Five weeks ago, we asked you to do something this community has been doing since day one.

Stage 32 wasn't built by an ad campaign. It was built by word of mouth: one creative telling another there was a place worth showing up to. It's a community built for you, by you. In our 15th year, we wanted to honor that the best way we know how. We asked you to invite the people who have made a difference in your creative journey, so they could come make that same difference for others.

The acting coach you adore. The writing group that made you a stronger writer. The collaborator who helped you build your confidence. The director who sharpened your skills. The composer you hope never to work without again. The theater or improv group full of talent more people should know about. Your talented friends and family.

You showed up.

What We Built Together

More than 2,500 new members joined Stage 32 this month, brought in by all of you. That's thousands of new creatives for you to connect with, learn from, collaborate with, and grow alongside.

Behind that number, over 100 of you completed at least one mission, logging 200+ missions across five weeks.

Here's what those five weeks looked like:

• Week 1: You shared Stage 32 with your communities. It went out to Facebook groups, X, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Substack. It reached a filmmakers' WhatsApp group in Pretoria, a Swedish website for actors, a creative writing workshop on Martha's Vineyard, and 3,882 neighbors on Nextdoor.
• Week 2: You personally invited two creatives who make a difference in your work.
• Week 3: You posted in the Introduce Yourself Lounge for Introduce Yourself Weekend, and many of you welcomed the people you invited right there in your post.
• Week 4: You registered for our Community Open House and brought someone with you.
• Week 5: You claimed your spot for our free WIDOW'S BAY live script breakdown and invited someone to learn alongside you.

Who You Brought In

This was our favorite part of the month: reading about the people you chose, and why.

Kesha Bailey: "I share Stage32 (all of the time) with those who are brainstorming with me (and those who listen to me) as I prepare for investor rounds for my production company."

Sandra Correia: "I invited through Instagram Natália Pavlovaklius, a brilliant storytelling director who lives in Lisbon and her Art is beautiful. Also, I invited Cesar Correia, a great Cinematographer with two shorts in his slate and fun fact (he is my nephew)."

Elle Bolan: "I reached out to my two, a writer tackling her first novel and a game dev and talented artist who I think could really bring a great perspective to the animation lounge."

Ktenidi Evangelia: "I invited my friend Yiannis Nikolaos Kalogiannis, a photographer and amateur actor as I admire him a lot as an artist. He is innovative, with great passion and joy for what he does... Also my friend Kalomoira Petrou, a photographer and videographer who takes her first steps in screenwriting and I want to urge her to become more active and benefit from your seminars."

Joshua Young: "I brought in some great people! One is a graphic designer/animator/UXUI designer, the other is an author with tons of books, a feature that's going to multiple film festivals and more! I invited Gary Fontaine, a writer, director and actor whose work spans screenwriting, books, short films, documentary and stand-up comedy. His projects include THE DRIVER, COFFEE CHAT, WENDY AND WANDA and the DETECTIVE LIVINGSTON MYSTERIES."

Paula Weiner: "I've invited two people from my writing class; we took an ongoing class together for a couple of years. The three of us now support each other with feedback, re-writes, and discussing the overall flow, concept, and story progression of a piece."

Jackie Letkowski: "An extremely talented actress/writer from NYC Morgan Wellens, and my talented actor/writer friend Jeff Alley! So good to be friends with such passionate people!!"

Debbie Seagle: "I invited an actress/songwriter/singer - Alana Sheldon-Miller to introduce herself. She is writing music for my upcoming production (COFFEE CUPS & WINE GLASSES), and has the voice of an angel."

And so many more. Sisters, sons, nephews, mothers, bandmates, acting classmates, writing partners, and collaborators from sets around the world. To everyone who joined us this month: welcome home.

New Faces on the Professional Side, Too

Our community grew on the industry side this month as well. Please give these professionals a warm welcome.

Olissa Rogers, Casting Director and our newest Stage 32 Educator

Olissa Rogers is a freelance casting director. She began working in the industry in Germany in 2008 and stayed there until 2016, mainly on TV series. In 2016 she met casting director Jeremy Zimmermann and was his casting assistant on several films until 2018. She then became a casting assistant on Kharmel Cochrane's commercials and TV/film projects. In March 2019, Theo Park brought her on as an associate on major TV projects, including TED LASSO. From November 2019 to February 2020, Olissa was one of Amy Hubbard's casting associates, and from June 2020 to April 2022 she was one of Fiona Weir's associates. Since April 2022 she has worked on projects including ROYAL MOB, AFRICAN QUEENS, and MY FRIEND MISTY.

