Producing

Hi Elmare Hendricks

Beautiful Sandra Isabel Correia How are you doing?

Hey Elmare Hendricks Great topic that gets to the heart of successful film production! Team assembly is often where great scripts either come alive or fall apart, and each approach has distinct advantages depending on your project's scope and budget.

The Hybrid Approach Works Best:

Most successful productions use a combination of all three methods strategically:

Your Core Team (People You Know):

- Key department heads you trust completely - DP, editor, sound designer

- Collaborators with proven chemistry who understand your creative vision

- Reliable professionals who'll problem-solve when challenges arise

Casting Agencies/Professional Services:

- Lead roles that require specific skills or name recognition

- SAG talent when you need union actors

- Specialized crew positions (stunt coordinators, VFX supervisors) requiring specific expertise

Word of Mouth/Networking:

- Emerging talent hungry to prove themselves

- Local crew who know the area and can work within budget

- Recent film school graduates with current technical knowledge and enthusiasm

Strategic Considerations:

-- Budget Allocation: Spend your money where it matters most - usually lead actors and key technical positions that directly impact quality.

-- Project Requirements: A contained drama needs different team assembly than an action thriller or period piece.

-- Timeline Pressures: Known collaborators work faster because they understand your communication style.

-- Creative Chemistry: Sometimes the most qualified person isn't the right fit for your specific project's energy.

What's your experience been with different assembly approaches? Any surprising successes or lessons learned?

Elmare Hendricks

I believe in discovering new stars.

In 2016, while casting The Last Broadcast — a film set during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution — I couldn’t find the right lead through agencies or open calls. So I searched through thousands of profile pictures myself. Then I saw him. I didn’t know if he was an actor, but I messaged him.

He replied: he was an actor, and this role was his dream. We met, he admitted he might not “fit” the usual mold — but I asked, “Can you play it?” He said, “Yes.”

He belonged in Hollywood. And so did others I found this way.

My advice: don’t just cast actors — cast stars.

Even in big films, giving unknowns a real chance creates magic. They give everything — and audiences feel it.

Hi, Joseph Evans. Welcome to the community. Stage 32 is having its next Community Open House on June 25th. You can sign up for free here (www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32-s-june-community-open-house-...). It'll help you navigate Stage 32 and connect with producers, creatives, and industry professionals all over the world.

In the meantime, here's a blog that'll help you navigate the platform and make connections: www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-platform-...

Stage 32 has Producing Education I suggest checking out (www.stage32.com/education/search?term=Producing).

I also suggest using your photo for a profile picture. People will feel more comfortable networking and collaborating with you if they know what you look like. And if you have a picture, your profile will show up when someone searches for you. You can upload a picture by clicking the gear symbol in the top right-hand corner and selecting “Edit profile” in the drop-down menu, then clicking the red button underneath your location and choosing "Update profile picture."

Congratulations on your progress to date Joseph Evans. Stage 32 has numerous resources to dive into to advance your journey. Good luck with your project!

What an inspiring creative journey you've shared! Starting screenwriting at 62 with such clarity of purpose and authentic voice is genuinely remarkable. Your late-in-life ADHD diagnosis and treatment unlocking decades of stored ideas is a powerful testament to the fact that creative breakthroughs can happen at any stage of life.

Your Unique Strengths

Life Experience as Creative Fuel: Your decades in sales across Queensland, meeting diverse people and collecting their voices, gives you authentic character development that many younger writers struggle to achieve. That's invaluable source material that can't be taught or faked.

Fresh Perspective: The film industry desperately needs voices that aren't shaped by film school conventions. Your "intuitive rather than academic" approach can produce more original, emotionally honest storytelling.

Timely Subject Matter: An action thriller set in Antarctica exploring climate change and geopolitical tensions is incredibly relevant. Environmental thrillers are gaining significant industry attention, especially with international scope.

Australian Advantage: Australian productions with international appeal have strong support through government funding and international co-production treaties. Your location gives you access to resources many writers don't have.

Strategic Next Steps:

Professional Development: Consider connecting with Screen Australia and Screen Queensland for funding opportunities and development programs specifically designed for emerging writers.

