I hope your weekend has been a creative one so far. Whether you have been writing, filming, editing, or sketching out the next spark of an idea, I have got something today that will give you a boost. So grab your coffee, and let’s dive in.

This week’s featured video comes from Variety- How 'Wicked: For Good' Composer Wrote 'The Girl in the Bubble' & 'No Place Like Home'

And if you listen closely, there’s a powerful lesson here that goes far beyond composing.

These songs didn’t arrive fully formed. They started rough, imperfect, even a little messy. A voice memo recorded alone at a piano and ideas that felt right in theory but didn’t quite work once they met the reality of the screen. Entire sections were cut. Arrangements were reworked. Tone shifted based on performance, visuals, and emotion. What worked on stage didn’t always translate to film. What sounded good in isolation had to evolve to serve the story.

And that’s the takeaway!

No matter what you create, writing, directing, composing, or producing, your work will evolve. It has to. The strongest creatives are not the ones who get it perfect on the first try. They are the ones who stay flexible, who listen to the story, and who are willing to refine, adjust, and even let go of ideas when something better reveals itself. At the end of the day, it’s not about protecting your first draft or idea. It’s about serving the final story.

I was recently asked how composers, and really any creative, can use Stage 32 to find more opportunities and build real connections. And the answer is simple, but not always easy. You have to show up.

A lot of creatives come into the platform, look around, maybe read a few posts, and then disappear. Some may lurk around in the lounges, watch a few webinars, wait, and hope something will happen. But nothing happens when you stay invisible.

If you want to build relationships, you need to be active. That starts with introducing yourself in the Stage 32 Introduce Yourself Lounge, where creatives from all over the world come together to share who they are, what they’re working on, and what they’re looking for. 

But here’s where most people miss the opportunity; they post about themselves… and then they leave. The real value comes from consistently engaging with others by commenting on posts, asking questions, and starting conversations. That’s how relationships begin, collaborations happen, and people remember your name.

If you’re a composer, the Composing and Post-Production Lounges should be your home bases. Start conversations about your process and challenges you’ve faced, share tips, or ask for insight or advice. You’ll quickly find others working in your space or learning alongside you, and that’s where real connection starts.

And don’t forget, you can actively search for other creatives on Stage 32: directors, producers, editors, people who are looking for exactly what you bring to the table.

But again, none of it works if you’re not participating. This industry moves through relationships. And relationships are built through consistent, genuine connection.

So take what you learned today from the creative process behind Wicked, stay open, stay adaptable, keep refining your work… and then take that same energy into how you show up for your career and your community.

Now I want to hear from you: What’s one creative decision you’ve had to change or let go of that ultimately made your project stronger?

As always, here at Stage 32, we love sharing stories and knowledge with our fellow film fans. Know someone who would love this content? Share it with them. You can keep up with all of our videos by subscribing to the Stage 32 YouTube Channel. For more inspirational, educational, and motivational content on all things entertainment industry, follow me on Instagram and X @rbwalksintoabar.

Wishing you a very happy, healthy, and creative Sunday.

Cheers,

RB

Variety | How 'Wicked: For Good' Composer Wrote 'The Girl in the Bubble' & 'No Place Like Home'

RBWalksIntoABar | How Do I Network as a Composer?

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

A quick Internet search will yield an abundance of self-tape how-to articles and videos, which is great, and I encourage you to watch and read them. But they mostly focus on the technical aspects of the process (cameras, lighting, sound, setup) and far less on the actor’s craft.

So, I’ve designed this article with the actor’s performance in mind. After all—the strength of the audition is still the primary driver for getting the part.

A word before we start. Like anything in this ever-evolving world, there are pros and cons to this shift from in-person to on-tape auditions. The pros are pretty obvious—you can submit from anywhere at any time. This increases the amount of auditions you can submit for as well as decreasing expenses for travel and time. You can also do numerous takes to get the audition you and your agent want, which I’ll talk about more as we go.

The cons involve the same imbalance that I’ve noticed in the ’Net tutorials—self-tape puts a lot of weight on the technical and less on the personal aspects of the audition. When I started making the rounds in the 1990s in Philadelphia and New York, it was all about personal networking—the more auditions you had, the more you got to know casting directors, directors, and other actors. That familiarity figured into how we approached an audition and often played into the outcome.

A casting agent, during a seminar where we were both teaching, gave me a tip that I employed every now and again… as you leave the audition room and the heads of the other actors come up from their sides, subtly clench your fist, bring your arm into your side, and whisper: “Yes!”

The good old days.

Another con is that actors often book gigs because of their ability to make adjustments on the fly. In other words, “directability.” A self-tape audition is a fixed thing, which kills that advantage.

So how do you overcome the lack of person-to-person contact that the traditional audition allowed?

As a teacher and director, I work with more and more actors via online video, both as a coach and for self-tape auditions. The things we’ve learned working through this particular camera frame help to solve some of these cons, because we concentrate on overcoming them as part of the work.

Here’s what we’ve learned.

1. The Audition Room is a Sacred Space

Where you tape your auditions says a lot about you as a person and a professional. Keeping in mind the requirement of a neutral background and soft, even lighting, you can make almost any space look professional with a little time and effort—even a hotel room or back room at work.

In addition to the technical requirements, the space must also be one where you can be calm, focused, and confident. It needs to be quiet—not just for the quality of the recording but for you.

Take a few moments while you’re setting the space to get in synch with its energy. Think good thoughts. Imagine how the audition process will go and how the audition will be viewed and received.

The work of my students and clients who rush the self-tape process always suffers.

I am including The Slate here because it represents you as the professional the decision-makers are evaluating. The Slate is your chance to make that connection that in-person auditions allow. Remember—it’s so much more than just a technical who, where, when, and what. The Slate is your opportunity to show your personality before you shift gears and become the character.

2. Wardrobe, Hair, Makeup (and Props!)

This is another area that is well covered in the self-tape how-to’s out in the ether, with the exception of props.

A quick review: choose a wardrobe and do your hair and makeup so you look your best for the role—if that’s what it requires. Otherwise, choose clothing and do your hair to approximate the character for which you are auditioning. No need to rent a costume—it’s just an approximation, but an invaluable one, to both you and the decision-makers—because costume and hairstyle give you energetic and physical cues for a character.

I always use an approximation of my costume early in rehearsals and for auditions. Shoes are key—you stand and shift weight differently in boots, flip-flops, high heels, dress shoes, or barefoot. Tight, loose, or layered clothing governs posture and mannerisms. Scarves, ties, and hats change how you move your head and neck. The list goes on.

So choose wisely.

Props are rarely if ever talked about. But I have my clients and students experiment with them during the takes. Cigarettes, eyeglasses, a fan or handkerchief… these are the primary props we’ve used. Because they can be part of the “psychological gestures” of the character, as Michael Chekhov called them. They can show confidence, nervousness, thinking—and the all-important shifts between beats. More on this later.

3. Working with the Words

Self-tape gives the actor the opportunity to better control the audition.

This starts with the sides. Print them out and mark them up. Underlining for emphasis, slashes for pauses (don’t ever underestimate the power of a pause), circling significant punctuation, and phonetically spelling out difficult words are the basics that I stress.

Next, mark the changes in beats with active verbs: “to convince,” “to seduce,” “to humiliate,” etc. Mark the most significant turns in the character’s approach, tone, and personality. If the casting director did their job, the sides should have at least one. These are the moments where you’ll truly show your skill.

If you memorize the sides, do it exactly. The last thing you want is to indicate to a casting director/director that you play fast and loose with the words. I prefer to know them well but still refer to the paper. Current wisdom is to memorize and have the papers in front of you to show that it’s a work in progress—another way to demonstrate “directability.”

If you don’t fully memorize the sides, here’s a simple technique: use your thumb as a marker to keep your place; glance at the paper, look up, and deliver the line. Move your thumb. Repeat.

And make sure to have your reader watch where you’re holding the paper, so it isn’t blocking your face or otherwise cutting off your energy and connection to the camera. Hold it almost out of frame, at eye level.

Practice makes perfect.

A strategy from a client: If a line or beat breaks awkwardly on the page, do a little old-fashioned cutting and taping to avoid having to flip a page at a crucial moment.

4. The Role of the Director

The traditional role of the director applies. I often serve as director and reader, and if you can find someone who has both skill sets, all the better.

A key focus for the director is the Breakdown, which is full of valuable information. Information you MUST adhere to for your audition to be considered. A director can be invaluable in interpreting and getting you to adhere to the requirements in the Breakdown.

Once I’ve read the Breakdown and the sides, and the Breakdown a second and third time, I have the first call with my client, setting a strategy based on what we’ve read. We typically set up the self-tape for the next day, giving us an opportunity to adequately prepare.

Another area where the director is invaluable is deciding when to stop. In other words, when the best take has been captured. More on that in #7.

5. The Role of the Reader

I am quick to recall the times in the audition room when I was paired with either a bad actor or—worse—a casting assistant or some other staffer who fed me the cue lines in a stumbling monotone. It was our job as actors to overcome those hurdles.

No more.

One of the most exciting things about self-tape auditions is that they encourage using good actors as your readers. And those readers don’t need to be in the same room—I serve as reader for many actors who live a good distance away.

They put their smartphone on a tripod with a good phone bracket and place me right next to the camera they are using to tape the audition.

So there’s no reason why you can’t go out and get the best reader or readers you can find. They don’t need to fit the part—they just have to work with you to produce the best audition you can muster.

It’s a great exercise for a reader to have to prepare different types of parts—I have read a variety of young and old, ethnicities, genders, and so on. It’s a great selling point for finding good readers. They will benefit as much as you do.

I am always careful to be secondary to the actor doing the self-tape, never pulling focus with volume or an over-sized choice. That’s part of the discipline of any actor whose character is not primary in the beat or scene. More good practice.

6. The Benefit of Numerous Takes

A major benefit to actors doing self-tape auditions is the ability to do numerous takes so you can choose the one that’s best. In order to make the most of this, as you are marking up the sides and doing your rehearsals, work with your director to make strong, clear choices and try to achieve them in the fewest possible takes. I explain why in #7.

After each useable take, check the tech. There is nothing more disheartening than doing a strong take and realizing the camera was never turned on or a dump truck went by and ruined the sound.

7. Knowing When to Stop

da Vinci said that art is never finished but abandoned. What I think he meant is that Perfection is unattainable, there is a gap between what we envision and what we manifest, and there is danger in going too far in the quest to make it better.

I believe that, if the actor has done the correct preparation, the third or fourth take holds their peak performance. The director’s feedback is key. Doing endless takes trying to squeeze out a few more tears or a slightly crisper turn or beat shift or surprise moment can be counterproductive, to say the least.

Remember: the camera’s very sensitive… it can pick up the slightest tension, or magnify the briefest hesitation or second-guessing. So know when to stop. Know when you’ve gotten the take that is your best at This Moment, at this stage in your development as an actor.

A caveat. Once we get a strong, useable take, we go for one more. Honestly, it’s rarely better. And it doesn’t need to be. But sometimes you strike gold.

Then you edit, send, and move on to the next one.

And… Cut!

As you can see, there are lots of benefits for the actor when it comes to self-taping.

Apply these tips, practice them as often as you’re able, and go forward with confidence knowing that your next acting job might just be a strong self-tape audition away!

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

The skyline. The scale. The architecture. The speed. The polish. For many people outside the region, the city registers first as a visual spectacle, a place that looks expensive, futuristic, and immediately cinematic.

What it is rarely known for, at least not yet, is narrative filmmaking.

That gap between perception and reality is exactly what makes Dubai so interesting.

Because beyond its image, beyond the obvious production value of its locations, there is something more important taking shape: a growing creative base of actors, writers, directors, cinematographers, editors, and producers who are eager to build meaningful narrative work. Not only commercial campaigns. Not only branded content. Not only short-form material designed for fast consumption and even faster disappearance. But stories. Films. Character-driven work. Projects shaped by authorship, ambition, and a desire to create something lasting.

That side of Dubai is still underestimated.

And it should not be.

More Than a Cinematic City

It is easy to call Dubai cinematic. In some ways, that is the simplest observation one can make about it. The city has visual scale, architectural range, and a striking ability to transform from one tone to another depending on where the camera is placed. It can feel futuristic, clinical, luxurious, intimate, isolated, corporate, or surreal.

But to reduce Dubai to its visuals is to miss the larger point.

What gives the city real promise as a filmmaking environment is not only how it looks. It is the range of people and perspectives that exist within it. Dubai brings together an unusually international concentration of voices, experiences, accents, references, and sensibilities. For any filmmaker interested in story, that kind of diversity is not incidental. It is creatively generative. It expands the kinds of narratives that can be written, the kinds of characters that can exist on screen, and the ways those stories can be told.

The location value is real, of course. But the human value is what makes the city genuinely interesting.

In that sense, the issue has never been whether Dubai has creative potential. It clearly does.

The Missing Layer

What Dubai still lacks, however, is not talent. Nor is it ambition.

What it lacks is sufficient narrative infrastructure.

At present, much of the city’s creative industry is shaped around commercials, branded productions, events, and service-based work. That ecosystem has value. It provides employment, develops technical skill, and keeps production talent active. It has helped build a generation of highly capable crew and creative professionals.

But a city does not become a serious narrative filmmaking hub simply because production is taking place.

Commercial activity and narrative culture are not the same thing.

A true filmmaking ecosystem requires more than technical ability and visual opportunity. It requires structures that support original projects from development through execution and beyond. That means a stronger culture of script development, more pathways for attaching talent, more belief in original material, better producing pipelines, greater access to financing, and a clearer sense of how projects can be positioned for audiences and markets outside the city itself.

This is the layer Dubai is still in the process of building.

And in many ways, that is the most important work ahead.

Building Before Permission Arrives

One of the realities of working in an emerging scene is that waiting rarely helps.

If creatives wait for the perfect system to arrive before they begin, years are lost. Momentum disappears into theory. Potential remains potential.

That is part of what led to the creation of Dubai Creatives, the community I founded as an attempt to contribute to a stronger narrative culture from the ground up.

Rather than approaching the problem as a single filmmaker trying to push one project at a time, I became increasingly interested in building a structure around the work itself: a place where writers, actors, directors, and crew could meet, develop material, attach talent, and make projects together with consistency. A space shaped not just by ambition, but by practice.

Dubai Creatives was built with that in mind.

The idea was simple: if the city needed more narrative momentum, then the most productive response was to create an environment where narrative work could happen regularly. A place where people could sharpen their craft not only through conversation, but through production. A place where collaboration became habitual rather than occasional.

What was especially encouraging was the speed of the response.

In less than two months, the community grew to 300 creatives in Dubai. We secured our first brand collaboration and began attracting actors and crew from different parts of the world who wanted to participate in what was being built. That early momentum revealed something important: the desire for a stronger narrative ecosystem is already here.

The appetite exists.

What it needs is structure.

Why Platforms Like Stage 32 Matter

Local momentum matters, but local momentum alone is not enough.

Creative communities grow more effectively when they are connected to wider industry standards, conversations, and opportunities. That is where platforms such as Stage 32 become genuinely useful.

What stood out to me was not simply the promise of visibility. Many platforms offer some version of that. Visibility on its own is rarely meaningful. What matters is whether a platform helps creatives improve, connect intelligently, and think more seriously about how their work is presented. That is what you get on Stage 32.

One of the most useful entry points for me on Stage 32 was the logline feedback section. It created a practical space to test ideas, refine them, and sharpen my own judgment about what was and was not working. More importantly, the responses often came from people who understood both storytelling and the professional realities surrounding it. The feedback was not vague praise. It was specific. Usable. Developmental.

That distinction matters.

Stage 32 does not merely flatter ambition. They challenge it. They help transform instinct into stronger work.

For an emerging film scene, that kind of access can be invaluable. It exposes local creatives to broader standards of presentation, development, and professional dialogue. It raises expectations. And raising expectations is often the first step toward raising quality.

Why Dubai Should Think Bigger

One of the most limiting things any city can do is underestimate the scale of what it could become.

Dubai does not need to imitate older filmmaking capitals in order to matter. It does not need to replicate another city’s history, identity, or industrial structure. But it does need to think seriously about what kind of creative future it wants to build.

At its best, Dubai offers a rare combination: visual range, international energy, logistical sophistication, and a growing base of people who are ready to create ambitious work. That is not a minor foundation. Many emerging creative hubs would consider that a major advantage.

The challenge now is to move from scattered talent to stronger systems. From individual projects to sustained momentum. From creative ambition to institutional confidence.

That shift requires more than enthusiasm. It requires patience, collaboration, and people who are willing to think beyond the next immediate opportunity. It requires producers who understand long-term development, writers who are committed to craft, actors who seek material with depth, and communities capable of nurturing those relationships over time.

Most of all, it requires belief that narrative work deserves to be built, not merely admired when it appears.

A City Still Open Enough to Be Shaped

Perhaps the most exciting thing about Dubai’s current position is that it is still early. The scene is not fully defined. Its rules are not fixed. Its identity is not exhausted. That openness creates a rare window.

In more established industries, it is often difficult to influence the shape of the culture itself. In Dubai, that possibility still exists. Serious filmmakers, producers, communities, and institutions still have the chance to help define what the city becomes as a narrative filmmaking environment.

That is why this moment matters.

Dubai is not interesting only because of what it already is. It is interesting because of what it has not yet fully become.

The Work Ahead

There is no serious version of this conversation that suggests transformation happens overnight.

For Dubai to become a stronger narrative filmmaking hub, it will need time. It will need better development pathways, more trust between collaborators, more entities willing to invest in original stories, and more systems that allow talent to grow inside the city rather than eventually having to leave it in order to reach the next level.

But the direction is there.

The talent is there.

The hunger is there.

What remains is the continued building of structures strong enough to support the ambition that already exists.

Dubai has spent years being recognized as a place that can host production. The more interesting future is one in which it is recognized as a place that can originate it. Not simply a city that looks cinematic.

A city that creates cinema.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

This Transition Marks the True Arrival of Stage 3 Transmedia

In the early days, transmedia was a novelty consisting of a film with a tie-in comic book. Later, it became a burden for the audience, requiring them to do homework across five different platforms just to understand a single plot point. Now, we have reached a state of functional continuity. The modern viewer does not want to watch a story from a distance. They want to inhabit the world, wear the protagonist’s digital assets in a virtual lobby, and debate the deep lore on decentralized forums. This shift represents a fundamental psychological change where the audience moves from being mere observers of a story to becoming active stakeholders in a shared reality.

The very definition of a creator has changed because of this.

The Writer of the Future is a World Architect

While a script remains a vital window into a story, the Total Intellectual Property (TIP) serves as the foundation, the plumbing, and the geological history of the land itself. If the soul of an IP feels different when it moves from a streaming service to a mobile game, the audience senses that friction immediately. Narrative liquidity requires a story to flow seamlessly between a ninety-minute feature and a fifteen-second character vlog without losing its core identity. This means the "canon" is no longer a static document but a living, breathing database that maintains consistency across every conceivable touchpoint.

A Collaborative Squad

This level of complexity has effectively ended the era of the solitary writer. The new unit of production is a Collaborative Squad.

This is a specialized team where a screenwriter, a technical game artist, and a community strategist work in tandem from the first day of development. The true value here lies in cross-pollinating the logic of different mediums before the first dollar is ever spent on production, ensuring the world is "game-ready" and "community-ready" from its inception.

The Role of Agentic AI as a Bridge Between Mediums

We must also look at the unseen layer of this evolution: the role of Agentic AI as a bridge between mediums. This is not about machines replacing the human heart of a story. It is about using generative tools to automate the connective tissue that holds a massive world together. Imagine a scenario where a writer updates a character’s motivation in a screenplay and an AI agent instantly synchronizes that change across the Lore Bible, the marketing assets, and the NPC dialogue in a tie-in game. These tools act as the ultimate script supervisors, ensuring that a character’s backstory in a graphic novel never contradicts a line of dialogue in a streaming series. This automation allows creators to maintain immense scale without sacrificing the narrative soul that connects with the audience.

The Move Toward Narrative Equity

Beyond the technology lies the deepest insight for the modern producer: the move toward narrative equity.

When fans are invited to participate in the world-building process, they develop an emotional and sometimes financial investment in the outcome. This creates a Participation Economy where the IP becomes a platform for the audience’s own creativity. An IP that allows for user-generated content, modding, and social roleplay is far more resilient than a one-off film because it lives within the community rather than just on a server.

The gatekeepers of the industry have stopped looking for simple stories and started hunting for robust engines. They want to see Intellectual Property that can survive a market crash because it possesses multiple, independent revenue streams. Digital goods, live interactive events, and traditional media must all feed into one central heart. The future belongs to those who stop writing "The End" and start building "The Beginning."

The Architect’s Toolkit:

The shift toward narrative liquidity requires a different kind of creative stamina. To succeed, writers must look beyond the page and consider the invisible forces that bind a community to a world.

• Design for "Narrative Gaps" Traditional writing seeks to close every loop, but transmedia thrives on the "fertile void." When drafting your world, purposely leave high-interest questions unanswered. These gaps are not plot holes; they are invitations for the audience to lean in, speculate, and eventually create their own content to fill the space. You are not just writing a story; you are building a playground.

• Establish the "Physicality" of the Lore We often focus on character arcs while ignoring the "physics" of the world. If your story moves into a game or a VR experience, the rules of reality matter more than the dialogue. Before you write the pilot, define the constraints of your world. What are the costs of travel? How does the economy function? If the rules change between the book and the game, you break the immersion. Consistency is the highest form of respect for your audience.

• The Power of Emotional Portability A character should be able to move from a high-budget film to a pixelated mobile game without losing their essence. To achieve this, identify the "emotional signature" of your protagonist. Is it a specific moral struggle, a unique way of speaking, or a recurring fear? If you can distill a character down to a portable emotional core, they will remain recognizable and beloved regardless of the resolution of the screen they inhabit.

• Relinquish the "Auteur" Ego In the world of Stage 3 Transmedia, the story is no longer a monologue; it is a conversation. You must be comfortable with the idea that a game developer or a fan might discover something about your world that you didn't see yourself. True world-building is an act of radical generosity. If you hold the IP too tightly, it cannot breathe, and if it cannot breathe, it cannot grow into an ecosystem.

• Write the "In-Between" Moments The most valuable assets in 2026 are often the moments that happen between the "big" scenes. Write the grocery lists, the discarded letters, and the background radio broadcasts of your world. These fragments are the connective tissue that AI tools can use to populate a game or a social media campaign. By providing these small details, you give your Collaborative Squad the DNA they need to build a consistent reality.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

The Oscars told the same story. This year's ceremony was notably light on traditional prestige drama. Instead, the films being rewarded were commercially driven, globally appealing, and in several cases genre-forward. The industry is recalibrating around what audiences actually show up for.

