Success Stories

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” ― John F. Kennedy, Address at Rice University, September 12, 1962   Filmmaking is never easy and it’s rarely fun, but I love it anyway. I have been making films since I was a child and growing up in LA. My high-school, of course, had a film program with a wind-up 16mm Bolex. My 11th-grade film teacher actually wrote on my report card that I was a “cinematic genius”....

Hello friends and fellow creatives! Erik here from the Stage 32 Happy Writers. We at the Happy Writers want to strive to give writers some insight into how our system works and how well it's working. In the past, we opted to respect the absolute privacy of those who were requested and landed meetings with executives through our pitch sessions. We wouldn't share their success without their permission (not everyone wants to be rich and famous, most would just settle for being rich... until the...

As filmmakers, we all try to move forward and create our films with the talent, materials and tools at our disposal. Some of these we may have in or arsenal and others we acquire through purchasing, hiring, renting, borrowing or simply putting the “arm” on colleagues. However, apart from a great story and script, some of the most important components of our productions are those resources called humans. Whether above the line or below, these critical creative team members are not inanimate objec...

A year and a half ago I wrote a new script, a comedic pilot called "The Other F Word." I had previously written four-produced indie features, but this story was episodic in nature, so it was a whole new world, as none of my relationships were in television. "The Other F Word" is a comedic coming of age series about four women who deal with the hights and lows of mid-life as they reinvent themselves now that their kids are grown. I discovered Stage 32 and after joining Happy Writers, I perfecte...

Last year, Brittni Brown and Jenna Palermo won our Stage 32 Happy Writers 1st Annual Feature contest with their script NEVERBRIDES. We set them up with meetings all over town including at Warner Bros., Lionsgate and Ineffable Pictures to name a few.   After a meeting with manager Seth Nagel at Infinity Management Group International, Seth signed Brittni and Jenna and went to work on getting their screenplay out there. We're thrilled to announce that NEVERBRIDES was recently optioned by and...

We’ve had some incredible success stories lately here on Stage 32. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be shining a light on those 32’ers who have found success either through networking on the platform, through our Jobs section or through pitching with the Stage 32 Happy Writers. Today, we congratulate screenwriter Joe Downey! Joe contacted Erik at the Stage 32 Happy Writers with information regarding a screenplay he was looking to pitch. Joe was looking for suggestions on an executive Erik felt m...

Collaboration is paramount in today’s competitive and rapidly changing film industry. It has been said that there is 'strength in numbers' or that 'a three-fold cord is not easily broken'. Well, three Stage32’ers (Terrell Lamont, Justin Lewis and Art Thomas), along with Alicia Cole Heinrich, Heather Webb and 51 others, took that sentiment to heart and successfully collaborated to produce the dramatic thriller ‘HUSH MONEY’, a feature-film. Shot on-location in Denver, Colorado, over a three-week p...

We've gotten a lot of questions about our successes and there have been plenty of discussions in the screenwriting lounge about what they mean and where the requested writers eventually end up. Maybe you've been checking out our pitch sessions and made your way over to our success stories page. You'll see listing after listing of one person getting a meeting here, another there... what does this mean? What are they getting out of the meetings? What qualifies as a success? What Is Success? A...

A few weeks ago I enrolled in a Stage32 webinar entitled, “Is There A Market For Your Short Film? Distribution, Recognition & Monetization.” It was led by David Paterson, the screenwriter and producer of Bridge to Terabithia. I took the webinar because I had worked on a short film about a soldier battling PTSD, and I was looking for ideas about where to go from there. What comes next is a bit of trip down the rabbit hole. Want to come along? OK, onward then. David’s webinar got me thinking...

STAGE 32 NEWS Live From Cannes - Talking Stage 32 Member Success & Cannes News - We wanted to share a Cannes update. So far we have met hundreds of Stage 32 members from all around the world, 32 which have films screening here at Cannes, and that are competing, which has been so inspiring!  Listen to RB's update from the Variety party in Cannes and get the news on amazing things going on here! 10 Reasons To Release Your Feature As A Web Series - You can now shoot a movie on a phone. You can e...