Acting

In car parlance, I might be a barn find -- a dust-covered vehicle that’s been unearthed after many years of storage. I wasn’t exactly in storage but I was in the barn for 40 years, inching toward the door -- i.e. my lifelong goal to be a working actress. I worked 9 to 5 and was a single parent and couldn’t get an LA agent, so I simply did what I could around those parameters. For decades. At times my forward progress seemed imperceptible. Then in 2022, I went from zero ability to get an agent,...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! First, congratulations to all of you who have already participated in our monthly Introduce Yourself Weekend! Thousands of connections have been made between entertainment creatives and professionals from around the globe. Whether you are a long-time member or brand new to Stage 32, take a moment to pop over to the Introduce Yourself Lounge and say hello before the end of the weekend. First up, in this video from Archer Green, you'll see how to use color theory t...

Most of you will know me from previous blogs on this site, and most of the time those blogs tend towards contentious subject matter. If this is your first time reading me, welcome. My name is Tennyson E. Stead and I’m a writer and director who has worked in disciplines ranging from film finance to gaffing and grip. As a screenwriter, script doctor, and ghostwriter, I’ve written more than 50 screenplays and I’ve been paid for a sizable percentage of those. My directing and editing have won awa...

Four Practical Habits to Help Creatives Stay Grounded and Achieve Consistent Results. "It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward." - Chinese proverb As actors, we all have huge dreams and aspirations: one day winning an Oscar, being on a Broadway stage, getting into Marvel-ready shape, or getting that top-tier agent. For better or worse, we think big and relentlessly pursue our goals. We sprint towards them, stum...

Happy New Year, Stage 32 Community! January is always an exciting time. As we step away from the warm afterglow of the holiday season, there’s an entire new year stretching out ahead of us with endless possibilities. With that in mind, our Stage 32 Education Team has worked hard to bring incredible education opportunities and resources to this fantastic community. This January, you'll have the chance to learn from knowledgeable industry executives, music supervisors, showrunner assistants, c...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! Have you had a creative weekend so far and are ready to celebrate the new year? 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 from Nerdwriter1, you'll compare and contrast two classic films from the holiday season: SHOP AROUND THE CORNER and YOU'VE GOT MAIL. By looking a these films side by side, we can see how filming techniques have evolved over decades. But just...

When it comes to building a voiceover business, there are so many different tools out in the world (and on the Internet). But you really only need about five of them to get started. Everyone everywhere has an opinion on what you need to begin your career as a Voice Actor and how much money you need to spend to be considered a professional in this industry, but I’ve come to learn that most of that information is outdated and not helpful. So here’s my list of the five essential tools you need...

Beginning a new relationship can be both exciting and challenging. In the world of filmmaking, we directors initiate many relationships, the most vital and crucial being the ones we have with actors. Director/actor relationships are like none other in life. Their goal is to create believable characters that exist in a fictional world. These relationships are, by design, temporary and short-lived, lasting only for the span of the production. The curious thing is that these director/actor re...

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 interview with Tom Hiddleston and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the actor breaks down his experience working on the MCU series LOKI and nearly 15 years playing the titular character. Very few actors get the space to live in a character's evolution for this long, or to essentially be the cap...

No matter where you are based as an actor, given the state of the industry over the past few years you have undoubtedly submitted a self-tape audition (or 1,000). If you're based in LA or NYC, before COVID you may have only occasionally been required to self-tape, and when that happened, perhaps you used your cell phone or went to a buddy’s house to have them tape you. I, on the other hand, am based in Atlanta. And in addition to being a full-time actor for almost 20 years, I have co-owned a t...