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Happy Thursday, Stage 32 Community! I hope that the last month has been joyful and productive for you all! Our Stage 32 Education Team has certainly been hard at work to bring incredible education opportunities and resources to this fantastic community. This May, you'll have the chance to learn from knowledgeable industry executives, award-winning screenwriters, producers, directors, showrunners, animators, podcast hosts, authors, script supervisors, attorneys, and representatives. Impressiv...

As a working actor, I am often asked: How do you balance your acting career with the rest of your life? It usually comes from those who aren't actors/artists or those who are actors but are struggling to find that balance. This got me thinking about balance and I asked myself whether "balance" is just an abstract idea or something practical to have in your life. More importantly, is it even possible to have balance with all the things we have going on, all the tasks we have to perform every...

You’ve heard the saying “Jack of all trades, master of none”? I’m going to start with something controversial, I hate that quote. This quote has been preached to me on many occasions throughout my career and I can imagine it will continue for the rest of my years. Why this quote? Because my creativity is hard to grasp, I do many things and can do many things well. Does this sound like you? Your creativity doesn’t fit in the societal norms of occupation, the idea that we decide to be or do one...

My name is Stephen Notley. I'm a screenplay contest reader as well as a screenwriter, so I've written and received loads of script analyses (also known as "coverage"). With this experience on both sides of the coverage game, I thought I'd offer some thoughts you folks might find useful.   My last blog post was called "A Reader's Notes on Proofreading," which I thought was a nice, simple, straightforwardly objective subject on which to chat. This time, though, I'm going to try to dig a bit de...

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, in this video from StudioBinder, we're looking at the 12 principles o...

Have you ever fallen in creative love? Perhaps you idly chat about your favorite director, only to discover that you both love their most obscure film best. Over your first coffee date, you playfully square off about who has the worst set stories, but you share a laugh over the resiliency it takes to keep going. Now you're about to start a project, and your new creative ally is firmly entrenched in your corner. 'How in the world did I get so fortunate?' you wonder. If luck favors the prepared, t...

Embarking on the journey of becoming a successful screenwriter involves delving into the intricacies of storytelling at various levels. From the cosmic truths that shape narratives to the communal values inherent in cultures, and the quest for purpose within characters' lives, the 9 Levels of Story offer a framework for aspiring creatives. To help you understand these levels better, I'll be discussing them over the next few weeks in a 3-part blog series. By better understanding cosmic, culture...

Happy Thursday, Creative Army! As many of you already know, Stage 32 Certification has been working tirelessly to bring new film commissions, institutes, colleges, streamers, and other organizations into the mix. This week we’re welcoming the Polish Film Institute to Stage 32 Education! Together, we’ll be training people looking to work above and below the line in Poland in support of the rebates, incentives, and the production companies and streamers looking to film locally. This will conti...

There is no Business like Show Business. And possibly that is true, as there is no place, other than politics, that a good or bad reputation can travel faster than a supersonic jet. You have to treat your reputation as your most prized possession in Hollywood. There seems to be a misunderstanding about what reputation truly means. A solid reputation is built on professionalism but even more so on how good a human being you are on a solid ground of authenticity and I, for one, quote more than...

I recently uploaded my 85th feature script onto my loglines page on Stage 32. In a subsequent exchange of comments, RB suggested that I write a blog about how I develop my ideas for scripts. My kneejerk response was, “That’s easy. For me, it’s like making popcorn." Below are the four elements I consider when selecting script topics. With a recent example of the four elements at work from my most recent script.   1) Stay True To Your Core Values   Oscar Wilde may have said, “Be yourself; e...