Screenwriting

We’ve talked about activating, listening, and preserving our Voice as a path to personal success. But what exactly is our ‘Voice,’ and how do we work with it in more detail? Your Voice is Not a Muse or a Brand Wiki-how says, “Muses were goddesses to whom poets prayed for the gift of divine inspiration.” No point in praying to your Voice. You’d just be praying to yourself. I’d suggest that great works of art are not our Voice either. Art is a gift from our Voice, the product of our Voic...

Welcome to Stage 32, a community of creatives, the biggest of its kind on the globe. We are here to help you develop your career, regardless of the number of successes you’ve had or if you are totally new to this and think that screenwriting is where you want your future to be. Many come to the site and ask, "How can I sell a script?" "How can I break into the industry?" Or "I'm a new writer; how can I find an agent to help me with following a career in screenwriting?" We understand why the...

As a person working in the entertainment industry, I have found there are amazing opportunities and learning experiences for those aspiring to land a position as a TV writer. Many paths lead to the writers' room by working your way, but first, you'll need to develop the skills required to thrive in that environment. A frequent starting path for people looking to break into the industry is to work as a production assistant (also known as a PA). There are different types of PAs in production: th...

Female Driven content has never been more exciting, diverse and commercial than it is today. Managers, producers and development executives are on the hunt for the next TAR, SMILE, FLEABAG or BRIDESMAIDS. The biggest shows and films in the world right now are Female Driven - we know you’ve heard of WEDNESDAY and EMILY IN PARIS! We’re here to give your Female Driven project that kind of success. Last year, we set up our winner with 9 one-on-one meetings with industry pros currently working on f...

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, we're looking at A.I. and its impact on filmmaking in a video from Film Riot. While many fear this new technology, there are some great benefits as well. This video looks at how A.I. can assist with the actual filmmaking process. However, the positives don't exist only during production but bef...

I remember the first play I submitted to a theatre in Toronto. The dramaturge called me in to “talk.” He was merciless and heartless, and yet that meeting was a gift. It made me face the truth, and it awakened my Voice. “Predictable,” “one dimensional,” “hackneyed,” “cliché upon cliché,” and “worse and worse”, were just some of the comments the dramaturge wrote in the margins of my beloved script. He savaged my labor of love, attacking not only my work but my dreams. He would politely stop an...

Rule 1: Never tell the audience what they already know. Rule 2: Knowing what to leave out is as important as what to leave in.   The crux of this blog is "Never dramatize what the reader can imagine for themselves," at least for on-screen drama. Novelists may need to give this some thought. But for screenwriters letting the audience fill in the blanks of the on-screen story with their own imagination is infinitely more effective and powerful than walking them thro...

FOMO: (Fear of Missing Out) – that anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on social media. Have you ever found yourself scrolling your Instagram or Twitter or Facebook for hours, lingering on those posts where mega deals are entered into by your fellow Artists? Or as they go LIVE on their Social to show off being on set on a film or tv show? Are you feeling dejected when friends, your fellow artists, or even total stran...

A few years back, there was a lively debate right here on Stage 32 about whether short films could make money, then shifted to if there they were even worthwhile... Actually, it's not a matter of debate or opinion; it's an etched-in-stone fact that short films can make money. I've had three short films make money. There are countless other examples of shorts that made money, quite a bit of money actually, like the short by Peter Sollet 5 Feet High & Rising, which became Raising Victor Vargas....

Creatives usually don’t like being limited or bound by time. Expressing your creative thoughts through words, imagining worlds, coming up with plots and twists, and giving life to characters isn’t something you should rush. But what happens when you face the challenge of rewriting the screenplay? This task usually comes with a deadline that you need to respect. You can be the most talented screenwriter but if you don’t act respectfully towards the people who are willing to bring your play to l...