Filmmaking

About a year and a half ago, I wrote a blog for Stage 32 to share that my short horror script, “Bad Clown” was in pre-production, thanks to a connection I made here on Stage 32 (you can read it HERE). To quickly recap, I met Christine Jansen, owner of Beautiful Darkness Productions through a Stage 32 Lounge Post. She then messaged me and requested to read my short script. I was excited and grateful, but like always, didn’t count on anything major happening.  She read my first short horror sc...

Hi, Everybody! I’m the Head of Certification here at Stage 32. Stage 32’s Certification program is the brainchild of our CEO, Rich “RB” Botto, and I’ve had the privilege of working with RB, our Managing Director Amanda Toney, and the truly amazing Stage 32 Education team to help bring this program to life. Like so many endeavors, creative and otherwise, what started as an idea led to meetings and then designs and then execution and then to launch. Now, Stage 32 Certification is working...

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. For years, Matthew McConaughey was the ultimate rom-com star. If you needed a leading man with charm, a mischievous grin, and an easygoing Southern drawl, he was your guy. But then, something changed. In this video essay from FilmStack, they’re exploring McConaughey’s professional reinvention, also known...

You volunteered for service in the military and then decided it was time to pursue your dreams in La La Land. And guess what? Hollywood is recruiting you! They know you have a story to tell, and they can’t wait to hear it. I always knew I wanted a career in entertainment, and as an Officer in the Army, I was selected to be a principal actor in a theatrical commercial for the National Guard, directed by Antione Fuqua (Training Day). After this experience, I packed my bags and moved to LA to be...

As a writer, I wanted to improve my storytelling and gain more experience. When I reached out to one of Stage 32’s great leaders, K. Ross, asking, "What can I do to improve my writing?" her advice was simple and clear- make a film. Of course, like many writers, I didn’t have millions of dollars to make a blockbuster film. Heck, I didn’t even have hundreds! So, I had to get creative. I joined a 48-Hour Film Festival Group to kick-start my filmmaking journey. Step 1: Find a Crew The closes...

Sometimes, someone comes along who suddenly propels you into an inspirational state that you never felt before. I worked with someone called, Shibu Thomas, who wrote a screenplay and asked me if I would become script consultant and editor. I read the script and edited it for him, but the story was so intriguing and so clever, I was happy to continue to help him work on it. He then made pitches to producers and received great feedback, he had very good written critiques from professionals in...

My wife, Carolina, and I made a film, Expressway to Your Skull. It's not even close to the first film I've made, not even the first film my wife and I made together, but it ended up being the most challenging film to cross the finish line and the one we are most proud of. I want to share some of this story with you here and hope you can take something positive from our experience. THREE DAYS IN. I had accumulated seven days of vacation time at work, so I scheduled and budgeted a seven-day...

Happy Tuesday, Creative Army! As you know, Stage 32 Certification was a dream of mind for nearly a decade and is near and dear to my heart. Since launching just over a year ago, we’ve welcomed over 40 film commissions and other organizations who are now utilizing Stage 32 Certification to train below the line professionals in support of their film incentives and rebates. Many more will be announced soon. Today, we’re thrilled to announce some truly groundbreaking news that represents another...

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 Thursday, Creative Army! “This is a community for you, built by you.” When I was conceiving Stage 32 way back in 2009, those were some of the first words I wrote down on a legal pad I titled THE MISSION. The mission hasn’t changed. The song remains the same. Many of you know the story. During our soft launch in 2011, I reached out to 100 of my industry friends and showed them the first version of Stage 32. I asked them to join and tell me what they liked and didn’t like about the pla...