Screenwriting

Hi, Jackson Izquierdo. Welcome to the community. I've been to NYC once. It was back in high school.

Stage 32 has a blog that'll help you navigate the platform and connect with creatives and industry professionals all over the world. www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-platform-...

Stage 32 had its monthly Community Open House last week. It'll also help you navigate the platform and make connections. You can watch the free recording here: www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32s-january-2026-community-open...

Reach out to the Success Team at success@stage32.com. Geoff and his team can help you connect with reps.

I suggest adding a detailed bio to your profile. It'll help you build relationships/network on here. You could add things to your bio like why you became a screenwriter, your accomplishments, your goals, and what movies and shows you like. You can edit your bio by clicking the gear symbol in the top right-hand corner of Stage 32, then selecting “Edit profile” in the drop-down menu, then clicking the red button underneath your location and choosing "Edit Profile."

Yikes - I got some fierce competition here.... wishing everyone luck for their projects. I hope there's success for everyone from this competition opportunity. I submitted my script 'In The House That Elle Built' - a dedication to the foster people in my family who grew up in horrible circumstances but learnt to thrive against the odds.

So many movies about Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) are about male lead characters who want to hurt people or disrupt. My story is about a female lead who learns to overcome her inner battles and finds acceptance and love for herself. I owe it to my female family members who grew up in the system to tell this story. You can come out the other side.

Lauren Hackney I love this story Lauren, I want to see this : )

Thank you Juliana Philippi I appreciate the support!

Nope. But I'm writing a Family, Action, Crime, Drama set in the Philippines at the moment. - - Well, you did ask.

I come here with a project my partner and my wife of 20 years, Sari Armington, worked on over the years. Eilley, Queen of the Comstock, is a rags to riches to rags story. Sari started researching and writing this while with Miramax as script analyst and over the years she would revisit the project. When she passed suddenly in 2025, I picked up the script and completed it, which in itself was a challenge to match her voice. Five re-writes and I think it is there. Log line sums up the film, She struck the Mother lode,built an empire, lived like a queen, then her husband died and then the men took everything.

Feature film set in the Comstock, Virginia City Nevada in the 1870s. Eilley didn't inherit it. She didn't marry into it. She earned it washing miners' filthy clothes and accepting a ten-foot claim for unpaid rent. She built the mansion. She ran the operation. The young Scot survived polygamy, the Mormon Trail, and frontier poverty, revisiting her homeland wealthy. Eilley came back to Nevada and when her husband died, the men who ran Nevada took it all. Because in 1870s America, a woman, divorced, a second marriage and then a widow, could strike silver-but not keep it.

This is Sari's opus and I certainly hope it finds an audience that embrace it and enjoy it.

I like to reveal a character's core nature little by little, but it depends on the story, Parker Anderson. I introduce a new character in a way that feels natural to what's going on in the scene.

I'm with Maurice Vaughan the gradual revelation of a character's nature is often fascinating. It works best when you can lead the audience one way, while dropping contrary hints, then volte face at some point for a big twist, reveal. Some characters you can probably reveal most of up front. Like Samwise Gamgee in the LotR - you pretty much know who he is from the beginning, but even then along the way, he decides to eventually act courageously and that's a beautiful evolution for his character. The key to all great character arcs is change/evolution and it happens on 3 levels. The first level you focus on should be internal - i.e. a characters thinking and motivations should change. The second level should be interpersonal - how their relationships change (i.e. Frodo and Sam). Frodo naively starts as the courageous adventurer and loses his confidence along the journey / while Sam is reluctant to join but grows into a hero via the same experiences along the journey and their relationship evolves to the point they are absolute equals by the end, who understand each other in a new light because of the experiences they had. The third level of change is external. The basic plot start to finish - where they come from to where they go.

Maurice Vaughan would you say these folks could possibly refer you to an agent or studio who might purchase the script? That's assuming that they like the script and it's ready for the market.

It's possible, T.A. Uner. Check out this blog that came out the other day. "Land Your First Win: What You Can Learn From Other Stage 32 Success Stories" www.stage32.com/blog/land-your-first-win-what-you-can-learn-from-other-s...

Maurice Vaughan you’re always a great help.

Glad to help, T.A. Uner.

Hey T.A., on average per month, we see over 100 script/manuscript requests from the execs to check out writers/authors full material. and on average per month, the pitch sessions generate around 50 meeting requests where the execs get with writers after reading their work to continue the conversation further. then we see frequent signings and shopping agreements come from our pitch sessions after those meetings.

we also do have a handful of execs/literary agents who are focused on book-to-film adaptations and are IP/Media Rights specialists. drop me a dime at success@stage32.com and I can spotlight them for you.

Hey Mark Thomas Kelly good questions and not something discussed a lot. Happy to shed some insight.

