Producing

This is something we hear constantly in the Writers' Room when executives join our weekly Pitch Tanks and Q&As. Producers have to be incredibly strategic about budget allocation, making painful cuts while fighting to preserve the core vision. It's brutal, but as they always say: a finished film with compromises beats a perfect script that never gets made.

Congrats on getting it to the finish line. Can't wait to see what you and the team have made!

Hi, Amanda Toney. Microbudget filmmaking really does demand a different kind of resilience, and the sacrifices you describe are so real, not just for writers, but for producers and everyone who loves the story enough to fight for it. I felt that deeply on my first short film, The Misstep, a thriller I wrote and directed on a minimal budget. We had to condense the entire shoot into 14 hours just to stay within budget, and once we were on set, I quickly realized that some things on the shooting script simply didn’t work in practice. Adapting on the spot wasn’t easy, but I was genuinely happy with the final result. Those challenges are tough, but they’re also what fuel the energy behind the work.

Can’t wait to see your film make its way into the world. Cheering.

Congratulations Amanda Toney! Bravo! Perseverance pays off!

Collaboration and rising to challenges- that’s what it’s all about. Congrats.

Thank you for all the feedback and support everyone!

Hi, Mélissa Sanjari. Welcome to the community. Here's a blog that'll help you navigate the platform and connect with creatives and industry professionals all over the world. Producers, executives, and more. www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-platform-...

Stage 32's next Community Open House will be January 28th. It'll also help you navigate the platform and make connections. It's free to sign up. You can find out more in yesterday's blog (www.stage32.com/blog/whether-youre-new-or-a-longtime-member-the-stage-32...).

Stage 32 has free in-person Meetups that are great for networking (www.stage32.com/meetups). If you don't see a Meetup in your area, keep an eye on that page for new Meetups. And you're welcome to start your own Meetup.

Social awareness? Social responsibility? Don't waste your time. If Schindler's List can't stop people from being a-holes or films like Platoon can't stop morons from committing horrible acts of war against each other, I think it's safe to say that no film will ever move a majority of people to be better. If you're a scumbag, you will stay a scumbag until something happens to you personally to make you stop being a scumbag. Look at the news today? It doesn't matter what actually happens. It's all taking the facts and manipulating them to serve your agenda.

None of the recent Oscar winners of the last 10 years have moved anyone to act civil. It's all "I have an opinion and you shouldn't listen to anyone but me because I made a film."

Stick to trying and making a film that entertains or go ahead and waste your time. You can argue with a brick wall for 100 years and after that, you'll be worm food and the brick wall will still be a brick wall. It's not a question if the glass is half full or half empty. It's just the nature of the beast.

Wow, Philip Lee - I'm glad someone said that. Bravo.

You make a fair point, Philip Lee, films alone can’t transform people who have no interest in changing. But I don’t think impact is always about shifting the “majority.” Sometimes it’s about resonance, reflection, or giving someone language for something they’ve lived but never articulated. Not every story needs to carry that weight, of course, and entertainment has its own real value. I just don’t see purpose and entertainment as mutually exclusive; different projects aim for different things, and that’s part of what keeps the medium alive. Thank you for sharing your point of view.

Sandra Correia Making a film is a financial risk for someone whether you're using someone else's money or your own. Just know exactly how big your true audience is and structure the budget to put less stress on the film to make back its investment. Film is about capturing a moment in time and making it special and memorable. It's got nothing to do with who is on the A-List or how much you spent. It's about the artistry of the image, the composition of the frame, the true talent of an actor whether they have been discovered or not, and lastly, the ability to create something where your target audience wants to see your film multiple times throughout their lives. Making a one viewing and done film serves no one. Keep those basic principles in mind and you can keep your budget low giving your film a better chance of returning enough revenue to continue making more films.

One final note: Promote the hell out of it! Don't leave it up to the distribution company to overcharge you with their marketing cost. By the time you've shot your last shot, the entire world should know about your film. There are plenty of ways to talk about it without "giving it away." Some distribution companies won't touch you if you do self-promotion for reasons based on their own Hollywood accounting, but they aren't that stupid if you've created buzz on your own and they think they can make a buck off you, they'll play ball.

Absolutely, Philip Lee, knowing your audience, keeping the budget aligned with reality, and focusing on the craft are all essential. And you’re right about promotion; building buzz early can make a real difference. Thanks for laying it out so clearly.

I think it's a step in the right direction, Richard "RB" Botto. I think it's honest. I'm giving Netflix the benefit of the doubt. Longer theatrical windows make movies more money and draw more people to streaming services.

You have more faith than I do, Maurice Vaughan. But yes, if this thing goes through, and we won't likely know for many months more, and they stay true to their word, it's a victory.

Selling WB to Netflix will end in a further contraction of the industry and accelerates the death of cinemas as a whole.

