Trending Lounge Discussions

Sua trajetória parece incrível. Desejo-lhe muito sucesso na sua carreira de diretor!

JungGyu Park That’s an incredible journey especially transitioning from visual art into directing. Your experience across projects and exhibitions really shows a strong visual foundation, which is always exciting to see in filmmaking.

Would love to know more about your recent film what kind of story did you explore, and how was your experience stepping into the director’s role for the first time?

Glad you’re here looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Subject: Excited to Share My Project

Dear Abhijeet and JungGyu,

Thank you for your kind words! I’m excited to share my latest project, “The Secret of Dubai – Saga Al-Hamdan”, an international suspense drama about Isabella Al-Hamdan, a powerful heiress uncovering hidden conspiracies while protecting her family and legacy.

Directing this project for the first time has been an amazing experience, blending my background in writing and visual arts to create a cinematic story full of suspense, strategy, and emotional depth.

I’d be happy to share scenes or my pitch deck if you’d like to see more.

Warm regards,

Ana Cristina Rodrigues

I have a personal production that may interest you, the name is "the child God ordered to kill". It talks about a child who was born in an extremist religious environment and how he found a way through books and questions. If you want to know more, I'm interested in passing this story, send me a message

Beautiful work! Glad you found our community here. Welcome!

I've made so many posts and comments for so long, I don't remember when I started seeing results, Abhijeet Aade. I haven't been that active on Stage 32 lately because of health issues. I've been catching up on some posts and messages today. But it's not always about being super active. Sometimes it's about meeting the right person/people.

That makes a lot of sense, Maurice Vaughan really appreciate your honesty.

It’s reassuring to hear that it’s not just about constant activity, but also about connecting with the right people at the right time. I guess it’s a mix of consistency and timing.

Wishing you a smooth recovery as well hope everything gets better on your end soon.

Thanks again for sharing your experience, it’s genuinely helpful.

You're welcome, Abhijeet Aade. Yeah, it's a mix of consistency and timing. Thanks. Have a great week!

Abhijeet Aade The short answer is yes! Producers, managers, and collaborators discover projects and talented people through Stage 32 conversations all the time. But it usually doesn’t happen from a single post alone. It comes from consistent visibility, thoughtful engagement, and relationship building over time.

We’ve seen some really great examples of this in the community! For instance, Sandra Correia built her crew and created her first short film, which is now screening at festivals around the world, from connections she made right here in the lounges:

https://www.stage32.com/blog/from-idea-to-laurel-how-i-wrote-directed-pr...

Just recently, a producer reached out to Stage 32 member Lauren Hackney to collaborate on a screenplay after connecting through conversations in the Screenwriting Lounge. She shared about that experience in yesterday's blog:

https://www.stage32.com/blog/why-stage-32-feels-like-a-choose-your-own-a...

Keep showing up, sharing your process, asking questions like this, and engaging with others. That’s where the real momentum tends to build.

And of you're curious about the other ways that Stage 32 members are finding success, you can check out this awesome blog from a few weeks ago that breaks down other Success Stories from the last year: https://www.stage32.com/blog/land-your-first-win-what-you-can-learn-from...

It happens all the time! We have had hundreds of success stories over the years that you can more about here: https://www.stage32.com/scriptservices/success-stories. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. We recently published an article compiling the more than 80 success stories that happened last year with writers getting signed, having their projects produced and more: https://www.stage32.com/blog/land-your-first-win-what-you-can-learn-from... I'd recommend sending me and the team an email at success@stage32.com, sharing more information about your writing and your goals so that we can help you.

Maria Restivo Glassner Thank you, I'm not great at drawing so It did take a lot of time to do this, overall it's a concept that payes omage to the classic cartoons.

Sydney S Thank you. I've put a lot of effort. I have way much more art about this, I just chose this one because is my fauvorite.

This looks fantastic. Just the time of extreme artwork needed in the 3D space.

Kevin Jackson Thank you I think the same.

Congratulations on Armstrong-D.U. being under consideration by a producer, @Alex! Dog's Land sounds fun and incredible! I like both animation styles in the picture, especially the bottom style! I like the idea of having a hybrid language! I'm looking forward to seeing how Dog's Land looks on screen!

I would give it one more week. When you do follow up, keep it short and warm — reaffirm your interest, mention you're still very excited about the opportunity, and ask if there's any update on the timeline.

Thank You!

Hi Eva, what a coincidence. I just watched the movie "Not As A Stranger" yesterday from 1955 with Robert Mitchum and Olivia de Havilland. They spit out medical terms that flew over my head. Although the terminology may be outdated from that time period, medical jargon is a language unto itself. A bit of trivia-according to IMDB, Not As A Stranger is one of the first films showing a beating heart undergoing open-heart surgery.

