Hi, Stage 32 Community!

Our Stage 32 Team has been working diligently to bring in as many new resources and opportunities as possible to enrich your experience here in our community!

At Stage 32 you have direct access to industry professionals who’ve written, acted, developed, produced, distributed, directed, composed, and represented acclaimed projects like LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE, CINDERELLA, MAMMALS, EMILY THE CRIMINAL, THE LISTENER, YOUR PLACE OR MINE, THE LINE, SANTA CLARITA DIET, DIVORCE, THE KING'S SPEECH**, TUCKER: THE MAN AND HIS DREAM,** and many more.

So without much further ado, let's roll out the red carpet and welcome some of the fantastic new people joining our Stage 32 Community!

New Stage 32 Educators-

Brandon Gale, Writer, Producer, and Script Coordinator

Brandon Gale is a Writer/Producer and currently serves as Script Coordinator on MARVEL’S HIT MONKEY for Hulu, 20th Animation, and Marvel Studios. He previously worked in the legal field, with a focus on international law and criminal justice, before making the move into screenwriting. While receiving his MA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute Conservatory, he interned at Skybound Entertainment (THE WALKING DEAD) and Esmail Corp (MR. ROBOT, HOMECOMING), and his AFI Thesis film THEY WON’T LAST won numerous awards, including the 2020 College Television Award for Best Comedy. After working in development for several years with Jason Cahill (THE SOPRANOS, THE RINGS OF POWER), he became Director’s Assistant to Will Speck & Josh Gordon (BLADES OF GLORY, OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY) on the production of LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE at Sony Pictures Entertainment. His scripts have placed highly in multiple contests, with several currently in development at independent production companies.

Brandon will be teaching the upcoming webinar, TV Animation 101: How a Hit Animated Show Gets Made, starting on August 8th.

Jonny Grant, Screenwriter

Jonny Grant is a UK-based screenwriter represented by Zero Gravity Management. His produced feature THE DARE (Millennium Films, Lionsgate), stars Richard Brake and Bart Edwards. The Dare was directed by Giles Alderson, and was filmed at Nu Boyana Studios. It premiered at Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Miami, where it won the Audience Choice Award. Jonny also co-wrote ARTHUR AND MERLIN: KNIGHTS OF CAMELOT, which was released in the US and the UK by Film Mode Entertainment, and reached no.6 in the UK’s DVD charts. Jonny’s folk-horror screenplay IN DEATH SHE WAITS was recently optioned by Entertainment Squad in Hollywood, and has Richard Brake and Bonnie Aarons attached. Lynne Davison is attached to direct. Jonny and the team are working with numerous production companies to finance the project. Jonny is also co-writing Jen Sheridan’s (Disney’s Extraordinary) latest horror feature 4am.

Keep your eyes peeled for more details about Jonny’s upcoming exclusive screenwriting webinar! You can check back at the Stage 32 Education Page to register soon!

David Seidler, BAFTA & Academy-Award Winning Screenwriter

David Seidler, BAFTA, and Academy-award-winning screenwriter, beautifully weaves the complexities of the human condition with laughter, heartache, and even madness - all for the sake of storytelling. The British-American film and television writer made his mark in Hollywood with biopics like TUCKER: THE MAN AND HIS DREAM and period dramas that allowed audiences in on the lives of extraordinary people, whether members of the Royal Family, successful entrepreneurs, or adoptive parents fighting for custody. In 2010, Seidler, who suffered from a stuttering condition as a child, wrote THE KING SPEECH. The critically acclaimed film was based on King George VI (Colin Firth) - the successor to the royal throne who also stuttered - and the eccentric speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) who had helped the king triumph over his disability. The film was a deeply personal story that Seidler had waited his entire life to tell and one that put him on the map as one of the most prolific screenwriters of his generation.

Stay tuned for David's upcoming exclusive screenwriting webinar this August! You can check back at the Stage 32 Education Page to register soon!