Olissa is already sharing her expertise with you in an upcoming webinar on October 13th: How To Get Noticed By Casting Directors.

Click here to register for How To Get Noticed By Casting Directors!

Chase Hinton, Development Executive, Producer, and Writer

Chase Hinton has more than 15 years in the entertainment industry. Projects he has developed have attached multiple Academy, Emmy, and Peabody Award winners, A-list talent, and directors with over a billion dollars in box office, and they have sparked studio bidding wars. In 2026, he founded Camena Studios with Bobby Berk.

He was Head of Development at Balcony 9 Productions. Its releases include DEAD MAN'S WIRE, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Bill Skarsgård, Colman Domingo, and Al Pacino. They also include BRIDE HARD, starring Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Stephen Dorff, and Justin Hartley and directed by Simon West (CON AIR, LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER). Chase has just wrapped production on KAET MIGHT DIE, which he developed and produced, starring Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos, and Ken Jeong. His past releases include PAINT starring Owen Wilson, THE IMMACULATE ROOM with Emile Hirsch, Kate Bosworth, and Ashley Greene, and SOME OTHER WOMAN starring Amanda Crews, Tom Felton, and Ashley Greene. IRL, which he wrote and produced, received 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and the ReFrame Stamp from the Sundance Institute and Women in Film for its commitment to gender equity.

Some of you met Chase during his recent live Zoom event in the Writers' Room. If you're a Writers' Room member who missed it, you can still watch it in your Writers' Room portal.

Click here to watch Chase's Writers' Room session!

Click here to book a Career Development Call with Chase!

Camille Bernier-Green, Producer and Executive

Camille Bernier-Green has developed and produced projects for HBO, Disney's Onyx Collective, Amazon, Bravo, Meta, ABC News, and more. Her current and upcoming projects include PLAYING THE FIELD, developed in tandem with Amazon. They also include SYNCHRO, a YA feature described as PITCH PERFECT in the synchronized swimming world, and CHALK, a thriller set in the sports world. She is Executive Producer of RAPINOE, which had its world premiere at TIFF.

She has shepherded the Emmy-winning RED TABLE TALK, Emmy-nominated PRETTY BABY: BROOKE SHIELDS, Peabody Award-winning AFTERSHOCK, Critics Choice-nominated 9 MONTHS WITH COURTENEY COX, and more. She produced MISO, an independent short that screened at multiple festivals and was named by The Hollywood Reporter as a Live Action Short Oscar contender. She also recently produced ALL OF THE ABOVE, an intimate theater production of monologues written anonymously by women living in Los Angeles. Through her boutique consulting firm, Nine Ellery, Camille works with clients on content strategy, development, and event production. Her notable past credits include A TOUCH MORE: THE PODCAST, MURDERS BEFORE THE MARATHON, MOMMY DEAD AND DEAREST, LADY BIRD, LEAVE NO TRACE, ODD MOM OUT, and GIRLFRIEND'S GUIDE TO DIVORCE.

Click here to meet with Camille about your feature script!

Benjamin Adams Trueheart, Documentary Filmmaker, Executive Producer, and Showrunner

Benjamin Adams Trueheart is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with more than two decades of experience making nonfiction television for major networks and streamers. Based in New York, he has produced projects across five continents and overseen more than 110 hours of true-crime programming. Most notably, he was executive producer and showrunner of Investigation Discovery's long-running hit THE MURDER TAPES. He is co-founder and Managing Partner of Black Note Studios, an independent Brooklyn-based company focused on premium factual entertainment and original documentary IP.

He began his career with the Emmy Award-winning team behind History's DIGGING FOR THE TRUTH. He then worked in Rome with acclaimed Italian documentarian Brando Quilici on films about identifying ancient Egyptian mummies through DNA analysis. His credits span investigative documentary, true crime, science, history, adventure, and natural history, including THE FIRST 48, PANIC 9-1-1, THE LAST ALASKANS, ED STAFFORD: FIRST MAN OUT, FILTHY RICHES, BROTHERS IN ARMS, EVOLVE, DISAPPEARED, NIGHTMARE NEXT DOOR, and I AM HOMICIDE. During a seven-year tenure at Lionsgate he executive produced more than 60 hours of true-crime content. He has held senior producer, showrunner, and post-production roles at Blackfin, Sirens Media, Half Yard Productions, Leftfield Pictures, Sharp Entertainment, ITV America, Lucky Dog Films, and Lion Television. He also worked as a post-producer and writer for Beach House Pictures in Singapore.

