Screenwriting

When I was first starting out as a writer, I spent most of my prewriting time on plotting. I initially approached planning out my fiction like we’re all taught to approach essay writing: it’s all about the outline. So that’s where I’d always start: with plot. Please don’t misunderstand me. Story structure is vitally important, and I’ll advocate for taking the time to craft an airtight plot all day long. But, as we know from Aristotle, character is the engine of plot. As a novice writer, layi...

Hey, Stage 32ers! I hope you're all making great progress on your creative projects this week! We always want you to be up-to-date on what's happening in the industry so that you can set yourself up for success. Never has this been more needed than with the WGA starting their contract talks with the AMPTP. There's a lot of misinformation online about what's the root cause and what's at stake with these negotiations, so here to break it down for you is our CEO, Richard 'RB' Botto, in the vlog b...

Hello Stage 32ers! My name is James J. Papa. I met veteran film writer/director/producer, Julia Verdin of Rough Diamond Management through a consult call on Stage 32. As a result, I ended up co-writing the socially conscious project No Address with her. It is about the homeless in California. This is my story! How Julia & I Connected We connected through Stage 32’s one-hour script consults. I strongly recommend this to any writer who feels their script is ready, and polished, and wants to t...

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, Top Gun: Maverick was one of the biggest movies of the year. It was a film that gave you a million reasons to see it on the big screen and drew in audiences of all ages. One of the reasons this film gripped audiences is its sound design, but it's also an area that we're not aware of when we're...

I became a screenwriter because of a felony. Not mine, but one that changed my career forever. Fresh off the high of publishing my debut sci-fi novel, Space Unicorn Blues, my publisher requested a second book in the series. I was ecstatic to finally realize my dream of making a living as a writer. As is customary, my literary agency received my advance for the action-packed sequel... except they didn't pass the money along to me. I asked. I demanded. I threatened. No money arrived. The literar...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! First, 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 around 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. First up, I often see as we're having fun debating films in the lounges the ide...

At age 17, my artist-father was taught a mantra. ‘Near enough isn’t good enough. It has to be perfect.’ So he hustled for his mentor, re-doing work over and over again until one day, the mentor was moved to tears and whispered; ‘now it’s perfect. And that’s near enough.’ But the damage was done. With over 60 years of painting, dad couldn’t bring himself to have an exhibition. Nothing was perfect. It robbed him of so much joy and satisfaction and held him back from moving forward in life. I...

I’m always amazed at who you can come across on Stage 32. Our global community is so vast that there’s no chance of knowing who’s who, unless you take the plunge and start connecting with people you meet whilst sharing comments in the various Lounges or the Blog. Phil Hardy and I had just published our latest article “How Can You Sell Your Screenplay To A Studio" and I noticed a comment from Michael A. Levine. Michael, by the way, is an award-winning composer. He has not only composed some gre...

I love, love, love how you write descriptions! The words jump off the page! When you first read these notes, you're excited, you finally wrote the winning script that'll change your life forever. Hell, it might even make you a millionaire! But then suddenly reality hits you like a ton of bricks. Even though people are saying you are talented, your scripts are still rejected, you never make the finals, you get high scores on your coverage reports, but it leads nowhere, and your query letters...

TV Dramas are easily the most talked about type of media right now. Streaming has made it so easy to become obsessed with shows like YOU and YELLOWSTONE. Not to say that network dramas aren't still killing it - classics like HOUSE, MD or LAW & ORDER are some of the most binged shows by those who watched them week to week and brand new fans, and current shows like GREY'S ANATOMY feel unstoppable, even after 18 seasons. Whether it's gossiping about SUCCESSION with your coworkers or live-tweeting t...