Success Stories

Happy New Year, Creative Army! I hope you all had a restful, meaningful holiday season and are stepping into this new year feeling energized, inspired, and ready to create. Whether you spent the last couple of weeks reflecting, recharging, or quietly plotting your next move, today is your starting line. As many of you know, every New Year’s Day, we use the Stage 32 Blog to pause, reset, and look ahead together. This tradition isn’t about resolutions that fade by February. It’s about intentio...

This past October, I had the pleasure of attending Iberseries Platino Industria (IPI) in Madrid, a yearly film & television market, organized by EGEDA & Secuoya Studios, where the Spanish and Latin American audiovisual industries come together to collaborate and shape the future of content creation in Spanish, international co-production, and local production incentives. Over the years, in my capacities as consultant for Freeway Entertainment, owner of Zannoni Media, delegate of CANACINE Quin...

The El Paso Film & Creative Industries Film Commission has just partnered up with Stage 32 Certification to bring their top-tier, industry-backed training courses straight to our talented regional film community. This strategic partnership comes at a truly transformational time for our creative scene, as our area’s film and media industry keeps growing, fueled by our trademark Borderland energy, diversity, and “can-do” attitude. Stage 32 Certification offers practical, hands-on training design...

As Film Commissioner for Columbus, Ohio and the Central Ohio area, I am proud to announce our new partnership between Stage 32 Certification and Film Columbus, which will offer Stage 32’s world-class, industry-endorsed film & TV crew training programs directly to our city’s creative community. This collaboration comes at a pivotal time for Columbus as our film and content media scene continue to grow. Before 2026 even starts, we already have FOUR series and a feature in the production queue for...

Welcome back to TALKING BUSINESS: Insights from the Independent Film Industry, hosted by Stage 32 Certification International Liaison, Thought Leader, and Business Consultant David Zannoni of Freeway Entertainment and Zannoni Media. If you joined us for Part 1 of this conversation, you already understand how critical a properly structured financing plan is to the survival of an independent film. In Part 2, we pick up exactly where that conversation left off and move into the real-world executi...

As the year comes to an end, I want to take a moment to celebrate you and express how rewarding it is working alongside this community to empower creatives around the world. 2025 was your year. More than 85 writers in our community found success this year—signing with representation, getting their projects shopped, being hired for open writing assignments, securing options, and landing development deals. Writers like you proved that breaking through isn't just possible—it's happening right no...

Happy Tuesday, Creative Army! There are moments in this journey where you pause, take a breath, and truly feel the weight and meaning of the work you’re doing. Seeing Stage 32 Certification spotlighted by IndieWire is absolutely one of those moments for me. This feature is especially meaningful because it represents a partnership I’ve had the privilege of helping bring to life, and it highlights exactly why we built Stage 32 Certification in the first place, to create real, tangible opportun...

Happy Monday, Creative Army! Stage 32 Managing Director Amanda Toney and I had the honor of representing Stage 32 at the 43rd Torino Film Festival and Torino Film Industry in Torino, Italy. And let me tell you: Italy is not just open for business, they are hungry to create more opportunities for filmmakers around the world — and Stage 32 is right in the center of it. How This All Started This relationship began months ago at our Stage 32 Film Commission VIP event in Cannes. What started as...

As recently announced in The Hollywood Reporter, the world's leading vertical micro-drama producer has opened their doors exclusively to our community and we're excited to announce we've partnered with DramaBox - who are offering a $5,000 option contract to the winning writer of our joint screenwriting competition! Open to feature screenplays, TV pilots, and short scripts! Direct-to-Production Access Drama Box is the world's leading short drama platform launched in April 2023. Covering over 2...

I’ve made it to year three in my journey with Stage 32, and it just keeps getting better! Looking back on the past creative year has been an incredible source of encouragement. It’s allowed me to celebrate the victories and quickly let go of the goals whose timing hasn’t arrived yet—but that I know are on their way. If you’re looking to give yourself a boost, I highly recommend taking a moment to review your creative year and jot down a quick bullet list of wins and milestones. Not Without...