Click here to meet with Benjamin about your feature script!

Nicholas Tana, Producer and Founder of Smart Media

Nicholas Tana has more than 20 years of experience across film, television, digital media, and comics. For the past five years he has also worked where traditional filmmaking, independent production, and AI adoption in entertainment meet. That gives him a practical view of how the industry is changing and how creatives can adapt. Several projects he directed or produced have gone on to worldwide distribution through Amazon, Tubi, and international television.

He is developing a slate of features, TV pilots, and cross-media projects, including the psychological horror feature SANCTUARY.

He has also worked with Disney, FOX, ESPN, NFL Network, and Universal Music Group.

Click here to meet with Nicholas about your feature script!

Brad Zimmerman, Film and Television Producer

Brad Zimmerman is a Los Angeles-based producer who oversees Yoki, Inc., the production company founded by David Michôd. Most recently he produced WICKER, starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård and directed by Alex Fischer and Eleanor Wilson. It premiered at Sundance, and Black Bear Pictures releases it nationwide on October 23rd. He is also Executive Producer of CHRISTY, starring Sydney Sweeney. Yoki, Inc. developed and produced both films.

Before that, Brad was Senior Vice President of Production at FilmNation Entertainment. There he was Executive Producer of THE OUTFIT, starring Mark Rylance and distributed by Focus Features, and THE LODGE, starring Riley Keough and distributed by Neon. He was also Executive in Charge of Production on LATE NIGHT, starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling and distributed by Amazon. Brad started his career in the mailroom at United Talent Agency and hails from Washington State.

Click here to meet with Brad about your feature script!

What We Learned This Month

Every week of the drive came with a lesson from someone who has lived it. If you missed any of them, here's what stuck with us.

From Stage 32 Managing Director, Amanda Toney: Build the Relationships Before You Need Them

Amanda opened with the thing she wished someone had told her at the start: "Your talent gets you considered. Your relationships get you remembered."

Too many creatives treat networking as separate from the work. Then the work is ready and there's nobody to hand it to. The people who move fastest aren't always the most talented. They're the ones who built relationships while nothing was on the line, because those relationships can't be manufactured in the moment you need them.

She also named the second reason community matters, and it has nothing to do with strategy. This path is long, and most of it happens without applause. What gets people through is other people: the friend who understands why the rejection stung, and the group chat that celebrates the small win nobody outside this business would recognize.

"Community is not a career accelerator you deploy when useful. It is what makes a lifelong creative life survivable."

From Sandra Correia: Stage 32 Can Build the Room. You Still Have to Walk Into it.

In 2025, Sandra decided to direct her first short film, THE MISSTEP, without ever having directed before. So she asked for help. She wrote three posts: one in the Filmmaking Lounge, one in the Producing Lounge, and one in the Writers' Room Lounge. The community showed up with advice, encouragement, and connections, and some of those people became friends.

The timeline speaks for itself. She wrote the script on May 1, shot it on May 23, and finished it by June 10. On July 11 she watched it premiere at BFI Stephen Street in London at the Female Film Club Festival. That's seventy-one days from the first page to a cinema screen.

The support didn't stop when the film wrapped, either. Sandra brought THE MISSTEP back to the community for a free live screening and panel coordinated through the Stage 32 Meetups page, closing the circle with the people who had helped make it possible. As she put it, "that's the difference between having contacts and having a community."

Click here to read Sandra's full story of making THE MISSTEP!

From Me: Take Your Time

The members who get the most out of Stage 32 aren't the ones who move fastest. They're the ones who build relationships first and let the opportunities grow out of them.

There are working professionals in these Lounges you don't recognize: executives, producers, reps, financiers, distributors, and crew with decades of experience. They're reading quietly and paying attention to how people conduct themselves. When you belittle someone or lead with a pitch, they notice and move on. When you're supportive, help without expecting anything in return, and communicate professionally, they notice that too.

Nobody's asking you to perform. Just be the kind of person you'd want to work with, consistently, and let people notice who you are.