So if commercial films are going indie, is arthouse cinema quietly going out the window? Somewhat. Just ask the folks in Row K.

Some of the most commercially viable films being made right now are coming out of the independent space, and the genres leading that charge are horror and romantic comedy. Meanwhile, traditional art house cinema is struggling to find a home. Elevated drama, slow-burn character studies, and festival circuit darlings are increasingly difficult to finance and nearly impossible to distribute theatrically at scale. The buyers who once championed that space have retreated. The audience that sustained it has fragmented. If Oscar-winning producers who used to make indie darlings are now pursuing action movies, rom-coms, or horrors, who will fill the indie drama void?

Hopefully, you. Commercial genre filmmaking can have genuine artistic ambition. Horror that has something to say. Rom-coms built around real emotional specificity rather than formula. The same model that defined arthouse cinema, now applied to genres that can actually sell. And that's why I'm hopeful that a new wave of indie producers can make bold, commercial work outside the studio system with a meaningful message.

This Week in the Writers' Room

The Executive Hour with Kraig Wenman and Donn Kennedy- Wednesday, April 1st at 4pm PT!

We're bringing you The Executive Hour with two industry insiders who have cracked the code on selling scripts at the highest levels. With 66 feature script sales, 31 produced films, and 5 films with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, Canadian writer-producer Kraig Wenman is known for his prolific pace and witty dialogue. Credits include SECRET OBSESSION which premiered as a Top 10 most-watched Netflix Original ever & BANDIT which hit #1 on Amazon/Paramount/Apple. Donn Kennedy, who is an executive producer on BANDIT and on LAST STRAW, is also a Nicholl Fellowship Finalist.

Together, they will discuss the craft and the biz behind a compelling spec.

If you would like to join the Writers’ Room, access weekly events, submit to dozens of open writing assignments, and attend exclusive pitch tanks with industry executives- click HERE for a free trial!

This Week’s Exciting Announcements!

This week, we're spotlighting Stage 32 Executive, Whitney Davis, who is currently working with 3 separate writers that she met on Stage 32!

Whitney Davis is the co-executive producer of MIKE for Hulu and TRUE LIES for CBS. A passionate creative executive and producer with twenty years of experience in entertainment, she began her career as an Associate Field Producer at CBS NEWS before transitioning to scripted television. Most recently, she served as Vice President at Anthony Hemingway Productions, developing projects with the Emmy-winning director. Davis has sold projects to Disney, FX, Hulu, and Onyx Collective. She is currently developing a scripted series with Anthony Hemingway and Bassett Vance Productions, an animated series, multiple features, and a narrative podcast. Through her work with Interim Entertainment, she champions bold storytellers creating impactful content across drama, comedy, horror, erotic thrillers, sci-fi, and fantasy.

Click here to connect with Whitney about your Pilot or Feature!

The Stage 32 + Pathfinder Film & TV Comedy Screenwriting Contest Top 10 Finalists Have Been Announced!

Our Finalists will receive:

Our Finalists will receive a Career Momentum prize package valued at $1,500, including Career Development, a Writer Branding Workshop and an Education package, and will have your logline featured in a Stage 32 Look Book sent to over 2,500+ top entertainment industry executives, giving your work unparalleled exposure!

But that’s not all! Everyone who makes the Semi-Finals will receive a Career Breakthrough prize package valued at $1,000, our Quarterfinalists will receive a Career Elevation prize package valued at $500, and all Entrants will get a prize package valued at $100!

The Grand Prize Winning screenwriter will receive:

• Pathfinder Media placement for representation, script development and packaging with Director Todd Biermann
• Career Accelerator Prize Package ($4,000 value) including script development, career consulting, writer branding, and comprehensive education resources
• Personal Mentorship Track with dedicated 1:1 career development sessions from our success team
• Industry Marketing Campaign promoting winner to our exclusive roster of 2,500+ managers, agents, producers, and executives
• Strategic Partnership where Stage 32 and Pathfrinder Media executives collaborate to prepare your project to take directly to market

This Week In The Stage 32 Community!

Some of the most powerful insights about your writing don’t come from structure books or feedback notes. They come from paying attention to what you keep returning to.

Right now in the Screenwriting Lounge, Stage 32 member, author, and screenwriter Leonardo Ramirez has sparked a conversation that goes straight to the heart of storytelling: What themes do you keep returning to?

It’s a deceptively simple question, but one that reveals a lot about who you are as a writer.

Leonardo shares that no matter the genre or story, certain themes keep finding their way into his work, not by design, but because they’re tied to something deeper. For him, that thread is hope, even in darker worlds.

And that’s where this conversation becomes so valuable. Because when you start to recognize the themes that show up again and again in your writing, you begin to understand your voice on a deeper level. Not just what you write, but why you write it.

• Are those themes intentional?
• Are they something you’re working through?
• Or are they the core of what you have to say as a storyteller?

These are the kinds of questions that help you move from simply writing scripts to building a body of work that feels cohesive, authentic, and undeniably yours. And the responses coming in from the community are exactly that, thoughtful, personal, and incredibly insightful.

Jump in, share the themes that keep showing up in your work, and see what you discover about yourself in the process.

Click here to join the conversation!

Need help navigating the industry? Contact success@stage32.com

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

Quietly in the background, decades of independent production has given me something of incredible value; project case studies and laser-focused insight. This cumulative past experience now reveals just how much consideration my films have had locked into them from the get-go.

(Left to right) Sean O'Grady, Kim Michelle, and Kathleen Murtagh in a production still from Al Carretta's 2024 feature 'It Starts In This Room'.

In Autumn 2024, I released my 23rd (Thirst) and 24th (It Starts In This Room) independent feature films. They had premiere screenings in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that August and are now distributed on various streaming channels, including Tubi and Amazon. The true value of this situation as a topic for discussion lies in the irony; so far these films are incredibly unsuccessful products, however, success is a strange definition.

If strategised and market-positioned Hollywood films make most of their money in the first two years of commercial availability, then truly independent films that make anything back financially are a total anomaly. Why? Some of the products in this ecosystem can make their money back with a glint from the spotlight because profile and exposure on a carefully considered concept blows it up overnight. Consistently delivered content helps snowball films as interest isn't allowed to collapse in the previous production. The internet-driven world makes or breaks things in hours but when it randomises what might be popular, you need a foothold in the game.

(Left to right) Sean O'Grady and Robin Kirwan in a production still from Al Carretta's 2024 feature 'It Starts In This Room'.

KNOW WHAT SELLS, PREDICT WHAT MIGHT, RISK ON PROFILE

Thirst was made for a total spend of £400, and It Starts for £1550. Royalty returns so far are nominal, but I will detail why this is the case as the point of this blog is to give insight into the marketing foibles of indie film.

I work on zero-spend marketing budgets. I think creatively and decisively to link projects to wider current trends that help the project gain momentum and online visibility. It Starts is a simple story about an aspiring music producer in a near windowless 1990s America. Essentially, the film is inspired by Tupac Shakur's 1994 shooting in a New York recording studio and makes a broader comment on corruption within the music industry. There are some smart, sassy characters, and it's got a tight plot but to see the full potential of the script it needs to be remade in New York with a bigger budget. The key is, limitations aside, the film isn't a pipe dream - it still got made.

Thirst is adapted from American playwright Eugene O'Neill's debut one-act play from 1914. The work is long out of copyright, however, there are over 50+ 'thirst' related films on IMDb, and that poses potential difficulties with exposure. The zeitgeist dictates that 'Thirst' is a work of little relevance in comparison to O'Neill's classics such as 'Long Day's Journey Into Night', except, Journey itself is a soon-to-be-released 2025 feature with Jessica Lange and Ed Harris. This gives us a valid connection, and unlike another cabin-in-the-woods horror from a debutant company, as a director (and actor) I'm showing some range.

Al Carretta as 'The Gentleman' in his 2024 feature film adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's 'Thirst'.

REALITIES OF NO BUDGET PRODUCTION

Thirst could do with some broader physical scope in terms of location. An additional few set-ups around water and a few additional locations could have added so much but the budget reality couldn't factor this. My restriction was what can I produce when my credit cards are maxed out and I've got no income? A reality of independent filmmaking; you simply run out of all resources.

If you've ever helped underserving people with their respective projects or life problems, write it on the wall - these are the first people who will not pay back what they owe and the last people you want in future productions. Petulant ingratitude within the arts isn't talked about much, and in the years after I saw brief financial success with The Devil Made Me Do It I saw my hospitality abused. Little things add up when you're in dire financial straits but to quote Sonny in 'A Bronx Tale', "Look at it this way: it's cost you $20 to get rid of (them), right?..."

Ultimately, I should have re-titled Thirst for potentially wider appeal but a completed feature that only cost £400 should have a unique stance. In 2025, it simply doesn't. After 24 features I can safely say that in the UK, 'no budget' work gets sneered upon. It shouldn't be that way. Closed shop UK film institutions such as BAFTA have a lot to answer for as they fail to deliver any kind of industry pathway for artists who work outside of the film bubble.

Charlotte Reidie (in the mirror) and Al Carretta in a production still from feature 'Thirst'.

PROVING SCRIPT POTENTIAL

I rarely deliver a film that doesn't have current relevance or a linked title consideration in place. My feature films The Devil Made Me Do It (2012), Cocaine.Gangster.Talk. (2019) and The Judge Of Harbor County (2021) have all made their total spend budgets back. Combinations of exposure over a number of years helped achieve this but there are many factors at play that made them successful. Genre and overall actor standard are arguably the two most relevant considerations but I also proved two of the scripts in EdFringe first and knew in 2009 that Devil (in it's stage form as 'The Tears Of A Clown') and Judge were simply the best stories I'd ever come up with.

Proving scripts by making them is an all risk environment so collaborative efforts are essential to realising visions. Finding actors who look past short-term gain for long-term credibility is the goal. Today's marketplace has never been so saturated with content. Cutting through the noise is becoming an art in itself and this means next month's hit is impossible to predict.

Kathleen Murtagh and Kim Michelle in a production still from 'It Starts In This Room'.

QUALITY DERIVES FROM A PLACE OF BALANCE

If you are funded, have money or even have a significant other to believe in your vision with you, consider yourself exceptionally lucky. Quality derives from a place of balance, and this applies across the creative process. If you can assess rationally you can make the best decisions for the production. If you can't, it doesn't mean you won't make appropriate decisions, but the extra creative edge that comes from being in flow and control won't be present. You can make brilliant art under extreme pressure but repeating that process will be near impossible.

One of the core reasons why a media text will fail is immediately obvious to the lay viewer but rarely apparent to defensive creators. I assess my output constructively for what it is. Know your product's strengths, accept its weaknesses but don't try and sell what isn't present.

You can only work within the resources you have, and this is where profile begins to come into play. The more presence you have the greater your chances are that the film - even amidst its respective limitations - will be recognised. I don't attempt festival runs with my films because I can't afford to. These products have to go directly to a marketplace, and in 2025, choices to monetise are nearly as bad as they were in 2010. Distributors don't care for your film - they just assess the ingredients to see if it has the slightest hope of selling.

Nora Woolsey as 'Presence' in Al Carretta's 2023 indie feature 'Twenty Two Presence'.

EYES LIKE CAMERAS

Many years ago a promising young director, then passionate about theatre and film, enthused about the process of viewing everyday life as if it were set-ups for shots on a film. His quote was 'have eyes like cameras'. Said director never pursued a career in the arts but his insistence on pre-visualisation stuck with me. Designed observation has become ever more present in filmmaking but it doesn't always add value in low-budget work.

I've made a number of films that have failed to find an audience, but perhaps shockingly, I've been aware of this potential failing from the start and still pursued the project. As stated previously, the place of balance you need to deliver great product doesn't always exist. So many people and things do not align or cooperate, but sometimes you just have to work with what you've got, or you'll deliver nothing because nothing still costs money.

Carole Boletti and Sean O'Grady in a production still from 'It Starts In This Room.'

THE FUTURE OF CINEMA HAS AN AUDIENCE PROBLEM

Post-COVID, the indie film landscape has changed enormously. New streaming services come and go on a monthly basis, everything is a subscription, and the Amazon Prime interface is a wall of sensory overload. Vast libraries of content slip into the ether of obscurity, and AI is creeping into all aspects of modern life and filmmaking with no genuine benefit.

Through Nightpiece Film Festival, I screen films in EdFringe for a week every August to try and get them an audience they wouldn't otherwise have, yet Snow White has already run 21 times to an empty screen in my local multiplex this week. To me, that indicates there's a big problem with the gatekeepers' programming cinema but as Technicolor goes bust and gets acquired by a Language translation and AI tech business (Transperfect), the march of the future is already pounding.

I didn't attempt to make feature films until the late 2000s. I deliberately held back because I knew that equipment needed to reach a point of quality and value. I also recognised I needed platforms on which to get my content seen; I can after all stage a play in a theatre and open to an audience with no issues. For me the point of technical equality in film production came in around 2010, and that means for the past 15 years the production aspect of the technical playing field has been level. Should I choose to I can still use what I worked with then to deliver content. On a beautifully shot 2k production, you would barely notice any difference.

Now, the part of the playing field that is barely accessible is going to create a problem for future cinema. I'm not a social media content creator chasing subscribers; I'm a traditional filmmaker with limited points of sale and randomised interest in my work. How specifically I stay on pulse, en vogue, and in competitive standard defines my position in the market. The distribution and exhibition models of the past century are collapsing industries. This will strangle the long-term future of original, independent film that needs a focused audience. Commercial cinema venues do not embrace outsider content but they need to. I love cinema, filmmaking, and the arts passionately but stifling variety in exhibition spaces makes them uncompetitive arenas.

Up against new forms of visual media that can now pop up anywhere, this is where the traditional moviegoing experience dies.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

If you’ve ever dreamed of taking your film to the Croisette, shaking hands with global buyers, or simply navigating the incredible whirlwind that is the Cannes Film Festival and its Marché du Film, this is for you.

I’m thrilled to announce that this upcoming Wednesday, April 1st, we’re hosting a completely FREE webinar with the Executive Director of the Marché du Film, Guillaume Esmiol, to help you prepare for Cannes—whether this is your first time attending or you’re returning with a brand-new project in hand.

Stage 32 is proud to be the official education partner of the Marché du Film for the twelfth year, and together, we are bringing you direct access to the insights, strategies, and real-world guidance you need to turn Cannes into a meaningful step forward in your career.

Click here to register for free now!

Why This Webinar Matters

Cannes is not just a festival. It is a global marketplace.

Each year, more than 12,000 industry professionals gather to present and discover nearly 4,000 films and projects across 33 screening venues. With the continued expansion of the Riviera and Lérins exhibition halls, alongside the iconic Palais des Festivals and the Village International, the Marché has become an even more dynamic hub for global filmmaking.

That opportunity is incredible. But without a plan, it can also be overwhelming.

This webinar is designed to give you clarity before you even step onto the Croisette.

Because success at Cannes is not about showing up. It is about showing up prepared.

Learn Directly from the Source

We are bringing in Guillaume Esmiol, Executive Director of the Marché du Film, to guide you through exactly how the market works and how to position yourself within it.

This is not secondhand advice. This is insight from the person helping shape the future of the Marché itself.

Guillaume will walk you through how to navigate the festival, what to expect this year, and how to approach Cannes in a way that actually creates opportunity, not just noise.

You will leave this session ready to take action.

What You Will Learn

During this webinar, you will gain a clear understanding of:

• The real benefits of attending the Marché du Film
• How to navigate the market, including badges, layout, and key locations
• How the market actually works behind the scenes
• The difference between operating inside and outside the Palais
• How screenings function and how to approach them strategically
• What to expect for programming this year
• This year’s Country of Honor, Japan
• What is new and evolving at Cannes

And of course, you will have the opportunity to ask your questions directly during a live Q&A.

Who Should Attend

This webinar is designed for you if you are:

• A screenwriter at any level looking to understand how Cannes fits into your career
• A producer preparing to bring projects to market
• An actor looking to expand your network and industry knowledge
• A creative executive or multi-hyphenate wanting to better understand the global marketplace

Whether you are attending Cannes this year or planning for the future, this is essential knowledge.

Meet Your Instructor: Guillaume Esmiol

Guillaume Esmiol is the Executive Director of the Marché du Film at the Festival de Cannes, where he oversees one of the most influential film markets in the world.

Before stepping into this role, he served as Deputy Director of the Marché, helping expand its global reach and innovation. He is also the Co-Executive Director of Ventana Sur, Latin America’s leading audiovisual market, and Director of Cinando, the premier online network for film industry professionals.

With a background that spans TF1 Group, startup innovation, content acquisition, and global partnerships, Guillaume brings a rare, full-spectrum perspective on how projects move from idea to market.

This is your opportunity to learn directly from someone operating at the highest level of the international film industry.

Register Now and Invite Your Network

This webinar is completely FREE and open to the Stage 32 community.

If you are planning to attend Cannes, thinking about attending, or simply want to better understand how the global film market works, this is one of the most valuable sessions you can attend this year.

And do not keep it to yourself.

Invite your collaborators, your creative partners, and your friends who are building projects alongside you. The more prepared your network is, the more opportunities you can create together.

If you cannot attend live, make sure you register anyway. You will receive the full recording to watch or listen to at your convenience.

Click here to register for free now!

Let’s Get You Ready for Cannes

Cannes can change your career, but only if you know how to navigate it.

This webinar will give you the tools, the clarity, and the confidence to walk into the Marché ready to make meaningful connections and real progress.

This is one of the most valuable resources we’ll offer this year. Don’t miss it.

If you have any questions ahead of the webinar, drop them in the comments or reach out to us at Edu@Stage32.com. We are here to help you every step of the way.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

I hope your weekend has been a creative one so far. Whether you have been writing, filming, editing, or sketching out the next spark of an idea, I have something today that will give you a boost. So grab your coffee, and let’s dive in.

This week’s featured video comes from Thomas Flight- Why Some Movies Feel More Alive

What I like about this piece is that it takes something most viewers barely notice and shows how important it really is to the experience of a film: the people in the background. Extras are often treated like set dressing. They fill the frame, create realism, and help the world feel occupied. But as Thomas Flight points out, the best filmmakers know that background players can do much more than just populate a space. They can reinforce subtext, heighten realism, deepen worldbuilding, create rhythm, and even become part of the visual storytelling language itself.

Sometimes a movie feels artificial not because of a bad lead performance or weak dialogue, but because the world around the characters feels just a little too empty. Streets are too clean. Cafes are too sparse. Offices feel half-populated. It is not always obvious in one scene, but over the course of a film, you feel the absence. A living world matters. Whether you are writing a feature, directing a short, producing an indie, or building a television pilot, what exists around your main characters shapes how believable and immersive that world feels. Great filmmakers understand that the frame is never just about the lead. It is about the ecosystem around them.

I recently had the opportunity to act in a film alongside Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin. It had been years since I had done even a small role on film, and this time, it was a leading role. I remember thinking, “I’m going to kill this guy’s movie.”

The first day, I missed my mark, got in my head, and started spiraling the way most of us do when we are dropped into something that matters to us. But then, little by little, it came back. The rhythm returned. The work settled in. And I kept telling myself, “You’ve done this. You know this.”

That experience reminded me of two things.

First, I am always, always in a mode of self-learning. I want to keep learning all the time. I want to stay curious all the time. I never want to get to a place where I think I have got it all figured out. Whether I am writing, producing, building Stage 32, or stepping onto a set as an actor, I want to keep growing.

Second, everybody takes confidence hits. Everybody deals with impostor syndrome. Everybody questions whether they are enough. The way through that is not by pretending those feelings do not exist. The way through it is by recognizing your progress and making peace with the fact that growth usually happens in smaller steps than we want. You have to celebrate the micro goals on the way to the macro goal. And just as importantly, you surround yourself with a like-minded community.

Because when you are learning, stretching, failing, growing, and trying new things, having people around you who understand the journey makes all the difference. It keeps you grounded. It keeps you moving. It reminds you that progress is still progress, even when it does not feel flashy.

That is true whether you are a lead actor on set, a writer on draft six, or an extra pushing a wheelbarrow through mud for 12 hours to become a one-second blur in the corner of the frame.

What is one small opportunity, lesson, or experience that helped you grow recently, even if it did not seem big at the time? Drop it in the comments below and let’s keep the conversation going.

As always, here at Stage 32, we love sharing stories and knowledge with our fellow film fans. Know someone who would love this content? Share it with them. You can keep up with all of our videos by subscribing to the Stage 32 YouTube Channel. For more inspirational, educational, and motivational content on all things entertainment industry, follow me on Instagram and X @rbwalksintoabar.

Wishing you a very happy, healthy, and creative Sunday.

Cheers,

RB

Thomas Flight | Why Some Movies Feel More Alive

RBWalksIntoABar | Making The Best of Your Opportunities To Learn & Grow

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

There’s a popular expression, “It takes a village.” And people are also quick to whip out phrases like, “It takes teamwork to make the dream work.” But the fact of the matter is, there honestly was really only one person who was responsible for women’s fast-pitch softball ending up as an Olympic sport. While the International Olympic Committee voted in June of 1991 to add the sport to the programme of the Games starting with the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Don Porter had worked and traveled and fought to get the game added to the world’s stage for years and years. In fact, he would end up telling people that it took 29 years, 6 months, and 13 days to finally get the vote he so tirelessly pursued.

Fun fact: Every year, June 13th is celebrated as World Softball Day. I was the one who actually had suggested to Porter in 2005 that the occasion be created, to commemorate the day that the IOC voted women’s softball onto the Olympic programme.

Me and Don Porter at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing

That sort of tenacity is what gets you results. In fact, in one of the rooms at the softball world headquarters, there was a sketch hanging up of a fish inside a pelican’s beak – trying to strangle the bird! Clearly, he didn’t want to become its prey. The accompanying text read, “Never give up.” (There was also another wall hanging that asked, “What have you done to promote softball today?”)

Imagine the possibilities.

Making the Pitch: Not a Softball, but Potential Exposure

Late last year, we sent a pitch on behalf of one of our author clients to a horse industry magazine. Our client’s newest book is filled with poetry she’d written as inspired by the 29 years she owned her horse. It seemed logical for this publication to want to feature her and mention this collection that was now available.

