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Screenwriting

From structure to content to representation to industry trends, this is the place to discuss, share content and offer tips and advice on the craft and business of screenwriting

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Find Your Footing on Stage 32: Join Our December Community Open House!

Find Your Footing on Stage 32: Join Our December Community Open House!

Monday, December 29th at 12:00 pm PT!

Every success story begins with a first step.

If you’re ready to take yours, join me, Ashley Smith, Head of Community at Stage 32, for our December Community Open House Webcast happening Monday, December 29th at 12:00 pm PT!

Free Registration: https://www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32-s-december-community-open-house-webcast-with-ashley-smith

Whether you’re chasing representation, looking for collaborators, or simply tired of creating in isolation, this live event is your chance to show up, be seen, and start making real progress.

This isn’t just an overview — it’s your creative launchpad. You’ll walk away with practical tools, new connections, and a clear path forward, no matter your background or where you are in your career.

You’ll Learn How To:

  • Navigate Stage 32 like a pro and make the platform work for your goals
  • Build authentic connections through the Stage 32 Lounges
  • Access Education, Certification, and Script Services tailored to your next big move
  • Show up in ways that get you noticed by the right people at the right time
  • Participate in real-time Q&A and get guidance specific to your path

Whether you’re a writer, filmmaker, actor, producer, composer, editor, or wear multiple creative hats — this is where your Stage 32 journey truly begins.

If you can’t attend live, don’t worry — registering ensures you’ll receive the full recording to watch anytime from anywhere.

Who’s planning to join me live for the Open House?


Liked by Meriem Bouziani and 6 others

Juliana Philippi
A One Worded Logline…Post Holiday Bloat Reviver!

Holiday cheer to all!!!

Some tea, water with salt…lemon water…deep breaths after the wonderful meals, moments, sweets and comfort food.

To help me, and now us, get our ninja creative artist back up from the couch:

A ONE word logline, for a current script, or a future script…

Mine:

Rise

Maurice Vaughan

Team

Sandra Isabel Correia

Revive

Eric Christopherson

Bacchanalia

Sydney S

Believe

Meriem Bouziani

PFC

Liked by Letícia Peyrous and 16 others

Karon Paige
Protagonist Question

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a nice holiday if you celebrated.

Hi everyone — I’m relatively new to screenwriting and would really appreciate some perspective on a craft question I keep running into.

I wrote a feature script called The Twin Job, centered on long-lost twins on opposite sides of the...

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Abram Christian

I can see this on Pime.

Eon C. Rambally

Karon Paige, it's excellent writing and story concept! The twin can be given the characteristics of the Robin Hood type. That will make her more compatible with chemistry and bloodline concepts! Her s...

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Karon Paige

Eon C. Rambally you totally read my mind. Anna, the thief is a Robin Hood type of lady. Because she grew up in the streets with no parents, her team donate a lot of the money they steal to girls who a...

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Karon Paige

I appreciate the feedback from everyone. This really helps me!

Eon C. Rambally

Karon Paige it includes how the world of law enforcement operates! Train the twin that knows the evil side of the so called upright figures and you have an even more dynamic officer of the law and of...

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Liked by Maurice Vaughan

Baron Rothschild
"Ideas Don’t Build Projects — Systems Do”

Most creators think their project is built on an idea.

But the idea is just the spark — the system around it is what makes it durable.

The idea gives you direction, but the system gives you stability.

The idea creates excitement, but the system creates momentum.

The idea gets you started, but the sy...

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Liked by Sydney S and 16 others

Mark Deuce
Write A Sad Story Only Using 3 Words

Happy Holidays Writing & GRINDING!!

Alex Gutenberg

Lauren Hackney I'm just warming up :) Thanks!

Carmen Mosley

It never came.

Lauren Hackney

Way to raise the bar Matthew Thompson that absolutely got dark!!!!!

Lauren Hackney

Carmen Mosley .......oooooor..... 'She never came'. Saddest story ever!

Elizabeth Rowin

He's not dead.

Liked by Letícia Peyrous and 3 others

Darrell Pennington
Song Sung Blue

This is the type of movie I aspire to in my mind as I work on feature projects. Well written, impactful, a human story that is relatable, character development that is well paced, and not a superhero or monster in sight. I hope people will go see it - it is the type of movie that rarely generates si...

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Maurice Vaughan

I'll check out Song Sung Blue and see if I can pick up some writing tips, Darrell Pennington. Thanks. I need to check out Prisoners too.

Liked by Sandra Isabel Correia and one other

Gilad Riv
What between them

Which pitch would be more appealing: one that summarizes the film in one page without being very detailed or one that is longer on the plot/motifs and everything else?

Maurice Vaughan

I think a one-page pitch that summarizes the film without being very detailed is more appealing, Gilad Riv. You don't want your pitch to have so many details that the person you're pitching to gets lo...

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Sandra Isabel Correia

I agree with Maurice, Gilad Riv

Stephen Folker

Less is more. And what it could bed made for.

Liked by Sandra Isabel Correia and 29 others

Maurice Vaughan
Happy Holidays From The Stage 32 Team!