From Whitney Davis: Old School, New School, Same Connection

Whitney reminded us that the way we connect, discover talent, and make and distribute stories has changed enormously over the last twenty years. You no longer have to be in LA to get your story told. She would know, having recently moved back to the Midwest after two decades away.

She proved the point with her own news: she's in pre-production on a feature with a Stage 32 creator she met during a pitch. A pitch can turn into a shopping agreement. A DM can turn into a meeting. A virtual room can connect you with someone thousands of miles away.

But one thing hasn't changed. "People still matter. And stories still matter." Everybody has a story, and sometimes the person who seems to have nothing to do with your journey ends up being connected to it in ways you couldn't have imagined.

Winners Circle: Announcing Our Grand Prize Winners

Everyone who completed three or more missions went into a Wheel of Names, and we spun for two Grand Prize winners. Each winner receives a free one-on-one Career Development Call.

Please join me in congratulating them both!

Lisa "Pink" Matzke

Lisa completed all five missions this month. Along the way she brought her son, her friends, and her writers' room group from Mystic Scribe Studio into the community.

Lisa is a screenwriter, storyteller, producer, and aspiring director. She's earning her bachelor's degree in Screenwriting at The Los Angeles Film School, where she was named Online Student of the Month in October 2025 and has served as secretary of her honor society.

Much of her writing draws on lived experience, exploring survival, identity, accountability, and what happens when people finally decide to use their voice. One of her most personal projects, THE GIRL THEY DIDN'T SEE, has earned a Double Recommend from Stage 32 and was selected as an OWA finalist. Most recently, Lisa was named a semifinalist for the ISA Fast Track Fellowship.

She writes across film and television in several genres and is expanding into producing and directing. She's also a survivor advocate and hosts REAL TALK WITH PINK, where she talks openly about abuse, accountability, healing, and the importance of survivors being heard.

"For me, storytelling is about more than entertainment. It's about creating something that connects with people, starts conversations, and maybe even gives someone else the courage to tell their own story."

Click here to connect with Lisa!

Mark Anderson

Mark completed four missions and brought the call to his poetry page, Facebook, Instagram, and four writer friends who hadn't heard of Stage 32 before.

Mark is a creative from Washington in the North East of England ("though I usually just say Newcastle to save everyone the geography lesson"). He's been writing since he was a kid: poetry, rap lyrics, anything that let him express what he couldn't say out loud. That early spark grew into a published charity anthology and his first book, A UNIFIED THEORY.

When a teaching role he'd been offered was pulled at the last minute, Mark didn't wait for the next door to open. He put his energy into creating. Writing led him into music production, and after he wrote the song "World of Tomorrow," his neighbours encouraged him to take the leap into animation. As someone who grew up with the full Disney VHS collection, he was sold right away, and that's how BLOOM was born.

BLOOM has become a family project. His daughter sings the songs he's written, and his son tells everyone about it. Now Mark is on Stage 32 looking for collaborators: animators, concept artists, composers, producers, and anyone who sees the potential in BLOOM and wants to help bring it to life.

"Bloom is ready for a team. And I'm ready to build it."

Click here to connect with Mark!

Congratulations to both of you. And to everyone who took part, thank you for showing us what this community looks like when it rallies.

Don't Take Your Foot Off the Gas

What we accomplished this month can be accomplished every month. You don't need a challenge from me to keep building your network and your creative community. Take what you learned this month and keep moving your projects and goals forward, one step at a time.

Build meaningful connections. Take your time getting to know people. Connect on a human level before a professional one. Be the value you're looking to receive from others.

Your next step is already on the calendar. Next Wednesday, October 7th at 4:00 pm PT, Nicholas Bogner, Head of Literary at Affirmative Entertainment, is breaking down the script for WIDOW'S BAY live and for free. The series won a record 14 Emmys this year, and Nicholas will read it the way a manager does. He'll walk through what he looks for in the first ten pages, how the script balances horror and comedy without breaking either, and what gets a script requested.

If you completed the Week 5 mission, you're already registered, so bring the person you invited. If you haven't registered yet, there's still time. Can't make it live? Register anyway and you'll get the full recording.

Click here to register for the FREE WIDOW'S BAY Script Breakdown!

Keep an eye on the blog for more resources, insights, and opportunities, and stay active in the Lounges, where your community can support you every day.

Tell us in the comments who you brought in this month and why you chose them. And if you made a new connection during the drive, tell them what it meant.

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

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