today dives deep on conflict, citing examples from a plethora of revered films to drive the point home. Second, a video no filmmaker or producer is going to wa...

Happy Monday Stage 32 Creatives! We're halfway through June and as the summer gets into full swing our writers are having a ton of success with their projects! Later this month, Christine Torres, the winner of our 4th Annual Television Writing Contest will go on a round of meetings with executives from RoseyTV, ABC, History Channel, and Industry Entertainment, among many others. These meetings were all set up through Stage 32 as part of her winning the contest. Christine recently met with deve...