Success Stories

The Cannes Film Festival in France is next week! As you all know Stage 32 has has worked directly with and have had an official presence at the Cannes Film Festival Marche du Film for the last 5 years. From education initiatives, partnerships and parties, Stage 32 always has our finger on the pulse of the world's biggest film festival and market.  Also, for the last 5 years Stage 32 is an official education partner of the Cannes Marche du Film. This year, our role has expanded even further a...

The Power of One More Time I was a freshman at Rollins College in Florida intending to become a golf professional. We had a free elective our winter term and one of my dorm buddies said, “Hey, what do you think if we take “Theatre Workshop?” I said, “You mean build sets, paint scenery?” He said, “Yeah.” I thought about it, and then said, “Sounds like a great idea!” That decision changed my life forever. After a week in the theatre, I was hooked! I then started to eat, drink and sleep theatre,...

Many people dream of being a screenwriter while still young; I came to it later in life. Having just turned 40, I was in Boston with an injured back while serving on the security detail for Secretary of State John Kerry, when I was reading a book and suddenly it came out of nowhere, "I have to turn this into a screenplay." [Even though I didn't own the rights. I found out how that works much later...] Eight years later, I have my first shopping agreement. One might ask, "how do you keep going...

"Write what you know." It's a well-worn saying. We've all heard it, and understand the wisdom therein. But as you struggle for success in the screenwriting world, it's often more tempting to try to write something high concept, something that will sell, something that will land you representation. As writers, we've both found some success -- Jamie wrote and starred in a solo show which ran off-broadway, Josh has sold a feature and TV pilot -- but we're more familiar with disappointment. While...

To say we just started our writing careers would be an understatement. Before Carol and I met, we were both heavily involved in our separate writing careers; Carol as an Artist Development coach and founder of The ArtEstate, a boutique marketing firm and myself as a professional Chef and International Food & Beverage Consultant. Carol recently signed a publishing deal on her second book. Although I had never completed any screenwriting, Carol encouraged me to write my stories and follow my pa...

It has been exactly one year and six months since I started to turn my novel into a screenplay with screenwriter Christina Patjens. Click here to read about how our collaboration started right here on Stage 32.  I'm beyond elated to let Stage 32 know that the script's first draft is finished as is the synopsis. Meanwhile, many wonderful things have transpired. International actors from Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, and the United States are full of praise for the script and its story a...

It is an honor and a privilege to bring you the worldwide virtual premiere of the 6th Annual Stage 32 Short Film Program! Below you will find nine amazing short films to watch that were carefully curated by Stage 32's panel of leading industry executives. Our esteemed panel of judges is made up of top producers, managers, development executives, and Oscar-winning filmmakers. Our winning filmmakers hail from all over the world, and we could not be more excited to share their undeniable talen...

I watched my first horror movie with my father when I was eight. He tried his best to distract my eight-year-old self from the horror with a hilarious running dialogue throughout the movie, although I still ended up in bed that night with my parents. My father is gone now, but my love for horror and comedy runs deep and about four years ago, I thought I’d try my hand at putting the two together on paper. I had no clue what I was doing. I had always loved writing but I came from a short story...

About 12 years ago my stepdaughter Nastassia Haroshka (IMDB) (age 7 at the time) came to the US from Belarus with her mother, Iryna Haroshka, my future wife. Nastassia and her mother spoke no English, but I had learned Russian to be able to speak with them. The daughter had done some modeling in Belarus, and was soon contracted for actress roles in the excellent films DIVERGE  and RAIN. She studied acting with Gerard Moses at Studio 24. She learned English rapidly; she is a perfect bilingual...

Having won awards for my artwork and writing in high school, I knew my career path was to be a storyteller in some capacity. However, that road was not linear and took many incarnations. This included being a journalism major in college, a professional opera singer (you read that right), owning a graphic design studio, teaching ancient history & religion seminars and finally working as a personal trainer. This last vocation was the turning point. While training myself during a lunch brea...