Industry Feedback: Getting professional script coverage will help identify any structural areas to strengthen before pitching.

Local Connections: Australia has a robust emerging film community. Networking with local producers who understand international co-production could be invaluable.

Your belief in cinema's power to "provoke thought, ignite emotion, and spark change" comes through clearly in your writing approach.That authenticity, combined with your unique life experience, positions you well for industry success.

The world needs stories from voices like yours - don't let industry inexperience discourage you. Your perspective is exactly what makes compelling cinema.

Congratulations on stepping into the world of filmmaking, Mark Minnis!

I tried to produce two feature films way back, and I made a lot of mistakes because I didn't have webinars, classes, blogs, books, etc. on producing. I suggest checking out the Producing Education and Blogs Stage 32 has.

Producing Education: www.stage32.com/education/search?term=Producing

Producing Blogs: www.stage32.com/blog/tags/producing-22

Mark Minnis Best advice: careful and get direct (ie. personal and private) opinions from people who have paid for services before spending your money on anything at all. Above all, don't fall into the trap of thinking that screenwriting contests are important - they are not, except for your fun.

Sandra Isabel Correia I enjoyed the wisdom nuggets that was shared, and really it has been a worry of mine, the AI , how this will impact filmmakers in the Industry.

Thank you Eon C. Rambally

I have the same questions Elmare Hendricks, but also I think we need to adapt for the challenges that’s AI will bring to the future.

Hi , thanks for sharing. So many of us are asking these questions. We definitely can see the pros and cons of AI. It definitely has many excited and others afraid. Which is understandable. I definitely look forward to using AI more, but I also want to connect with other people and keep them employed. So I desire a balance of both real people and AI If that’s possible lol

P.S. Is this your video? Is this your channel? this video and new AI abilities is so amazing. I just subscribed. I felt led to open Stage 32 the app. I said one notification and I haven’t been on here in a long time. Your post was the Secondamazing post I seen today. Thanks For sharing

Thank you Ryann Goldberg :))

oh, wow! Congratulations Correia

Thank you Daniel Njuna :))

let us know when the movie is done, so that we may enjoy a movie from one of our own

I will Daniel Njuna. Thank you and It’s an honor :))

I just rewatched 28days and 28 weeks later. It’s crazy how well it holds up after all this time!

My friends and I are doing a full marathon day tomorrow!

Second Avatar is really good, but first one is the best Maurice Vaughan. Now, I am waiting for the third. You must watch. Batman of course:)) there are so many :))

Wow Alana Koster, now you are ready for 28 Years Later :))

That’s a magnificent program for tomorrow Ashley Renee Smith :)) Let us know your opinion about 28 Years Later :))

This is such a nice professional lesson, The questions that was asked are so crucial to have answers for, these are important conversations to have. JOB WELL DONE

Hey Maurice Vaughan, thanks! To the point of budget meetings, it's important to have everyone talking the same numbers for the first pass. After that, it should be handed off to one person who checks in occasionally until they have a finished first draft. After I lock the budget and move into pre-pro and production, I like to meet briefly with our producing team for a quick check-in every three or four days. More often if the line producer brings issues to the table or sees trouble spots.

Some producers like daily briefs while others prefer something less frequent. Just depends on the team and the complexity of the project.

You're welcome, Michael Fitzer. Thanks for the answer. That's a great strategy!

Michael Fitzer No indie director will really give you that much oomph to a project unless he's a true team player and is more concerned about getting the project filmed than his own ego and/or paycheck. Just make sure he's there for the project. Ultimately, his name may mean something to people "in the industry." but to the general public, his name doesn't mean squat so don't get buffaloed by hype when in the long run, it all boils down to can he entertain a wide variety of movie goers and make a film that will warrant multiple views from audience members.

As far as talent goes, that's more hype than anything else. There are a lot of actors and actresses out there that haven't had a job in years that still hold some love with an audience. You know SAG scale is for movies with a budget of $2M and above. A-list, Premium Talent and bankable talent is like saying New And Improved Taste on dog food labels. How do they know? Dogs lick their own asses so that's no indicator. SAG is the same way. You have to play Moneyball with talent and find the undervalued performers. That way you'll put less stress on your budget and on your revenue performance goals.