Success seemed in the bag when the editor accepted our pitch. We swung into action, coordinating the interview and gathering up photos supplied by our client. A headshot, certainly, and the book cover, of course, but the magazine had very specific instructions for what they wanted in terms of pictures. The shots needed to show our client, with her horse, and the latter’s ears had to be up.

Yikes. This was starting to be a little tougher. After all, our client admitted to us that when the pictures she sent us were taken she never thought that one day she’d be a published author or have someone wanting to use the images in a magazine.

Nonetheless, off they went, and the publication seemingly was all set. Phew.

A Curveball

Two months after the above, having already received a Word document so we could proof the story that would run and having been told that next would come a PDF with the final layout and design before it went to press, I received an email from the editor, saying that the photos weren’t up to the quality that they publish. I was given a link to see for myself via the online version of their magazine. In other words, it was being reinforced that this is a very high-end magazine.

Watch yourselves here, folks. This is where, left unchecked, your emotions can get the best of you. Your knee-jerk reaction might be to fire back a response that you’ll regret later.

Instead, I used an expression I’ve come to warmly embrace, and I’m happy to share it with you as well to take for a test drive. It’s three simple words that I learned from a sales trainer that he uses when a potential customer comes out with their objection. “Help me understand,” I wrote back to the editor, explaining in the sweetest, kindest, most gentle, and professional way – almost asking for some teaching – and pointing out what had already been sent to us and over what period of time.

It worked.

She wrote back and admitted that she should’ve looked at the pictures when they were first sent, but instead simply made a mental note to herself, ‘Okay, good, there are lots of photos for us.’ But she still couldn’t proceed if we couldn’t produce what they needed. Gulp.

Time to Pivot?

Don’t default to all-or-nothing mode. I wanted to salvage something after all that we’d put into this. First, I suggested that perhaps an online-only story could be published. Then I went as far as to ask if we could even just get a social media post from them across their different channels.

The client wasn’t happy. This had taken too much time. She felt as though there was going to be an expense (hiring a photographer). The horse isn’t even alive anymore. And oh, by the way, she was in Europe and not home in the States, where she is engrained in the local horse community. Any new shots seemed impossible.

As a last-ditch effort, she dug up some photos and emailed them to me. These showed her daughter with the horse. There were also only two of herself on the horse.

Success! The editor gave the pictures the thumbs up, and now we are on for the print edition in May or June.

Never give up.

A client of mine in a TV show interview

A TV Interview?!

Another client of mine wasn’t in Europe, but she might as well have been.

I had her booked for a speaking engagement and thought I would try to get a network TV affiliate to have her on a morning show as a guest, to not only talk about the books she has written but plug the event where she’d be presenting.

When one of the shows responded, saying they were passing my pitch along to the producer of a different show, I was simply happy that it was being kept alive and given consideration.

Lo and behold, the offer came back for my client to come in to record an interview (to be aired two days later). This would require a 12:30 pm arrival at the station. And that’s where things got challenging.

My client responded, telling me that she had an appointment scheduled with a specialist that very day at 1:00 (a good ways away). She went out of her way to not only say that it had been booked some time ago, but that she did, in fact, really need to see this doctor because of some symptoms she had been experiencing lately.

Her initial response back to me was, “Oh well, I guess it wasn’t meant to be.” But I couldn’t just let it go.

As I tried to talk to both sides to find a best-of-both-worlds resolution, my client made me aware that she was actually texting me from a cruise ship and that the cell service was poor, at best, out there. I suggested she call the doctor’s office to see if she could just tell them she had an opportunity to be interviewed on TV and thus would need to be a little late for her appointment.

This was a Thursday, and she said she wouldn’t have success trying to make a call from out at sea but would happily do so on Monday morning when she’d be back on land and the doctor’s office would be open. I emailed the TV station to let them know what was happening and could they possibly hang in there until then.

When I didn’t get a response, I adopted the, “Well, that’s not a No” attitude.

The client called the doctor Monday morning and texted me with an, “Okay, I can do the TV interview.”

I booked it, and everybody was happy.

My Four Ps Approach

This was the latest testimony to the four Ps approach that I’ve always said that I take with Now Hear This, my PR agency. That is, patient, polite, professional, but persistent.

Note that throughout both of these cases, we did not make any demands – on the magazine or the TV show. It’s because I know that there is a long, long line of people wrapped around the TV station who would happily say Yes to being there at 12:30 pm on that particular Wednesday to be a guest on the show. Remember that when your ego tries to convince you that you have some bargaining power and/or something that the other party needs.

We’re all carrying a lot on our shoulders these days. Multi-tasking, despite not being recommended due to the inefficiencies associated with it, has become commonplace. When something looks like it might be falling apart, don’t give in to the urge to say, “That’s fine. I’ve got plenty on my plate these days as it is.”

Don’t give up. You just might end up with that highly coveted booking.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

Screenwriter Rhett Reese, co-writer of Deadpool & Wolverine and Zombieland, watched the clip and wrote, "I hate to say it. It's likely over for us." The L.A. Times covered the backlash and legal escalation. The BBC reported on Disney's threats and ByteDance's response. Much of the coverage treated the clip as a major flashpoint in Hollywood's AI panic.

I've been in this industry for over twenty years. I've watched it survive the death of VHS, the rise of streaming, SD become HD, VFX go more digital than ever before, film cameras move to digital and more. All of the coverage on this missed the actual story.

The Question Nobody Thought to Ask

Realistic looking AI-generated fight scenes have been circulating for the past year or two. Some might say more, some might say less with regards to the realistic part. Tools like Sora 2, Kling, and earlier Seedance builds have all been producing clips of varying quality, some genuinely impressive. But ByteDance itself released the first version of Seedance just two months before 2.0, and the public as well as the news barely registered. Why? Deadline's own coverage of this latest incident catalogued several other Seedance creations in the same breath: Avengers: Endgame remixes, Optimus Prime battling Godzilla, a Friends scene where Rachel and Joey are played by otters. The technology behind all of these clips was functionally identical to the Cruise-Pitt video.

None of them broke the internet. None of them made a seasoned screenwriter publicly eulogize his own profession. So why did this one?

Because it had Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in it.

That's it. That's the variable. Not the resolution, not the frame rate, not the choreography. The only thing that separated this clip from dozens of equally sophisticated AI demos was that it featured two men audiences have watched for over three decades. Two men we've seen win Oscars, survive tabloid infernos, age on magazine covers, do their own stunts, sit across from Oprah, get divorced in public, and keep showing up. Audiences didn't share that clip because the AI was impressive. They shared it because they instinctually reacted, "Oh my God, Brad and Tom fighting! We no longer need human actors." But what the news and social media seems to not realize is that the reason we reacted so dramatically was because these are humans we have a history with. And that's something AI can't replicate.

Yes, people have been falling in love with AI companions. Hopefully, that's a blip in our evolution. But I'd argue we will have limits when it comes to caring about AI stars. Since we will never meet them in person, never get their autographs, never put them on our "top five, it's okay if my partner sleeps with them" list, it won't be something audiences will pay the same amount of money for or even care about.

That emotional investment? You can't generate it with a two-sentence text prompt. It took two lifetime careers, Brad Pitt's and Tom Cruise's, real human lives lived in public view. People we felt connected to because of both their on screen and off screen lives, for us to care about this one AI-generated video. Take away our history with them... and you don't have a news story.

The Panic vs. The Point: Other Arguments Worth Looking at With More Nuance

The industry reaction to this clip has been loud, fast, and mostly aimed at the wrong targets. Here are the most common arguments making the rounds, and why they need more nuance.

"AI content is now indistinguishable from studio production." Visually? On a clip-by-clip basis, it's getting close. But producing a single impressive 15-second clip is not the same as running a production pipeline. The artistic controls needed to direct character performance, manage shot-to-shot continuity, and maintain a coherent creative vision across a feature film simply aren't there yet. I've sat in editing bays where we spent hours adjusting the eyeline of a single actor across three consecutive shots. That's the level of control filmmakers need, and AI companies are pouring resources into visual realism while the workflow tools that would actually provide it are lagging far behind. A pretty clip is not a movie. And until the pipeline exists to make it one, this remains a tech demo, not a paradigm shift.

"It's likely over for screenwriters and creators." It's not. If it were, it would have been over a year ago when Sora 2 and Kling were producing equally polished output. Nobody eulogized the profession then. More importantly, audiences have so far proven to be resistant to the idea of AI-generated movies and TV shows. People are happy with fun AI clips on social media, but that seems to be their limit. There's a wide gap between sharing something novel and paying fifteen dollars to sit in a theater for it.

"Anyone can now produce Hollywood-level content from their laptop." A 15-second clip with no story arc, no character development, and no shot-to-shot continuity is not Hollywood-level content. It's a tech demo wearing a very expensive costume. And that distinction matters more than most headlines are admitting.

What the Headlines Keep Leaving Out

The pace of AI video generation is staggering. No argument there. A couple of years ago, we were laughing at nightmarish clips of Will Smith eating spaghetti: faces melting, fingers multiplying, pasta behaving like it was possessed. Today, the output is photorealistic and consistently exceeding every prediction about its timeline. But that speed of visual improvement has created a blind spot in the coverage: an assumption that everything else about AI filmmaking is moving just as fast. It isn't.

Let's talk about the dirty secret of AI content creation: the time. Creators love posting their output with captions like "This took me five minutes." In my experience, it's closer to five hours. Sometimes fifty. The AI Coca-Cola Christmas commercial that generated so much backlash? That production churned through roughly 70,000 AI-generated video clips. And that's not one prompt per clip. You're realistically looking at three or four prompts minimum to get a single usable output. They edited that mountain down to a finished spot. Having spent over two decades in post-production, I can tell you: it would have been faster and cheaper to just hire VFX artists. That wasn't a breakthrough. It was a stunt.

The Likeness Is the Asset. Protect It Accordingly.

The legal response to the Cruise-Pitt clip has been swift. SAG-AFTRA condemned the unauthorized use of members' voices and likenesses. The MPA accused ByteDance of infringing on copyrighted works "on a massive scale." Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing Seedance of using a "pirated library" of their characters. Paramount, Warner Bros., Netflix, and Sony followed. ByteDance eventually suspended Seedance 2.0's global launch amid the pressure. These are legitimate, necessary actions, and I support every one of them. Protecting the likenesses of real human beings, performers who built careers and identities over lifetimes, is exactly the fight our unions should be waging.

But it's going to be a marathon, not a sprint. And I think the strategic focus needs to widen.

Much of the union energy right now targets the AI tools and the companies building them. That's important but incomplete. A massive reason this content proliferates is that social media platforms still have weak and inconsistent enforcement around AI-generated likeness content. These clips get posted, go viral, rack up millions of views, and the platforms pocket the engagement without consequence. If unions want to make a real dent, they need to double down on pressuring social media companies and lawmakers so that accounts and services get banned that create and distribute unauthorized AI-generated likenesses. Given the misinformation crisis we're already drowning in, there's a strong argument that platforms should be cracking down on this content across the board.

Of course, that gets complicated when some of these same platforms are busy building their own AI video tools. It's a contradictory mess. Navigating it will require sharper focus than just shaking a fist at the latest demo reel.

And that sharper focus starts with how we talk about this stuff.

"AI" Is Not One Thing And Not All Evil

The thing that frustrates me most about this entire conversation isn't the technology. It's the language. The coverage of this clip, and AI broadly, suffers from a maddening lack of nuance. Every headline screams "AI" as though it's a single monolithic boogeyman, when in reality, artificial intelligence is an enormously broad field already contributing positively to cancer research, historical preservation, geological analysis, and dozens of other domains.

Saying "AI" when you mean "AI-generated video using celebrity likenesses without consent" is like saying "the transportation industry" when you're talking about one car brand. The transportation industry includes trains, ships, planes, bicycles, and spacecraft. Collapsing all of that into one scary word makes for snappier headlines but dumber conversations. And the stakes are too high for dumb conversations.

If our unions, lawyers, and advocates are going to come out on top, and I believe they can, they need to understand the specific, granular threats rather than getting hooked on whatever demo clip goes viral this week. The real power will always be in the nuance.

What That Rooftop Fight Actually Proved

After all the technological leaps, the billions poured into generative AI, the panicked op-eds and emergency guild meetings, the thing that makes content resonate is still, stubbornly and beautifully, human.

Nobody shared that clip because of Seedance 2.0. They shared it because of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Because of decades of real interviews, real performances, real scandals, real comebacks. Take away those two names and replace them with AI-generated nobodies, and nobody writes a headline. Nobody quotes it on a panel. Nobody's career flashes before their eyes.

When AI-generated movies inevitably arrive, and they will, they'll feature AI-generated "stars." Characters with no history, no off-screen life, no messy humanity for audiences to invest in. And those movies will be less popular for it. Not because the visuals won't be stunning. They will be. But because the connection audiences feel will be, dare I say, artificial.

So here's what I'd tell every filmmaker, animator, writer, and VFX artist reading this: the rooftop clip didn't prove that AI is coming for your job. It proved that your humanity is the job. The lived experience you bring to a project, the creative instincts that no prompt can replicate, the fact that audiences know a real person poured something real into the work. That's not a vulnerability in the age of AI. That's your competitive advantage. Protect it. Sharpen it. And stop letting a 15-second tech demo convince you it doesn't matter.

The machines can render the fight. They can't make you care who wins.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

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Most writers face the same impossible catch-22: You need industry validation to get meetings, but you need meetings to get industry validation.

Our contests at Stage 32 exist to break that cycle. And we do things fundamentally different from the hundreds of other screenwriting competitions out there.

Stage 32 contests exist to put amazing writers in front of managers and producers looking for the exact type of material you're writing. We've set meetings for 40 different writers this year from our contests (it's only March), and we hope to get that number to 200 different writers by year's end.

Most Screenwriting Contests

Let's be honest about what most contests offer:

Laurels for your poster. A line on your digital résumé. Maybe a certificate, or a copy of a book or screenwriting software you already have. Congratulations, you placed in the Top 10% of 3,000 entries! 

That's nice. It validates that you can write. But it doesn't get your script read and in the hands of people who can actually develop it. Laurels don't connect you with representation. Percentages don't create pathways to production.

The brutal truth: Most contests provide minimal career value beyond the dopamine hit of placement. There's no tangible next steps.

Which is why we at Stage 32 put our Winners and even a lot of Finalists out in front of executives non-stop. We work to constantly bring the high placing writers on our platform the types of game-changing opportunities that can make your career or give you your big break.

Stage 32 Contests Make A Difference

At Stage 32, we're about one thing: being a platform to connect YOU with the people who can rep you, or develop, package, and produce your projects.

Over the past year alone, Stage 32 has partnered with:

• Zero Gravity Management (Deadline) — connecting winners directly with the management company behind major studio deals
• Mammoth Pictures (Variety) — placing writers with producers of critically acclaimed horror content
• Todd Biermann/Pathfinder Media (Deadline) — offering reprsentation + a direct pipeline to an in-demand comedy director
• Color Farm Media (Deadline) — direct access to producers actively packaging projects with talent and financing
• DramaBox (Hollywood Reporter)— $5,000 writer option, with more IP adaptation opportunities available
• Evoke Entertainment (Deadline) — connecting winners with representation who produce dozens of Rom Coms per year

Notice the pattern? Our partnerships get announced in Deadline, Variety, or The Hollywood Reporter because these are legitimate industry players with active development slates, financing relationships, and distribution deals.

We're building a curated talent pipeline to the studios, and they love us for it.

Industry Meetings That Matter

When executives request meetings with contest winners and finalists, we don't just send an email and hope for the best. We personally facilitate those connections. I know because I follow up non-stop to get you the meetings you earned. Whether it's weeks or even months down the line, we will get you in front of the execs who can change your career trajectory. 

Our winners have been signed by IAG, Zero Gravity Management, 42 MP, The Gersh Agency, Verve, and other top agencies. That's just in the last year. Our winners have secured financing for features, like New Blood winner Kevin Bachar whose script THE INHABITANT (2022) was produced by Lionsgate and released on Hulu. They've been hired for writing assignments, like New Blood winner Christina Pamies who signed with Manager Jake Wagner of Alibi Entertainment, who got her the assignment to write BAGHEAD (2023) for Studiocanal. One of our screenwriter/directors sold a spec to Warner Brothers in a bidding war, based directly on his Short Film Contest winning film!

So far this year, we've set meetings for over 40 different writers from our contests that include Contest Winners, Contest Finalists, and even Contest Writers who simply purchased the mentorship add-on and whose logline stood out to mentors. 

Here's the breakdown:

-- Zero Gravity Management Action Thriller Contest: Our contest winner Nico Burasco (KATANA CROCODILE) met with the ZG team, and they requested additional scripts from Nico and are having Nico review a few concepts in their orbit to potentially bring him on as a writer on assignment.

Additionally, Nico met with VPs at Millennium Media (THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD, ANGEL HAS FALLEN, RAMBO LAST BLOOD, HELLBOY) following his win, which was set up by our contests team after we pitched Nico to Millennium.

But not only the winners make waves in Stage 32 contests. The Zero Gravity team additionally met with 4 other Finalists in the contest for general meetings, including writers Mathew D. Wright (ONE EYE OPEN), Ben Klopfenstein (SOUTHBOUND), Sarah Ward (CHROME PLATED), and Sean Wathen, who is currently developing his finalist placing script ROGUE with ZG.

Another finalist, Gabriella Walls earned a general meeting too, with one of the contest judges Literary Manager Andrew Kersey who read her script HEY, GIRLIE! and enjoyed it. Andrew requested more scripts from Gabriella and they are now wading into the water for talks about representation.

That's SIX writers who earned meetings off of placing highly in one competition.

-- Mammoth Pictures: Our contest winner Selma Karayalcin (WITCH MOTHER) is currently slated to meet with the Mammoth Pictures team coming up soon, but they are currently in Bulgaria scouting locations for their next movie, which is due for production any day now.

This is the Stage 32 difference. Actively working producers actively look for projects they can develop to then make them. Don't take my word for it - let the stats do the talking. While balancing pre-production on their upcoming movie, the Mammoth team evaluated the Top 10 finalist scripts and also requested additional material from SIXTEEN more semifinalist writers to further their evaluation process.

Meanwhile, two more finalists took mentorship meetings with contest mentors Ethan Erwin (ORPHAN: FIRST KILL) and Michael Schulman (AMAZON) respectively, who loved their work.

-- Pathfinder Media: Mark Wheeler and his team at Pathfinder spotlighted about 20 writers who caught their eye upon initial review. We have yet to announce the Finalists for the contest, but Mark has personally met with EIGHT writers already whose writing stood out to him.

-- Color Farm Media: Erika Alexander's Color Farm team recently chose their winner in Michael S. Camp - writer of THE PERFECT KISSER. Michael will soon get together with the CFM team soon to meet with them, in addition to meeting with one of the contest mentors Producer Whitney Davis of Interim Entertainment, who read his work and loved it.

Additionally, writer Tiffany Alzatti who made the finals with her script IN THE CARDS met with mentors TV producer Nicole Tossou and Literary Manager Daniela Gonzalez, who both really enjoyed her script!

-- And coming up next, we have our partnerships with Mark Creative Management/831 Entertainment (another opportunity at meeting with TWO literary managers via our contests) and Evoke Entertainment who are hungry to sign new Rom Com writers and add to their annual slate.

What Else Winners & Finalists Receive

1. Exposure to 3,000+ Vetted Executives

Every contest winner and finalists script is showcased to our exclusive roster of managers, agents, producers, and development executives actively seeking new material.

This isn't a public portal where your script disappears into a void. These are decision-makers with the power to option your work, sign you as a client, or hire you for assignments, and they're specifically looking at our highest placing contest writers because we've already vetted the quality. They know we're bringing them aces, so when they open the deck, they know it's stacked in their favor.

2. Professional Validation That Opens Doors

Placing in a Stage 32 contest, especially winning or becoming a finalist, gives you leverage in every subsequent pitch, query, and meeting.

When you say "I won the Stage 32 Action/Thriller Contest in partnership with Zero Gravity," executives understand:

• Your script was evaluated by industry professionals
• You beat out thousands of other submissions
• A legitimate company saw enough potential to partner with us on discovering you

That credibility shortens the path to getting your next script read.

3. Reads from Working Professionals (Not Interns)

Unlike contests where your script gets read by unpaid readers or film students hoping to break in themselves, Stage 32 contest evaluations come from working industry professionals. The same executives who read for production companies, agencies, and studios judge and evaluate our contests. Then the finalist scripts get read again by more working industry professionals. We do our absolute best to get your material the highest level evaluations possible, so cream rises to the top. 

One frequent contest reader of ours works at Paramount, right now, as a Development Exec. Many have produced credits, optioned their own scripts, have staffed on shows, and have been in the rooms where decisions on what gets made and what doesn't happen. Our readers are active and have a bead on the present market in the industry because they're working in it! And they are very finely tuned and aware of what to be looking for, per market demands.

You Don't Have to Win to Benefit

All placements receive:

• Recognition that validates your writing is competitive at a professional level
• Prize Packages with educational resources, such as Career Development Calls, Coverages, Webinars, and Classes which can help you level up your game
• Networking opportunities within Stage 32's community of writers, executives, and industry professionals, including our Quarterly Contest Finalist meetups
• Credibility when querying agents, managers, and production companies

One writer told us: "I didn't win, but placing as a quarterfinalist gave me the confidence to keep pitching. Three months later, I used that placement in a query that led to my first manager meeting."

Contests Force You to Finish and Polish

Deadlines work. Knowing your script will be evaluated by industry professionals forces you to:

• Actually finish the dang thing instead of endlessly revising Act Two
• Get objective feedback before submission
• Format professionally
• Tighten your logline

The discipline of preparing contest-ready material makes you a better writer, regardless of placement.

Multiple Entry Points Throughout the Year

Stage 32 runs genre-specific contests year-round:

• Short Film Contest (in partnership with Hollyshorts Film Festival)
• Short Script Contest (in partnership with Palm Springs Women in Film & Television)
• Sci-Fi, Horror, Comedy, Drama, RomCom, Period, Family, and Action Contests
• Contests for TV and for Film
• And more launching throughout the year

This means you're not waiting for one annual deadline. You can strategically enter contests that align with your strongest material when you're ready.

The ROI Question: Is It Worth the Entry Fee?

Let's do the math on what you're actually paying for.

What you receive:

• Potential exposure to 3,000+ executives
• Possible meetings with managers, agents, or producers
• Industry credibility if you place
• Networking within Stage 32's global community

What you're NOT paying for:

• A guarantee of winning (no legitimate contest can promise that)
• Automatic representation or sale
• Validation that your script is perfect as-is

The question isn't "Will I win?"