New Stage 32 Executives-

Saskia S., Producer

Saskia S. is an independent producer who most recently was Head of Scripted at Fulwell 73, working with writers including Jez Butterworth, James Graham, Stephen Poliakoff, and James Corden. Fulwell's credits include: CINDERELLA (Camila Cabello, Idina Menzel, Pierce Brosnan), and MAMMALS (James Corden, Sally Hawkins) Saskia currently has comedy and drama projects set up with C4, BBC, UKTV, and Amazon.

Prior to Fulwell, Schuster was Head of Comedy at ITV and a commissioner at Sky. She commissioned and exec produced many shows including PLEBS, BENIDORM, BIRDS OF A FEATHER, TIMEWASTERS, THE LARKINS, A YOUNG DOCTOR'S NOTEBOOK, PSYCHOBITCHES, LITTLE CRACKERS.

Saskia started her comedy career at Objective Productions where she worked with Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain on PEEP SHOW and FRESH MEAT, as well as developing comedy and comedy dramas with top comedy talent from the UK. Before that, she worked in drama working with writers including Guy Hibbert, Sebastian Barry, and Peter Ransley. In addition to producing, Saskia has also been a speaker at the Global Leadership Summit, Banff Festival, and the Edinburgh TV Festival. She is also the founder of Comedy 50:50, an initiative addressing gender imbalance in UK Scripted Television.

You can meet with Saskia for First 10 Page Reviews for Comedy or Consultation Calls: Comedy.

Olivia M., Agent at Verve Ventures

Olivia M. has been working in the field that she loves since she was 14 years old. She is an agent at Verve Ventures, the independent film finance and sales team at Verve Talent and Literary Agency. Projects from the Ventures group include Steve Buscemi’s THE LISTENER starring Tessa Thompson, I LOVE MY DAD with Patton Oswalt, EMILY THE CRIMINAL starring Aubrey Plaza, ARI & DANTE starring Eugenio Derbez and Eva Longoria, Halston Sage-starring romantic comedy THE LIST, queer musical GLITTER & DOOM, contemporary romantic comedies MARY, MARY & SOME OTHER PEOPLE and PLUS ONE, Bryan Bertino’s supernatural horror film THE DARK AND THE WICKED and Anthony Maras’s HOTEL MUMBAI. Olivia acted as the Director of Development at Madre Ventures. Before that, Olivia ran her own production company, Hawknose Productions, where she sought out creatives from various backgrounds to develop and package film and television content of all genres. Preceding Hawknose, Olivia was the Director of Development and Production at a prominent production banner. Here, Olivia brought in and co-produced COME AS YOU ARE, written by Erik Linthorst and directed by Richard Wong, which premiered at SXSW in March 2019. She also co-produced BREAKING NEWS IN YUBA COUNTY, released in 2021 by United Artists Releasing / MGM, and BREAKING NEWS, directed by Tate Taylor, starring Allison Janney and Regina Hall.

Previously, Olivia was at Blumhouse Productions, where she acted as the Executive of New Media. Some of Blumhouse's work includes GET OUT, SPLIT, HAPPY DEATH DAY, and THE PURGE franchise as well as Oscar-winning WHIPLASH and highly acclaimed NORMAL HEART. She served in other roles including Manager of Acquisitions at Blumhouse Tilt, a division that acquires content for specialized theatrical release, Chief of Staff for the company, and Creative Coordinator in the Feature Film Department. She joined Blumhouse from CAA where she worked for two years in both the Television and Motion Picture Literary Departments.

You can meet with Olivia for First 10 Page Reviews: All Genres or Consultation Calls: All Genres.

Juliana Distefano, Script Editor & Book Scout

Juliana Distefano is a script editor with nearly a decade of entertainment and book-scouting experience, most recently at Conner Literary, a book-to-film scouting firm where she served as a literary associate for clients such as Netflix, Amy Pascal, Annapurna, Imagine Entertainment, Berlanti, FilmNation, Dylan Clark Productions, and several others. She was responsible for scouting unpublished manuscripts, pitching them to clients, and creating a weekly book memo.

