Inspirational

The odds and the realities of making a living at doing what we love, acting, put in perspective, isn't pretty. Actors really have two jobs; first the audition, in which you must be brilliant, and show that you are easy to get along with. And second, after you book the job, to do the job well. Making a living in the industry is not an easy task. Daily you race to auditions, sometimes with only a few hours notice to prepare, and often in an unforgiving environment, stressed by traffic or lack...

You will hate this blog.Not the most inspiring of beginnings, but bear with me…I struggled as a voice talent for almost 15 years. Before that, I went to college and graduate school for acting. It turns out that while I was pretty good at acting, I hated the lifestyle. I hated the competition and how it brought out the worst in people. I hated, well, other actors. Their insecurity, their need to act as a form of therapy, their love of Ramen Noodles. I hated actors because I saw too much of myself...

Hey guys!  Happy Sunday. The past week has been consumed by Cannes prep (see all the details here), so I have something a little different for Coffee & Content this week.  And it's something for everyone.  How about we cover ground on all the following topics: - Why you need to cut the negativity out of your life- Today! - Why you do not need to be micromanaged as a screenwriter or a filmmaker - How you can bring value to every meeting - What I'm hearing in my meetings regarding...

If there was one subject that dominated the questions asked during my recent Stage 32 AMA, it was about best practices on social media.  Many of you wanted to know how to go about creating meaningful relationships that would help accelerate your path to success.  You know my feelings on this subject as it relates to launching and maintaining a career in film and content creation: Relationships = Reads Relationships = Jobs Relationships = Financing Relationships = Champions of you and you...

Part of why I love overseeing Stage 32's education is because of the incredible array of talent that I get to meet. Recently when Stage 32 hosted the 2018 Film Con Hollywood conference we had the pleasure of working with some incredible executives, including Adam V., a talent agent at the Gersh Agency. Adam works in the TV literary department and has a strong eye for what's happening in the TV space, but he also has great knowledge of the entire industry right now. We took a few minutes to ask...

Happy Sunday, guys.  Before we get to the coffee and the content, a reminder that I will be a guest on Scriptchat tonight at 5PM PST.  We'll be talking screenwriting for at least an hour.  You can find all the details on how to join here. First up, they say that all dialogue should sound natural and specific to that character.  Are there exceptions?  The good people at Now You See It break it down with their Dialogue in Film - How Should Characters Talk? video. Speaking of rules, they say th...

Hey guys, You all know I love to talk, but there are few topics I enjoy talking about more than screenwriting.  And based on many of the questions submitted for the AMA this past week, many of you are looking for some direction, clarity and productive strategies as it relates to the craft and business of screenwriting. That's why I'm excited to announce that I will be returning as a guest on Scriptchat this coming Sunday at 5PM PDT.  What's Scriptchat?  Well, it's an hour long Twitter chat f...

Happy Sunday to all.  Hope you are all enjoying and taking advantage of Introduce Yourself Weekend! Back with another 2 videos designed to entertain and educate. First up, New York Acting Coach John Windsor-Cunningham with an acting lesson he says saved his own career.  The vid is titled The Best Acting Lesson in the World (I don't name 'em folks) and I'll be very interested to get your feedback. Next up, a TEDx talk from Zach King:  The storyteller in all of us.  Zach built a huge online...

Hello, my dear, creative friends. It's been a long time since we had a FREE On Stage With RB webcast. I'm appreciative of all of you who have written in asking when the next one was going to air.  It's been a busy few months for yours truly. There have been many project meetings - progress on a few, and a couple of false starts. I've seen and heard much throughout and I'm anxious to share what I've learned out there with you. In addition, so many of you have sent in such incredible ques...

It’s been two years since I began the crazy notion of directing and writing my feature films. In that time I’ve written a book that’s been published that I’m turning into a movie later this year, I have completed 6 feature films. All totally different genres. I have met an incredible mentor who supports me in ways I never thought possible. I am speaking on a directors panel at Cannes Film Festival and I have won various awards at various film festivals. The reason I’m telling you this is not...