The question is: "Is there a reasonable chance this investment advances my career more than spending the entry fee another way?"

Compare to alternatives:

• Generic query letters: Free, but 99% ignored
• Pitch fests without vetting: Inconsistent quality
• Hiring an independent consultant: $200-500 for feedback alone
• Film school: $50,000-150,000 with no industry connections guaranteed

Strategically entering a few contests per year where your material genuinely fits is one of the highest-ROI investments a screenwriter can make.

How to Be Strategic

1. Only Enter When Your Script Is Truly Ready

Don't throw money at contests hoping external validation will fix a script you know has problems. Get professional coverage first. Workshop it. Make sure it's genuinely your best work.

Red flags your script isn't ready:

• You're still "figuring out" the ending
• Multiple readers have identified the same structural issue
• You haven't gotten objective feedback from anyone outside your inner circle
• The formatting is inconsistent or unprofessional

2. Match Your Material to the Right Contest

Don't enter your gritty crime thriller into the Romantic Comedy Contest hoping it'll stand out for being different. It usually won't. It'll just seem like you didn't read the submission guidelines.

Enter genres where your script genuinely belongs. If your script blends genres (horror-comedy, sci-fi-romance), choose the contest where the primary genre fits best. Many execs love a horror movie that's funny, or a romance story set in a sci-fi world. Think about what the main elements of your story are and lead with those.

3. Read Past Winners' Loglines

Check out previous winners loglines and study them. Notice what kinds of concepts placed or won. Ask yourself honestly: Does my script feel like it belongs in this company?

If past winners are all high-concept genre pieces and you've written a quiet character study, that contest might not be your best strategic fit. 

4. Don't Spam Every Contest

Entering 15 contests in one year with the same script is expensive hope.

Better approach: Enter 2-3 carefully selected contests per year where:

• Your genre genuinely fits
• The partnership/prize aligns with your career goals
• The judging panel includes executives who work in your space

5. Use Placement  as Leverage

If you place at any level, immediately update:

• Your Stage 32 profile
• Your query letters
• Your pitch session introductions
• Your email signature

Don't be shy about mentioning: "My zombie movie ZOMBIES IN BOCA RATON was a quarterfinalist in the Stage 32 Horror Contest." That's not bragging, so much as providing relevant context about your work's professional validation.

What Happens After You Win

Within weeks of announcement:

• Your script gets showcased to our executive roster
• Social media posts generate industry awareness
• Stage 32 promotes winners across our 1.3M member platform
• Executives begin requesting meetings

The Next 3-6 Months: Where your work begins.

Winning creates opportunity. It doesn't guarantee results. You still need to:

• Take meetings professionally when executives reach out (If you want to know what general meetings are like, CLICK HERE for this webinar on them).
• Have additional material ready when they ask "What else are you working on?"
• Follow up consistently (see my post on following up in the Writers Room lounge: 80% of deals happen after 5-12 contacts)
• Keep writing so you're not a one-script wonder

Long Term Impact:

Contest wins compound over time. They:

• Build your résumé for future queries and pitches
• Create relationships with executives who may not develop your winning script but remember you for future projects
• Give you credibility when submitting your scripts to opportunities
• Demonstrate to potential reps that you're serious and validated

What many writers get wrong at this stage... is letting our relationship fall by the wayside. It's a relationship after all. So keep us updated, let us know what new you've written, where you're getting your work out there, and the inroads you've made since your win.

Contest results work best, when we work AS A TEAM. We're here to support you as long as you'll have us.

We can send a Winning writer's work out endlessly, but if you don't generate new material or we get enough no's along the way, it gives us less to work with in terms of getting you the kind of exposure you need to advance your career. Keep writing, keep feeding us ammo, and we can keep pushing for you!

After you win, our relationship becomes like that of a manager and client, we're eager to get you signed, get your work optioned, and get you in front of the people who can give you your big break! Like these writers:

Real Success Stories

Maxwell Gay & Tucker Flodman - Signed with Literary Agent Joe Fronk of IAG (set up by Stage 32) who got them hired as Staff Writers on the 51st season of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!

Travis J. Opgenorth - Script optioned by Broken Time Entertainment and signed with Persistent Entertainment after Stage 32 introduced him to nearly a dozen industry pros.

Tanya Klein & Jim Cirile - Script set up for production with $1.5M budget, Lucas Heyne attached to direct & Scoot McNairy set to star!

Christina Pamies - Signed by "Billion Dollar" Literary Manager Jake Wagner, then hired by StudioCanal to adapt BAGHEAD (now streaming on Shudder/AMC+).

Kevin Bachar - Winning script became THE INHABITANT (2022), produced by Lionsgate and released on Hulu.

Jeffrey Wright - Staffed in the Writer's Room of THE GOLDBERGS

Career-Changing Representation:

• Robin Wang - Signed with literary agent Jimmy Cheng at The Gersh Agency
• Katie McClung - Signed with literary manager Chloe Morris of 42 MP
• Josh Miller - Signed with literary manager Tamer Ashan of Zero Gravity Management
• Henry Sawyer-Foner - Signed with literary manager Nicholas Bogner as a Finalist in our 2025 Romantic Comedy contest!
• Jimmy Miller - Signed with literary manager Marc Manus
• Richard Doyle (Australia) - Signed with literary manager Will Rosenfield
• Glenn Forbes - Secured representation with Infinity Management International
• Alyssa & Griffin Devine - Signed with HG5 Entertainment, writing 2 scripts with 1 going into production
• Frank Ponce - Signed with 3 Arts Entertainment, script picked up by Atlas Entertainment, sold Evel Knievel series to USA Network
• Diana Wright - Signed to The Cartel and Abrams Artists Agency
• Jonathan Jordan - Signed by major agency Verve, script currently in production
• Greg Mania - Signed with Cohn/Torgan Management, published NPR Best Book of 2020

The Stage 32 Difference: Winners and many finalists receive meetings with managers, agents, and producers - not just a trophy. Real careers launched, real movies made, real representation secured. The pattern: Contests create access. What you do with that access determines outcomes.

The Common Objections (And Honest Answers)

"Contests are just cash grabs."

Some are. At Stage 32, they aren't.

We do work year-round to connect our contest Winners and Finalists with hungry executives. If you win, doesn't matter how long ago it was, I will continue working with you and looking out for opportunities for you.

Just ask Sci-Fi writer Josh Miller, one of the first contest Winners I worked with here at Stage 32. I set him up on meetings and sent his scripts out to executives looking for talented new writers for 2.5 years before he landed a manager at Zero Gravity Management last year.

Or ask TV comedy writers Tucker Flodman & Maxwell Gay, the very first contest Winners I worked with in my role. I helped get them an agent via a meeting I set up and even then continued to put their work out for the relevant opportunities available up until last September, when it was announced they were hired as Staff Writers for the latest season of Saturday Night Live.

Or ask Travis J. Opgenorth, who after his option agreement expired on his New Blood winning spec script, asked me to start putting it out again, which I did gladly. I exist to find opportunities to high level writers who've proved they've got the goods on the page.

Point being, my incentive is creating genuine success for all the writers I can. Every writer who gets signed, optioned, or hired through Stage 32 just strengthens my ability to get more and more success stories for writers. It's the snowball effect at work. One signing means I can confidently and nonchalantly say to the next rep I talk to, "I just got this writer signed at XYZ Company, you're going to want to see the writers we've got at Stage 32."

"I can't afford to enter multiple contests."

Then don't.

Enter strategically. One well-chosen contest where your material genuinely fits is better than five random entries hoping something sticks.

Allocate X amount of your annual budget to a few contest entries that really stand out to you and fit your goals.

"My script is great. Why do I need external validation?"

Because the industry doesn't take your word for it.

Executives receive hundreds of queries weekly. Contest placements signal: "This script was evaluated by professionals and rose above hundreds of other submissions."

It's not about whether your script is "great." It's about creating credibility that gets your material read in the first place. This industry runs on referrals, and a Stage 32 referral are among the best in the business. We don't just copy+paste whatever's around. We vet scripts thoroughly through multiple rounds of reads, so we can know the scripts we recommend to execs are going to be worth their while.

"What if I don't place?"

Then you got a valuable data point on where your material stands, potentially some feedback on what to improve, and you keep writing.

Not placing doesn't mean your script is bad. It can mean lot of things like:

• There were a high volume of submissions and only so many place in the contest. We regularly see scripts scoring with an average in the 80s out of 100 not make our Quarterfinals. Those aren't bad scripts. In fact, they're in really, really, really great shape. There were just other even more amazing scripts! There are many produced writers, repped writers, and high-high-high level writers who enter our contests. It's not random that they place. The competition is fierce and the bar to meet is often truly steep. 
  
  
• The concept didn't resonate with readers. Every script entered into a Stage 32 contest is read 3-4 times on average. Our readers are all working industry professionals, who work in development offices, agencies, management firms, production companies, studios, etc. They know the market. They're aware of the trends - what's hot right now vs. oversaturated. Our readers have serious 
  
  
• The execution had issues that were identified or the script just needs refinement. We see a lot of first drafts pass through our contest. They might even have a buzzy logline that makes the concept look nice on paper. But again, you're often competing with writers who have heavily refined, polished drafts. Your first or second draft is rarely going to beat a pro writer's 10th draft that they've workshopped with coverage, consultations, and labs. They say writing is rewriting for a reason. Anyone can put words down on paper. Truly great working writers do that, then kill their darlings and revise their story to death until it's air tight. 
  
  
• You entered a contest where your genre/style wasn't the best fit. Sometimes we see writers enter Horror scripts into our Family Friendly contest. Or futuristic Sci-Fi stories into our Period Piece contest. Which is never a good recipe for success. Always enter contests with scripts that fit the contest genre or what they're looking for.

Treat it as data, not judgment. Adjust and try again. Then move on to the next project.

The Bottom Line

Stage 32 contests exist to solve the access problem that kills most screenwriting careers before they start.

You can write brilliant scripts in isolation and never get them read by anyone who matters. Or you can use contests to:

• Get professional validation
• Access decision-makers directly
• Build credibility for future pitches
• Create relationships that compound over time

You can't buy success. But you can invest in access, validation, and relationships that would otherwise take years to build through traditional networking.

Every writer signed by our executive partners, every script optioned, every career launched through our contests proves the model works when writers enter with genuinely competitive material.

Your Next Steps

1. Evaluate your material honestly. Is it truly contest-ready, or does it need professional feedback first?

2. Browse our active contests. Which ones align with your strongest scripts?

3. Read past winners' loglines. Does your work feel like it belongs in that company?

4. Enter strategically. Quality over quantity. Fit over hope.

5. If you place, leverage it immediately. Update profiles, mention it in pitches, use it in queries.

6. If you don't place, get more feedback. Improve and enter again, or move to your next project.

Check out our Current Stage 32 Contests: HERE (Among those open are Female Driven, RomCom, Short Film, Short Script, and TV Drama, with our TV Comedy contest launching next month!)

Questions about which contest fits your material? Email me: success@stage32.com

Stop waiting to be discovered. Start creating the validation and access that gets you in the room.

Pat A.
Contest Manager & Writer Liasion
Stage 32

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

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Hollywood is going back to books and it's paying off. HAIL MARY, THE HOUSEMAID, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, VLADIMIR, PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION. The adaptations are coming fast and from every corner of the literary world.

It would be easy to just assume studios are playing it safe, that they're leaning on proven IP, built-in fanbases, and the validation of an existing readership to reduce risk in an uncertain market. And there's truth in that. The numbers back it up: original movies made up just 40% of ticket sales last year, while adaptations consistently generate around 55% more revenue than their original counterparts.

But there's another way to read it. Audiences are not just responding to familiarity, they're responding to stories with deep worlds. To characters that feel real. To the kind of emotional specificity that a well-written novel carries in its bones. In a landscape flooded with content, books offer something increasingly rare: a reason to care before the trailer comes out. And gives studios the freedom to can explore other mediums.

So is Hollywood going back to safety? Maybe. Or most likely, audiences want elevated stories with a less predictable structure — and the industry is, for once, listening.

For writers. the opportunity is hiding in plain sight. Write a short story, a memoir, a graphic novel, a blog… The IP doesn't have to be famous. It just has to be the right story at the right moment. Producers are actively looking for material with a built-in foundation, and writers who bring both the creative instincts and the underlying rights to the table are walking in with an enormous advantage. The adaptation boom isn't the death of original stories; it's an invitation to own your story across formats.

This Week in the Writers' Room

The Pitch Tank with Nicole Tossou- Wednesday, March 25th at 4pm PT!

This Wednesday, March 25th at 4pm PT, we welcome Nicole Tossou, Executive Producer of THE NIGHT AGENT Season 3 on Netflix and most recently featured in Deadline for Executive Producing Halle Berry's upcoming FX series MOTHER DOOM, for a live Pitch Tank inside the Writers' Room.

Four writers will pitch their projects directly to Nicole, receive real-time feedback, and one writer will walk away with a script request.

If you would like to join the Writers’ Room, access weekly events, submit to dozens of open writing assignments, and attend exclusive pitch tanks with industry executives- click HERE for a free trial!

This Week’s Exciting Announcements!

This week, we're spotlighting a talented Stage 32 Writer and Performer, Michael Oosterom.

Congratulations to Stage 32 member and PAGE Award Winner Michael Oosterom who was announced as a Nicholl Finalist!

Michael Oosterom is a Los Angeles based actor/improvisor/puppeteer who has performed leading roles in series on Amazon Prime, Netflix and Disney + with Sid and Marty Krofft Productions and The Jim Henson Company. He's the former Production Manager for Jim Henson's Creature Shop and has puppeteered on numerous projects with The Muppets. He's an alumni of The Groundlings Sunday Company and an ensemble member of Brian Henson's live improvisational comedy puppet show Puppet Up: Uncensored! For younger audiences he's written stage adaptations of Hans Christian Andersen and Shakespeare. He wrote and directed the web series AdvoCat and co-hosted the podcast Nerd Like Me. His stage career has included roles with The San Francisco Mime Troupe, The California Shakespeare Festival, The Wilma Theater & The American Conservatory Theater. Gold Prize winner, 2025 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards.

See Michael's Stage 32 Profile here!

The Stage 32 + Mark Creative Management Film & TV Drama Screenwriting Contest Quarterfinalists Have Been Announced!

We're thrilled to reveal the quarterfinalists in this year's Stage 32 + Mark Creative Management Film & TV Drama Screenwriting Contest — and the scripts are now available for producers, managers, and executives to review. With 80 writers advancing from a highly competitive field, the talent on display is exceptional. If you're looking for your next drama feature or TV pilot, this is exactly where you want to be looking.

The Grand Prize Winning screenwriter will receive:

• Development placement for script development and packaging with Mark Creative Management
• Career Accelerator Prize Package ($4,000 value) including script development, career consulting, writer branding, and comprehensive education resources
• Personal Mentorship Track with dedicated 1:1 career development sessions from our success team
• Industry Marketing Campaign promoting winner to our exclusive roster of 2,500+ managers, agents, producers, and executives
• Strategic Partnership where Stage 32 and Mark Creative Management executives collaborate to prepare your project to take directly to market

Our Finalists will receive:

Our Finalists will receive a Career Momentum prize package valued at $1,500, including Career Development, a Writer Branding Workshop and an Education package, and will have your logline featured in a Stage 32 Look Book sent to over 2,500+ top entertainment industry executives, giving your work unparalleled exposure!

But that’s not all! Everyone who makes the Semi-Finals will receive a Career Breakthrough prize package valued at $1,000, our Quarterfinalists will receive a Career Elevation prize package valued at $500, and all Entrants will get a prize package valued at $100!

Today's Ask Me Anything Event with Producer Nikita S. Adams in the Producing Lounge!

If you want a clear understanding of how projects actually get made in today’s IP-driven market, this is a conversation you should not miss.

Today in the Producing Lounge, veteran executive and producer Nikita S. Adams is hosting a FREE 24-hour Ask Me Anything focused on one of the most important areas of the business right now: how to develop source material and IP into a series or film.

With over 25 years of experience across film, television, and representation, Nikita has worked at the highest levels of the industry. Her career includes development and production on projects like HBO’s LIFE SUPPORT starring Queen Latifah, selling IP-based projects to Amazon, MAX, and Paramount, and leading television development at Folding Chair Productions with an overall deal at Warner Bros Television.

She has also held key roles at BET, New Line Cinema, 20th Century Fox Television, Hallmark, Jamie Foxx’s Foxx/King Entertainment, and Forest Whitaker’s Junto Films, before transitioning into representation at Paradigm and A3, where she championed writers, talent, and production companies across the industry.

In other words, she has seen this business from every angle.

Throughout the AMA, Nikita will be answering your questions about the creative and business side of adaptation, how to position yourself in an IP-driven marketplace, what buyers are actually looking for, and how to approach developing material that can sell in today’s environment.

If you’re an author, screenwriter, producer, filmmaker, or creative looking to understand how to navigate the current landscape, where books, true stories, and existing IP dominate development conversations, this is a rare opportunity to learn directly from someone who has been doing this at a high level for decades.

Nikita will be answering questions all day for 24 hours, so take advantage of it!

Click here to join in and ask your questions now!

Need help navigating the industry? Contact success@stage32.com

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

This collaboration represents a powerful step forward, not only for Mexico’s creative community, but also for the global audiovisual industry looking toward Mexico as a premier destination for film and television production.

Mexico: A World-Class Destination for Filming

Mexico has long been recognized as one of the world’s most vibrant and creative filmmaking nations. From our iconic landscapes and historic cities to our world-class crews and production infrastructure, Mexico has served as the backdrop for countless international and national film and television productions for decades.

Mexico offers an extraordinary combination of advantages that make it one of the most competitive production hubs in the world:

• A vast diversity of locations — deserts, jungles, beaches, colonial cities, modern metropolises, and everything in between.
• Highly skilled crews and technical professionals, recognized globally for their expertise.
• Strong production and post-production infrastructure across multiple states.
• Brand new incentive programs, including rebates of up to 40% of local production spend in regions such as Jalisco and Morelos.
• A rich cultural and creative legacy that continues to shape global cinema.

Some of the most recent prolific international film and TV productions shot in Mexico include: Saw X (2023), Tenth installment of the iconic horror franchise, filmed on location in Mexico City; Los Gringo Hunters (2025), international Netflix TV series set and filmed in Tijuana; Mexico 86 (2024), international drama, with principal photography in Mexico; No me sigas (2025), Spanish-language horror film produced by Blumhouse and shot in Mexico City; Crocodiles (2025), a crime thriller co-produced, filmed in Veracruz, Technoboys (2024), a Netflix feature produced and filmed in Mexico (as part of the streamer’s local production slate); Las Locuras (2024), drama by Rodrigo García for Netflix; The Biggest Fan (2024), comedy starring Kate del Castillo, produced by Netflix; Los Dos Hemisferios de Lucca (2024), Netflix production from Mariana Chenillós; and Down The Rabbit Hole (2024), Comedy-drama from Manolo Caro.

Strengthening the Industry Through Stage 32’s Education and Certification

At CANACINE, we believe that talent development and training are vital pillars for the growth of our national film industry. That is why this partnership with Stage 32 is so meaningful for us.

Stage 32 is the world’s largest online platform for film and television professionals, offering more than 4,000 hours of educational content, workshops, labs, and training led by top experts from the global entertainment industry.

Through this alliance, Mexican professionals – from emerging content creators to experienced film and television producers – will now have access to Stage 32’s globally recognized certification. All programs will be delivered fully online, supported by CANACINE’s national network of delegations across the country.

By connecting Mexican talent with global industry standards and credentials, we are:

• Raising the professional competitiveness of our workforce, locally and internationally.
• Opening doors for Mexican filmmakers to work on international productions.
• Creating bridges between regional talent across our 31 states and Mexico City, and worldwide opportunities.
• Supporting sustainable growth throughout the entire national production ecosystem.

Promoting Mexico to the World through Stage 32’s social platform

Mexico is one of the fastest-growing markets for Stage 32. This alliance also strengthens Mexico’s visibility as a top-tier filming destination for productions from the United States and around the globe.

Stage 32’s social community is an ideal platform for us to bolster CANACINE’s mission in and outside Mexico:

• Represent and promote Mexico’s cinematographic and audiovisual industry at a national and international level.
• Support the growth and professionalization of film talent, ensuring Mexican creators are competitive globally.
• Strengthen the industry ecosystem by bringing together production, distribution, exhibition, animation, post-production, and related sectors.
• Encourage collaboration and investment to expand opportunities for filmmakers and companies across the country.
• Position Mexico as a world-class filming destination, highlighting its locations, skilled workforce, and production incentives.
• Connect regional delegations nationwide to ensure industry development reaches all parts of Mexico.

Media Coverage of the Partnership between Canacine & Stage 32

I am proud to share some of the coverage of the partnership between CANACINE and Stage 32, internationally, and in national and local media in Mexico.

"The National Chamber of the Cinematographic Industry, CANACINE, an organization that represents and promotes the film and audiovisual sector of Mexico, and Stage 32, the world's largest online platform for film and television professionals, announce a strategic alliance to offer new training and certification opportunities to Mexican creative talent.

Thanks to this collaboration, filmmakers across the country—from emerging talents to established professionals—will have access to Stage 32's internationally recognized certification programs, taught by experts from Hollywood and the global film industry. Available certifications include Production Assistance, Location Management, Production Accounting, and other key areas of audiovisual production. All programs will be delivered entirely online and implemented with the support of CANACINE's national network of branches."

Click here to read the full article!

"The agreement also includes the international promotion of Mexico as a filming destination for US and global productions. The country offers a skilled workforce and diverse locations. Furthermore, states like Jalisco and Morelos offer incentives that include reimbursements of up to 40% of local production expenses. This increases Mexico's competitiveness in the global market.

“Training and talent development are fundamental pillars for the growth of the Mexican film industry and represent one of Canacine’s priorities,” said Tabata Vilar, general director of Canacine.

“Partnering with Stage 32 allows us to ensure that the country’s professionals, both established and emerging, have internationally competitive tools and credentials,” he added.

“Mexico has stood out for decades as a creative and production powerhouse in Latin America,” commented David Zannoni, International Liaison for Stage 32 and delegate of Canacine in Quintana Roo."

Click here to read the full article!

What Happens After You Get Certified?

