Filmmaking

Hey, Creative Army! Digital Journal recognized our fearless leader founder & CEO Richard "RB" Botto's contributions to the creative industry and interviewed him this week. In this article, RB discusses what it’s like as a CEO in the digital age and what Stage 32 is doing to support the workers affected by the strikes. RB also addresses his thoughts on artificial intelligence (AI) and on the future of the entertainment industry. This is a can’t miss read, especially if you’ve ever wanted a look...

Happy Tuesday, Creative Army! As you know, mental health is a very important subject to me. My mission, and that of everyone here at Stage 32, is to provide our members with a safe, motivating, and collaborative environment. Somewhere free from the toxicity of broad-based social media platforms. In celebration of World Mental Health Day today, I want to share the below video with you all. In this video, I’m joined by author and actress Stephanie Szostak (A Million Little Things, Devil Wears...

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, if you've been keeping up with some of the most popular shows of the past few years, then you've likely seen THE BEAR. It's incredibly compelling television at every level and one of the elements that makes it so great is how the series edits across storylines in the montages used throughout th...

The Pass You did it, my friend. You wrote for weeks upon weeks and rewrote it again. When it was finished, there it sat in front of you. Your most brilliant screenplay and or pilot. After reading it and congratulating yourself, you knew it was pure gold. A work of unending genius. There will be so many execs and producers lined up with bags of money and praise because they have never read anything like this before. You take a deep breath as you open your Stage 32 account to peruse who is lookin...

Fun. The main reason most of us got into (or are trying to get into) the film and TV industry is because it sounds so much fun! And it is - some of the best times of my life have been on set. I have been lucky enough to have filmed all over the world, from Pinewood to Bollywood and from Montana to the Sahara. I’ve worked on some really wonderful productions and I’ve been on some really awful productions that if I could get in my TARDIS, travel back in time, and change that timeline - then I woul...

Hey, Stage 32 Community! Are you ready for the industry to change forever? For the last 8 years our fearless leader, Richard "RB" Botto, has been traveling the world and meeting with hundreds of entertainment industry insiders to work out what creatives need the most to overcome the myriad of obstacles set before them. The time and effort that he’s put into our mission of democratizing the entertainment industry is about to hit a whole new height! Mark your calendars for Monday, Octobe...

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...

I have been screenwriting for many years but always had difficulty making any serious progress, even after winning major screenwriting awards. As a UK-based screenwriter specializing in Science Fiction, there seemed to be the added issue of sci-fi being perceived as too expensive and thus easy to disregard (at least in my small part of the world). I began using Stage 32 Pitch Sessions as there was a clear appetite from many of the professionals for genre material. To date, I have received 5 full...

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 from Letterboxd, THE CREATOR director Gareth Edwards (also the director of ROGUE ONE) explains the cinematic and visual references that he utilized and was inspired by while working on the new film about a future war with A.I. One of the most interesting moments happens about half...

You’re a filmmaker, a writer, a director, maybe even an actor. You want to keep working, but the phone’s not ringing so… you decide to shoot a short film. Before you start down the rabbit hole you may want to ask a few questions. Why do I want to shoot a short film? What resources do I have at my disposal? What resources will I need to obtain? And the most impactful question: What’s it going to cost? Anyone who has ever taken on the challenge of shooting a short knows that there ar...