Acting

A recent poll of creatives found that 37% experience the greatest dip in their creativity on Saturday. But not you, right? You’re going to use today to start, continue or shore up that creative project. Even if that’s not the case, or if you’ve lately found yourself in a creative lull, courtesy of our friends at lifehack.org, here are 30 inspiring and motivational tips to kickstart your creativity. Enjoy!   Surround yourself with creative people.Hang out with writers, musicians, poets...

Hey guys. The 70th Cannes Film Festival is right around the corner, so stay tuned for an update of Stage 32's happenings at Cannes.   In the meantime, we'd love to hear from all the Stage 32 members who are planning on attending the fest along with those who will have films playing in the festival. Last year we had an incredible 33 Stage 32 members who had films screen at Cannes - 2 of those films went on to compete for Oscars: Toni Erdmann and My Life as a Zucchini. This year we know of two f...

If you've been around Stage 32 for any length of time, you know we believe that a positive mindset is paramount to finding success as a creative. We must draw inspiration and positivity from like-minded individuals who fully understand the challenges of the creative journey.   As you also know, we're big believers in paying it forward. Nothing is more rewarding than sharing our experiences and knowledge with others. To us, this is a major aspect of the collaborative process.   This is why we...

I’m not like most actors that you hear about or read about. I wasn’t born with the burning desire to perform. I have no stories of sitting in the dark theater, being hit by some divine lightning bolt that told me that this was my purpose, etc. For me, it just didn’t happen that way. I grew up on Long Island in New York, and although my parents were great supporters of the arts, there was never a moment that they thought I would choose that as a profession. Sure, they encouraged me to take viol...

To all celebrating, a very happy Easter to you. (And a very happy Sunday to everyone else!) I always believe the holidays are for sharing, so I wanted to take a minute to post some podcats, webcasts and interviews that I hope will provide some inspiration today and as you move along in your creative pursuits. There's something here for creatives of all disciplines and all those multi-hyphenates out there!   National Screenwriters Day with Spencer Robinson, Caytha Jentis, Richard Botto and Ha...

One of the more popular requests we get here at Stage 32 is information on best practices for promoting a crowdfunding campaign on social media. Recently, spurred on by the sheer amount of crowdfunding spam he was receiving on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, our CEO, RB, republished his popular Medium article: 5 Ways You Are Incorrectly Using Twitter to Promote Your Crowdfunding Campaign. Although the article singles out Twitter, these mistakes and ill advised practices are common across...

Through my experience of working on low budget and independent films for the past 15 years, I have learned a few crucial and important rules that can help you survive the jungle of what is the independent film world, or better known as Guerrilla Film making. Working on independent films where the budgets are small, the sets are grueling and sometimes in extreme conditions, it’s important to take control where you can. When you find yourself on a challenging set, remind yourself that you are t...

Writing about oneself is sometimes challenging because you feel like writing your whole life on a piece of paper, at the same time you see limitations in writing. You want to write only what is necessary to fit the platform or your desired audience. My name is Michael Asonganyi and this is how I became a filmmaker in the African film industry. I was born and raised in Cameroon and at the age of 23, I moved to study in Sweden where I met my wife, a Norwegian national studying at the same Univer...

While today’s Oscars are shaping up to be a LA LA LAND love fest, there is still some intrigue involved in watching today’s ceremony: Stage 32’ers Michel Merkt and Max Karli are up for a total of 3 Academy Awards. Michel is nominated for producing Best Foreign Film nominee, TONI ERDMANN, which has won dozens of awards throughout the last year, including the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film yesterday. Michel and Max are both nominated as producers for Best Animated Film with MY...

  Los Angeles is a brutal market for actors. I came here from an east coast stage career. I'd been making my living as an actor for 13 straight years. LA almost broke that streak. Almost.... In my 8 years here I've done over 100 film & TV projects. They ain't all gems, but I work. I make a living as an actor. In an industry with a 98% unemployment rate; in the toughest environment in the world for actors; a middle-aged white guy with acne scars and a face only a mother could love is making a...