Once you complete a Stage 32 Certification, you will:

• Be included in a global database searchable by industry professionals, film commissions, and studios.
• Receive a certification badge on your Stage 32 profile, which is visible to over 1.3 million members worldwide.
• Gain credentials to display on your social media, resume, and LinkedIn profile.
• Be recognized as a qualified industry professional, making it easier for you to get hired and advance your career.

Get Certified. Get To Work. Start By Clicking Here!

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

The Canadian sports romance series, created, written, and directed by Jacob Tierney for Crave and streaming on HBO Max in the U.S., has taken the world by storm. Based on Rachel Reid's beloved Game Changers novel series, it follows two rival professional hockey players whose on-ice animosity conceals a passionate secret romance. It stars Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, François Arnaud, Christina Chang, and Dylan Walsh. It's been praised by critics, devoured by audiences, and has done something remarkable: it literally increased NHL ticket sales.

And on March 24th at 3pm PT, Jacob Tierney is sitting down exclusively with Stage 32 Writers' Room members for a live Q&A.

What you’ll learn from this Q&A

HEATED RIVALRY is not just a great show. It's a masterclass in every challenge working writers face right now.

First, it's a book-to-screen adaptation: one of the most in-demand skills in the industry as studios and streamers race to option IP. It's an LGBTQ+ sports story at a moment when diverse, underrepresented narratives in genre storytelling are actively being sought. It's a Canadian independent production that secured U.S. distribution with a major streamer, proving that the independent model ( packaging projects outside the traditional studio system), is not just viable, it's thriving. I’d go as far as saying it’s the future.

And it's a show that everyone said wouldn't sell.

Jacob Tierney took a story that lived in the hearts of romance novel readers, figured out how to translate it for television without losing what made it special, navigated the business side of international co-production, and got it onto one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world. The path from page to screen was not straightforward... and that's exactly what makes this conversation so valuable.

What We'll Cover

In this exclusive Writers' Room Q&A, Jacob will go deep on the questions that actually matter to working writers:

How do you adapt a beloved novel for TV without alienating the source material's fanbase — and what do you change when you have to? How do you pitch a story that doesn't fit the traditional mold and get a buyer to say yes? What does the business of international co-production actually look like, and how do you secure U.S. distribution from Canada? How do you write authentic LGBTQ+ and sports stories without falling into stereotypes? What mistakes did he make, and what would he do differently?

And the best part? You'll have the chance to ask Jacob your questions directly. This is a live, interactive session. Bring everything you've been wanting to ask a creator and showrunner who has actually done it.

The Market Right Now

Sports romance is exploding. The appetite for emotionally grounded, character-driven stories in genre spaces is real and growing. Book-to-screen adaptations are one of the most active areas of development at every major studio and streamer. And independent productions are increasingly arriving at the table already packaged, already partially financed, already built, giving creators the kind of leverage and creative control that the traditional development process rarely allows.

HEATED RIVALRY didn't just succeed in spite of the system. It found a way around it. If you're a writer trying to figure out how to do the same, this is the conversation you need to be in.

How to Register

This Q&A is exclusively for Stage 32 Writers' Room members and takes place on March 24th at 3pm PT.

Log into your Writers' Room portal to register and secure your spot.

Not a Writers' Room member yet? Your first month is free — and this conversation alone is worth it. Click here to sign up now!

And if you missed Friday's FREE Webcast Event- Heated Rivalry: Breaking Down The Script, you can click here to catch the entire thing on-demand!

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

Let’s kick things off with a huge shoutout to everyone who has already jumped into this month’s Introduce Yourself Weekend. Thousands of creatives from around the world are connecting, sharing their stories, and building relationships that can lead to collaborations, opportunities, and lifelong friendships.

If you haven’t made your introduction yet, you still have time. Head over to the Introduce Yourself Lounge before the weekend wraps. Be bold. Introduce yourself. Your next great opportunity could be just one connection away. Now, let’s grab that coffee and dive in…

This week’s featured video comes from In Depth Cine- How The Safdies Shoot A Film At 3 Budget Levels. The video explores how the Safdie Brothers approached filmmaking across three different budget levels, from a stripped-down indie production to a larger, studio-backed film. But what stands out most is not what changed as the budgets increased, but what didn’t. At the lowest budget level, Heaven Knows What was built out of pure resourcefulness. Real locations, non-professional actors, minimal crew, and a highly reactive approach. The camera often feels like it is chasing reality rather than staging it. Limitations did not hold them back; they defined the aesthetic.

With Good Time, the budget increased, but the mindset stayed the same. Even with more resources, the Safdies continued to shoot with urgency and intention, often approaching scenes as if they were “stealing the shot.” They leaned further into genre, expanded their technical capabilities, but never sacrificed the intensity that defines their work. Then comes Uncut Gems, their largest-scale film. More locations, bigger set pieces, more recognizable talent. But instead of smoothing out their style, they doubled down on it. The camera stays close, the pacing is relentless, and the sound design is overwhelming. The budget did not dilute their voice; it amplified it.

And that is the key takeaway. Your voice is not something that appears once you “level up.” It is something you build, protect, and refine at every stage. The Safdies did not wait for permission. They did not wait for bigger budgets to define who they were as filmmakers. They committed to a point of view early and then carried that through every phase of their career.

Everyone’s journey in this industry is completely different. There is no universal path. There is no formula you can copy and paste. You have to define what success actually means to you. People say to me, “RB, I want to be as successful as you.” But you shouldn’t be comparing yourself to anyone else. Yes, I have sold feature scripts. Yes, I have had projects set up with major companies. But not everything gets made or goes exactly how you envision, and that is part of the process.

What those moments do is open doors, create opportunities, and move you forward. They are stepping stones, and that is how you should be measuring success. Not by someone else’s career or timeline, but by your own forward movement.

I’m sure you have a big goal in mind for what you picture as success. Perhaps it’s seeing your script on screen, landing a role, directing your first feature, or building a sustainable creative career. But you do not get there in one leap.

You get there step by step.

• A finished script.
• A strong rewrite.
• A great piece of feedback.
• A new connection.
• A meeting.
• A small win that leads to the next opportunity.

Those are all wins! If you’re not recognizing those moments, you are missing the real progress you are making. So stop comparing yourself to others or measuring yourself against someone else’s highlight reel and focus on your own path. The only path that matters is the one you’re building for yourself.

Tell me in the comments below- What’s one “small win” or stepping stone you’ve had recently that’s moved you closer to your bigger goal?

As always, here at Stage 32, we love sharing stories and knowledge with our fellow film fans. Know someone who would love this content? Share it with them. You can keep up with all of our videos by subscribing to the Stage 32 YouTube Channel. For more inspirational, educational, and motivational content on all things entertainment industry, follow me on Instagram and X @rbwalksintoabar.

Wishing you a very happy, healthy, and creative Sunday.

Cheers,

RB

In Depth Cine | How The Safdies Shoot A Film At 3 Budget Levels

RBWalksIntoABar | What’s The Real Secret to Being Successful in the Industry?

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

Over the years, I have worked with hundreds of screenwriters in all stages of their careers, and I would like to share some of what I have learned from these many encounters.

Screenwriters often get so wrapped-up in their writing that the thought of what to do next can be overwhelming, so often they do nothing, or they submit their material too soon. Of course, your focus should be on the writing, but eventually you’re going to want to secure an agent or manager to help you break into the industry.

If you are letting your work sit on the shelf because 1) you aren’t sure your screenplay is “good enough”, 2) you don’t know what to do next, or 3) you are afraid of taking the next step, let me assure you that it isn’t as daunting as it seems.

Although I am writing this to give you some tips about taking your first face-to-face meeting with a producer or studio executive, I want to take a minute to emphasize how important it is that your screenplay is ready. The rumors you’ve heard about the first ten pages making or breaking you are true – but it’s really the first three pages.

Of course, if a screenplay passes the first few pages of a read, the body of the screenplay needs to be solid too. The hard truth is that no one in the industry is going to “read” you twice. If your first submission isn’t polished, the next one won’t even be opened. I’m sorry – but it’s true. It has to be a lot more than just a good idea.

Before you send it out, have your screenplay read by an executive on Stage 32. You can find me here, or you can choose from a list of other executives here.

Moving on -

I’ve had a running, inside joke for years that the real reason we have a sit-down first meeting with a writer is to make sure they aren't an axe murderer. Sounds crazy, but it’s true - I met with one and found out afterward. I can’t name names, but it happened at Warner Brothers, and I didn’t move forward with the project.

Let's rewind for just a minute and go over how you got here. If you're coming in for a meeting with me, it is because your agent or manager has convinced me it's worth my time to read you. If I am impressed after I've read you, I will call your representative and let them know I want to meet you.

Occasionally, I may meet you because you have won a writing competition, or someone I know and trust, who isn't an agent or manager, has highly recommended you to me. However, that is what we call an unsolicited submission, and that leaves me vulnerable to being accused of stealing your project and you vulnerable to having it stolen. That’s a topic for another blog. Still, I have occasionally taken that risk. In any case, I've read you and I want to meet you.

A general meeting is about you, but it's for me. I need to find out what kind of person you are. The bottom line is that I need to know what you are like "in the room". Are you easy to talk to, are you bright, interesting, and someone I think we can work with? I say "we", because I am vetting you not only for myself, but for my network/cable/streamer executives, directors, and everyone else you could eventually be meeting with. I will not risk my relationships or reputation on a writer I can't trust to be professional.

So, we'll talk. I'll be asking you questions that will give me a better sense of the things you are passionate about, where you're from, what kind of life experiences you've had, what you majored in, etc. I want to know more about you because if you’ve written a screenplay about a fighter pilot and you were in the Air Force – this matters, tell me about it. Are you an attorney who has written a courtroom drama series? I want to know this.

If I have an open writing assignment, for example, about the guys who decoded the genome and you have a background in biochemistry, bingo! If you have been supporting yourself as a 911 operator until your writing career takes flight and your dream is to be staffed on Ryan Murphy's "911" - perfect (you know who you are, lol). But I also want to know if you are incredibly creative and well-researched in all that you do – tell me, it’s important.

These tips apply whether it is your 1st meeting or your 100th meeting:

1. Let go of your fear. If you are being asked to set a meeting, you're a lot further along than you might think.
2. Screenplay comments and notes are not personal, so please don’t be defensive. Let go of your ego. Television and feature film screenwriting is a collaborative process (even if you are Quentin Tarantino). We want to know you are a team player. There are no ulterior motives. It's about creating a compelling project for an audience, not for you personally.
3. Don't be late. Be 15-20 minutes early, wait in your car, then check in at the desk a few minutes before the meeting starts.
4. Don't discuss the terms of your "deal" in the room, especially financially. That's between your representative (your manager, agent, or attorney) and the studio's business affairs folks. If you are asked specifically, then it's up to you, but you will be better served by politely deferring the discussion to your representative.
5. Don't underestimate the ramifications of your behavior. What happens in these meetings doesn't always stay in the room. Remember, it’s Hollywood.
6. Be yourself. Be willing to share information about yourself, and don't be afraid to ask questions. It is a conversation.
7. Be well-groomed and dress comfortably.
8. Be interesting, be attentive, be enthusiastic, but not desperate. There's a fine line between enthusiasm and desperation. I already know you want to work; you don't need to tell me that. Don't come in expecting anything, and you will be fine.
9. Be informed. Don't go in blind. Find out what kind of projects the executive/studio or producer makes before you go. Watch some of them. It might not come up, but if it does, you'll be ready to talk about them. Bring a pen and notebook and write down anything you need to follow up on.
10. Don't tell me you can write anything - you can't.
11. Don't tell me your stories of rejection, deals gone wrong, or how long you've been trying to break-in to the industry. Everyone has war stories - save it for your book. Keep it positive.
12. Everyone matters, so please treat people with respect. Don't underestimate the power in the hands of my assistant. Assistants are the executive's trusted gatekeepers and more than likely will be an executive themselves soon. If something strikes them as odd or rude, you can be sure they will let me know. The same is true if you make a good impression - I'll hear about it. Always be friendly, professional, and polite.
13. Don't overstay your welcome. Less is more the first time around.
14. Don’t ask me when you will hear from me. I will be in touch with your representative.

Continue to take meetings and enjoy the process. You are building relationships and it's a much smaller community than you may think - word travels.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

This month, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the ideas and conversations that surround this month and ask you to reflect too. Because the truth is, reflection without action is just a nice feeling, and the data is screaming at us to consider real, actionable change because we simply don't have the luxury of becoming complacent.

Let's Start With the Numbers.

We talk about progress, and we celebrate visible wins. But the data published in the months surrounding the Summit paints a picture that demands systemic change and not just applause.

29% of the top 100 grossing films in 2025 featured female protagonists, down from 42% in 2024. (Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, SDSU, 2026)

Women directed just 13% of the top 250 grossing films in 2025 (The Celluloid Ceiling, SDSU, 2026). Among the top 100, that number drops further to just 8.1%, or 9 out of 111 directors, and only 5.4% of directors were women of color (USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, 2026)

7% of the top 250 films in 2025 employed 10 or more women in key behind-the-scenes roles. Meanwhile, 75% employed 10 or more men. (The Celluloid Ceiling, SDSU, 2026)

7% of composers working on 2025's top 250 films were women, a slight rise from 5%. Cinematographers, by contrast, dropped sharply from 12% to 7%. (The Celluloid Ceiling, SDSU, 2026)

29% of the 2025 Oscar nominations went to women. Non-binary and transgender filmmakers received 0% and 0.4%, respectively. (Women in Film, 2026)

And here's one more number that should silence every “but we've come so far” conversation;

+6%

That is the total increase in women's overall behind-the-scenes representation across the top 250 films. To clarify, that's from 17% in 1998 to 23% in 2025. Six percentage points. In 27 years. (The Celluloid Ceiling, SDSU)

I want all of you to sit with that for a moment.

This is not a pipeline problem or a talent problem. It is a systemic, structural problem.

“Intention without architecture is just noise.” - WIFTI Summit 2026

What the Summit Gave Us.

Over four extraordinary days, WIFTI brought together creatives, industry leaders, advocates, policymakers and allies from across the globe who were all united by a shared commitment to gender equality and meaningful change across the screen industries.

People spoke candidly about what wasn't working, and they called out the systems that protect the status quo. But we need the status quo to start paying attention.

The Themes That Kept Coming Back

• Gender equality must move from intention to action. Urgently. Not pledges. Not panels. Equitable budgets, inclusive hiring practices, and accountability structures embedded into the industry itself.
• Technology is reshaping everything. The people making decisions about AI, virtual production, and digital platforms are not yet representative of the audiences those tools will serve.
• Visibility alone is not enough. As Dr. Martha Lauzen of SDSU has noted for years, 'visibility for a few has not generated employment for many.' Greta Gerwig. Jane Campion. Chloé Zhao. Their wins are real. But the numbers haven't moved.
• Sustainable careers, not just projects. From development to distribution, creators need ongoing structural support and not just a single shot at the gate.
• Place matters. Local investment and regional infrastructure are not peripheral issues — they are the foundation on which international collaborations are built.

"Gender equality must move from intention to action with greater urgency." - WIFTI Summit 2026

Why It All Comes Back to the Decision Makers.

Here is the most compelling data point in all of this:

71% of writers on films with at least one female director were women. Compare that to 11% on films with male directors only. (The Celluloid Ceiling, SDSU, 2026)

22% of cinematographers on films with a female director were women. Versus just 5% on male-directed films. (The Celluloid Ceiling, SDSU, 2026)

28% of editors on films with a female director were women. Versus just 19% on male-directed films. (The Celluloid Ceiling, SDSU, 2026)

When women lead, women get hired. When women get hired, different stories get told, and when different stories get told, different audiences feel seen, and they show up.

The 2026 UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report makes this commercially explicit: studios are leaving money on the table. Films with diverse casts consistently outperform at the box office, and yet the industry continues to retreat from the very practices that drive that performance.

"The industry cannot afford to turn away from women and people of color during this time when the theatrical industry is still struggling." — Ana-Christina Ramón, UCLA Entertainment and Media Research Initiative

This is not a social justice argument alone - although it absolutely is that too. It is a business argument. And we should be making both, very loudly, in every room we enter.

Women Behind the Camera.

Across the globe, WIFT chapters were gathering to mark International Women's Day with exactly this kind of honest reckoning. In Warsaw, WIFT Poland (led by Chapter President & Stage 32 Brand Ambassador, Karolina Rum) co-hosted a panel with Kino Praha titled "Women Behind the Camera," bringing together production coordinator Anna Komosa, editor Anna Luka, production manager Patrycja Kycia, production designer Ewa Mroczkowska, and moderator/journalist Anna Tatarska.

The panel surfaced a question that deserves to sit at the heart of every industry conversation right now:

"What creative territories are we failing to explore simply because a single generation still dominates the decision-making rooms?"

Karolina Rum frames the answer through the lens of intergenerational collaboration, which is a concept she calls not just beneficial, but strategically necessary:

"Intergenerational collaboration is becoming a strategic necessity for a global film market defined by rapid technological shifts, cultural and economic fragmentation, and audiences hungry for authenticity." - Karolina Rum, President, WIFT Poland

Younger creators are bringing fluency in emerging platforms, digital culture, and audience behaviour. Seasoned professionals bring institutional memory, understanding of industry cycles, and the hard-won calm of decades navigating both crisis and success. When these strengths intersect, the room gets bigger than any single generation's experience.

But Karolina is clear about the obstacle: gatekeeping. The industry has long been structured around hierarchical access. Who gets the meeting, who controls financing, who 'gets to fail.' Intergenerational collaboration demands we reimagine gatekeeping not as a barrier but as a bridge.

WIFT Poland is launching RE:INVENT. A structured mentoring exchange that flows both ways, pairing established professionals with emerging creatives in mutual learning. Watch this space for more details.

Story as Resistance: A Conversation with Sophie Hyde

One of the most resonant voices in Australian cinema right now is director Sophie Hyde, whose semi-autobiographical film Jimpa (starring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow) is in Australian cinemas now, distributed by Kismet Movies.

WIFT Vic Vice President Katie Page spoke with Sophie about what it means to bring a deeply personal, queer, intergenerational story to the screen, and their words cut right to the bone of everything we've been discussing.

On the Power of Personal Stories

Jimpa grew from loss and love: Sophie's late father, a provocative gay man driven by social justice, and her child Aud's growing public identity as a trans person. The impulse to create a space for that conversation became the film.

"We very much explore the idea of stories and the multiple truths that can exist and how we create narratives to create meaning." — Sophie Hyde, Director of Jimpa

Sophie's film is itself a proof of concept. Here is an Australian female director, working with Olivia Colman and John Lithgow, making a queer intergenerational story across three countries. It exists. It is in cinemas. And it matters. Not just artistically, but as evidence of what becomes possible when the right people are given the keys.

On Vulnerability as a Creative Model

What Sophie describes about making Jimpa - building trust quickly with new international collaborators, offering something personal, having it met - is genuinely a model for the kind of industry we're trying to build. Reciprocal. Honest. Human.

Sophie’s Advice for Women and Gender-Diverse Filmmakers

"Finding each other, championing each other and holding each other is crucial. Rejecting the desire to shrink or put all our attention on how we look. Helping more people make stories and watching them. Giving a shit. Trying really hard. Not hardening too much." - Sophie Hyde

It sounds radical in its simplicity, but in an industry that has spent decades asking women and gender-diverse people to make themselves smaller, it is radical, and it is exactly the spirit the WIFTI community was built on.

Click here to read the full interview with Sophie Hyde!

What Systemic Change Actually Looks Like

We know the problem. We have the data. What we need now are structural solutions. Here's what the conversations of this past month are pointing toward:

1. Accountability with teeth.

Diversity pledges without enforcement are wallpaper. The industry needs clear, auditable gender targets embedded into funding conditions. Not as a bonus, but as a baseline. France has required productions receiving CNC funding to complete gender-based violence training, with obligations progressively extended to full crews. In Norway, 40% of publicly backed productions are directed by women, and they have now surpassed their own target. These are working models to look at and implement locally.

2. Put women in the director's chair. Deliberately and at scale.

The data is unambiguous. When a woman directs, women get hired across every department. Hiring one woman in the chair is a systemic lever. Funders, studios, and streaming platforms need to treat it as one.

3. Finance films directed by women equitably.

According to France's CNC Gender Equality report, films directed by women had budgets approximately 39% lower than those directed by men in 2024. Lower budgets mean fewer screens, less marketing, and less visibility, which is a cycle that perpetuates the underrepresentation it appears to reflect.

4. Build intergenerational pipelines and not just entry points.

Getting in the door is not enough. Mid-career support, mentorship exchange, and long-term career infrastructure are what turn individuals into an industry.

5. Measure everything.

Although many film institutes have developed GEDI strategies, it's important that we continue to collect data, whether that work is institutionalised or driven independently. We cannot fix what we do not measure. Every chapter, every studio, every funding body needs to be collecting gendered data and making it public.

6. Champion streaming as a frontier.

Women creators on streaming programs rose to 36% in 2024-25, which is a historic high, and almost double the 20% on broadcast. This is where progress is happening. This is the result of deliberate decisions by platforms that treat inclusion as a strategic priority. We need to learn from this, amplify it, and demand the same from theatrical.

Questions That Should Keep You Up at Night

We'd love to hear from you because these are the questions we're sitting with:

• If women directing increases female hiring across every department, why are we not treating female directors as an industry-wide investment priority?
• Who controls the financing at your company, your studio, your funding body and what does their gender breakdown look like?
• What stories are not being told right now because the person who would tell them cannot get in the room?
• In what ways can cross-generational collaboration in your team unlock stories and solutions that no single generation's experience could reach alone?
• What would it look like to move gender equity from a values statement to a contractual obligation in your next project?

What next?

• Find your WIFT chapter: 60+ chapters on six continents working toward the same goal. Join us at wifti.net/membership
• Look out for WIFT Poland's RE:INVENT mentorship program: A mentorship exchange built on mutual learning, launching soon. More details from WIFT Poland coming.
• Access Stage 32 Education: WIFTI members get exclusive access to Stage 32's global education platform. Courses, webinars, and tools built for the modern screen creator.
• Watch Jimpa: Sophie Hyde's queer, intergenerational film is in Australian cinemas now.
• Start a conversation in the comments below: What did this past month spark for you? Share your moment of triumph, your moment of concern, or your call to action in the Stage 32 Lounges. We're listening.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

As we head into Spring 2026, there’s something I want to ask you:

Are you moving forward with intention… or waiting for the “right moment” to start?

