Networking

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...

How do you know if you're ready to level up from a Production Assistant (PA) to a Production Coordinator (PC)? PCs are not necessarily the fastest PAs, but they are the ones taking on the most responsibilities. Are you guarding receipts with your life? Do you protect the integrity of lunch orders as if they were a precious commodity? Have you started to program everyone's phone number into your phone, so you don't have to take the extra time to look it up when you have to dial it? Oh, yes. PCs a...

An average independent film project deals with a multitude of contracts. Agreements are entered into by the production during all the stages of film’s “life cycle”. In this article we will mention a couple of the most important agreements that the producer should take into consideration during development, production, and distribution. Also, we will look at financing, residual obligations, and agreements which are fundamental to make sure that the film is completed successfully and that rev...

Happy Wednesday Creative Army! As you know, 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 we are thrilled to be featured in Benzinga.  Money, money, money, money. Raising financing for films and other creative projects is always a challenge. That’s why we were thrilled that over 26...

I wrote my first book at the age of nine, a pastiche inspired by Ben and Me, a favorite book about Ben Franklin and his sentient mouse companion. I can still recall the joy I had in simply putting words to paper, words that would conjure images in my mind as I wrote them. And that is the way I continue to write today, as if the story were a movie in my head, scenes rewound and replayed as I re-read and tweak them. I once read somewhere that not everyone visualizes what they read, that for some p...

Independent filmmakers: the most important rules of marketing are to start early and keep focused on your target audience and how to monetize those consumers. What is the point of making a movie and no one knowing about it? – Marketing is the key. Marketing is a very important element in the world of film. In fact, studios are marketing machines and focus a great deal of time on marketing. Independent filmmakers should learn from the majors as they truly understand marketing. Although the wo...

Happy Thanksgiving, Creative Army! On behalf of the entire Stage 32 team, I'd like to wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. This year, we have welcomed hundreds of thousands of new members to our growing, creative community, and we are beyond honored to provide each and every one of you a safe haven  to connect, be inspired, and come together to make art. We are all extremely grateful for the members of this community and for the incredible relationships and friendships that have blo...

I've worked with a lot of big-name talent, developed movies from best selling books from Stephen King to Ann Rule, and optioned and developed a few Opera Book Club picks including Songs In Ordinary Time, Jewel (won the Humanitas Award), and Midwives. I have worked with and developed projects for Warner Brothers, Sony/Tri-Star/Columbia, Mark Harmon's Wings Productions, and more over the past 30 years of my career. Over the years, I have worked with hundreds of screenwriters in all stages of the...

I’ve always considered myself unsuccessfully successful. On paper it all sounds pretty great. I started writing movies out of the angst of being a struggling actor. A casting director may not choose me. But I can. I choose me. The first movie I wrote had Chevy Chase and Burt Reynolds, Not Another Not Another Movie. My second, Scouts Honor, had Fred Willard and Chris Kattan. I then directed a passion project I wrote about a musician who gave away millions to live on a Native American Reserv...

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 pipi...