Hi Eva Mathews, welcome to Stage 32! I’m Ashley, Head of Community here on the platform. I’m really glad you introduced yourself.

Your background in family medicine and your willingness to help with medical accuracy is such a valuable resource for storytellers.

You might enjoy spending some time in the Screenwriting Lounge (https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting). Writers there are often discussing story development and craft, and I imagine many would appreciate insights from someone with real-world medical experience.

I’m also hosting a free March Community Open House where I walk through how to navigate Stage 32 strategically, build meaningful industry relationships, and make the most of the tools and resources available here. You’re very welcome to join us:

https://www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32s-march-2026-communit...

Really glad you’re here, Eva. I have a feeling a lot of writers will be grateful for your expertise.

Thank you Eva Mathews !

Awesome, thank you!

Eva Mathews Welcome to the community!

This is actually a very valuable skill set medical accuracy can make a huge difference in storytelling, especially in thrillers and psychological dramas.

I’m currently working on projects that involve intense situations and character psychology, so having authentic medical details can really elevate the realism.

Would love to know what are some of the most common medical inaccuracies you’ve seen in films?

Very cool David McKenna!

No plan B = Burning the ships! Sometimes the only way to move is forward!

Thanks for sharing that, David.

Hey, @David! It's great to meet you. Really impressive resume! Congratulations on all your success! I saw SWAT in theaters. Loved it!

Appreciate you sharing this—this is something I’m starting to understand more recently. The shift from just focusing on writing a good script to actually thinking about positioning and the business side has been a big realization.

Out of curiosity, what do you think is the biggest mistake newer writers make when trying to get their work in front of the right people?

When working at a production company we were told not to engage with writers directly unless it was on a project already on our slate - until then - it all had to go through the agent, even setting meetings etc! A lot of companies are really strict on this. The best way to get on the radar of new people as a writer is via scratch nights or writing competitions (or places like stage 32!) x

Hi, Emilia-Maria. I'm doing ok. Congratulations on approaching people in the industry and getting a script request!

I've gotten script requests and made connections with cold query emails. Some producers, directors, etc. get back to me, but I don't hear anything a lot of times. Sometimes I hear back quickly, and sometimes it takes weeks or months.

One tip for cold query emails is use a catchy subject line.

I like to start a query letter with "Hi, _________ (the person's name),"

I'll put something like "How are you doing?" or something catchy next.

Then I let the person (executive, director, producer, etc.) know why I'm emailing.

After that, I mention the logline.

This is more for script leads than cold query emails: If the script leads say the producers, companies, etc. are open to more than a logline, I include a short synopsis. Sometimes I also put what's special/unique about the script (usually just one sentence) and a small paragraph about how many characters are in the script, how many locations are in the script, etc., but I like to keep my query letters brief, so I usually don't add those things. Producers, agents, etc. get a lot of query letters, so they don't have time to read a long query letter.

Next, I mention that a treatment and a pitch deck are available, then I thank the person for hearing my pitch.

I end the email with my name and contact info.

I like to make the query letter for a Horror script scary, the query letter for a Comedy funny, etc.). And I experiment with ways to write a query letter.

Emilia-Maria, when it comes to cold queries, one important thing to know is that for legal reasons, most production companies, producers, and reps can’t even open, much less respond to, unsolicited emails or submissions. In many cases, they’re instructed to delete them immediately. It’s not personal, it’s about protecting themselves from any potential claims that something already in development is “too similar” to something they received without a formal submission process. That’s why you’ll often hear silence more than rejection. A lack of response usually isn’t about your work, it’s about company policy.

There are exceptions. For example, Zero Gravity Management, which is an awesome production and management company, is known for accepting unsolicited queries, but companies like that are the minority. It takes a bit of research to find the ones that are open to it.

This is actually one of the big reasons Stage 32 exists. Our founder RB Botto created the platform so creatives could connect directly with working industry professionals. Here, you have the opportunity to build real relationships over time, share your voice in conversations, and get on people’s radar in a much more natural way. That’s often what leads to reads, collaborations, and even representation down the line. But even more importantly, it provides you with professional insight and mentorship that is almost impossible to find elsewhere.

So I’d say keep doing what you’re doing, continue researching where queries are appropriate, but also lean into spaces like these lounges where the connection itself is part of the process. You can also reach out to our Stage 32 Success Team at Success@Stage32.com. Tell them about your goals, projects, and the kind of professionals you're interested in connecting with. They can give you curated advice about the professionals here on Stage 32 that may be best suited to you and your goals.

