Inspirational

My background as a writer is very simple. I started writing because I wanted to direct. More by necessity than choice. At some point I realized something. For me, writing has been the only way that I’ve found the ability to express myself. But a screenplay can’t fully express the ideas within it. It’s in the translation to screen where the material is given life. That’s where the magic happens for me. Like many others, I started out writing and directing short films. It’s an invaluable...

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. First up, The Things has put together an in-depth behind the scenes look inside the Disney+ hit WandaVision. This video talks about how portions of the show were actually filmed in front of a live studio audience, the Marvel easter eggs hidden throughout the series, the pre-shoot "boot camp" the cast parti...

Looking back at the highs and lows of your journey in the industry, what was your turning point? Can you pinpoint when you made the decision to change your life? What small choice cascaded into a waterfall of "Universal Greenlights"? Today's guest credits Stage 32, the book The Artist's Way, and his tenacity to get his film into festivals as what resurrected his career. While acting and writing are certainly his talents, today we dig deep into the work required to make it a profession. We talk a...

Hello Creative Army! As you all know, Stage 32 Screenings was born in March of 2020 in the wake of the cancellation of SXSW. Our initiative has since been covered by Deadline, Variety, CNN, and dozens more. We are currently screening over over 200 features, shorts, and episodic pilots from SXSW, Tribeca, SeriesFest, Vail Film Festival, BFI: Flare London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, and Telluride Mountainfilm Documentary Festival to our network of over 6,000 invited sales agents, distributors, manage...

Until recently, the TV movie business was non-existent outside of some kid’s fare on Disney Channel or the Bad Boyfriend of the Week genre on Lifetime. But that was then, this is now. The TV movie game has never been hotter and it can be hard for a new (or even seasoned) screenwriter to make a sale and, even more important, get his or her work produced. But even though the samples above are presented somewhat tongue-in-cheek, they point out a good reason that many would-be TV movie writers fail...

As we think about our work as writers, sometimes we forget that there are “off the page” skills that we need to develop as well. We spend a lot of time on craft, focused on dialogue, character arcs, plot outlining—everything we need to make a strong story. But building a career as a screenwriter—or as any kind of creative—involves more than writing. Entrepreneurship, professionalism, productivity habits, and presentation skills are four “off the page” skills we can develop as we’re mastering...

Screenwriting was not how I envisioned my profession; nor is it to this day, easy for me. I came to writing after years of honing my directing and acting chops in conservatories and out in the professional world of Chicago and New York. However, life throws you curve balls and one day you wake up and realize that world is not going to tell the stories that you are truly passionate about. If it’s really important to you, you have to take it upon yourself to create that vision. This is something t...

Happy Sunday Creative Army! First of all, congratulations to all of you who have already participated in our monthly Introduce Yourself Weekend! Thousands of connections have been made between entertainment creatives and professionals from every corner of the globe. Whether you are a long-time member, or brand new to Stage 32, take a moment to pop over to the Introduce Yourself Lounge and say hello before the end of the weekend. Now, grab some fresh coffee and let's dive in to this week's fres...

The Pass You did it, my friend. You wrote for weeks upon weeks, and rewrote it again. When it was finished, there it sat in front of you. Your most brilliant screenplay and or pilot. After reading it and congratulating yourself, you knew it was pure gold. A work of unending genius. There will be so many execs and producers lined up with bags of money and praise because they have never read anything like this before. You take a deep breath as you open your Stage 32 account to peruse who is look...

Imagine your shyest friend. The one who talks with you, and not many others. This person is probably really good at what they do – writing, directing, editing - but is terrible at putting themselves out there and meeting new people. Now imagine that friend finally working up the courage to type up a paragraph about themselves and post it for this community to see. Imagine that person discovering other creatives and striking up conversations with them, all because you took the time to lift them u...