Let's leave aside the financial impact, the cultural impact will be a disaster. Nobody learned from the Napster leading into Spotify example. What were the cultural touchstones in movies in 2025? Sinners? Weapons? The remakes of Lilo & Stitch and How To Train Your Dragon? Do you remember the movies this year? And don't go with "I saw this great indie movie at a festival about a watermelon"

I am not talking art here. Art is wonderful and needed, but how many of people here go to an opera? How many to a ballet?

Cultural touchstones. Without them, the industry will inevitably collapse

The last one, like it or not, was Marvel 2011-2019. Prior to that it was Harry Potter. There has been no cultural global touchstone since then

The 45 day windows is a bare minimum that would be needed, but everyone treats things now as content. With an audience so fractured, the last thing Hollywood banks on is an ever smaller pool of franchises.

Netflix will not help that. And Paramount, well... the smartest people in the room are Sony, from a financial point of view. Not that their movies are great or particularly successful, but because they just netted 7 billion dollars by Netflix. They make smaller movies, smaller profits, less risk exposure

Minh Nguyen Merci beaucoup ! N'hésite pas si tu as besoin de quelqu'un ! toujours ravis de participer et d'aider !

Jack Binder Thanks a lot !

Lindbergh Hollingsworth Thank you very much for this feedback, it is really motivating to read something like that !

Avec plaisir Lucas. ;)

Very nice!

I think it's a step in the right direction too, Richard "RB" Botto. I hope the theatrical windows get longer!

Especially long now that Paramount is suing WB in a classic hostile takeover bid. The lawsuit asks the court to force WB to reveal details about it's deal with Netflix and how it is valuing Global Networks stub equity - which WB has never made public. Paramount says (rightly IMO) that this is vital so that WB shareholders can assess the actual offers on the table. See https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/12/paramount-skydance-warner-bros-discovery...

Zero doubt, it's a brand softening effort, Rick J. Lucas. And I agree, Shadow Dragu-Mihai that the aggression (and further aggression just this morning) from Paramount played into a readjustment of PR campaign. Can't believe a thing they say, of course. But the most important thing to remember is we're likely a year away from the dust settling.

Richard "RB" Botto I would like to think that Sarandos means it - they made nice/symbolic/maybe nostalgic moves with the Paris Theater in NYC and the Egyptian in Hollywood (and one more I can't remember) - I think theaters figure into his distribution strategy... just not in the way it fits into ours. We're thinking 'the magic of going to the movies'; he's thinking 'amplifying spectacles for our streaming content!' (i.e. Stranger Things finale)

I'd like to think he does too, Sebastian Tudores. But it's tough to trust him at this point. And the timing, with all the Paramount moves and pressure, seems suspect.

Double Down.

Wow Jack Binder, thats challenging :))

I like that, Suzanne Bronson :))

Venturing into uncharted territory

Love that, Vivek Singhania.

thx for this share Sandra Correia :) yeah, it sounds like a primary goal is using the vertical feed for getting eyes on other stuff. So I think Shadow Dragu-Mihai makes that point well. 'meeting audiences where they are' is one of those ever spreading definitions, depending on what media and advertisers can and are allowed to do - I'm sure they'd love to put up billboards in our bathrooms, if we would just let them ;) ...oh wait, I forgot most of us already do carry our little rectangular billboard into the bathroom.

and I agree 100% Sandra Correia - everything is an opportunity. and probably the best way to address all new development is by engaging and guiding - more aikido, less boxing - at least, then, we can exert some influence over the outcome.

I'm trying to gather the overwhelming opportunities Sandra Correia! For me I've been preparing by anticipations, particularly with the significant leap in tech software and eventually AI!

The masses are equipped readily with smartphones and IPhones, making it distinctively obvious for some time the direction intended, major corporations were heading.

2026 is carded for major pivotal concepts in many fields and diversities! With preparedness and visualizing therefore, I'm ready with the optimisms for the journey ahead !

The comments are great!

Great points, Shadow Dragu-Mihai, especially about how “AI” and “vertical” get tossed around without much nuance. And yes, the gap between consumer‑facing tools and what studios like ILM or Nvidia are doing behind the curtain is massive.

Using verticals as traffic drivers to long‑form content makes total sense strategically. Marketing tools are changing, and I see all of this as a big new opportunity. Thank you for sharing with us.

Thanks, Sebastian Tudores! And yes, the “little rectangular billboard” made me laugh because it’s painfully true. I’m with you on the Shadow Dragu-Mihai approach. If we engage with these shifts instead of resisting them, we actually get to help shape how they evolve.

Love your optimism, Eon C. Rambally, it really is an overwhelming wave of opportunities if we stay prepared and adaptable. With the tech leaps we’re seeing and everyone carrying a production tool in their pocket, the landscape is shifting fast. Exciting times ahead, and I’m glad we’re all unpacking it together.