Hi Ashley Renée Smith yes, I'm well aware and I tend to not send anything if I see any note on unsolicited scripts - I take it quite seriously :'D As most of the site is mostly geared towards a US audience, I'm less likely to respond to US based companies, like Zero Gravity. Mostly because if, and that's a big if, my work was picked up, it'd have to be UK based through and through.

I have actually been rifling through the deep dark corners of the internet to try and find any that do accept unsolicited but, even then, I'm the type to make initial contact and query, haha! Then they can tell me via email where to politely sod off xD

Thanks for your input, much appreciated!!

Hey Tash, thanks for your insight. I did think that's the case. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't sort of situation. But I'll keep plodding on, regardless ;) thanks!!

I want to see the film adaptation of this screenplay!

Are you adapting the script yourself, Porshia?

Thank you all for your interest and thoughtful comments.

At the moment, the story exists as a published gothic folk-horror novelette titled “The Tailor of Hollowstitch.”

I’m open to adapting it into a screenplay myself or collaborating with filmmakers and screenwriters who are interested in developing it for film.

I appreciate the feedback and the discussion around the concept.

— Porshia Nowrin

Porshia Nowrin Thanks for explaining. If you ever want to discuss how I can be of support or service with regards to the adaptation of your novelette, do feel free to message me.

Does the story take place in a specific time period?

Hey, Lauritz Ingram. Welcome to Stage 32. Here's a blog that'll help you navigate the platform: www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-platform-...

And here's a video that'll help you navigate Stage 32: www.stage32.com/help?category=how-to-navigate-stage&parent=341676

You can edit your comment by clicking "edit" to the right of your name where it says "edit," "delete," and the time you made the comment.

Hey Maurice … Thanks

https://youtu.be/h6Q4ilD448s?si=HTGK8RTWMEOWNfMs

You're welcome, @Lauritz.

Love that you're asking before posting — it's a small gesture but it says a lot about how you're approaching this space. The best resources always land better when they meet people where they actually are in their work. Personally, the intersection of story and visual language feels endlessly rich, but what would be most useful probably depends on where people are in their process — so what stage is everyone at, and what's the specific wall you keep running into?

Sam Rivera Thank you! I really appreciate your perspective, this is exactly how I try to approach sharing resources. To answer your question, right now, we’re juggling multiple stages across projects: some teams are deep in storyboarding, others refining visual style, and a few tackling timing and animation physics. The challenges vary, sometimes it’s nailing expressive character movement, other times maintaining design consistency while pushing exaggeration.

For me, I am always interested in 3 things when it comes to animation.

1. Seeing how others accomplish their animated projects, especially indie creators.

2. Indie success stories.

3. What's happening in other animation industries.

Kevin Jackson we are similar in our interest. I have found a certain passion for being in the indie space, so I'm always asking questions on how individuals advance their animation within the niche. If I come across anything that would help you with those three points I'll be sure to send them your way.

Ali Hadi Well I see you had an interesting idea but this is very disjointed and hard to follow. Also, no its not protected by copyright, which I mention because that's the first thing you put up on the screen. The US Supreme Court just ruled on that. So the rule is that AI generated content cannot be copyrighted unless you have done fairly extensive changes to it, so this is actually public domain content at this time

Thank you for watching the film and for taking the time to give feedback. I appreciate your comments about the story clarity and structure.

This short was created as a brief version of a much longer script. I made it for a competition where the film had to be under 10 minutes, so it only shows a small part of the larger story.

Regarding the copyright point, I understand that purely AI-generated material may not be protected in the U.S. However, this project includes significant human creative work. I wrote the story, designed the characters, edited the footage, arranged the scenes, and added sound and music while modifying the AI outputs. Because of that human creative input, parts of the work can still be protected.

I also have the full script for the larger story, which I’m continuing to develop. I am currently looking for producers interested in sci-fi animation projects like this one, and I would love to connect with anyone interested in collaborating or developing the project further.

Finally, I would really appreciate any advice on the best way to protect my film while sharing it with producers or collaborators.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Ali Hadi If you want to protect your script, register copyright before showing it to anyone or disseminating it. If you want to protect the film you are showing here, for the reasons I state below, IMO you cannot. If it is generated with AI, anyone can use it and will if they wish and you will have an impossible and exceptionally expensive task proving it's yours if they do that. As far as animation projects, some studios are integrating generative AI but they are facing the issues I set out below as well. This is problematic from a legal standpoint and doesn't save as much time and money in an animation production pipeline as people would wish.