If you’ve been feeling stuck, unsure of your next step, or like you’re creating in a vacuum, I want to personally invite you to this month’s Stage 32 Community Open House.

This will be our final FREE Open House event until this summer, so you don't want to miss it.

Wednesday, March 25th at 12:00 pm PT!

You can register for free by clicking here!

Every Success Story Begins With a First Step

Whether you’re chasing representation, looking for collaborators, or ready to stop creating in isolation, this Open House is your opportunity to show up, be seen, and start making real progress.

And I want to be clear about something:

This is not a presentation.

This is not a passive webinar.

This is a fully interactive session guided by me, with live support from the Stage 32 team.

You’ll be invited to:

• Share your goals
• Ask questions
• Tell us exactly what you’re working toward right now
• Get real-time guidance tailored to you

This is about clarity, connection, and momentum.

What You’ll Walk Away With

During the session, we’ll walk through the most powerful tools on Stage 32 and how to use them strategically for your specific goals.

Build a Profile That Works for You

Your profile is your virtual business card.

We’ll show you how to clearly communicate your creative voice, experience, and goals so the right people can find you and understand what you bring to the table.

Use the Free Lounges to Build Real Relationships

This is where the magic happens.

You’ll learn:

• How to write a compelling post
• How to engage in meaningful conversations
• How to stay active without feeling overwhelmed
• How consistency builds visibility, trust, and opportunity

Stay Informed & Take Action

We’ll also break down how to best use:

• The Stage 32 Blog
• Education & Certification
• Career Development Services
• The Writer’s Room

So you’re not just consuming information… you’re applying it.

Get Direct Guidance From the Stage 32 Team

Pat Alexander from the Stage 32 Success Team will also be live to answer your questions and help you navigate career development services, the Writer’s Room, how to strategically connect with executives, and what steps to take next based on your goals.

This is your chance to get clear, actionable guidance directly from the team that helps creatives move forward every day.

Built Around You

We’ll wrap with a live Q&A tailored to the people in the room. Whether you’re a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, editor, or a multi-hyphenate building your own path. You’ll leave with clarity and practical next steps you can act on immediately.

Can’t Attend Live?

No problem. When you register, you’ll receive the full recording to watch or listen to anytime, wherever you are.

Save your spot by clicking here!

If you’ve been waiting for the right time to ask questions, get involved, and take your next step…

This is it.

And since this is the last Open House until summer, it’s your opportunity to take advantage of this free, live, interactive session while it’s here.

I hope to see you there!

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

Horror is IN. And it's not just me saying it, it's the Academy.

I know every cinephile pundit in town is going to have a take on what mattered and what's going to shape the culture going forward, but for the first time in a long time, the Academy Awards didn't feel like same old, same old. As a lifelong horror and monster movie aficionado, I was rooting hard for SINNERS, WEAPONS, and FRANKENSTEIN…and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Bigger budgets dominated this year too, with expensive streamer-backed projects taking home major categories. So what does it all mean: for us, for the industry, for the moviegoing experience, and for what actually gets made next?

A few things stood out. Most of the films that won told us the world can get ugly and unfair, but love, heart, and heroism will prevail, which feels like exactly the sentiment the moment called for. The ceremony rewarded mainstream success over obscure drama, which was a welcome change of pace. But it also felt, somehow, like the final nail in the coffin for art house cinema.

Right now, what's shiny, bold, and unapologetically mainstream is the flavor of the moment, and somehow, this was a welcome change. More than ever, Movies are combining and mixing genres, and it feels like bold takes are rewarded. So what's next? A horror-rom-com mash-up? A sci-fi-monster-drama? I'm eager to see what filmmakers and writers are going to concoct next when constraints go out the window.

This Week in the Writers' Room

The Exec Hour with Nikita S. Adams- Wednesday, March 18th at 4pm PT!

This Wednesday, March 18th, at 4pm PT, The Executive Hour welcomes Nikita S. Adams, literary talent agent, Head of Production and Development, and one of the most well-rounded executives working in the industry today.

With over 25 years spanning BET, New Line Cinema, 20th Century Fox Television, Hallmark, Jamie Foxx's Foxx/King Entertainment, Forest Whitaker's Junto Films, and the representation desks at Paradigm and A3 Artists Agency, Nikita has done it all.

She'll be joining us live to answer your questions about what agents and executives actually look for in writers, and what it takes to build a lasting career in this industry.

If you would like to join the Writers’ Room, access weekly events, submit to dozens of open writing assignments, and attend exclusive pitch tanks with industry executives- click HERE for a free trial!

This Week’s Exciting Announcements!

We have an incredible Writer's Room event coming up on Tuesday, March 24th, that you won't want to miss!

Join us for an exclusive Q&A with the Creator & Showrunner of HBO Max's HEATED RIVALRY!

Jacob Tierney, creator, writer, and director of the show that took the world by storm, HEATED RIVALRY (Crave/HBO Max), is joining Stage 32 Writers' Room members exclusively on March 24th at 3pm PT for a live Q&A. This is the show that took a "too niche" romance novel, navigated international co-production, secured U.S. distribution on a major streamer, and literally increased NHL ticket sales. Everyone said it wouldn't sell. It did.

Attend this session and learn about the creators’ entire journey from optioning the IP to landing on a major streamer, which speaks to writers interested in book-to-screen adaptations and breaking into prestige TV! Discover how to write authentic LGBTQ+ romance, sports authenticity, character-driven dramas, and learn the world of International productions, how to secure U.S. distribution, and the economics of streaming deals!

Click here to register for The Writer's Room now!

This week, we're spotlighting a talented Writer & Director who recently won the Stage 32 + Color Farm Media Screenwriting Contest & Diversity Talent Accelerator with his script, THE PERFECT KISSER!

Micheal S. Camp is an emerging screenwriter and director focused on character-driven stories rooted in Black life and cultural specificity. A graduate of the University of Maryland with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Micheal blends analytical structure with emotionally resonant storytelling.

Originally from Atlanta and currently spending much of his time in Japan, Micheal brings a global perspective to distinctly American narratives. His creative foundation was shaped in the music industry, where he worked as an audio engineer for Grammy Award–winning producer Jimmy "The Senator" Douglass at his Miami studio. His work aims to engage social commentary without sacrificing entertainment value, balancing layered themes with accessible storytelling and cinematic momentum.

See Micheal's Stage 32 Profile here!

This Week In The Stage 32 Community!

Right now in the Screenwriting Lounge, Stage 32 member and screenwriter Maria Caeiro has sparked a conversation that every writer, no matter their level, can relate to: What’s a hard truth you learned the hard way?

It’s the kind of question that cuts through the noise. Because behind every polished script and every “overnight success” is a collection of tough lessons, rewrites, rejections, pivots, and moments where things didn’t go according to plan.

Maria’s own answer will hit home for many of you: spending weeks perfecting a scene, only to realize it doesn’t serve the story and needs to be cut entirely. That’s the reality of this craft. And the responses coming in from the community are just as honest, insightful, and, at times, hilariously painful.

These are the conversations that accelerate your growth. Not because they give you a shortcut, but because they remind you what to expect and how to keep moving forward anyway. If you’ve ever questioned your process, struggled with a rewrite, or wondered if you’re the only one learning things the hard way, you’re not. And more importantly, you don’t have to go through it alone.

Jump into the discussion, share your own hard-earned lessons, and learn from others who are on the same path.

Click here to join the conversation!

Need help navigating the industry? Contact success@stage32.com

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

We decided to take a punt and go ahead with the auditions; we sent out the call for talent (one actress needed), we booked a room in an office block and auditioned five different actresses.

There was agreement in who we should ask to fulfil the role of ‘Sorrow’. I got home, the house was in darkness, so I went into the lounge and sat down. It had been a great day, and I was buzzing. There is nothing like being in a room full of creative people, but what was I going to do without money?

My dear soulmate walked into the room and asked me if I’d seen the mail. An envelope. It looked like a card. It wasn’t my birthday. I opened the envelope and in it was a card with the opening of the empty tomb in Jerusalem. You may have heard of it! All it said inside was, “Sowing for Life” with a cheque for £5000!

Sometimes, I decided, you’ve just got to go ahead with it and see what comes. From this, I raised another £5000, and we were set to go.

Imagination precedes logic.

A definition of logic

‘A system of reasoning and determining valid and invalid arguments’.

If we start with logic, we will never write a story. We will kill our imagination with well-meaning reasoning and processes before we ever put pen to paper, or rattle a keyboard.

We learn by doing.

We learn by failing.

We learn to resurrect our failure into a different form.

In this Eastertime, our doings need to die to be raised to life.

But resurrection is just a religious belief or dogma, right?

Well, no. It turns out that resurrection is the law of the Universe. Quantum scientists tell us that nothing is ever wasted or lost; it is recycled, reformed, upcycled into a new form. After all, we are made of stardust (and we are golden!).

Kleptomania and Anatomy

As writers, we are kleptomaniacs. We collect the stuff that fuels the imagination. If something didn’t work for ‘this’, it may work for ‘that’ story; it may be waiting for another iteration.

Let me say it again. We are made of stardust. Particles from a dying star found their way to us, and a new form was born. You are cosmically significant!

My most valuable book on screenwriting? John Truby’s ‘The Anatomy of Genre’. Whatever the genre of my next project, I will dip into this book and check out what Truby has to say about it; expectations, tropes, examples/models, world-building. From that read, I will already know which of those I am going to break or bend. In other words, how to serve the curveball.

Anatomical studies though, are like dissecting a cadaver. I find that difficult to do with stories, because they are living things and don’t lay still; whereas genres are classifications - they don’t have a pulse.

The American poet, David Whyte said that we don’t always have the language to cope with, or talk about, our tragedies and traumas and that’s where storytelling or poetry comes in. It helps us articulate the trauma.

Our work can help others to articulate different emotions; grief, anger, love, intimacy, sorrow and resilience. This work doesn’t need any justification. Put that definition into your Writer’s Bio and wait for the response!

Robert Bird, in his book about Andrei Tarkovsky’s films, ‘Elements of Cinema’, helps us to see how the Russian filmmaker created an environment, an atmosphere where this articulation could be achieved. Tarkovsky said his aim was to:

“...develop and investigate characters in a...state of extremely tense emotional imbalance, where these characters will either break or achieve final definition.”

There’s a choice we have as a writer: does the image of our character fragment, shatter, or achieve final definition? With this understanding of what we are doing, we are free to explore through the story we want to tell. Neither is right or wrong.

Logic may tell you it has to be the latter, or you destroy the agency of the character; but what if that is the point?

Is the tomb empty or still holding the cadaver? Maybe it’s time for a little resurrection?

After Logic comes...

I am a writer. My words are like oil, my images like fire. My aim is to put the two together and ignite a flame in your imagination. If I manage to do that, then I guess you won’t be bothered if I have broken any screenwriting rules along the way.

But, if we start with logic and 20-plus rules to follow so that we write the perfect script, our story will probably never be written; we will be too intimidated by the process.

If, on the other hand, we just start with a little kernel of an idea, followed by a pinch of free-association and then we write it down and wait for the dough to rise. It may be an action sequence, cuttingly sharp dialogue, or a simple premise for the story. Then, we actually have something to work with.

Imagination loves company, so create a character web to catch those fragments of the story in.

Story is a way of looking at the world. It may be a picture frame, a window, or a mirror. These offer three different ways of seeing. The picture frame may be like a Rembrandt (control) or Jackson Pollock (chaos); the window may look out on a forest of ancient redwood trees (natural environment) or a rubbish tip (environmental disaster); the mirror may be a character reflecting on their life, or the shattered fragments being reassembled to find identity and meaning.

As the writer, it’s up to us how this all starts and takes shape and not a well-manicured script guru. Have confidence in this process; it will not let us down.

Shifting Realities

And now to end with, a quote from a writer who knew only too well, the shifting realities of the self, society and the universe. It will help you see just how far down the rabbit hole you can go! Brace yourself now...

“I have a secret love of chaos. There should be more of it.

Do not believe---I am dead serious when I say this---do not assume that order and stability are always good, in society or in a universe. The old, the ossified, must always give way to new life and the birth of new things. Before the new things can be born the old must perish.

This is a dangerous realisation, because it tells us that we must eventually part with much of what is familiar to us. And that hurts. But that is part of the script of life. Unless we can psychologically accommodate change, we ourselves will begin to die, inwardly...

And it is the authentic human being who matters most, the viable, elastic organism that can bounce back, absorb, and deal with the new.”

Philip K Dick – ‘The Shifting Realities of Philip K Dick’ – Edited by Lawrence Sutin. Vintage Press, 1995.

And so, I’m here, we are here, to support you in your endeavours; to help you become the ‘elastic organism’ that can bounce back and create something the world is dying to experience, but doesn’t know it yet.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

If you climb the mountain, turn to page 42.

If you stay in the cave, turn to page 87.

One decision could lead to treasure. Another could lead to a dead end. And sometimes, you’d get eaten by a dragon.

As a very proud child of the 80s, I’ve realised something recently - publishing and film feel exactly like that series.

You start with an idea. A spark. A “what if?”

Then the choices begin.

Do you:

• Write a novel?
• Write a screenplay?

I chose a novel. Turn the page.

Do you:

• Pursue traditional publishing?
• Hybrid publish?
• Self-publish?

I chose self-publishing. Not because I knew it was the right answer - but because it was the page that felt open to me at the time.

Turn the page again.

Do you:

• Invest heavily in paid marketing?
• Collaborate with other emerging creatives?
• Go it alone and hustle bookstores, reviewers, and readers yourself?

I chose to hustle.

I emailed. I promoted. I reached out. I learned things the hard way. I celebrated small wins. I took rejections personally. Then I learned not to.

Next decision.

Do you:

• Try audiobooks?
• Try book trailers?

Neither. This girl was BROKE! Another fork in the road.

Do you:

• Continue self-publishing?
• Attempt traditional publishing next time?
• Branch into screenwriting?
• Pitch magazines?
• Try something entirely different?

I chose screenplays and magazines.

Not because it was safer - but because it was terrifying. And sometimes the bravest page is the one you don’t fully understand yet.

Then came another chapter.

With what you’ve learned, do you:

• Host workshops to build trust in your community?
• Run book events?
• Promote other creatives?
• Enter competitions?
• Seek representation?
• Pitch producers?

I chose all of the above. Yes, I know. It sounds like I was throwing spaghetti against the wall… but something eventually landed.

But here’s what I’ve learned.

There is no single “correct” path in this industry. There is no magic formula, no universal blueprint, no guaranteed shortcut. It’s all a series of choices - some strategic, some instinctive, some made simply because you refuse to close the book.

And that’s why Stage 32 feels less like a typical industry website and more like another Choose Your Own Adventure.

Because there isn’t just one door.

Want consistent exposure to executives? Turn to the Writers’ Room. (Click here to sign up!)

Prefer Open Writing Assignments with direct submission opportunities? Turn that page. (Click here to learn more!)

Need to learn the fundamentals? Choose a webinar or certification - some free, some discounted, some full investment - and learn something new. (Explore them here!)

Not wanting to pay at all? Wander into the community lounges. Read the daily blog posts. Engage in conversations. Ask questions. Offer advice. Build your name quietly but consistently.

Each option is simply another page.

And what I love most is this: you’re never told there’s only one way forward.

I was participating in the Screenwriting Lounge one day - just engaging in conversation - when a producer reached out to collaborate on a screenplay. That wasn’t a strategic master plan. That wasn’t me targeting someone specific. That was me turning a page.

I’ve seen writers in this community land representation through consultations and competitions. I’ve seen projects move forward because of pitch sessions. I’ve seen creatives form long-term partnerships simply because they showed up consistently and generously in discussion threads.

None of those outcomes come from standing still. They come from participation. 

But here’s where this piece shifts. Because while career movement matters, relationships matter more.

Today, I learned that a fellow Stage 32 member is facing a serious personal health crisis. I had no idea they were unwell. And yet when I heard, it genuinely hit me.

That surprised me. How can someone I’ve never met in person feel significant enough to affect my day? I literally put my day job on hold to write this blog because it’s what I wanted to do to highlight someone important to me and this community.

Because this platform, when used properly, stops being transactional and starts being relational.

People celebrate your wins, comment on your drafts, encourage your pitches, and check in when you go quiet. They notice when something feels off.

That’s not networking. That’s community.

And in an industry that can often feel isolating - especially when you’re starting out, pivoting careers, or questioning your direction - that kind of connection is invaluable.

The adventure isn’t just about landing the deal. It isn’t just about securing the option. It isn’t just about representation or greenlights. It’s about who you meet while turning those pages. Because sometimes the most important outcome isn’t the treasure chest at the end of the book. It’s the companions you gathered along the way.

So if you’re standing at the beginning of your own creative journey - or halfway through, wondering if you chose the wrong path - remember this:

There isn’t one right page.

There’s only the next decision.

Turn it. Choose Your Own Adventure.

Dedicated to our friend, collaborator, and cheerleader, Maurice Vaughan.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

I hope your weekend has been a creative one so far. Whether you have been writing, filming, editing, or sketching out the next spark of an idea, I have got something today that will give you a boost. So grab your coffee, and let’s dive in.

This week’s featured video comes from Screen Rant- Tom Cruise’s Most Dangerous Stunts That Nearly Ended His Career.

Tom Cruise has built an entire career on doing what no other movie star would dare attempt. But some of those stunts came terrifyingly close to ending everything. From a sword fight gone wrong on The Last Samurai to a parachute malfunction during Top Gun, Cruise’s obsession with authenticity has repeatedly put his life on the line. This video breaks down some of the most dangerous moments from his career, including his shattered ankle during Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the cliff jump in Dead Reckoning, and the biplane stunt that reportedly caused him to lose consciousness mid-flight.

These are not just behind-the-scenes stories. They are reminders of how thin the line between spectacle and disaster really is. And they highlight why Tom Cruise’s stunt legacy remains unmatched.

Now, while most of us are not hanging off airplanes or launching motorcycles off cliffs, there is a lesson here that applies to every creative career. If you want to build something extraordinary, you have to be willing to take risks. Every successful creative you admire has had moments where they stepped into the unknown. They did not know if the idea would work. They did not know if the audience would respond. They simply knew that the potential reward was worth the leap.

Early in my career, I was writing feature films. I had sold features and that was the lane I was supposed to stay in. Then I stumbled upon a story I wanted to tell that was completely outside of what people said I should be doing. It was a period piece. And it was television.

At the time, the conventional wisdom was simple: don’t do it. But I believed in the story, so I wrote it anyway. It took time. Years, actually. But eventually the project sold.

In this business, you will constantly hear what can’t be done. You’ll hear that certain genres don’t sell, certain formats are dead, or certain paths aren’t realistic. Sometimes those opinions are helpful. Sometimes they’re based on real experience. But at the end of the day, if you truly believe in something, you have to be willing to take the bet on yourself.

There is a home for almost every kind of story. Sometimes it just takes longer to find it. That’s where risk comes in. You learn the rules. You understand the business. You study the market. And then, once you have that foundation, sometimes you have to go against the grain. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that beginners take huge swings right away. But once you’ve put in the work, once you understand the landscape and have had some experience, don’t be afraid to step outside the expected path.

So this week, I want you to think about what risk you might be avoiding. Is it finishing that script you have been putting off? Submitting your project to a contest or fellowship? Reaching out to a collaborator? Or finally starting that idea that has been sitting in your notebook for years?

Tell me about it in the comments below!

As always, here at Stage 32, we love sharing stories and knowledge with our fellow film fans. Know someone who would love this content? Share it with them. You can keep up with all of our videos by subscribing to the Stage 32 YouTube Channel. For more inspirational, educational, and motivational content on all things entertainment industry, follow me on Instagram and X @rbwalksintoabar.

Wishing you a very happy, healthy, and creative Sunday.

Cheers,

RB

ScreenRant | Tom Cruise’s Most Dangerous Stunts That Nearly Ended His Career

RBWalksIntoABar | Take Risks & Break Rules!

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

CUT TO:

Four years, four feature specs, a few pilots, and three service industry jobs later, the buzz had become “You have a really great voice!” Cool to hear unless it’s all you hear, and inevitably followed by “But our mandate right now is *insert whatever genre my script wasn’t* because that’s where the market is.” So yeah, I hadn’t made it.

But I had also purposely (to the dismay of my parents) not given myself a plan B, so I had to make it. It was the only thing I wanted to do, so after meeting a savvy producer in my hometown of San Antonio who was knocking out some high-quality Ultra-Low Budget features, I realized that the best way to break in and finally live my filmmaking dream was to just do it myself. Write and produce for pennies, just what I learned in film school.

Very much to the surprise of almost everyone, it worked. I wrote a script and got an on-the-fly crash course in actual producing, from idea to distribution and beyond, on the way to our $130,000 feature grossing close to $1.5MM worldwide. Not crazy Paranormal Activity numbers, but returns that made our financiers and their bank accounts VERY happy and got us a few more movies–the result that really matters.

So how did we do it and how can you do it? Honestly, there’s no “right way” and every movie’s journey is different, but there are some rules of thumb that I’ve discovered don’t really change, starting with…

THE IDEA.

The first and most important step to the process, no question. Assuming that you’ve honed your screenwriting skills enough for a script to impress and read professionally, you need to think like a producer for a minute. Odds are that if you’re taking your “big break” into your own hands, you won’t be working with ten million. You probably won’t be working with ONE million, but don’t worry about the exact budget just yet.

You need to develop the most commercial idea that you can produce with money you’ll probably be getting from people you know. Ideally, that idea can be shot on a SAG ULB or MLB level so the recoupment is feasible and realistic because there’s never really a “sure shot” when it comes to movies in general, much less movies being made truly independently. Do yourself a favor and find a way to connect with a reputable sales agent who is hitting every major film market and has a track record selling projects of similar scope. They have their finger on the pulse of the industry, and at this level, unless a true A-list actor is your ride-or-die, the concept is the star and money maker because the odds of landing a name with “value” are next to zero. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still possible and you should make a Hail Mary offer or two to names who your new sales agent or experienced producer friends put their approval stamp on just in case, but if you can’t make a decent offer, your script most likely isn’t making it past the agent’s assistant.

From personal experience, the most commercial and “best” idea for your little indie-that-can might just be your least favorite idea. When my producing Yoda told me, “You should write a zombie spoof,” I literally laughed. No way I was going to write a spoof for my first movie, that’s way too embarrassing. Fortunately, he checked me on that. “We aren’t better than a spoof, man. What have we done?” Truth bomb. You can’t be better than something if you’ve never done ANYTHING, so suck it up and write a killer script that gets you your next one, the one you really want to make.

