Tips

As those in the film industry can relate, the majority of the time you are more likely to hear the word ‘no’ than the word ‘yes.’ This is especially true when you are trying to part the film financier from his money. There may be a number of reasons why a financier will pass on your project and you will no doubt here a variety of reasons from, ‘We already have a similar project in development,’ to ‘It doesn’t fit with our current slate of films,’ or my personal favorite, ‘we have already committ...

I’ve probably done around 10,000 interviews so far in my career. I was terrible when I started. My first interviews were almost unusable. I stammered, stared at my list of questions, froze, had no idea what to do. But I got better. If you keep doing it, keep talking to people, you’ll figure out how to do it. Here’s what I’ve learned over the years that has helped me when I have to sit down and do interviews with stars, experts, persons-on-the-street and everyone in-between.     RESEARCH,...

You can tell a lot about a person the way he or she handles themselves online.  Today our Founder & CEO, RB, goes over why it is so important that you "complete the circle" of who you are online on social media. He talks about how it is a key place for producers and employers to look at who you are and why you should put your best foot forward.  In this 7-minute clip (which is part of his Film Courage interview series), RB goes over why you shouldn't do anything online that you wouldn't do in...

If you've been around this site for a while, you've heard me say that reading screenplays, good and bad, is, without question, the best way to hone your craft. And, of course, a good screenplay compared against the film produced from said screenplay can serve as a masterclass for filmmakers, cinematographers, editors, sound designers, actors and other film creatives as well. Today, I'm happy to share that the red hot production, distribution and financing company, A24, has made the screenplays...

STAGE 32 NEWS This weekend Stage 32 and the Stage 32 Happy Writers descend upon Austin, Texas for the Austin Film Festival. We are proud to be a sponsor of the 2015 Austin Film Festival and we have a week filled with educational panels, events and more! We invite our Stage 32ers to come join us! To find out more about the events and to RSVP to join, click here: Stage 32 at the Austin Film Festival   The October 2015 edition of On Stage With RB is now available to watch on-demand!  This bro...

The October 2015 edition of On Stage With RB was almost 3 hours jam-packed with incredible tips and advice! Up first RB interviewed Jeff Kitchen. Jeff Kitchen has been one of the top screenwriting teachers in the film industry for twenty years, and is a sought-after script consultant. He worked as a dramaturg and taught playwriting in New York theater, and is the author of Writing a Great Movie: Key Tools for Successful Screenwriting. Jeff has taught development executives from all the major H...

STAGE 32 NEWS Starting today, all Stage 32 members have automatically been set to receive a single email a day with all network requests. Keep in mind, you have full control of these settings. So if you would still like to receive a single email for every network request sent to you on Stage 32, you can change the setting accordingly. To learn more about this exciting site update and learn how to manage your settings, click here: Manage Your Networking!   Stage 32 is heading to the Austin...

Whenever a script is submitted in the industry, it is passed off to a reader for analysis. The reader will give the script a "recommend," a "consider" or a "pass." And unless it gets a recommend, probably no one else is going to look at it. So how many scripts get a recommend? About two percent....which means roughly 98 percent of spec scripts are dead on arrival. Many of these scripts make the same mistakes. Here's my take on the ten most common mistakes reported by the studio and network rea...

It’s been said that luck is where preparation meets opportunity. Only one of those things is completely in your control — preparation. Whether you’re a screenwriter, a filmmaker, an entrepreneur or anyone else trying to draw attention and support to a personal or professional endeavor, there’s no excuse not to have your elevator pitch down cold. It needs to be practiced, honed and memorized so that when opportunity rears its head, the words roll off your tongue with an undeniable confidence. T...

STAGE 32 NEWS It’s that time again! Time for the October 2015 edition of On Stage with RB. Every month our Founder & CEO, RB, in an online webinar setting brings on special guests who work in the industry, such as filmmakers and executives to offer advice to our community, and he goes over the best way to use Stage 32 to help your career. Afterwards, he opens up the floor to you for a live Q&A session about anything and everything in the industry. Best of all, this is FREE, exclusively for St...