Your ideas on copyright are similar to what most people wanting to use generative AI wish to be true, but isn't. Essentially, for generative AI to be useful to create a professional commercial movie, as it currently exists, it would have the be used only as an animation tool working only with your originally created images. If it generates anything at all that you don't provide at first instance, that's a problem for copyright, and not least of all because you may be infringing someone else's copyright (the AI doesn't care that it's using someone else's work - as Anthropic just found out through $1.5 billion in fines). For example, when you say you "designed the characters" do you mean you drew them from scratch or you took photos of actual people whose releases you got, and then the AI animated the images which you personally created? Because that is literally the only way you can claim you designed the characters. If you designed by "prompting" then that doesn't count, because prompts are only ideas. Prompts, as ideas, are not expressions, and as such they do not attract copyright. You can edit the sequence, but that only means you have copyright in the particular sequence itself, not in the underlying image, because your actual expression is only in the sequence. That doesn't transform the images. You would have to significantly transform the AI generated images to be able to claim copyright in them. Editing a sequence doesn't count and adding sound effects and voice doesn't count, as those are all separate copyrights. You have the copyright to the script of course, so long as you wrote it and didn't generate it with AI. But query whether you are putting the script into public domain when you release it with, essentially, public domain images (that's an interesting legal question, which should worry anyone who is doing this). Further, no one thinks about this: if the AI is generating an image or video sequence for you, it has already generated similar or identical images or sequences for someone else, and it it will again in the future. So you see, if you want to be a filmmaker, AI is fine for ideation, but nearly pointless for final production.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai Thank you for your detailed explanation — I really appreciate you taking the time to clarify the legal challenges of AI-generated content. I understand that purely AI-generated material cannot be copyrighted and that prompts alone do not create copyrightable expression.

For my project, I want to clarify that while I used AI to generate some visual elements, I also contributed significant human creative input: I wrote the script from scratch, created the storyboards, designed character concepts, and arranged the sequences. I also added sound, music, and narration to support the narrative. I understand that the copyright in the images themselves may be limited, but my intention is to use the AI-assisted visuals as a tool within a larger creative work, rather than claiming copyright over the raw AI-generated images.

I am continuing to explore ways to protect my work while sharing it with producers, and I will be careful to register the script and clearly document my human contributions. Thank you again for sharing your insights — it’s extremely helpful for understanding the limitations and proper use of AI in filmmaking.

Ali Hadi So if you need an illustration, try this test: If you use a prompt that I wrote for an AI video, and therefore get the same character or scene I created, then I have no legal or moral complaint against you. If on the other hand I drew the character and only had the AI animate it, the only way you can get the same character is if you appropriate the work I did. Even if you used the same prompt, without my original expression of the idea, it would produce a different character, and one which it is producing for untold numbers of other people. That's the basic difference between an idea and an expression of an idea. The idea, everyone can have and can repeat ad nauseum (usually). The specific and peculiar expression I create from that idea in mind is mine, and mine alone. No one else can do the same. The idea is worthless. The expression is everything.

As I said, character concepts are ideas, unless you actually drew the characters, right? Storyboards are expressions in themselves, but they are not part of the output so they do not change the character of the output, Just be wise and reasonable in your expectations. Creation is a human phenomenon and ideas and concepts have never, and never will, be given copyright protection. Only the human expression can be protected.

Hi there, Masud Hassan, welcome to Stage 32! I’m Ashley, Head of Community here on the platform. I’m glad you took the time to share about your project. If you’re developing both a book and a script, I encourage you to spend time participating in the Screenwriting Lounge (https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting) and the Authoring Lounge (https://www.stage32.com/lounge/playwriting). Those spaces are great for connecting with other writers, discussing craft, and sharing insights as you continue developing your work.

If you’re thinking about next steps for your project, such as development, pitching, or positioning your story for film, our Success Team can help guide you toward curated resources and opportunities that align with your goals. You can reach them at Success@Stage32.com.

I’m also hosting our March Community Open House webcast where I walk through how to navigate Stage 32 strategically, build meaningful industry relationships, and make the most of the platform’s tools and resources:

https://www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32s-march-2026-communit...

Glad you’re here. I look forward to seeing you around the Lounges and learning more about your story.

Hi Ashley, Thanks for the message, actually mu book is published on Gumroad, Lulu, and the link is : hassanwrites.gumroad.com/l/hbiutp, but i am giving now promotional discount as well but you can read it for free from chapter 1 to 3 on payhip: https://payhip.com/b/GFaHV, this book is non-fiction and its Biography and memoirs. so if you have time, please read atleast 3 chapters on this boo, Title: Beyond Borders Betrayal and Injistice

you can find my book in my https://mh-marketplace.itch.io/