Happy Holidays! What's something you're proud of accomplishing this year? And what are you setting your sights on in 2026? Share it in the comments or the blog comments. www.stage32.com/blog/happy-holidays-from-the-stage-32-team-4324...

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Maurice Vaughan

Happy Holidays, Imola Orbán! Glad you're part of the community. I hope the youth filmmaker course goes great and you reach your goals in 2026!

You could get advice on making short films in Stage 32's F...

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Juliana Philippi

Maurice Vaughan Feliz Navidad!!! I’m looking forward to flowing and trusting the energy I’ve learned to feel and be:) writing, acting, all of it’s … here. Wishing everyone a fantastic end to this year...

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Maurice Vaughan

Feliz Navidad, Juliana Philippi! Thanks. Hope you have a fantastic end to this year too and hope you reach your goals in 2026!

Imola Orbán

Maurice Vaughan Thank you! I've heard about the Filmmaking/Directing Lounge, and I writed posts in it before :)

Maurice Vaughan

You're welcome, Imola Orbán. Excited to see more of your short films!

Liked by Letícia Peyrous and 4 others

Baron Rothschild
“The Real Reason Drafts Collapse”

Most screenwriters think the draft falls apart because the idea wasn’t strong enough.

But drafts don’t collapse from weak ideas — they collapse from missing structure.

Clarity isn’t a rewrite tool.

Clarity is the foundation the rewrite stands on.

Maurice Vaughan

I think structure is one of the main reasons a draft collapses, Baron Rothschild. Once I learned structure, my scripts got better. A weak idea can make a draft collapse too....

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Baron Rothschild

Absolutely, Maurice — and I agree that weak ideas can create problems downstream.

What I’ve found is that structure is the first place things show the collapse.

When the architecture is clear, even a...

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Liked by Letícia Peyrous and 26 others

Sandra Isabel Correia
Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays <3

This Christmas, I’m honouring every version of myself: the soft drafts, the fierce rewrites, the healing arcs, the growing chapters.

Because the truth is: we’re never just one version.

We’re all of our scenes, all of our evolutions, all of our awakenings.

And this year, my wish, for myself and for this...

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Sandra Isabel Correia

Merry Xmas sweet Morgan Aitken. Absolutely beautifully put.

Stage 32 feels real because we make it real. It’s the people here, the care, the listening, the connection that remind us we don’t have to wa...

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Meriem Bouziani

Happy New Year. I hope you all find the love, success, and happiness you deserve—and much more. Enjoy the holidays.

Rose Dupuis

Thank you Sandra Isabel Correia, this time of year fills hearts to fullness overflowing. A bit of Celtic Christmas music, hot cocoa and snow falling for the first time this year is that magic spirit. My wish to all of you is this light of love follow you into 2026.

Thiago Carvalho

Beautiful words. God bless you a lot. I'm sure you will find sucess in all your projects.

Sandra Isabel Correia

Thank you, Meriem Bouziani, Rose Dupuis and Thiago Carvalho :)) I appreciate you all <3...

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Liked by Vanessa Chattman 2 and one other

Ehsan Rahimpour
Ingmar Bergman's Advice for Scriptwriters

Bergman describes his routine for writing scripts, which he calls his "ritual". Excerpt from a 1998 documentary called "Ingmar Bergman on Life and Work".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8leigkVajak

Maurice Vaughan

Thanks for sharing the video, Ehsan Rahimpour. I'm working on a short script that started with a scene I had in my head. It's a great way to come up with a script. Come up with a scene and build a sto...

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Liked by Letícia Peyrous and 8 others

Ehsan Rahimpour
The Gift of Endurance

No. 07 / Robert McKee, a wise voice on storytelling, highlights an important point: 

Mastery of genre is essential for yet one more reason: Screenwriting is not for sprinters, but for long-distance runners. No matter what you’ve heard about scripts dashed off over a weekend at poolside, from first in...

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Maurice Vaughan

I agree, Ehsan Rahimpour. Writing a script seems fast and easy, but it's not. That's something aspiring writers should know. One of the things that keeps my desire burning over while I work on a scrip...

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Ehsan Rahimpour

You’re right Maurice Vaughan, writing a screenplay is really a long relationship with an idea. When the core concept inspires you, that feeling becomes the energy that makes the process not just beara...

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Marie Hatten

Think this is only just starting to dawn on me and I'm not far into the process.

Liked by Nataly Kiut and 22 others

Sandra Isabel Correia
Why You Are a Screenwriter?

Every pitch, consultation, or coverage session comes down to one essential beat: our WHY. Why did we write that screenplay? Why are we storytellers? Why must we be the chosen ones?

My WHY: I write because stories shape how we see ourselves and each other. I want to place audiences inside moments wher...

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Sandra Isabel Correia

Marina Albert, I love this so much. Life has a funny way of revealing who we really are long before we’re ready to admit it. Eighteen years later and look at you: writing, owning it, and proving that...

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Billy Kwack

Thanks Sandra, I will

Leonardo Ramirez 2

Sandra Isabel Correia Thank you so much my friend.

Jim Boston

Sandra Isabel, you're so very welcome...and I'm so very glad you're here on Stage 32!

Marina Albert

Time has proven those truths, Sandra Isabel Correia :)

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