Producing

One of the most uncomfortable experiences that anyone can have is pitching something that they have written to those who will either accept it or reject it. Just like delivering a speech for the first time, pitching a screenplay can be quite nerve-wracking especially the first time that you do it. All too often, a good screenplay does not get produced because the pitch was not delivered in the right manner. Why We Get Nervous? Why does anyone get nervous when they are presenting their wor...

Always Be Writing Michael - At the beginning of the pandemic, like most of us, I was suddenly rich in the commodity of time. For some friends, this proved difficult. But writing is its own form of isolation, so this seemed to play into my hand. One morning, I jotted down some thoughts and posted them anonymously across my socials. My friend Connor Pannell, who I’d met at Catalyst Stories in October of 2019, responded with a scene for a new concept he was developing. I immediately connected t...

Who would’ve ever thought a simple smile could change everything. That’s right, just a smile and nothing more. That’s not so hard, right? Did you know that smiling releases endorphins and dopamine in the brain? A natural antidepressant and all you have to do is turn that frown upside down. I’ll admit, that was a bit cheesy but hell, you get the point. What if I told you, a smile could also help your neighbor. Did you know a smile is contagious? If you don’t believe me, next time you have a mo...

Feature and television projects from diverse writers, and stories with traditionally unheard perspectives, are essential to art, entertainment, and advancing the conversation in a way that has largely been ignored by Hollywood. However, these days, much to our contentment, things are changing. With the powerful evolution of new voices in both features and TV, projects like QUEEN AND SLIM, THE FAREWELL, ATLANTA, CRAZY RICH ASIANS, BLACK-ISH, POSE, LOVE SUGAR, INSECURE are thriving and leading the...

Happy Sunday Creative Army! Here's hoping you had a happy, healthy, and creative week. I've got some fresh coffee in hand and some amazing content coming in hot. Let's dive in, shall we? First up, The Hollywood Reporter has an all-star roundtable all about creativity featuring some of the biggest names in entertainment. This video features Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton the musical, In the Heights), Donald Glover (Atlanta, Community, and hip hop superstar Childish Gambino), Damien Chazelle (La...

Over the last few years, I’ve consumed a lot of crime fiction. Between researching novels and pilots, I’ve read mysteries (recently I’ve gotten into Preston and Child), studied real-life forensics reports and procedure, and I’ve watched thousands of hours of crime television shows. And yes, I did say thousands. I’m fairly certain that’s not an exaggeration. As a writer, I’ve learned I’m a lot like a sponge. I need to absorb content in order to be able to pour it out into my work in progress...

I remember sitting on my porch in December 2019 and saying to myself, finally, 2020, a new start. I think the majority of the world pretty much felt that 2019 could take a hike, that is until 2020 really hit us with a Pandemic. Being a filmmaker during this time has struck fear within our industry, as well as the rest of the world. So, the impending question is, how do we get back to set? What does that look like as the bans are lifting and work is kinda moving forward? I’m here to give you s...

At the end of 2018, I started preparing, as Tommy Kail had so simply put it, to finish our movie. There was to be a one-month run of Freestyle Love Supreme at the Greenwich House Theatre in the West Village. We would capture as many shows as we could, interview the cast and creative team, and in following the journey of their Off-Broadway run, attempt to look back and contextualize the importance of this group on the individuals who are a part of it.     I decided almost immediately tha...

Happy Tuesday Stage 32!   I am incredibly honored to present to you the first of a series of vlogs from animation industry veteran, Frank Gladstone! Frank has worked for some of the biggest names in animation (Disney, Warner Bros, and DreamWorks, to name a few!) in his 45+ years in the industry. Frank is also currently the Executive Director for The International Animated Film Society (ASIFA - Hollywood) which hosts the world famous Annie Awards honoring animators from all over the world.   ...

Keep pushing and trust the process. Hi, my name is Eric Jeske and my screenplay AVALANCHE won Stage 32’s Feature Contest. These two “mantras” are what shape my screenwriting journey. I came out to Los Angeles after college, like many, pursuing all that Hollywood has to offer - Improv, comedy, movies, glitz and glamor. But this town can be a tough-ass nut to crack. Keep pushing. So, you figure some things out, make some connections, pour your focus into screenwriting. The one thing you fe...