Producing

Hey Stage 32ers!  The 96th annual Academy Awards are scheduled to air live on ABC on Sunday, March 10, from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay were announced on January 23. Check out the trailers for the nominated scripts below and email success@stage32.com with the subject line "OSCARS 2024" to receive your free PDF downloads. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY NOMINEES ANATOMY OF A FALL THE HOLDOVERS MAESTRO...

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it. Begin it now.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe   Do you love what you’re doing? If you could change anything, from the tiniest wiggle to the largest adjustment, what would you do? Would you keep forging ahead for the dream du jour? Or would you modify, skew slightly left, and leave the beaten path entirely? What will it take for you to pursue your dream? As a child, I dreamed of being an artist. If I...

I believe in growth on both a personal and professional level. Next-level greatness is only accessible if we know how to do a regular check-in ourselves and take inventory of where and how our energy is spent. As Aristotle has said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act but a habit." Career longevity of 30 years brings gifts. I have applied myself on many levels, from branding to marketing, to selling to learning how to finance, network, create marketing materials, and be aut...

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” ~ Arthur Ashe “What happens when we go over time?” The room went quiet. The new sound operator repeated himself, “What happens when we go into overtime?” My crew smiled at me as I turned and replied, “We don’t.” I then continued answering and discussing other questions in the pre-pro meeting. Let me preface this by saying this was not a studio film. This was an indie feature, titled Caralique, which I was the director/producer of....

Humans are creatures of story. We have that innate desire to tell stories. Animation is one of the most useful means to tell stories. In what way? Take a look at beautiful, story-driven animated movies that you've probably seen on screen past and present. I'm sure a number of them have come to mind by now. Many of these animated movies, some we've treasured since we were kids. For some of us, we may have curated a list of the best animated movies and series we've watched. What makes us...

It’s the tedious but oh-so-necessary maintenance of being in this industry: online presentation. Just as we once toiled over the formatting and tone of a resume and cover letter, so now must we polish our profiles. Selling ourselves can be exhausting, but look at it this way - your Stage 32 profile is your invitation to play! We all love what we do, and we love meeting people that make the experience magical. Here’s your chance to set the tone for your ideal-project-made-real! So, pour your favo...

These days there’s a pretty interesting battle raging between composers scoring films, and filmmakers using prerecorded tracks in their projects. Both can work, and either one can be cheaper, or easier to use. As a composer who makes tracks for music libraries, and scores films, I can give you some ideas about when and why you might use one versus the other.     1) Hiring A Composer Hiring a composer can be cheap or expensive, depending on their experience, business and artistic skil...

Independent audiovisual projects generally have a so-called recoupment schedule. The recoupment schedule, often referred to as the waterfall, is the project’s payment schedule. It essentially describes how the revenues generated from international distribution are allocated and disbursed. Sometimes other revenue streams, like festival receipts, merchandising income, or surplus of tax credit proceeds are also included. Any audiovisual project, whether it is a feature film, a TV series, a web...

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, in this video from Variety, MAESTRO cinematographer Matty Libatique looks at the emotional Thanksgiving fight scene in the film, done in a single shot. The original plan was not for the scene to be done in a single shot, but Libatique gives an interesting look at how his conversations with dire...

There’s a saying that we’ve all heard a thousand times over, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. This resonates with visual artists when ensuring that the visuals they convey will provoke the right tone and message to the many words and feelings that they will portray and intend for their story. Now this concept isn’t new to most of you and it’s just what good storytellers and filmmakers should be doing right?! I mean, what artist doesn’t put their heart and soul into infusing their vision...