Prior to Conner Literary, she worked in creative development at Netflix in the Mid-Budget Film group where she covered YOUR PLACE OR MINE (Ashton Kutcher, Reese Witherspoon) and THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO (Taylor Jenkins Reid adaptation in development). Before Netflix, Juliana was on the film production team at MGM working on projects such as TOMB RAIDER, and ADDAMS FAMILY. She began her career at CAA in the Motion Picture Lit department working for powerhouse agent, Beth Swofford for clients such as Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Sam Mendes, David Yates, and Richard Linklater.

You can meet with Juliana about your Feature here or your Pilot here. Juliana is also offering First 10 Page Reviews: Drama, Horror/Thriller, Comedy, and Family, Pitch Bible Reviews, or Consultation Calls: Drama, Horror/Thriller, Comedy, and Family.

Danyelle Foord, Vice President of Development & Production at Big Cat Productions.

Danyelle Foord is VP of Development & Production at Big Cat Productions. Most recently Big Cat Productions premiered the feature film they produced, THE LINE, at Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews on Deadline, which stars Halle Bailey, John Malkovich, Alex Wolff, and Bo Mitchell. She produced and is in post-production on AMERICAN OUTLAWS written and directed by Sean McEwen who was an Executive Producer on Sam Levinson (EUPHORIA)'s first film ANOTHER HAPPY DAY. She produced SUMMER '03 starring Joey King, Andrea Savage, Paul Scheer, Jack Kilmer, Erin Darke, and June Squibb which premiered at SXSW and theatrically. Big Cat's Alexandre Dauman produced ONE DOLLAR, a Paramount+ series directed by Craig Zobel.

Prior to Big Cat Productions Danyelle worked with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, where she worked on films such as LOWRIDERS and AMERICAN MADE, starring Tom Cruise and directed by Doug Liman. She began her career at Kapital Entertainment, where she helped develop numerous television shows, including LIFE IN PIECES for CBS, SANTA CLARITA DIET for Netflix, and DIVORCE for HBO.

You can meet with Danyelle about your Feature here or your Pilot here. Danyelle is also offering Consultation Calls: All Genres.

Catherine King, Executive Producer

Catherine King is a prolific Executive who has Executive Produced six films over the last couple of years, including five films with Reel One Entertainment: the thrillers A PODCAST TO DIE FOR (Starring Kate Miner, Claire Friesen) and DEADLY SURROGACY (Starring Emily Tennant, Jason Cermak), the romantic comedies A BET WITH THE MATCHMAKER (Starring Brett Donahue, Emily Alatalo), THE LOVE SUBSCRIPTION and THE ROYAL BAKEOFF. In addition, she Executive Produced STEALING IN SUBURBIA for Lifetime Movie Network.

Catherine began her career on the development team at a boutique UK production indie production company, covering their comedy and drama scripts. She also worked in compliance at AMC Networks.

You can meet with Catherine for Adaptation Reviews or about your Feature here.

Davis Nann, TV Literary Coordinator at Circle of Confusion

Davis Nann is the TV Lit Coordinator at Circle of Confusion, a management and production company in LA and NY. As producers, company credits include DAISY JONES & THE SIX, WORK IN PROGRESS, and THE WALKING DEAD. Their clients work on series including HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, THE MORNING SHOW, SEVERANCE, KILLING EVE, THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT, YOU, and THE TERMINAL LIST to name a few. Additionally, Circle of Confusion has a joint venture with ITV Studios called "Circle of Confusion Television Studios," which focuses specifically on developing hour-long dramas for premium cable networks and streamers. Davis has been on the team for four years and works closely with Circle Partner Leslie Maskin after she segued to the management company from UTA. Prior to Circle of Confusion, Davis began his career working at Whitaker Entertainment and Stept Studios. During his time at LMU, Davis was a short film producer having produced 13 projects. He is originally from Sacramento, CA.

You can meet with Davis about your Pilot here or Reel Reviews.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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