Write it with production in mind. Use locations you know you can get cheap or free, keep the character count as low as you can without sacrificing the story, and give yourself some solid trailer moments with high production value. If you’re developing the idea with or for a sales agent or producer, listen to their input and feedback. Even though they’re very business-minded people, they’ll have ideas and direction that tailor your script to what they know they can sell. Keep them involved throughout the process and take their thoughts seriously. They won’t always be on point, but the guys I work with usually are, especially when it comes to marketability.

THE FINANCING.

This was far and away my least favorite part when I jumped into this indie-producing madness headfirst because it felt like I was begging for money. I hated it, but fortunately, our budget was low enough that we could piece it together without asking for $100k per investor. It wasn’t until the next movie that I learned how to pitch investing in a movie as a business opportunity rather than a favor. By then I had a successful movie under my belt, so that definitely helped, but if you’re the one doing the bulk of the money-raising you’ll need to hone your financial pitch just like you would a script pitch.

Again, this is where sales and distribution connections will pay dividends. Anyone who’s smart with their money will want numbers and data from comparable titles to verify that their money has a chance to come back, and if you can get some tasty numbers from people who are involved or could be involved down the road, it makes cutting a check for thousands, or tens of thousands, of dollars a little more exciting.

BUT! Here’s the biggest thing I tell people who want advice on raising money for their indies:

Try to talk them OUT of investing.

Seriously. I know it sounds absurd, but investing in film is one of the riskiest things you can do with your money, and the people you’re approaching to be a part of YOUR dream deserve to know that. Do you want people to trust you with their money? Be brutally honest. Make sure they know that there are never any guarantees in this business and that they should only invest if they’re comfortable kissing that money completely goodbye. Not only will that show your respect for them and for their money, but it also reduces the chances that they come after you if the worst case happens and your movie is a bust. And maybe the most crucial: it shows you whose money is real and who is just talkin’ big.

So put that clean, poppy pitch deck together that showcases the vision, the team, and informs potential financiers of the timeline, and returns waterfall–a full blog post on its own. Get that sexy budget put together before running the full package by other producers, sales agents, distributors, and some legal minds just to make sure everything is buttoned up and transparent. There are obviously many more steps involved when it comes to starting an LLC, bank account, etc. but for the sake of your writing time, we’ll move to the fun stuff.

THE CAST.

This, my fellow DIY writer/producer, is without question the most important factor in selling a movie. It’s the first question that sales and distribution companies will ask, and the first reason they’ll give for passing on any movie. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard or read, “We loved the movie, but unfortunately, the cast just isn’t big enough.” It sucks and always seems like a cop-out, but if you’re lucky enough to be shooting your movie in the $3MM-$5MM budget range then you should have enough in there to make a couple of very respectable offers to actors of “value.”

Side note: an actor’s “value” is largely determined by their international sales appeal, not just how high they are on the StarMeter or how many Instagram followers they have. Actually, while we’re on the topic, stop looking at social media followings–it’s fool’s gold. Nobody cares and it’s not an indication of anyone’s value; the belief that someone has a built-in audience and that one post from them will translate to millions of views just holds no weight. Cast talented actors, simple as that.

When we’re ramping up to make offers, we put together tiered lists for each lead and maybe where we could plug in some big-name cameos. Tier One is our dream names that are most likely unrealistic but worth a pie-in-the-sky offer. Tier Two are names with international value, which we run by our sales guys to verify, and are realistic but would need a solid offer. Tier Three are recognizable names that are very realistic, but their international value is debatable.

Above all, you want to put together the best cast for YOUR movie, actors who blow you away for each character, but do everything in your power to draw as many names to as many roles as possible, otherwise the chances of landing a distribution deal of substance, potentially with a Minimum Guarantee (becoming less and less common for true indies), go way down.

MAKE THE MOVIE.

Finally, right? All the business stuff is on the backburner for a few weeks and you get to execute your vision. One of the best parts of producing your own script is that you get to stay involved creatively, to whatever capacity you feel is best for the film. Be on set as much as you can, as things will always change in some way once the cameras are rolling. You may need to cut a scene, tweak dialogue, or offer ideas to the director (if you’re not directing), plus if investors want to see what their money is up to, you should be there. I obviously can’t go into all-out detail about production in this post, but there is one thing I do want to briefly touch on because it can be a big way to make your investors happy early–

Shoot on location in a place that has some juicy incentives if you can. If you’re shooting ULB, it may not meet the minimum spend, but it varies state by state. Assuming you meet the requirements for a rebate/credit, you’ll be getting a nice percentage back (25%-35% in most states) just a few months after you wrap production. For easy math, if you spend $1MM in, say, Oklahoma, after your third-party accounting is done, you should be getting around $250k back from the state, which you can use to immediately cut a check back to investors. Some productions cash-flow it for production purposes or use it for post-production, but trust me here–it’ll go a LONG way with your investors if you give them an early start on their recoupment.

At this point, you’re no longer a writer/producer, you’re a producer. That’s where your mind needs to be because it’s a business now. Obviously, you’re in post and your creative mind is still needed, but you’ll also have to kill some darlings in the edit and it helps to see the cut through some producing glasses.

THE TRAILER.

You’ve got picture lock, you’re scoring and mixing and coloring, and everything is looking incredible. But during all of that, you need to save some space in your brain for the trailer because…

The trailer sells the movie. It’s the pitch. Remember, you wrote the script with trailer moments in mind, now showcase them. Showcase your names. Make it pop. This is your first and only impression.

I’ve found it best to outsource it to a company that specializes in cutting trailers because it’s an art in its own right, but some Editors and Assistant Editors might want a stab at it. Budget for the first option, but don’t say no to the second because they could knock it out of the park and save you a few thousand.

SHOOT YOUR SHOT.

With that killer trailer locked and loaded on a private Vimeo link, and the sales poster polished up (budget for and schedule poster asset pictures to be shot during production, TRUST ME), it’s time to start firing off emails. If you have a sales agent already they’ll handle most of this. If not, have a hit list of companies, both sales agencies and distributors, of various levels and work your way down as you did with your cast. Shoot. Your. Shot. You only get one, so make sure that the email package is perfect. You can find emails on company websites, IMDB Pro, LinkedIn, etc. but fair warning now, some will respond that they don’t accept unsolicited submissions for legal reasons, which is where a sales agent is handy.

Once you get responses and start setting up calls, be prepared to have essentially the same conversation many, many times. They all say pretty much the same thing when pitching their services, but you should make sure to figure out a few things:

Sales Agents: What cuts are they asking for off the top? Domestic should never be more than 10% and there should be no marketing expenses. International should stay around 20%-25% and there will be a non-accountable marketing expense that shouldn't exceed $35k–but you need to make sure that they are using that to attend all major markets (AFM, Berlin, Toronto, Cannes, etc) because that entire sum has to be recouped from their sales before you see anything. And domestically, who are the distributors they are targeting? Who do they have relationships with? Dig through their titles and see who released them, that’s usually who their go-to distributors are. Most importantly, go with someone who communicates well and keeps you involved. Remember–they work for YOU.

Distributors: What is their release strategy and marketing plan? What is their percentage? Something that a lot of first-time producers aren’t aware of is that almost all distributors at some point are going through an aggregator to place titles on various platforms. That means your cut from the distributor is coming from THEIR cut. If they plan to do a small theatrical to get better placement on iTunes or Amazon, how many screens/cities? The more screens, the more money, but it’s also a marketing opportunity and there’s always the outside chance that it makes some money. But that money is split with the exhibitors, so again–a cut of a cut. Definitely be sure they’re putting some money into social media marketing and P&A (Print and Advertising). They may want you to front that money or they may come out of pocket, to be recouped from sales. I’ve started budgeting in marketing dollars just so the option is there.

DVD has all but faded from mid-level release strategies, but make sure they pitch the title to Redbox. It’ll end up on their online platform, but if you can get a full order of hard copies that they pop in their vending machines, that’s a good chunk of change because there are now “buy-backs” like there would be at retailers like Walmart and Target (who probably won’t take an indie title with a smaller release anyway, but you never know).

More than anything, make sure you go with a sales agent and/or distributor who will work WITH you and keep you in the know. Transparency is key at this point in the process, and the best way to keep everything above board and keep these companies accountable for their numbers is to use a Collection Account (CAM). These are approved companies who collect the checks from distributors and sales agents, then distribute those checks to investors, production, and whoever has backend in their contract.

ENJOY THE RELEASE.

Participate in the marketing, hype the title on your socials, and have fun with it. Maybe you have a premiere, maybe you just have a watch party. Whatever you do, just remember that YOU DID THIS. You made a movie and got it released! Enjoy every moment and be proud of what you did.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

That’s exactly what happened with HEATED RIVALRY.

Adapted from Rachel Reid’s popular Game Changer romance novel series, the show already had a passionate readership behind it. But when the six-episode series premiered in November 2025, it didn’t just satisfy existing fans, it exploded into a global phenomenon, dominating streaming charts, expanding its audience dramatically, and sparking nonstop online conversation.

Now writers, producers, and executives across the industry are asking the same question:

What made this show work so well?

On Friday, March 20th at 1:00 PM PT, you’ll have the opportunity to dive into that question during a FREE Stage 32 script breakdown webcast.

Click here to register for FREE now!

Even if you cannot attend live, registering ensures you’ll receive the full recording to watch or listen to anytime.

The Unexpected Global Hit That Everyone Is Talking About

You probably didn’t see it coming: a sexy gay hockey romance becoming one of the most talked-about series in streaming.

Adapted from Rachel Reid’s Game Changer romance novel series, HEATED RIVALRY was written and directed by Jacob Tierney as a six-episode Canadian production for Crave.

Just days before its release in November 2025, HBOMax acquired the series for U.S. distribution, and the results were explosive.

• 10+ million viewers in the United States
• #1 on global streaming charts
• The most-watched acquired series ever on HBOMax
• The original novels shot to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list
• NHL ticket sales jumped 20% after the show’s release
• Worldwide distribution deals followed quickly

And here’s the kicker: the series was produced for roughly $11–12 million, with about 30% of the budget covered through tax incentives.

It’s proof that smart storytelling, strong structure, and clear audience engagement can turn a modest production into a global phenomenon.

Why Writers, Producers, Actors, Directors, ALL Creatives Should Study This Show

When a series explodes like this, it’s easy to chalk it up to luck or viral fandom. But hits rarely happen by accident.

Behind every successful show are deliberate creative choices:

• How the pilot hooks viewers immediately
• How complex relationships are introduced clearly
• How stakes escalate across episodes
• How intimacy and character moments serve the story
• How a book series can be adapted while preserving tone and long-term arcs

Understanding those decisions can transform the way you approach your own scripts.

And that’s exactly what this webcast is designed to do.

Your Guide: Producer, Consultant & Development Expert Anna Henry

Leading this breakdown is Anna Henry, an independent producer through her company Idle Hour Entertainment, which focuses on internationally appealing stories that highlight women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ voices.

Anna brings both industry insight and creative expertise:

• Former development executive at CBS, ABC, and Nickelodeon
• Former Head of Development at a literary management and production company
• Script consultant and Stage 32 educator
• Instructor for Netflix’s Creating Content for the Global Marketplace Initiative
• Clients and collaborators with projects at Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Starz, Sony, Fox, ITV, and Hallmark

Anna combines two decades of development experience with a deep understanding of storytelling craft.

She knows how shows get made, how scripts get developed, and what executives are actually looking for.

What You’ll Learn During the Webcast

During this FREE Stage 32 Next Level Webinar, Anna will break down the series in detail, using clips from the show and references from the novels.

Together you’ll explore:

• The structure of the pilot episode
• How the show introduces multiple complex relationships
• The role of the hockey world and sports culture in the story
• How intimacy scenes move the narrative forward
• How stakes escalate while setting up the full series arc
• How to adapt a novel while preserving tone, theme, and emotional payoff

By the end of the event, you will not just understand why Heated Rivalry became a global hit.

You’ll walk away with practical storytelling tools and strategies you can apply directly to your own projects.

Join the Conversation — And Invite Your Creative Circle

Events like this are one of the best ways to level up your storytelling skills and connect with the creative community.

We encourage you to invite:

• Writing partners
• Filmmaking collaborators
• Producers and development executives
• Fellow writers
• Fans of television and storytelling
• Friends who love the books and/or the series

Learning together often sparks the conversations that lead to your next great idea or project.

Save Your Spot (It’s Free)

Friday, March 20th

1:00 PM PT

Click here to register for FREE now!

Remember, if you cannot attend live, registering guarantees you will receive the full recording, so you can watch or listen whenever it works for you.

Whether you’re a writer developing your next pilot, a producer studying audience trends, a fan of the characters and story, or simply curious how a modestly budgeted show became a global phenomenon, this breakdown will give you insights you can use immediately.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

Why Writing a Series Bible is an Essential Step in Development

A well-structured series bible can mean the difference between a pitch that fizzles out and one that sells.

A Series Bible Helps You Understand Your Story on a Deeper Level

Creating a bible forces you to flesh out character arcs, define the rules of your world, and clarify your long-term vision for the series. By organizing your ideas, you’ll avoid inconsistencies and ensure that your show has strong narrative momentum.

It Gives Producers & Execs Confidence in Your Vision

Executives, studios, and showrunners are more likely to take your project seriously if they see that you know your world inside and out. A detailed series bible demonstrates your commitment to the show’s longevity and proves that you’re prepared for high-level creative discussions.

It Strengthens Your Pitch & Increases Your Chances of Selling the Show

Many producers and development executives now expect a complete series bible to be submitted alongside your pilot script, especially for high-concept shows. A strong bible can provide additional context that helps sell the story, including details about world-building, long-term character development, and potential future seasons.

It Can Be a Key to Landing a Spot in a Writer’s Room

If you’re an aspiring TV writer looking to break in, having a well-crafted series bible in your portfolio can help showcase your ability to develop multi-season narratives, craft compelling characters, and think like a showrunner.

Tips for Writing a Strong Series Bible

Start with a Compelling Logline

Your logline should be a one-to-two-sentence pitch that captures the essence of your show. It should establish the premise, main character, and core conflict in a way that immediately intrigues the reader.

Example: Breaking Bad: “A high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with cancer turns to cooking meth to secure his family’s future.”

You can use resources right here on Stage 32 to refine your logline!

• Post your logline on your Stage 32 Profile Page, making it eligible for ratings and feedback on the Stage 32 Loglines page.
• Share your logline in the Screenwriting Lounge and Writer’s Room Lounge to get direct feedback and advice from fellow writers and industry professionals.

Define the Tone, Genre, and Themes Clearly

• Is your show a dark crime thriller like True Detective, a sci-fi epic like Battlestar Galactica, or a quirky comedy like New Girl?
• Be specific about your tone (dark and gritty, lighthearted and whimsical, etc.).
• Identify key themes (redemption, identity, survival, etc.) that drive your story.

Establish the World & Setting

• Where does your story take place?
• Is it set in a grounded real-world location like The Wire or a high-concept fantasy world like Stranger Things?
• What are the rules of this world, and how do they shape the story?

Introduce Your Main Characters & Their Arcs

• Provide detailed character bios, including their backstories, motivations, and relationships.
• Show how these characters will change over the course of the series (a great character arc is what keeps audiences invested).

Outline the Pilot & Future Episodes

• Give a synopsis of the pilot: what happens in the first episode, and why should viewers keep watching?
• Provide a brief breakdown of the first season, touching on key plot points and character developments.
• Consider adding ideas for future seasons to show the show’s long-term potential.

You can improve your series bible or pitch deck while building your network and making a plan for your next steps with a top industry professional - exclusively through Stage 32! Click here to learn more!

Download These Must-Read TV Series Bibles

One of the best ways to learn how to write an effective series bible is to study successful ones. Below is a collection of some of the most well-crafted series bibles, spanning multiple genres and eras. By analyzing both classic and modern TV bibles, you’ll gain insight into how television storytelling has evolved. Click on any of the titles below to download them directly.

Classic & Groundbreaking Series-

The Crow: Stairway to Heaven (1998-1999): Based on the comic book, this series followed Eric Draven’s supernatural quest for justice.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994): The definitive example of a sci-fi series bible, outlining the rules of the Star Trek universe and how to structure episodes within that framework.

Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007): A breakdown of the intergalactic conflicts, mythology, and military sci-fi elements that made the series a long-running hit.

Freaks and Geeks (1999): A cult classic that captures the highs and lows of high school life in the 1980s.

2000s-2010s Hits-

Scrubs (2001-2010): A perfect example of how to blend comedy, drama, and emotion in a medical workplace setting.

The Wire (2002-2008): A masterclass in layered storytelling and complex character arcs, detailing how David Simon’s vision would evolve over multiple seasons.

Carnivale (2003-2005): A dark, richly layered drama set during the Great Depression with themes of destiny, faith, and supernatural forces.

Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009): An in-depth guide to Ron Moore’s reimagining of the classic sci-fi saga, with themes of survival, morality, and war.

Lost (2004-2010): A fascinating look at how Lost set up its elaborate mysteries, characters, and narrative threads for future seasons.

Desperate Housewives (2004-2012): A soapy drama with dark humor and a web of interconnected storylines that keep audiences engaged.

Grey’s Anatomy (2005-Present): A long-running example of how to sustain character-driven storytelling across multiple seasons.

The Mentalist (2008-2015): A great procedural drama example, highlighting the format, character arcs, and overarching mystery.

Breaking Bad (2008-2013): A breakdown of Walter White’s transformation and the show’s slow-burn storytelling approach.

Terra Nova (2011): A sci-fi adventure about a family traveling back in time to prehistoric Earth for a chance at survival.

Modern Must-Reads-

New Girl (2011-2018): A modern comedy with quirky characters and a fresh take on friendship and romance dynamics.

Homeland (2011-2020): The Homeland bible lays out the show’s intense espionage themes and complex character dynamics.

Black Box (2014): A lesser-known but fascinating example of a medical drama with psychological thriller elements.

Z-Nation (2014-2018): A post-apocalyptic zombie survival series with a mix of horror, humor, and adventure.

Fargo (2014-2024): A critically acclaimed anthology series that masterfully blends dark comedy, crime, and drama.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (2016-2017): A quirky sci-fi detective series based on Douglas Adams’ novels, balancing humor, mystery, and the supernatural.

Stranger Things (2016-Present): The Duffer Brothers’ detailed vision for Stranger Things, showcasing how they blended nostalgia, horror, and adventure.

True Detective (2014-Present): True Detective is proof that even anthology series require strong world-building and thematic cohesion at their start.

Six (2017-2018): A military drama that follows Navy SEAL Team Six as they carry out dangerous missions while balancing personal struggles.

Project Blue Book (2019-2020): A well-researched series bible exploring UFO investigations, inspired by real-life government documents.

Gangs of London (2020-Present): An action-packed crime series with high-intensity storytelling and layered character development.

Animated TV Series Bibles-

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-1985): Yes, even classic action-adventure cartoons had detailed bibles! This one explains the world-building behind Eternia and its characters.

Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995): A deep dive into one of the most celebrated animated superhero shows ever made, setting a gold standard for animation storytelling.

Adventure Time (2010-2018): This bible showcases the quirky world-building and creative character dynamics of Adventure Time.

Bravest Warriors (2009-2018): Created by Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time), this series bible highlights how offbeat humor and sci-fi can blend seamlessly.

Key Differences Between Live-Action & Animated Series Bibles

Visuals & World-Building: Animated series bibles often feature detailed artwork and concept sketches to help define the look of the show.

Episodic vs. Serialized Storytelling: Many animated shows rely on episodic storytelling, while live-action dramas often lean towards serialized arcs.

Production Considerations: Animated series require extensive pre-planning, as every design, character, and background must be accounted for before production begins.

Mastering the Art of the Series Bible

Studying these successful series bibles will help you see how great TV shows are built from the ground up. Whether you’re developing a network procedural, a high-concept sci-fi epic, or an animated adventure, the core storytelling principles remain the same.

If you’re serious about breaking into television writing, don’t skip the bible. It’s more than just a selling tool, it’s a guide that keeps your vision clear, your characters consistent, and your story structured for success.

If you'd like to learn more about how to write your own Series Bible, Stage 32 has fantastic education on the subject, which you can explore below:

• 4-Part Stage 32 Class: Level Up Your TV Pitch Bible: Generate Your Story and Map Out Your Seasons
• Webinar: How To Map Out Your TV Seasons in Your Pitch Deck
• Webinar: How To Write Your TV Pitch Bible To Sell Your Show
• FREE Webinar: Breaking Down the Emmy-Winning Script & Bible of STRANGER THINGS
• 4-Part Class: Sell Your TV Show: How to Bring Value When You Can't Be the Showrunner
• Stage 32 4-Part Class: TV Pitch Deck Foundations and Pitching Fundamentals
• How To Develop, Package, Pitch and Sell Your Limited Series To A Streamer or Network

Have a favorite series bible that’s inspired your writing? Drop it in the comments below!

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

The television landscape is shifting in ways that create real opportunity for creatives and producers who understand where the market is heading. After years of streaming excess, we're seeing a return to fundamentals: pilot season is back, traditional pilot orders are back, and buyers are gravitating toward the formats that have always worked: police procedurals, crime dramas, medical shows, and the countless whodunnits populating streamers. The prestige experiment hasn't certainly disappeared, but the industry is recalibrating around proven audience behavior and commercial reliability. If your TV pilot speaks to those instincts, you're writing into a receptive market. But the reality is that it's currently much harder to sell a dramedy à la THE BEAR, no matter how original and powerful, than a legal show.

The good news is that disruption and uncertainty also bring about exciting changes. The most exciting development isn't the return to tradition, it's what's happening on the independent side. Indie TV is quietly becoming one of the most compelling spaces in the business. Creators and showrunners are increasingly packaging their projects before they ever walk into a studio, financing them partially or entirely through private equity and international pre-sales: the same model that has long defined independent film. The Duplass Brothers were at the forefront of this new wave and now it's gaining in popularity (see MGM+'s limited series VANISHED or HEATED RIVALRY). The result is a new class of television that arrives at the table already built, with creative control intact and financial backing in place. For writers and producers with strong, distinctive voices, this shift represents something genuinely new: a path to getting your show made on your own terms.

This Week in the Writers' Room

We have 2 exciting webcast events that you won't want to miss!

The Exec Hour with Katharina Suckale- Wednesday, MARCH 11th at 10am PT!

