Networking

I'm proud to announce that for the 4th straight year, Stage 32 has been named as the official film networking and education platform of the American Film Market. This year, we've expanded our partnership to include even more events and education.       As you know, I am a big believer that to survive and thrive in this industry, you have to adapt to the times. That's one of the many reasons we love partnering with the AFM. By having his finger firmly on the pulse of what's happening in th...

Let's rock and roll, Creative Army. We've been well overdue to get together live. I've got just the solution. Let's hang AMA (Ask Me Anything) style.   Since the last AMA in May, I've been running all over the globe fulfilling Stage 32 partnership responsibilities, conducting business, exploring creative writing/filming/producing opportunities, and mentoring in such places as Cannes, Budapest, Majorca, Paris, Dordogne, Trinidad and Tobago, London, Munich, Hamburg and, of course, right here i...

In the next video of our Crowdsourcing series, Richard “RB” Botto, the best-selling author of Crowdsourcing For Filmmakers: Indie Film and the Power of the Crowd and Stage 32’s CEO, shares things you can crowdsource for your creative project. If you’ve been following the series, you know that building an audience first can help enhance your crowdfunding campaign because you’ve already taken the time to seek out dedicated followers. But what if you could crowdsource other things needed to get you...

I practically jumped out of my seat when I read "I'd like to produce and direct this," beneath the synopsis in the logline section of my profile! It was awesome to learn that, FINALLY, someone wanted to produce my original 40 page paranormal horror short film titled, Angered.    It was Robert James Atton, a fellow Chicagoan, who wanted to read the entire script, so I emailed it to him post-haste. He "loved" it, and we decided to meet in person at a local coffee shop. We told each other m...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army. Let's jump right in to another edition of Coffee & Content. First up, How to Get Your Short Screened at Film Festivals. Many of us here on Stage 32 are looking for ways to get noticed. Networking at film festivals is a great way. And if you're know ahead of time which festivals to submit to and what to expect, you're ahead of the curve. Piggy backing that from our Friends at Indie Hustle, What Film Festivals Should You Submit to First? Some of us have our favorit...

Fresh off the heels of our expanding partnerships with Cannes, Raindance, Hollyshorts, and AFM (more on that shortly) and our new partnerships with the Trinidad and Tobago Film Commission and the Hamburg Film Festival, we're proud to announce that we have now joined forces with the prestigious Austin Film Festival. For starters, we'll be screening our 4th Annual Short Film Program during the festival.  So far this program has screened at Hollyshorts, Raindance and now we're excited to bring it...

Greetings from London where we just finished our sold-out screening of our 4th Annual Film Program at the Raindance Film Festival.  It was fantastic to see so many of our educators and executives in attendance, at our afterparty, and during our meetings throughout the week.  We'll be sharing more here on the blog soon. Those of you who know me have heard me stress that too many creatives focus nearly exclusively on their craft.  They don't take the time to keep on top of what's happening in th...

Welcome back to one of the more powerful video series we’ve offered here on Stage 32. For the past several weeks we’ve featured videos from Stage 32 CEO, Richard “RB” Botto, the best-selling author of Crowdsourcing For Filmmakers: Indie Film and the Power of the Crowd. Each video is powerful in it’s own right. But this one speaks to how crowdSOURCING can work for any creative venture. Whether you plan on launching your film, a book, a newsletter or magazine, a website, or enhancing your social p...

Good morning Stage 32 family! Welcome to another Monday of what I hope will be a creative and productive week for everyone. We’ve come to the end of September which means that Fall is officially upon us and we are in the last quarter of the year! So far, it has been an amazing year with so many successes for us all to celebrate. And we’ve had an awesome summer capped off by a fantastic month of September. In the first week of September, I was fortunate to host a Stage 32 meetup for LA-based s...

When businesses are born, especially those birthed in a creative environment filled with film, television, and artists, it all starts with a dream. And on the journey to realize those dreams, it is almost inevitable that you will meet and talk to many people. From these people, you will hear one of these things:The truth.The half-truth.Bullshit. As the saying goes, “Money talks, bullshit walks.” But it goes even further than this. Developing strong fact-checking skills will save you...