The main chunk is income tax. Selling a screenplay generally requires reporting income via IRS Form 1099-NEC (if independent) or W-2 (if employed by production company) to declare earnings on your income tax return (Form 1040, Schedule C) as self-employment income. Some screenwriters use a loan-out corporation (S-Corp) to manage payments if sale is big enough ($60,000 to $100,000+ range) and are happening consistently (no point in having a loan out for a one off).

If you are not considered an employee (i.e. an Independent Contractor), the production company will likely send you a Form 1099-NEC for your sale. You will get all the money up front. Come tax season, you'll need to prove that you don't owe any -- or at least, not a lot of -- taxes on it. In that situation, you're going to become very good friends with the Schedule C - Profit or Loss from a Business.

If you are considered an employee by the production company, then you're going to lose a chunk of taxes up front, because every accounting department in the US uses a payroll software program that automatically pulls your fed and state income tax out of the check. If this is your situation, you're going to have to get that money back as a refund, using everyone's favorite tax form, Schedule A - Itemized deductions.

There's other considerations that factor into play -- whether you have a job and are getting income from other sources, whether you are filing as a single person or married / joint, and all the other tax considerations. State/Federal tax rates do apply. There are even city tax considerations if you're in LA. Always always always hire an accountant to work through it all. Well worth it and will save you all the headaches, while helping you keep the most $ possible.

The key is tracking your "writing business" expenses, going back to Jan 1. Don't wait, because your bank/credit card companies don't always keep financial records indefinitely and if you have to request documents from them after the availability window closes, you may be out of luck or pay some kind of fee. Make sure you have either paper or electronic statements from every account (cash and credit) you've used since Jan 1 to reference.

If you're feeling ambitious, you can use a budget-tracking program to get a sense of your claimable expenses. Some will import electronic statements in a variety of formats and create spending reports if you're willing to put in a weekend or so of sorting and labeling. This will give you some ballpark numbers to start with come tax time, but you'll need to come back at the end of the year to make sure everything is updated and accurate as of 12/31 -- it's usually not a set-it-and-forget-it deal. There's a variety of expenses to track, check with the IRS / do online research to make sure you're aware of what exactly can be deductible (again an accountant will know this for you).

One note: If you're going to claim any of your residence as a home office, it really has to be a dedicated space that has no secondary, non-business use (dining room/office, laundry/room office, home gym/office). That's an area of the tax code where people have been known to bend the rules, and the IRS pushes back pretty aggressively.

You'll need these expense records to document the numbers you're going to put into either Sch A or Sch C, depending on your situation. If you were paid as a contractor and you're doing the Sch C, you'll list all your contractor income ($X), all your expenses (TBD) and do the math. If your expenses exceed your income, you've shown a loss; the other way around would be a profit. If you show a profit, you'll report that on your 1040 and added with all your other income for the year, that's what you'll owe taxes on. Obviously a smaller profit means less money you owe taxes on. You show a smaller profit by making sure to document all the legitimate business expenses you accrued in the course of the year.

If you show any profit at all, you'll also have to fill out the Schedule SE, because even as a contractor, you have to cover your Social Security contributions, which are added to your tax bill on the 1040.

How to manage your money? Well, the best route is usually to put it in a savings or investment account. If you have to live on it, so be it. But if it is a secondary income, then you should absolutely do what you can to grow the amount via investments based on your individual risk profile.

Some tips I'd rec: Decide an amount (less than 7% if sale is big enough) and do something nice for yourself - whether that's a vacation or a home improvement, etc. It's always nice to reward your effort / achievement and go make a memory or substantially improve your world materially.

Also, if you're keen on joining the WGA, it's helpful to know that there is a $2,500 one-time initiation fee for full (Current) membership, plus quarterly dues of 1.5% of covered earnings and a $25 base fee. So if you want the best health insurance in entertainment and believe you will have more sales in the future to keep your WGA membership current, then you will want to put aside that amount.

Maurice Vaughan, that’s an incredible win, and such a perfect example of what happens when you show up and connect here. Meeting a producer during Introduce Yourself Weekend and landing a shopping agreement is exactly the kind of winning so many writers and creators hope for. Thank you for sharing it; it really shows what’s possible in this community.

You're welcome, Sandra Isabel Correia. Thanks. Exactly. Talent, timing, concept, etc. pay roles in getting wins, but it's also about showing up and connecting on here. A lot of my wins on here came from showing up and connecting.

Maurice Vaughan YES MAURICE!! OMG that's amazing, congratulations!!! Sandra Isabel Correia I got my first script request for my comedy "Hotel Puerto Rico" at the beginning of the week! And just happily flowing with the light, love and focus: an artist's life : ) My first, first win was last summer, late summer, when I started to pitch my drama "A House for the Flowers", and I got my first script request, then another, and then another...then meetings. Beyond grateful for this platform, Stage 32 has truly changed my life. Also, working on prep for a film in the works, getting into the character's life since she is a dancer...and also saying yes and thank you for all the things that are leaving my life, making room for the new agents, new contracts and new films to write and act in.

