Networking

THE EYE OF OWOU is based on the West African tale of how death entered the world. The logline is “A desperate mother uses ancient African magic to resurrect her daughter, then realizes the price for keeping her daughter alive entails taking the lives of others.” The logline won a logline contest in 2014 which led me to believe the idea, at least, had potential. I’ve always enjoyed reading mythology. Most horror films are based on Eurocentric myths. I decided to take a different route and explo...

Hey, Stage32-ers! It's been great to meet so many of you, and I love the conversations we've been generating in the Lounges! Sometimes when we chat online, though, we still feel the distance between us. With so much of our social interaction being virtual now, camaraderie's uplift seems more crucial than ever. Luckily, our fearless leader RB Botto and our fantastic team are here to keep you going! As your Community Manager, I want to assure you that our members are real. No matter where we are...

Good morning, Stage 32 Creative Crew! I hope it was a fantastic weekend and one filled with creative endeavors. Keep hitting those writing goals. What separates those who succeed in this business from those who do not is simply tenacity and identifying opportunities.  In that spirit, I want to introduce you to Angela Uzun - an incredible writer who connected with Television Executive Anna Henry through Stage 32 coverage, and now has a television project optioned at Mind's Eye Entertainment! Mind...

Welcome to Atlanta! Where the Actors Play. Waaaay back in 2005, if you were living in Atlanta and looking to jump into this crazy business called acting, conventional wisdom would have told you to make the move to Hollywood and start there. And even as recent as 2012, if you came to Hollywood and mentioned you were from Atlanta, you would be met with a shrug of the shoulders, and maybe even a look of disgust. Flash forward to 2020, and if you were to move from Atlanta to Hollywood, ears would...

Always Be Writing Michael - At the beginning of the pandemic, like most of us, I was suddenly rich in the commodity of time. For some friends, this proved difficult. But writing is its own form of isolation, so this seemed to play into my hand. One morning, I jotted down some thoughts and posted them anonymously across my socials. My friend Connor Pannell, who I’d met at Catalyst Stories in October of 2019, responded with a scene for a new concept he was developing. I immediately connected t...

Who would’ve ever thought a simple smile could change everything. That’s right, just a smile and nothing more. That’s not so hard, right? Did you know that smiling releases endorphins and dopamine in the brain? A natural antidepressant and all you have to do is turn that frown upside down. I’ll admit, that was a bit cheesy but hell, you get the point. What if I told you, a smile could also help your neighbor. Did you know a smile is contagious? If you don’t believe me, next time you have a mo...

Feature and television projects from diverse writers, and stories with traditionally unheard perspectives, are essential to art, entertainment, and advancing the conversation in a way that has largely been ignored by Hollywood. However, these days, much to our contentment, things are changing. With the powerful evolution of new voices in both features and TV, projects like QUEEN AND SLIM, THE FAREWELL, ATLANTA, CRAZY RICH ASIANS, BLACK-ISH, POSE, LOVE SUGAR, INSECURE are thriving and leading the...

I remember sitting on my porch in December 2019 and saying to myself, finally, 2020, a new start. I think the majority of the world pretty much felt that 2019 could take a hike, that is until 2020 really hit us with a Pandemic. Being a filmmaker during this time has struck fear within our industry, as well as the rest of the world. So, the impending question is, how do we get back to set? What does that look like as the bans are lifting and work is kinda moving forward? I’m here to give you s...

I did not actually mean to write a pilot based on my book, which is a very real thing that will be out in the world on August 25. As in, you will be able to buy it from your bookstore or request it from your library, and you will be able to read about all of the terrible sex I’ve had and the time I bid on a chandelier on Ambien. I will need to put at least three states between me and my parents on August 25.     But the state of discomfort reading it pales in comparison to possibly wa...

Keep pushing and trust the process. Hi, my name is Eric Jeske and my screenplay AVALANCHE won Stage 32’s Feature Contest. These two “mantras” are what shape my screenwriting journey. I came out to Los Angeles after college, like many, pursuing all that Hollywood has to offer - Improv, comedy, movies, glitz and glamor. But this town can be a tough-ass nut to crack. Keep pushing. So, you figure some things out, make some connections, pour your focus into screenwriting. The one thing you fe...