Special Guest, Veteran International Producer Katharina Suckale! Navigating the International Industry Market! The ever-popular Executive Hour returned with a passport full of insight into how to think globally about your career. Our guest, international producer Katharina Suckle, will show our LIVE audience how to navigate the foreign market strategically, intelligently, and with confidence.

The Pitch Tank with Lyra Tan- Wednesday, MARCH 11th at 4pm PT!

The world-famous Pitch Tank is back, and this time our special guest honor belongs to Manager, Producer, and TV Literary Agent, Lyra Tan. Join fellow Writers’ Room members LIVE on Zoom for a fast-paced session that pulls back the curtain on what executives actually want to hear when you pitch.

If you would like to join the Writers’ Room, access weekly events, submit to dozens of open writing assignments, and attend exclusive pitch tanks with industry executives- click HERE for a free trial!

This Week’s Exciting Announcements!

This week, we're spotlighting a talented Film & Television Producer, Stage 32 Exec Cory Kaplan, who recently co-produced the FACES OF DEATH remake set to hit theaters in April 2026, marking IFC's widest release to date.

You can read the full Deadline article by clicking here!

Cory Kaplan is a film and television producer with extensive experience across major studio features, premium scripted series, and independent projects. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with leading entertainment companies, including Paramount Pictures, Legendary Studios, and Sony Pictures, along with leading television networks, contributing to a wide range of high-profile work across both screens. His past projects include TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, REAL STEEL, TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION, BUMBLEBEE, SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH, VAMPIRE ACADEMY (feature and series), CAPTAIN PLANET, DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, REAL STEEL 2, FROM HELL, MONSTER, LITTLE BROTHER, and THE BUILDING.

Click here to book a feature film consultation with Cory!

We've Officially Launched our 6th Annual TV Drama Screenwriting Contest!

Ever dreamt of seeing your TV Drama script come to life and stream on flat-screens in living rooms across the country? This is your chance to turn that dream into reality! We're proud to announce the 6th Annual Stage 32 TV Drama Screenwriting Contest to help discover the next great TV drama script!

If you missed our blog announcement, click here to learn more!

The Grand Prize Winning screenwriter will receive:

• Career Accelerator Prize Package ($4,000 value) including script development, career consulting, writer branding, and comprehensive education resources
• Personal Mentorship Track with dedicated 1:1 career development sessions from our success team
• Industry Marketing Campaign promoting winner to our exclusive roster of 2,500+ managers, agents, producers, and executives
• Strategic Backing where Stage 32 and the winner will collaborate to prepare your project to take directly to market

Our Finalists will receive:

Our Finalists will receive a Career Momentum prize package valued at $1,500, including Career Development, a Writer Branding Workshop and an Education package, and will have your logline featured in a Stage 32 Look Book sent to over 2,500+ top entertainment industry executives, giving your work unparalleled exposure!

But that’s not all! Everyone who makes the Semi-Finals will receive a Career Breakthrough prize package valued at $1,000, our Quarterfinalists will receive a Career Elevation prize package valued at $500, and all Entrants will get a prize package valued at $100!

Click here to submit your script now!

Today's Ask Me Anything Event with Writer/Director Thunder Levin in the Screenwriting Lounge!

If you’re looking for real, practical insight into the craft and business of genre filmmaking, make sure you jump into the Screenwriting Lounge today.

Writer and director Thunder Levin, best known as the creator of Syfy’s wildly successful SHARKNADO franchise, is hosting a FREE 24-hour Ask Me Anything event for the Stage 32 community.

Thunder has written more than a dozen feature films and television movies, directed several projects, and spent more than 30 years working across the indie and studio-adjacent film and television trenches. While many know him for the outrageous fun of SHARKNADO, much of his work spans a wide range of genre storytelling, from grounded thrillers to high-concept spectacle.

During the AMA, Thunder will be answering questions about screenwriting, directing, developing genre projects, navigating the industry, and building a sustainable career as a creator. Nothing is off limits, from the practical realities of filmmaking to the deeper craft questions that help writers level up their work.

He’s also currently developing the horror script DEAD HEAD HUNTER, written by Stage 32 member Jon Tamburini, which he hopes to direct later this year, and is shopping his mystery series HURRICANE, ALABAMA.

If you’ve ever wanted to ask a working filmmaker how projects actually get made, how to approach genre storytelling, or what it takes to sustain a career in the industry, this is your chance.

Thunder will be answering questions all day for 24 hours, so jump into the conversation and ask away.

Click here to ask your questions now!

Need help navigating the industry? Contact success@stage32.com

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

The writers getting reps and landing deals aren't magically stumbled upon by benevolent executives sorting through unsolicited email submissions. They're being deliberate and calculated in how they're positioning themselves in front of decision-makers with actual, immediate needs.

That's exactly what Stage 32's Open Writing Assignments (OWAs) do. They put your material right in front of the execs who are looking for specific material based on their active mandates.

Don't believe us? Just ask the 250 different writers who've been selected across the last 50 OWAs.

What OWAs Actually Are

Open Writing Assignments are open submissions from production companies, studios, managers, agents, and producers actively seeking writers.

They're not vague calls based on loose interest. They are real script needs. Based on mandates the execs are receiving in real time from the studios. 

Netflix tells a Producer, "I want to see Rom Coms in the $10M range," or Paramount tells an SVP, "We need $20M Horror movies." So they come to Stage 32 for their scouting needs, knowing we can collect high volumes of material with rapid turn-around times to find them writers writing the exact types of projects they need.

When an OWA posts, there's an exec telling us: "We need an [Insert Genre] script, with THESE parameters, and we're actively looking right now."

Further, if you watch along throughout the year, you can see what types and genres of material execs are scouting for, and what the current market looks like right now. What genres are execs looking to find? What niches are out there? What is currently in demand? These are huge questions every writer has - that can be answered by simply following along to what mandates are being posted.

So far this year, we've had 45 different execs scout for materials via our OWAs. There's been 9 weeks in 2026. So that's 5 new execs per week coming to us to find their next project. That's also 45 different market insights on what buyers are searching to find. It's invaluable intel for you to collect and be aware of as a writer.

OWAs are a direct pathway to get your project in front of execs, as long as you're using them correctly. 

Why Most Writers Don't Get Selected for OWAs 

Mistake #1: Submitting to Everything

We see this constantly: Writers carpet-bomb every OWA regardless of fit, assuming volume increases odds.

It doesn't. 

When a Producer posts specific requirements, such as: "contained thriller, single location, 3-5 characters, budget under $2M," and you submit your epic sci-fi space opera because "it's also a thriller," you're wasting your time and training companies to ignore your name. 

It's like, if you want pasta for dinner, you wouldn't go to a taco stand to ask them to make you a bolognese. You'd be lucky if they didn't hit you over the head with a frying pan.

The fix: Only submit when you have a genuine match. Read requirements carefully. If 80%+ of what they're asking for doesn't describe your project, don't submit.

Mistake #2: Treating OWAs Like Lottery Tickets

You submit your logline, cross your fingers, and wait for magic to happen.

OWAs aren't lottery tickets. They're job applications.

Companies are evaluating: Does this writer understand what we're asking for? Can they execute at a professional level? Do they seem like someone we'd want to work with?

The fix: Treat every OWA submission like a targeted job application. Demonstrate professionalism. Clean formatting, clear communication, no typos. 

Mistake #3: Submitting Before You're Ready

The most painful pattern I see: Writers submit half-baked concepts or first-draft scripts because "it's free to try."

Here's what actually happens:

When you submit unpolished material, you're not putting your best foot forward. And if your script is selected, but the writing is not all the way there, you could be in trouble. That might have been perfect company for your project. But instead of reading high level polished work, they're reading a messy, undercooked early draft. Which probably won't work in your favor.

The fix: OWAs work best for professionally ready material. 

Ask yourself:

• Has this script been through multiple revisions?
• Have I gotten professional feedback confirming it's working?
• Would I feel confident if this company requested the full script tomorrow?

If the answer to any of these is "no," keep developing before submitting. 

How to Actually Succeed with OWAs

Strategy #1: Play to Your Strengths

Don't submit to OWAs requesting genres you've never written or concepts outside your wheelhouse just because they're available.

Focus on assignments where:

• The genre matches your strongest material
• The concept aligns with stories you naturally tell
• Your background gives you authentic insight (i.e. medical dramas if you're a nurse, sports dramas if you played sports, etc.)

One perfectly matched submission beats ten "close enough" attempts. 

Strategy #2: Read Between the Lines

OWA descriptions often tell you exactly what companies value, if you know how to decode them.

Examples:

"Seeking elevated horror with strong female lead" = They want prestige genre (think Hereditary, not Friday the 13th), and they're trying to balance commercial appeal with awards consideration. And they want the concept's hook to feel unique, not just another vague slasher. 

"Contained thriller, minimal locations, character-driven" = Low budget, actor showcase piece. Think Locke or Buried. Your $100M ensemble action spectacle won't fit. They want a movie they can plug-n-play the star actor they have a close working relationship with into a cool, new role.

"Family-friendly adventure with heart" = They're chasing the Paddington / Wonka sweet spot. Gentle stakes, emotional core, four-quadrant appeal. They want a movie parents can take their kids to in a theater to kill time one weekend afternoon, so they can turn off their brains and have a moment to themselves with the kids locked into what's on screen.

Match the underlying need, not just the surface description.

Strategy #3: Understand Timing

OWAs aren't open indefinitely. Most are open for only 2-3 weeks. The time goes by quick, but if you're staying aware of the opportunities around you, you can capitalize.

This means:

Check OWAs weekly so you don't miss opportunities that match your material

Have your best scripts submission-ready so you can move fast when the right OWA appears. If your script isn't ready, see Mistake #3 above and wait to submit to the next opportunity in that genre.

Some genres are pretty evergreen and always in demand - Action, Horror, Comedy, RomCom. While others have more limited demand, like Period Pieces, Fantasy, Unscripted. Keep abreast of the trends in the trades. What's selling? What's not? What's cold? What's hot? Don't chase those trends, but understand that everything is cyclical. If what you're writing isn't hot right now, there's a good chance it will be again whenever some new random internet trend makes it so. If you've been around long enough, you see it happen constantly. 

Strategy #4: Leverage OWAs for Relationship Building

Even strong OWA selection can lead to:

• Script requests for other material ("We'd love to see other samples")
• Future consideration ("We're keeping an eye on your name for the future")
• General meetings ("We liked your voice, let's meet to talk about what else you're working on")

This only happens if your submission demonstrates professional-level craft and alignment with what the execs are looking for.

What Happens When You Get Selected

If a company selects your submission, here's the typical process:

1. Script request – They'll ask to read your full screenplay
2. Evaluation period – Expect 2-6 weeks for them to read, evaluate, and discuss internally
3. Meeting or pass – They'll either request a meeting to discuss the project or pass
4. Off to the races – If they want to continue the conversation, we'll gladly coordinate. Or they may reach out to you directly, assuming your contact info is on the title page. Once you reach that point, it's up to you to deliver the goods when you meet

Important: Getting selected for an OWA doesn't guarantee a deal. It guarantees serious consideration from a company with active development needs. This industry is built on relationships and OWAs are a terrific bridge to build those relationships and make execs aware of you, your writing style, and what you have to offer. 

Common OWA Questions (Answered Honestly)

Q: How many OWAs should I submit to per month?

A: Quality over quantity. Submit to those that are genuine matches. Better to submit strategically than spray-and-pray. 

Q: Do I need an agent or manager to submit?

A: No. OWAs are open to unrepresented writers. That's the entire point. They create access you can't get through traditional querying. 

Q: What if I get selected but don't have reps to negotiate?

A: There's usually a few steps between selection and the deal stage, that include vibe checks and more in-depth meetings, but if you reach deal-stage discussions, hire an entertainment attorney (not your cousin who does real estate law). Many work on contingency or flat fees. Never negotiate contracts yourself. At a deal-stage, you might also have leverage to get a rep's attention with a direct email to them explaining the situation and that you have producer interest. 

Q: Can I submit the same script to multiple OWAs?

A: Absolutely, as long as each OWA is a legitimate match for that material. Just try to avoid duplicate submissions to the same company. Nothing says "unprofessional" like spamming a submission with multiple copies of the same script. If it didn't leap out at them the first time, the chances are the second and third times won't make a difference.

Q: What happens if multiple companies want my script?

A: Congratulations! You are making waves and that means you're doing a lot of things right, especially with your logline. It's okay to pursue all opportunities at once and see how far they can go. You never know what will happen. So don't feel the need to be cautious, until you have a term sheet in front of you or a firm attachment to your work.

Real Success Stories

Writers have used Stage 32 OWAs to:

• Secure paid writing assignments adapting IP for production companies
• Land representation after companies requested meetings based on OWA submissions
• Get options and development deals on original material submitted through OWAs
• Build ongoing relationships with producers who became repeat collaborators

Recent wins from our OWA program:

1. A writer's script sent to Angela Bassett for consideration to act in and produce
2. An A-list director/producer attached to a script found through an OWA. Now shopping it to studios
3. Atlas Management, Zero Gravity, and Marathon Management all signed writers we submitted for consideration

Every month:

• 40-50 scripts get requested by executives
• 5-10 meeting requests that lead to representation, attachments, and studio pitches

None of this happens by accident. It happens when writers:

1. Submit to genuine matches
2. Present professionally ready material
3. Understand what companies actually need
4. Follow up appropriately when interest is expressed

Your Action Plan

This week:

1. Audit your completed scripts. Separate them into two batches. Which ones are truly submission-ready? Which ones still need polish? 
2. Review current OWAs. Bookmark those that genuinely match your best material.
3. Read requirements carefully. Make sure you're submitting what they're actually asking for.
4. Workshop your logline. Have your logline polished and ready before the perfect OWA appears. Use the Screenwriting Lounge to aggregate feedback all in one place. There are many talented writers within the community who are happy to provide insights on what's working vs. what's not.

This month:

• Submit to OWAs that are legitimate matches
• Get professional feedback on your strongest scripts if you haven't already
• Track your submissions so you know what's out and with whom

This year:

• Treat OWAs as ongoing job applications, not lottery tickets
• Keep writing new material so you always have fresh projects to submit
• Keep Geoff & myself aware of what you're working on. We're always around to help and provide guidance for you. 

The Bottom Line

Open Writing Assignments aren't magic. They're structured access to companies with immediate needs.

Most writers fail at OWAs because they:

• Submit everything to everyone
• Send unpolished material
• Don't understand what companies actually want
• Treat them like a spin of the roulette wheel instead of serious submissions

The writers who succeed:

• Submit only to genuine matches
• Present professionally ready material
• Understand company needs and align accordingly

OWAs are one of the most direct pathways from "aspiring screenwriter" to "working" or "repped" screenwriter.

Stop waiting to be discovered. Start applying strategically to companies that need exactly what you're writing.

To get a free month of the Writers Room (for new members), just go to: https://www.stage32.com/writers-room/free

Questions about OWAs or need help identifying which assignments match your material? Email me: success@stage32.com

Pat A., Writer Liaison @ Stage 32

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

Hey Stage 32 Community!

Ever dreamt of seeing your TV Drama script come to life and stream on flat-screens in living rooms across the country? This is your chance to turn that dream into reality! We're proud to announce the 6th Annual Stage 32 TV Drama Screenwriting Contest to help discover the next great TV drama script!

Our Grand Prize Winner will win a Career Accelerator prize package valued at $4,000 that includes script & career development, writer branding and an education package and will be set up on VIP MENTORSHIP meetings with ABC's Director of Drama Development & Programming, a Manager & Executive Producer, and a legendary Studio Executive & Executive Producer with credits on every single major drama series of the last three decades.

Drama is the basis of every story that endures throughout entertainment. From the intensity and action of SHOGUN, to the misery and angst of PLURIBUS, to the dangerous power plays and high stakes of LANDMAN, audiences can’t get enough exciting dramatic storytelling. In the past year alone, classic TV series like SUITS and LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE got rebooted, while popular films HARRY POTTER and DUNE are being adapted for TV currently, proving a great story can last for decades. The appetite for amazing TV shows is insatiable, and we want your story to be the next smash hit!

Stage 32 is proud to present the 6th Annual TV Drama Screenwriting Contest!

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

I hope your weekend has been a creative one so far. Whether you have been writing, filming, editing, or sketching out the next spark of an idea, I have got something today that will give you a boost. So grab your coffee, and let’s dive in.

This week’s featured video comes from FilmCourage- Producers Don’t Invest In Screenplays, This Is What Really Matters.

The interview features producer, distributor, and sales executive Shaked Berenson, who has marketed, sold, and released over 1,000 films and television series. He comes at the business from both the creative side and the analytical side, and that combination makes for a very clear-eyed conversation about what actually gets projects moving.

Shaked puts it bluntly. Scripts can change. Projects can change. You can hire someone to rewrite or polish. But the people do not change. What investors, financiers, producers, and distributors are really betting on is whether they trust the people involved to deliver, solve problems, make adjustments, stay calm when things go sideways, and keep going when the process gets hard.

And if you have ever made anything, you know how true that is.

A film is not dating, it is a marriage. There will be bad weather on the day that was supposed to save you. Someone will get sick. Money will get tight. A location will fall apart. Something will go wrong. So much of this business comes down to whether the people involved can function as a team and whether they have proven they can carry something across the finish line.

Showing up with a completed project opens doors. Showing up with only a script and asking for funding is a very different conversation. That’s why so much of the business is built on trust, relationships, and track records. Another key theme in the conversation is grit. Not blind persistence, but the ability to keep moving forward, learn from failure, adapt, and improve.

Because when you hear “no,” the better question isn’t always “Why don’t they see how brilliant this is?” Sometimes the better question is “What can I learn from this?”

The creatives who last in this industry are the ones who stay curious, keep learning, and keep creating.

This conversation also connects to something I think more filmmakers need to embrace: the “best” filming location is not always the most glamorous one. It is the one that makes the most sense for your project.

Too many people still think in terms of prestige first. They ask where they want to shoot instead of where the project can be made most effectively, most affordably, and with the strongest support system around it.

The best locations usually have a few things working in their favor: strong incentives, a reliable crew base, accessible infrastructure, a film-friendly policy, and enough flexibility to help you stretch your budget without compromising the story. That is why I am always telling creatives to think more globally and more strategically. There are incredible opportunities opening up all over the world and all across the U.S. in places that may not have been on your radar ten years ago. And if you understand how to align your project with the right location, you can make the math work in your favor in a huge way.

Sometimes the best location is the one that looks like three places for the price of one. Sometimes it is the place where your budget goes farther because the crew base is strong and the incentives are real. Sometimes it is the place where the local support helps you move faster and smarter. This is another place where doing your homework pays off. The filmmakers who understand production realities, financing realities, and distribution realities are the ones who give themselves the best chance to actually get the film made.

What do you think matters more in getting a project off the ground: the concept itself, the team behind it, or the proof that the filmmakers can actually deliver? Tell me in the comments below!

As always, here at Stage 32, we love sharing stories and knowledge with our fellow film fans. Know someone who would love this content? Share it with them. You can keep up with all of our videos by subscribing to the Stage 32 YouTube Channel. For more inspirational, educational, and motivational content on all things entertainment industry, follow me on Instagram and X @rbwalksintoabar.

Wishing you a very happy, healthy, and creative Sunday.

Cheers,

RB

FilmCourage | Producers Don't Invest In Screenplays

RBWalksIntoABar | Best Filming Location: LA vs. The World

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .

Whether it’s Facebook, Clubhouse, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Zoom- it has become easier to connect with other like-minded people across races, genders, time zones, and nations. The Covid-19 pandemic grew this way of communication even more. You may not know how or what to contribute to the conversation.

Every actor or creative professional's reason for joining a social media group is different: networking, community, finding information, lead magnets, etc. However, there is a pattern of behavior in almost all of these groups. Once you learn these five profile types, the less likely you’ll be surprised, offended, or afraid to engage.

These types are not indicative of ALL people in the group, in fact, some could exhibit more than one trait or none of these traits. But these five are recurring ones that are the most prevalent and influential in the group’s tone, objective, and direction.

The Green One

Completely new to the entertainment industry, they will post the standard questions: “How do I get an Agent”, “What should my headshot look like”, or “What should go on my acting resume”?

The answers to their questions can be found in past threads on the group page, and you kindly direct them there, or you just repeat the answer again politely- reminding people that they were all in the same position at one time.

Maybe this person has experience but is “green” in a certain niche like voiceover or commercials. Maybe it’s a parent trying to get their child into the industry. It’s usually best for newbies to have their own group altogether, where they could feel a safe space to explore any and all topics at their own pace.

The Know-It-All

A graduate of an Ivy League school or MFA conservatory, plus specialized training with a high-powered acting coach or professional studio. Their resume is a mile long; with many top-of-show guest stars and major supporting film roles.

Currently working, this person is usually the most active in the group, answering as many questions as possible to provide value and combat misinformation. However, it doesn’t yield opportunities for others to provide insight or different perspectives.

Even though they seem to have all the answers, always do your own research to verify and confirm.

The Negative Neal or Nancy

This person has also had a lot of experience: guest stars, co-stars, and national commercials. But somewhere along the way, traumatic events happened: cancellation of a series, a scandal, financial or family setbacks, getting close to a booking but continuously being PASSED OVER. This in turn has made them bitter or depressed.

You can hear it in their comments, they play the devil’s advocate, advice is based on pragmatism, or rooted in fear. When a bad scenario happens, it was expected; when a good thing happens, there’s cautious optimism or perception as a fluke.

Their truths are valid- but one has to take it with a grain of salt. Location, era in time, and circumstances unrelated to you could have contributed to their experiences. Always give them grace, and never escalate the conversation unnecessarily.

The Inspirational One

This person could be green or experienced; they’re not naive about the world or the industry, but their mindset is usually on a higher level. They’ve used it to reach their success in entertainment or in past endeavors.

They’ll give a testimony on when they overcame an overwhelming obstacle to achieve a goal, sometimes they’ll post a biblical scripture or motivational quote from a fellow artist.

The inspirational one would show empathy to the green one and battle with the negative Neal/Nancy. They could even be the Moderators of the group.

The Silent One

This person doesn’t comment, post, or hardly contribute anything to the group. They abide by the rules, and will occasionally like or heart a comment they agree with.

In fact, they are mostly there for the comments. Gleaning information on frequently discussed topics. Maybe they’re shy or feeling out the culture of the group. The silent one could move into the aforementioned groups or continue to stay silent, perhaps leaving the group altogether because they’re not getting what they need.

Did I miss a profile type? Do you have any experience with the types listed?

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .