Tips

What "stage" are you as a writer? It's a perfectly legitimate question. And the answer could be what pushes you to the next level. Screenwriter Lucy V. Hay of Bang2Write sheds light on the different stages of writing, and what it takes to move up - or sideways - or whichever way serves you - to the next level.| So where are you??   Read More: This Is How You Create Your Writing Career   Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below! Got an idea for a post? Or have you coll...

I entered 2019 completely broke. I live for free in a guest house with my fiancé, so my expenses equated to my insurance and groceries. I couldn’t afford them the following month. That’s how broke I was. I never thought I’d be that person. Why was I broke? it wasn't long before I realized my lack of cash was anchored in the false argument of ART VS. COMMERCE. How did I get in this position? I had a movie that was premiering on SHOWTIME in two weeks, DVDs were in Walmart, eight projects produc...

Being a performer in the 21st Century is hard. In the 20th Century, we were taught to learn & think like soldiers & factory workers, not like innovative, self-determined entrepreneurial entertainment professionals. You can thank the 19th Century Prussian educational model for that. Shows like A Chorus Line taught us that us if we’re not a star, we’re a loser.This is simply not true. To make things even harder, the barrier for entry to the entertainment industry is lower than ever. As a...

Happy Sunday to all.  Hope you're all having a fulfilling and creative weekend. Coffee is brewed and piping hot...Let's get to the content. First up today, many great screenwriters and playwrights - David Mamet is one who comes to mind immediately - speak about the need for writers to create conflict in every scene.  Our first video today dives deep on conflict, citing examples from a plethora of revered films to drive the point home. Second, a video no filmmaker or producer is going to wa...

Learning the ins and outs of a writers room can be fun, especially for those of us yearning to take a seat at the table. A few weeks back we shared The Unknown Lingo of TV Writers Rooms. Today we're following Craig Tomashoff's article in the Hollywood Reporter where he takes us behind the scenes of shows like Killing Eve, Barry, and Better Call Saul to discover the little things that help create the big thing: An episode. Give the link below a click to discover how writer's move around bl...

I have a goal. It’s to help you become successful networkers right here on Stage 32. See, lots of us claim we want to network and connect, yet we don’t do much about it. Maybe on Monday we send a message to someone to say hello. On Tuesday we might start a thread. On Thursday we might join the conversation on someone else’s thread. But if no one responds or seems to care about our existence, what do we do? We quit. We decide that networking here doesn’t work and we exit stage left. Wel...

“Power is a place as well as a verb. It is inside the information tent.” -Lynda Obst The quote above is from Hello, He Lied, a must-read book on producing.The book is written by a trailblazer who did it all and saw it all, Lynda Obst. Being a female producer in Hollywood isn't easy. When I decided to expand my horizons and became a film producer, I felt I was ahead of the game because I knew what it took to finance a movie as worldwide sales agent and distributors’ rep. How hard could it be...

Welcome back, my spooky Stage32 Community!Summer is almost here and in this survival guide, I'll be focusing on a checklist of things to keep in mind when shooting a horror film. It's no surprise that horror films cost less to produce and shoot. A good example is Jordan Peele’s Get Out. James Wan made his career with the SAW franchise. Horror films bring in lots of money at the box office and audiences flock to the screen to get their fright on! With that in mind, lets dive right into the belly...

Happy Sunday, everyone. And Happy Father's Day to all fathers and father figures across the globe! Hope you're day is off to a fantastic start and that you've been active, contributing, and making those invaluable connections during Introduce Yourself Weekend. Don't miss out, there's still 24 hours to go! As if that wasn't enough to motivate you, here's another edition of Coffee & Content. When we talk with the executives who work with us through Stage 32 Script Services about the main issue...

There are those who answer the call of duty by joining the military, becoming a doctor, or pastor or something else noble. Like me, there are those insane enough to work in the entertainment business. Even crazier, some actually thrive in it and enjoy it. Well, mostly. But once you are in it and experiencing the reality of the challenge of making a consistent living, one can’t help but think, “What in the world am I doing?” I am not exactly sure when I heard the call to join the circus of Hol...