Networking

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...

Ready for advice from 2 New Yorker's in Hollywood? For writers and actors all over the world, making the decision to move to LA isn't taken lightly. For some, the move isn't possible. For others, it's been in the cards for a long time. And for even more, it's something they would love to do, but the timing isn't quite right. In this clip from the FREE webinar "Ask Me Anything," hosted by Stage 32 CEO and screenwriter Richard "RB" Botto, RB teams up with film producer Bradley Gallo to discuss...

If you’re a first-time filmmaker, you should market your film or other project first. This is what Stage 32 CEO Richard “RB” Botto covers in the next video in his continued series that dives deep into crowdSOURCING for filmmakers. Rb is the best-selling author of Crowdsourcing For Filmmakers: Indie Film and the Power of the Crowd, and he covers this crucial point in the video below. Most of the time, as a first-time filmmaker or content creator, no one really knows who you are. Therefore, p...

Growing up I had a love for books and movies. When Stranger Than Fiction came out I fell in love with the writing. But more importantly, I fell in love with the value of two forms of entertainment rolled into the ticket price of one movie. It was value I enjoyed so much, that I wanted to be more than an author; I wanted my books to be optioned for movies. When the first real literary success came across my life path I went headlong into daydreams of the silver screen. These flights of fantasi...

  The most important thing in life is showing up. I am blown away by your ability to show up. (Keanu Reeves, Hard Ball)   Prologue Primarily being a writer, and one who does a lot of historical research, I spend a lot of time alone. So, when I’m hired as an actor, director, storyteller, or teacher, it gives me an opportunity to test my philosophies of keeping motivated and inspired and doing the same for others. For three weeks in June I toured as Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in a...

Last month in my post, When Your Dreams [In the Filmmaking World] Fade, I left you hanging with me barely keeping control of my bowels, frozen in panic as my short life flashed before my eyes upon hearing my homeroom teachers voice on the phone. "Put your mother on the phone now," she barked a second time. I dropped the phone on my bed and ran downstairs to my parents screaming, "Mrs. Rankin is on the phone!!!" No matter how punk rock I try to be, I often have this reaction interiorly to...