Hey, Creative Army!

Cybernews recently interviewed our fearless leader, founder & CEO Richard "RB" Botto about the evolution of social media over the last decade. RB gets in-depth about recent trends or shifts in consumer preferences within the entertainment industry, the benefits and unique opportunities that Stage32 offers to industry professionals, and more!

This is a fantastic read, especially if you’re interested in learning more about the impact of globalization on the entertainment industry!

Here is an excerpt from this in-depth interview with Cybernews:

Can you discuss any recent trends or shifts in consumer preferences within the entertainment industry? How have they influenced your company's strategies?

This business undergoes constant changes. There are days when it feels like distribution models change by the hour. Because of that shift, we're seeing and have experienced over the last few years creatives looking to expand their educational horizons. To completely not only control their material but as much of the process of making a project as possible.

Even if they have to relinquish control along the way, they're putting themselves in a position to understand. To be well-versed in all processes and procedures. This allows them to be able to navigate the aspects of any deal. So, we're seeing many more people engage with our education in a broader, yet more intimate way.

We are also seeing more creatives and professionals invest in themselves through the services offered within our marketplace. Ultimately, anyone who has spent a little time navigating this business realizes that having direct access, getting direct feedback, being able to hop on a call through the services we provide and speak to an expert either in their chosen profession or to discuss material in a particular genre that the expert specializes in - all that is worth its weight in gold. It's a rationalization of investing in themselves in efforts to save time and speed up their path to success.

How did the recent global events affect your field of work? Were there any new challenges you had to adapt to?

Indeed, COVID presented its own set of challenges. We were quick to adapt to the canceling of film festivals by setting up what we called Stage 32 Screenings. It allowed filmmakers who had their physical screenings canceled the opportunity to screen them virtually on Stage 32 to our roster of thousands of executives.

We were very proud to have films that were supposed to play at places such as SXSW and other prestigious, and even smaller film festivals, play on our platform and give those filmmakers, and everyone who worked on those films, the exposure that they deserved. Which was even more exposure than they would have gotten out of a live screening. That was a very successful and rewarding initiative.

But we also doubled up on education during the pandemic. We listen to our community. They felt trapped at home and were looking to learn. As mentioned earlier, many were looking to expand their knowledge base of the industry or learn a new craft. So, we were very active in fulfilling the educational components that were being requested. By providing a motivational environment during a time when people were feeling less than inspired.

Additionally, with both the creators and the executives being on lockdown, everyone found themselves with a ton of free time on their hands. As a result, our marketplace exploded. We were actually able to set up more meetings and foster more successful connections - getting people representation, raising financing, assisting in getting films and shows off the ground - during the pandemic than in prior years. We won a lot of fans during COVID. We couldn't be more proud of that.

To continue reading RB's interview in its entirety, click HERE!

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