Inspirational

Hey, Stage 32ers! I hope you're all making great progress on your creative projects this week! We always want you to be up-to-date on what's happening in the industry so that you can set yourself up for success. Now that the WGA has asked for strike authorization (a totally expected move), there's a lot of talk about what this means for content and spending when there are so many reports of fear and contraction. Here to break down for you what's happening with content in the midst of all this...

Last year, my co-creator friend Stephani Prescott and I had just entered a development agreement with Cindy Villareal (Majestic Productions), and it’s safe to say a lot has happened since! Cindy is one of the kindest, down-to-earth people you will ever meet, and it has been an absolute pleasure working with her. The development phase was critical as there is so much up-front work necessary to package everything up. We relied on Cindy’s guidance and expertise to get the pitch deck and lookbook...

Being a creator means being ready for rejection. The industry does away with those who can not handle it. Sometimes, we get so passionate about a project that we pursue the greatest of opportunities without a second thought. Or sometimes, we pass on experiences that turned out to be major successes. You will go through this at some point in your career. How do we move on from that? How do we do away with regret and hurt? What do we do when that amazing moment is gone and want to ensure it's...

Hello Stage 32ers! My name is James J. Papa. I met veteran film writer/director/producer, Julia Verdin of Rough Diamond Management through a consult call on Stage 32. As a result, I ended up co-writing the socially conscious project No Address with her. It is about the homeless in California. This is my story! How Julia & I Connected We connected through Stage 32’s one-hour script consults. I strongly recommend this to any writer who feels their script is ready, and polished, and wants to t...

If branding is a demonstration of what we consistently do, then the heart of my professional brand is “Builder of Safe Spaces to Foster Growth & Creativity”. Looking over my track record, I consistently create safe spaces for people to talk and grow. As a massage therapist, during film school as a casting director making auditioning more fun, as a producer making directors feel more supported, my early days in television where I helped to create an internship/mentorship program for college stude...

Our fearless leader, Richard 'RB' Botto, has a brand new article over on Medium and we've got a first look for you here on the Stage 32 Blog. Check out this preview of his latest piece, and be sure to click here to read the full article.  If you struggle with procrastination, don’t beat yourself up. We live in a world designed to distract you. From the emails and newsletters that fill our inbox, social media, push notification, telemarketers, and so on, everything around us is working overtime...

As a working actor, I am often asked: How do you balance your acting career with the rest of your life? It usually comes from those who aren't actors/artists or those who are actors but are struggling to find that balance. This got me thinking about balance and I asked myself whether "balance" is just an abstract idea or something practical to have in your life. More importantly, is it even possible to have balance with all the things we have going on, all the tasks we have to perform every...

At age 17, my artist-father was taught a mantra. ‘Near enough isn’t good enough. It has to be perfect.’ So he hustled for his mentor, re-doing work over and over again until one day, the mentor was moved to tears and whispered; ‘now it’s perfect. And that’s near enough.’ But the damage was done. With over 60 years of painting, dad couldn’t bring himself to have an exhibition. Nothing was perfect. It robbed him of so much joy and satisfaction and held him back from moving forward in life. I...

Before lockdown, it seemed easier to break into Film and TV. Once in, it seemed easier to get your next job. You just had to be a hard-working and dependable human pinball. But in this post-pandemic WFH world, how can you be a human pinball, creating and networking and getting your work in front of as many people as you can, when there are no other people around you, for you to bounce off? It was easy to be a pinball when I was starting out. My first job was as a production assistant on PBS...

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. It's Oscar weekend so there has been a pile of great content coming up online, and one of the best pieces came from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's interview with Steven Spielberg and John Williams. They've been collaborating for decades and it shows in their interactions. Williams has created numer...