Trending Lounge Discussions

Welcome!

Hey @Enid welcome - what's most inspiring you right now?

Hi Enid Aames - Welcome to Stage 32.

Hi, everyone. I'd say that certain actors and real-life experiences have inspired me.

Do you have pictures of your work? I love seeing the results of people's creativity. One of the things I always fail to do is take pictures of myself working on set. As a result, a lot of people don't realise I directed or work on various projects.

C’est pareil pour moi ! En tant que gérante, j’ai participé à de nombreux projets,mais je pense rarement à prendre des photos, donc peu de gens le savent

Hey Samira, this is Lindsay from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Cinematography to Anything Goes, as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!

Hey Mikka, this is Lindsay from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Cinematography to Filmmaking / Directing, as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!

What kind of help/feedback are you looking for?

Mikka Hope First off, congrats on making your own series. The voices and images seem to be generated by AI. Am I correct?

You clearly still have your voice!

George, I'm glad you're still very much in there...and here I am, a person who spent a 22-year period (1994-2016) away from writing, saluting you!

Glad you stuck with. The world needs more storytellers.

George, you're absolutely right!

Glenn Powell The requests definitely gave me some encouragement because, like you said, at least someone saw enough potential to ask for the script.

A couple of the reads did come with positive feedback, especially the concept, characters, and dialogue, but nothing has turned into a larger opportunity yet. Most of my requests have come through pitches.

I think that’s the part that’s hard to wrap my head around sometimes. You can do everything “right” and still need the timing, the market, and the right person to like the material.

The AI trailer idea is interesting. I can see how it could help communicate vision of a project. I may give that a shot!

Thanks!

Totally agree with Glenn Powell: 5 script requests in the first year is short of insane ;). A lot of writers are struggling for 10 years till the first success. So I think you just have to go on. And what I hear a lot: "There's nothing wrong with your script, but it's not what we are looking for right now."

I have produced 22 hours of no-budget projects. Including writing and directing 3 TV movie for public access television stations. If you feel that you can't produce yourself, then one alternative is to write plays for your local amateur theatre. If you write a play which becomes a success, you may be able to secure a deal to turn it into a movie. There are also people who have created comics or radio theatre.

Adapt your scripts into producible live theatre. Fulfilling good stage work with good actors and workshopping your script will give you energy as a writer that would never come by sitting in front of a screen hustling and pitching. Theatre is the way to go. It's more accessible and you don't need a $500k budget.

Except for one script (the first one), my other 6 options (one pending), my produced film and two limited series options have come from relationships. Sending out scripts to a request and/or and OWA is fine, but seldom successful. Meet people, develop relationships and "talk movies, concepts and scripts." We need a champion for our work. I found mine (several, actually) and you need to find yours. Also - NSW (Never Stop Writing)! As Sly Stallone says about his creative work : "Keep punching!" Best wishes

Abhijeet Aade I completely agree! The biggest lesson I wish I knew was that some managers are great whereas others are "posers" without any real connections to make your screenplay into reality.

Michael David Thank you for sharing that perspective.

I think that's a lesson many writers and filmmakers eventually learn. Early on, it's easy to assume that anyone with a title automatically has the network or influence to move a project forward. But over time, you realize that relationships, track record, and genuine industry connections matter far more than titles alone.

One thing I've been learning is the importance of researching who you're working with and understanding what they've actually helped bring to market rather than what they claim they can do.

Out of curiosity, what were some of the signs that helped you distinguish the genuinely effective managers from the ones who were simply talking a good game?

Abhijeet Aade I agree. The signs that helped me distinguish effective managers from ones who weren't great was that the non-effective managers weren't able to sell my scripts and the effective managers were. I remember one manager I had would simply email my query letter to companies that only took solicitations from managers, but the emails would go unanswered because he didn't actually know anyone in those companies! Thankfully now I'm working with wonderful agents who know the game and get meetings.

Michael David Michael, that's a really valuable distinction. Having the title of manager is one thing, but having genuine relationships and the ability to get material in front of the right people is something entirely different.

Your example perfectly illustrates the difference between access and influence. Simply sending emails isn't the same as having industry relationships that lead to conversations and meetings.

I'm glad to hear you've found agents who understand the business and know how to create opportunities. It's encouraging to hear from someone who's experienced both sides of that equation and can speak from experience.

Thanks for sharing that insight.

So true! The script is just the starting point. For me, the biggest lesson is that pre-production organization is where the movie is actually made. If you treat your logistics with the same discipline as your story structure, you save yourself so much stress down the road!

This is weird - I had a whole post and apparently, Stage32 only wanted to post the first line??

Maybe there was an emoji in the original post? I've had that happen before...one of my messages got cut off because of an emoji.

No - I learnt my lesson from the first time I did that haha! How very odd? This makes me sound demanding though oopsie!!

just sent you request

insta: verdantechovisuals

I've not seen it. I did see his previous film, Milk & Serial, and the first half was average, and then things got tense and suspenseful.

I still need to see it!!

Rick Bontkowski This is what software is for. To prevent manual script formatting. You can use Trelby which is free by importing your script into Trelby. You can review my previous post. FYI writing a screenplay in word will almost double the actual page count. So if you currently have a 100 page screenplay in word, this is likely 50-60 when you get it into a screenwriting software.

Hi Rick,

I completely respect that your story and content are locked. Moving a feature blueprint from a Word document into an industry-standard format isn't just a technical data-entry job—it is a critical stage of visual translation.

Operating as a script doctor and screenwriter, my approach to formatting is centered around Visual Pacing and White-Space Management. Industry-standard screenplay software (like Final Draft) is built on a specific structural rhythm where one page equals roughly one minute of screen time. When a script is trapped in Word, the paragraph breaks, parentheticals, and action blocks completely distort this editorial tempo.

My goal in formatting a locked story is to clean the layout with zero interference to your creative choices, ensuring that the script reads with the exact cinematic rhythm you intended. We will optimize the block density, clean up the dialogue margins, and deliver a pristine, submission-ready asset that lets executives focus purely on your finished story without formatting bumps.

I will send you a DM with my background, competitive rates, and estimated turnaround time so we can get your project properly formatted and ready for the market.

Rick Bontkowski ,

Yes, this is exactly within my area of expertise. I work as a freelance book and screenplay editor, and I specialize in converting manuscripts and scripts from Word documents into properly formatted, industry-standard screenplay layouts suitable for submission.

I’ve worked with multiple writers to prepare scripts for professional presentation, ensuring correct spacing, scene headings, action lines, dialogue formatting, and overall industry compliance without altering the creative content.

If you’d like, I can review your script and provide a clear turnaround time and rate based on length.

Happy to help,

Kate

Darrell Pennington no, but for beginners - it's a free, online software that's super intuitive and easy to use immediately. Final Draft is what I use mainly, but it does cost money. WD is a good way to dip the toes in.

AI is bad screenwriter because everything becomes cliché. But it knows formating fairly well. So you can take your story. Feed it into AI (one small part at a time if you use free services instead of some paid service) and ask it to convert that into scenes. Then you combine those scenes. That will help you to learn formating. And the more you do yourself, the easier it will be for you to discuss with the person who helps you with the final details.

For writing I use Trelby. Completely free and very easy to learn. So just put the scenes from AI into a .txt file, and then import and make sure that they look about the same as when the AI service delivered.