First win this year is finishing a Hallmark Christmas script with my writing partner. We just started sending out queries and already have two requests to read the script. Hopefully we have a second win on the horizon!

My very first win here on Stage 32 was the November Write Club Award. It wasn’t just a win—it made me realize that my ideas truly have value. It pushed me to take this path seriously, not as a hobby anymore, but as a career in the making. This is the real Meriem finally speaking up.

Thanks for the exercise, Maria Restivo Glassner. I'm going to do it with the next movie I watch. I'll post what I come up with.

yeah interesting exercise!

Thanks Maurice Vaughan, my Mum always says she loves my titles and they are the first things I come up with before starting any story. And indeed my intended slate is a lot and it's not even all the stuff I wanna get done (since trip is booked for October I decided to challenge myself to ramp my productivity up in the next ~9 months), but I want to build my portfolio up and not have my active/on hiatus projects haunting me.

You're welcome, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. A title is big for a script. I like one-word titles and catchy titles the most. I don't want to have my open projects haunting me either. One of my goals this year is finish unfinished projects. We got this!

Nice Maurice Vaughan, and thanks yes, we do! My favourite titles to cook up are for my social satires that blend adjective-noun (Metal Garden, Lunar Window, Glass Waltz, etc), but Finding Elpis's were also pretty fun incorporating different musical terms. Petal's titles, particularly the comic series', were trickier but just as satisfying being single words with multiple meanings (Conviction, Induction, Contact, etc.). It's why I know I won't take any suggestion to change titles laying down lol

You're welcome, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. I'll have to try adjective-nouns and musical terms for titles. Thanks for the idea.

You're welcome, Maurice Vaughan~

Hey, Billy Kwack. What's one thing that stood out to you?

Hey Maurice, all the details in writing a sci-fi, it makes me feel like to add more detail and understanding of other worlds

That's great, Billy Kwack. I'm outlining a Sci-Fi Drama TV series, and I'm going to make maps to help me develop the world.

This is an incredible blog. I completely love it. Thanks so much for sharing, Maurice!

You're welcome, Sydney S. I've built a lot of worlds for scripts, but Cynna talks about some things I never thought of when building worlds. If you're a writer building a world, definitely check out this blog.

I like WaterWalkers, Libby Wright! "Were there beings that we couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't recognize until there was enough moisture in the air?" That's creepy and scary.

Ok, everyone-- any guesses on the book author, genere, or storyline of the excerpt before I reveal?

Sorry- I was locked out of Stage 32 for a week or so with the new authentication system. Here's the book (which was made into films and a TV series too in the 1990's) Christy by Catherine Marshall. It's based on her mother's real life experience and the scene I shared is her in the early 1900's on a train into the Apapachian Mountains to teach in a one room schoolhouse. Is that what you thought it would be?

Sorry to hear that happened, Libby Wright. Glad you're back and hope you're doing great! Thanks for sharing what the book is. I thought it was from a Sci-Fi book.

Maurice Vaughan yes- when I read that passage I just thought- this could be just about anything- it's so foreboding!

Hi, Nadine Pevec. Welcome to the community. Stage 32 has a blog that'll help you navigate the platform and connect with creatives and industry professionals all over the world. Directors, producers, execs, managers, and more. www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-platform-...

Stage 32 had its monthly Community Open House last week. It'll also help you get around the platform and make connections. You can watch the free recording here: www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32s-january-2026-community-open...

And I'm a Stage 32 Lounge Moderator. If you ever have any questions about Stage 32, let me or another Lounge Moderator know. We have badges on our pictures.

Your short sounds intriguing! I write a lot of shorts and use symbolism a lot in scripts. I like symbolism throughout scripts and movies, but I prefer a clear ending.

Thank you so much Maurice! I really appreciate all the help, and I’m very thankful for the included links as well! I appreciate the compliment too! :)

You're welcome, Nadine Pevec. You could post your script on your profile when it's ready. Producers search profiles for projects. That and networking are how I sold four short scripts to a producer. Click the gear symbol in the top right-hand corner and select “Edit profile” in the drop-down menu. Scroll down to “Loglines” and click “Add/edit loglines” to the right of “Loglines.” You can also post your script on your profile this way: www.stage32.com/loglines (near the top where it says “Add a Logline”)

And David Rodriguez-Carrillo is looking for short scripts (www.stage32.com/lounge/introduce_yourself/UK-Based-Producer-Seeking-Shor...).

About having one color for each door related to an internal state of mind. With my background in no-budget filming, I have the following comment. The screen is small, so there is only limited room for details. Due to this, people will not notice the color of the door as much as in real life.

Thank you, and I do agree. It’s very hard as it’s relating to a specific state of mind; I have updated it and tweaked it to make it a bit more broader.