Featured
Featured Stage 32 Blogs
Recovery Is Part of the Job: Lessons From a Lifetime of Festivals, Markets, & Conventions
A few days ago, I found myself sitting on my couch staring at my suitcase, trying to convince myself to unpack it. My voice was still raspy. My feet hurt. My inbox was overflowing. And despite having just spent an incredible 8 days in Cannes representing Stage 32, I felt completely and utterly exhausted. To make matters even more exciting, my journey home turned into a 33-hour travel nightmare involving delays, missed flights, airport chaos, and far more time sitting in uncomfortable chairs...


Cannes 2026 Recap: The Future Is Being Built Right Now
Happy Thursday, Creative Army! As many of you know, I like to judge markets and festivals not against each other, but against where they were a year ago. Last year, the prevailing conversation was cautious optimism. The industry was still finding its footing after years of disruption, and many people were wondering what the next chapter would look like. This year the conversation has changed. The overwhelming feeling throughout Cannes 2026 was momentum. Not blind optimism or wishful thinking...


10 Skills Every Beginner Filmmaker Needs
Do want to shoot award-winning films and gather millions of views yearly? As a filmmaker, having some technical understanding on your resume will guarantee your prospective thriving future. I have picked up the 10 most valuable skills you should acquire to land a perfect job in the filmmaking industry. Read on to find everything out in-depth. 1. Learning Technology No matter how banal it sounds, coming to grips with the filmmaking cornerstones is vital for your prosperous career and success....


Transparency and Ethics: Protecting the Artist and the Investor
Every filmmaker has a dream, a vision and a desire to make a mark on the world and to have their voices heard, but without specific steps taken and followed “development hell” becomes a reality and many projects fall into the graveyard of lost and dead projects. An escape from the graveyard of lost projects isn’t impossible. It comes down to strategic and transparent foundations; the less flashy, much-needed groundwork required to give a production a fighting chance right out of the gate....


Coffee & Content: The Myth of the Perfect Script
Happy Sunday, Creative Army! 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 FilmStack- When a Director Needs a Hundred Takes: David Fincher. David Fincher has built a reputation as one of the most meticulous directors working today. From Seven and Fight Club to Zodiac,...


A Theme Runs Through It
Whenever I’m asked to critique or fix a script, the first thing I want to know is: what’s the theme? Not the story, not the plot- the theme. The theme in a movie is its underlying central idea or message, explored through story, character, imagery, music, and design. Theme is the foundation, the beating heart, the thing that makes your story about something instead of about nothing. Without theme, ninety minutes of a bunch of people muttering about their problems is just ninety minutes of a bu...


An Indie Producer’s Whirlwind First Cannes Trip
I know this isn’t a must-know topic for introverted, bathrobe-wearing writers who hate talking to people almost as much as they hate leaving the house, but I went to Cannes Film Festival for the first time, and thought I’d weigh in to tell you about my experience. I’m an author, screenwriter, and fairly newish producer of ultra-low budget movies. I use the term movies, not films, to show you that anything I make as a producer (or write for that matter) will never be up for the Palm D’Or or ev...


The Real Reel - A Filmmaker/DP Calling Card
In a land not so far away, in a time not so long ago, the veil to the film world was a mighty feat to cross. I'm not saying it still isn’t tough to get out there and become a financially stable filmmaker. However, we hold the power now. What started as a simple picture of myself that I shared on Instagram, one taken while I was filming a Docuseries using the RED Epic and Cooke Anamorphic, turned into a wild adventure called social media. That one picture launched me into so many opportunities....


Cinematic Catnip: Crafting A Novel With Visual Appeal
Imagine you have pitched a twenty-five-word book logline to a publisher that not only lands you a four-book contract but also attracts interest from nine movie production companies in one week. Let that sink in. How would you feel? On top of the world? Like all your dreams have come true? As if you’ve been sprinkled with pixie dust and all your worries are over? Well, it happened to me, and while I did feel those things, my central emotion was panic. Why? Because the cinematic catnip I’d us...


How To Package Your Documentary Feature
At some point, most filmmakers come across a great idea for a documentary film. It might be an interesting topic or personality, and you just know there is a story that must be told. But similarly to narrative filmmaking, there’s a huge difference between having an idea and being able to carry it into a finished motion picture. We talk about “packaging” in scripted films, attachments, pre-sales, and budgets, but oftentimes overlook the importance of doing the same thing in documentary films....

