Producing

Stage 32 is proud to continue our partnership with Raindance Film Festival and its founder Elliot Grove and Festival Producer David Martinez for the 6th year in a row! This year, Raindance has an impressive lineup of features, shorts, and documentaries from amazing filmmakers all over the world and will be honoring Sir Michael Cane with their Icon Award. In person, the festival will bring this year’s program of ground-breaking indie features to a range of new venues as Raindance partners for t...

Hello creatives! I’m digging into a topic today that’s so important to the success of your project because it creates the inner conflict we love to see in our characters. I’m talking about want (desire) and need -- the external and internal drivers of character choice. To help me explore this concept using a fresh perspective, I’m going to draw on my experience getting on the starting line as a runner and obstacle course racer. Looking at a race is a great place to study what motivates people...

Several years ago, I noticed how my older children and their friends seemed to have little interest in marriage compared to previous generations. Seeing news of marriage and birth rates dropping, and having endured the ups and downs in my own marriage, I began formulating a world which would turn into my drama pilot SPLIT DECISIONS. With feedback from fellow writers about the strong premise of the script, I entered it into a few competitions, including an entry in the final hours of Stage 32’...

Happy Sunday Creative Army! I've got my coffee in hand and your weekly dose of content coming in hot - grab your coffee of choice and let's dive right in. First up, IndieWire recently featured a great interview with WandaVision production designer Mark Worthington (Why Women Kill, American Horror Story, The Umbrella Academy). In this video, Mark illustrates how he "uses the language of the sitcom to tell this story about Wanda's trauma". Among other things, Mark talks about how he and his te...

Writing dialogue is more than just studying how other people speak. It helps to move your story forward and gives a voice to what you’ve put down on paper. Here are some tips to make this voice as strong as possible. 1.Do Your Research An upper class woman in Victorian England is going to have a very different life than a teenage boy in 2010. Know who your character is and how they navigate life based on their occupation and social status. Find out as much as you can about the career the...

A few years back there was a lively debate right here on Stage 32 about whether short films could make money, then shifted to if there they were even worthwhile.... Actually, it's not a matter of debate or opinion, it's an etched- in- stone- fact short films can make money. I've had 3 short films make money. There are countless other examples of shorts that made money, quite a bit of money actually, like the short by Peter Sollet 5 Feet High & Rising which became Raising Victor Vargas. In the...

Happy Thursday Stage 32 community! I hope you are having a beautiful and creative week! Recently, our fearless leader and CEO Richard "RB" Botto joined Ryan Alford as a guest on The Radcast - a top 25 Marketing Podcast in the US! The Radcast features top business leaders and creative geniuses behind some of the world's biggest brands and we are thrilled that RB was a guest with Ryan.  We all know that the entertainment industry is tribal and in this must-listen chat, RB talks about all thi...

I am a Distributor turned Filmmaker. I have a finance degree and a law degree and I spent the first 22 years of my film career in Distribution. Then I got the bug to become creative. I have since made and successfully self distributed 7 feature films, 3 of which are presently airing on Netflix worldwide (FULL OUT / FULL OUT 2 - YOU GOT THIS! / KISS & CRY). In my first Stage 32 blog, I talked about the importance of “creating awareness” for your indie movie. If people don’t know about your f...

The Bash is BACK! Stage 32 is back at the Austin Film Festival - and to celebrate - you're invited to the 8th Annual Austin Film Festival Rooftop Bash on Friday, October 22nd starting at 8pm. This year the event will take place on the exclusive rooftop bar of the Speakeasy which overlooks the Warehouse District and beautiful Downtown Austin! And because it is only a few minutes walk from the Driskill Hotel - it is right in the heart of the AFF action. Come meet and mingle with your fellow S...

Happy Sunday Creative Army! First of all, 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 every corner of 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. Now, grab some fresh coffee and let's dive in to this week's pipi...