Acting

On behalf of the entire Stage 32 family, I'd like to wish you all a happy, healthy, and loving Christmas and the remainder of the holiday season. While the holidays are a time of celebration, I hope everyone will take a moment to reflect on the many blessings life has offered and afforded all of us. We personally feel blessed to have had so many of you enter and enrich our lives. The Stage 32 community has grown to over 1,000,000 members from around the globe, and we are beyond honored to prov...

I started acting a little later than most of my fellow thespians. I’d always been a creative person: writing, drawing, and playing music, but acting was something I feared. “Who am I to act?” “Who would possibly be entertained by my performance?” So, out of fear, I never tried acting. That was, until my 30s. My career in the toy industry had stalled and I was feeling less connected to myself. I was getting sick a lot, and I was having trouble finding direction or inspiration. In other words, I w...

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, in this video essay by Film Stack, they’re diving into the turning points of Tom Hardy’s career, his setbacks, his relentless rise, his toughest productions, and the reason you don’t see him in as many films as before. This is the story of an actor who fought his way back from the bottom. He’s...

Media Platforms 101 New technology and platforms pop up every time you open your phone or a tab in your browser. With updated and additional software, media and social platforms, apps, algorithms, and search engine optimization rules, it’s hard to keep up. When it comes to marketing, these are common attitudes: Newbie: “I just need to get my book on Facebook, and I’ll be rich.” Arm crosser: “I don’t do social media. I tried Facebook once. It didn’t work.” Seasoned platform user: “You c...

We’ve all heard the stories. Paranormal Activity, a film with a budget slightly less than a used Honda, made $193 million worldwide and launched a profitable franchise. That film’s progenitor, The Blair Witch Project, had a $60K budget and turned out a $250 million box office haul. The most profitable films from 2010 to 2015 were all horror films. 10. The Last Exorcism ($68M gross vs. $1.8M production budget) 9. Annabelle ($257M vs. $6.5M) 8. Chernobyl Diaries ($37M vs. $1M) 7. Ins...

Trying to monitor multiple things at once is challenging in your acting career: Casting directors, agents, casting calls, release dates, project greenlights, series renewals & cancellations, the list goes on and on. Even if you are an avid reader of the industry trades- Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, etc- you can miss some things that might be of interest. There have been many times when I saw a submission notice, or an opportunity, only to have missed a deadline, or know that hundreds of o...

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, in this video essay from Just an Observation, he’s analyzing one of the best antagonist characters in cinema, Kathy Bates' Oscar-winning performance as Annie Wilkes in Misery. As he points out, Kathy Bates delivers an unhinged performance filled with contrasting parts of Annie Wilkes' personali...

Hey, Stage 32 Community! We're just two weeks away from the start of the 2024 Austin Film Festival! And I'm THRILLED to announce that the bash is BACK! Stage 32 is back at the Austin Film Festival - and to celebrate - you're invited to the 11th Annual Austin Film Festival Rooftop Bash on Friday, October 25th, starting at 8:00 pm. This year's event will take place back on the exclusive rooftop bar of the Speakeasy, which overlooks the Warehouse District and beautiful Downtown Austin! And...

There is nothing like auditioning. The range of emotions an actor feels stepping into a room full of decision-makers is considerable and often damaging to the quality of the audition itself. One way to keep those emotions and the mistakes they cause in check is to know how to work on a script in a hurry. And I will let you in on a secret: Good readers make better auditioners, whether you get the sides a week, a day, or ten minutes before the audition. So, if you don’t read aloud, it’s tim...

Yoga and acting; go together like avocado and toast. Separately, they’re tasty; but, together, it’s explosive. Hang with me here. To get really proficient at doing a handstand, what does it take? Determination. Practice. Flexibility. Focus. Skillset. Maybe some natural talent. Guidance. A touch of letting of the outcome and being present at the moment. Starting to sound a bit more like the characteristics and mindset of the profound and impactful actors we see on set and screen? Thought so....