Bill Aston: Cinematographer, director of photography and gaffer/lighting technician in Seattle, WA.

Will you be forwarding me a link to the March 13th webinar in a subsequent email!? I currently registered for the event.

Hey Bill, we recently added the ability for users to subscribe to Lounge topics. To get you started, we've automatically subscribed you to the production topic. You can see the latest posts in your subscribed topics by clicking the My Lounge subscriptions tab on your wall. You can easily add and update Lounge subscriptions by clicking Manage my subscriptions from the same page. Enjoy!

Hey Bill, I'm excited to announce our new Stage 32 Lounge, a major upgrade to the previous Discussions area. Here are some of the highlights:

• Subscriptions - Subscribe to your favorite topics and stay up to date on the subjects that matter to you most.
• My Discussions - Never lose track of discussions you created or commented on.
• Better topics - We've completely reorganized the discussion topics to make it much easier to browse and post discussions.

Hey Bill, a few days ago we implemented a new privacy setting to give you the option of accepting private messages only from users within your network. Today, I discovered a bug with the way this option is set for new users. I just wanted to let you know that the bug is now fixed, so all members are now able to receive private messages from any other member (the default setting). If you'd like to receive private messages only from users within your network, you can change this setting here. Also, you can access your privacy settings at any time from the drop-down menu that appears when you hover over your profile photo in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

While surfing through Crags list today out of sheer boredom, I decided to check out the Crew, and TV film categories. I really shouldn't do this as it does nothing but piss me immensely. Today's aggravation came from this Posting: LGBT Sag Indie ULB Feature shooting 2/08-27/12 ~ Crewing Up (Orlando) Date: 2012-01-06, 11:45PM EST Reply to: gigs-bjpsu-2787401440@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] Sag Ultra Low Budget feature film shooting this February in Orlando with named actors (3 very well known LGBT Actors). This is a passion project looking for the following LGBT Friendly crewmembers. 2nd AD (Must know how to do sag paperwork schedule G and end of day reports) Sound Person (Gear Provided) please send reel Make up Artist (Must age one character from 40 to 65) Please send pictures. Make up Artist Assistant (Intern) Wardrobe Assistant (Intern) Gaffer (Please send reel) will also work as 2 unit cam op Grip 2nd AC Script Supervisor Set dresser Prop Master PA's needed 6 please have transportation. (Intern) Cater Craft services If you are looking for experience on set this maybe the project for you. We will cover expenses, gas, food and offering back end deals (Deferments) plus dvd copy. We have 2 distributors in line and a foreign sales agent. What we don't have is a lot of money to shoot. If you have 2 ½ weeks of your time to get a feature under you belt. Please reply with a resume, what positions applying for in heading, reel if you have one, a little about your self, and days available. Recent graduates, film students, or people who want to be a part of a film that will make a difference welcomed. Let's break this down shall we. Low budget SAG film, ok means they have funding right? Nope look at the end, if you are looking for experience on set, well no I'm not looking for experience, I am actually looking to get paid to use my experience. Apparently the Gaffer is also going to be the 2nd Unit Camera Operator, another Epic Fail. How are you supposed to Gaff and run Camera at the same time? You have 3 well know LGBT actors, really? Who are they? Why are you afraid to put their names down, same question for the 2 distributors. I get a copy of the DVD? wow, how many times I have heard that and have yet to get a copy of it. At least they are covering expenses, but are they see what excuse they come up with when they don't. The crowning blow to the insult is they want a demo reel. Why do you have no creative ideas of your own, so you have to look at a real project to see how to do it? I am working for you for free, you don't need my demo. This is one of the many problems we have in our industry that makes it ever so harder to make a living at our craft. Everybody wants your skills, and gear if you own it, for free. Chances are the project will not go anywhere, but sometimes it will and they will make money off it and not share a dime of it with anyone else who worked on it. People please I urge you to not take jobs like this, it only perpetuates the problem

Nick Although I'm a very much a novice at music composition and arrangement, I have put Smartsound's SonicFire Pro 5 into my tool kit of production. It's great for me in adding this "idiot light" to my dashboard in helping me down the highway of production. But, that is the point. It's an idiot light, albeit powerful, that doesn't provide me total control over the intent of the script or maximizing the next step after locking up picture. Taking music composition, arrangement, sound design, and the mix to the "next step" is something that I'd willingly defer and hand off in better budgeted production. Bill Aston www.billaston.com

Hi Bill, we've just added a new section to your tool bar - Resources. Here you'll find links to the best acting, filmmaking, and screenwriting resources as well as a comprehensive list of film schools and film festivals. We'll be adding new categories and links regularly. One more thing, you can now find the "Messages" link in your sidebar right under your name. Enjoy!

Hi Bill, we've just released a pretty big update that I think you'll be excited about. You can now see posts and updates by everyone in your network right on your own wall. Happy networking!

Hi Bill, check out the new "Find Work" section (under Projects at the top of your screen). Here you'll find projects in development that are seeking talent in the occupations you selected in your profile. So if you’re a screenwriter, you'll see projects in need of screenwriters. It’s the perfect tool for matching creative talent with suitable projects.

Hey Bill, welcome to Stage 32! I'm the lead developer at Stage32.com. This is your network, so please let me know if you have any questions or feedback about the site. We'd love to hear your comments. Thanks. P.S. - We ask all members to invite at least 5 other people. Help build your network today.