Distribution is another shell game. Don't wait for them to market the film. Turnaround time is 18 months average from your first shot to a release date. That's roughly 540 days to tell the world about your film. Don't give it all away, but make the public feel like they're on the journey with you. Sales Agents and marketing experts don't want the public to know about the film so they can cram and rush advertising at the last minute to overcharge for their services. Does Superman really need 9 different posters? By the time you are close to your final edit, the entire world should know about your movie and not 2 weeks before the release date.

These things shave off a couple thousand dollars (possibly tens of thousands) here and there. With a balanced release of material of you talking about your film, you could pre-sell $3.5M tickets domestically and all distribution will have to do is get it into the right number of theaters. At an average of $10.78/ticket, that's a domestic gross of a little over $37M. Look at the numbers. Even at 10 bucks a ticket, if distribution can't get 3 million to watch your movie which is less than 1.5% of the population of the United States, they have failed in every possible way especially if they're charging you $16/person to get them to buy a $10 ticket. No one would stay in business with numbers like that unless someone is getting cheated and you know it ain't them.

Film is an art form but it's also a numbers game that the old school has used to bilk and cheat investors and back end deals since it's beginning. If you can control your budget and your publicity, you can have better control over the whole game and lower the risk of being swindled.

Michael Fitzer, It’s amazing to see how a long-standing network and smart outreach can open doors. Even if this particular collaboration doesn’t go forward, the momentum and validation from that kind of interest can fuel a project’s energy like nothing else. Looking forward to hearing where it leads, and what trade-offs, if any, you decide are worth it in service of the bigger picture.

All the points are very insightful and it will most definitely be something that is closed to the creators heart in order to navigate the storm of the controversy

One thing I hear a lot about controversial topics in shorts is to team up with a charity or foundation of some kind. My buddy did a short film about suicide and partnered up with a national suicide awareness campaign. That made it WAY easier to promote. I had another buddy do a short about police brutality, same thing, he teamed up with a charity fighting against systemic injustice and it made getting into fests WAY easier. It gives it an air of legitimacy.

Aaron Mirtes ^^^^^^ what he said is a fantastic idea. If it's mental illness and you need a foundation, I suggest NAMI, an organization I was a volunteer and speaker for about ten years ago. They have offices around the country and are very open to stories, especially from minorities. It's mostly minority represented in the company. But they took me, so they take everybody, too.

This is such a clever idea, Aaron Mirtes

Loving the insights being shared by everyone!

It's Not easy

I like that Xochi Blymyer, and you are an amazing director, I saw your short and I can say that! Have a great weekend my friend.

Amar R Sovasheya :))

Sandra Isabel Correia i appreciate that but I actually did everything except direct my short. Wrote, produced, art direction, etc. got to give notes though! :)

I thought you directed Xochi Blymyer , but who knows will be your next step! I loved the short, Alexia :)) I never forget about it. Very well written, produced and directed. I am cheering for you for your next step :))

Thank you for sharing Xochi Blymyer

Hi Tim Bragg, most of us don't have big development budgets, so it's worth learning how to break down your script, budget, etc. It's a time-consuming, frustrating, and often dull process, but once you have a firm grasp on how to do these things, it's like wearing armor. You can defend every decision and every dollar.

Even though I now know how to do these things, I will still hire a line producer and sometimes a good 1st AD to check my work. I'd rather pay a little for security on the front end than have to pay to fix mistakes on the back end.

Good luck and always reach out with questions. You'll find Stage 32 is a knowledgable and supportive community.

Tim Bragg The range is from ~1k to 6k and more. It really depends on your requirements.

Just so you realie, a proper line item budget requires reading and breaking down the script, doing a shooting schedule and stripboard and getting rates for every single item it takes weeks to do it properly and it comes in at well over 100 pages. So $3,000 is on the lower end.

$4.5K in this neighborhood.

It's not cheap, nor meant to be. It's time consuming. Best to learn how to break down your own script until you're in a position to hire someone. Nothing wrong with either route. Think of it like this - you can hire a plumber to fix a leak and maybe he's 3k, or you can do it yourself for your time / parts. Downside is...you might have a leak later. But that's the chance you take. Either way - you learned something along the way.