Producing

Lights, Camera, Action! Okay, technically, it would be called out as "Sound, Camera, Mark It, Set, Action." It's literally built into the DNA of every film and television production, and yet, as a genre, ACTION can be incredibly difficult to execute well. Recently, I had a chance to catch up with my friend and filmmaking mentor, Shane Stanley. He generously shared some insights during our special Produced Script Coverage Report (Mondays in the Writer's Room). We reviewed what it took to green...

You’ve heard the saying “Jack of all trades, master of none”? I’m going to start with something controversial, I hate that quote. This quote has been preached to me on many occasions throughout my career and I can imagine it will continue for the rest of my years. Why this quote? Because my creativity is hard to grasp, I do many things and can do many things well. Does this sound like you? Your creativity doesn’t fit in the societal norms of occupation, the idea that we decide to be or do one...

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. No matter what kind of script you're writing, you are creating a world from scratch. It doesn't matter how realistic things may appear. Everything on screen has to play by the rules of that world and its society. This applies to everything the characters say and do, as well as the environments where they...

As an independent producer, I'm always planning my next project. With a stack of screenplays (many of which are my own), and no Mr. Moneytree waiting to spread his love, it can be challenging. This is why I've taken the Robert Rodriguez approach when it comes to filmmaking. For those of you unfamiliar, Robert Rodriguez's first feature film, El Mariachi, had no crew. And almost no budget. At a meager 7k, he was the writer, director, cinematographer, location scout, sound, and editor. With inflati...

In 2020, I had the privilege of cutting a horror/thriller film titled The Boy Behind the Door. It was the directorial debut of David Charbonier & Justin Powell, and it was also my first feature-length project as an editor. The film was part of the Official Selection at Fantastic Fest in 2020 and received some genuine critical acclaim during its run. It then sold to Shudder and became available for streaming in 2021. The whole post-production process took over 2 years of diligent work and I lea...

Hello everyone! I know this must sound like a promotional blog, a congratulatory blog, or a persuasive blog! Actually, it is none of these! It is just an account of what Stage 32 has done for me at this moment in time. So, please give me a moment for some backstory... My name is Selma Karayalçın and I’m a fifty-year-old woman going on twenty-one who lives on the island of Aphrodite which is called Cyprus. If you don’t know where that is, it is a tiny dot on the map in the eastern Mediterra...

Whether you are making Hollywood blockbusters, indie darlings, or passion projects in your back yard marketing your film on social media is incredibly beneficial. However, you may not be sure where to start. This article hopes to give you a guide, offering tips and advice on using social media as a creative. Create a Plan Work out what you are wanting to share and when you are wanting to share your posts. Take time to work out your target audience and post at the best times for them in orde...

I am the director and a producer for a proof of concept short called Innocent Love that we developed for a tv series that we called Forgotten Wisdom. It’s set in historic times but also very relatable to current-day problems. It is also meant to be educational in showing how problems were once dealt with. We were able to shoot during the summer of 2020 with the intention of pitching to a local streaming service in Slovenia and maybe even internationally. 1. How It All Started In early 2020...

Check it before you wreck it? Naw, we kind of love things to be a wreck in comedy. In fact, to amp up the tension, we have to dive head-first into the wreck! And believe me - last year as my drama/thriller team and I pulled “mockumentary” as our genre for the 2022 L.A. 48-Hour Film Project, we were a WRECK. Seriously, we had even lined up a Steadicam operator to attempt an “epic oner” which felt like an epic fail when we had to figure out - how the hell are we going to find our “funny” in forty-...

I get it—you became a filmmaker, or a writer, or an actor because you love movies and television. You weren’t planning to launch a business. But if you hope to build a career in the film industry as a writer, filmmaker, or even actor, then you need to think like an entrepreneur. Otherwise, all you’ll have is an expensive hobby. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s likely not quite what you were hoping for. So, take a deep breath and admit it. You’re an entrepreneur. Especially...