Trending Lounge Discussions

The hottest discussions in the Stage 32 Lounge.

Liked by Arthur Charpentier and 21 others

Ashley Renee Smith
Creative Influences: What Shaped Your Work This Year?

What’s one film, series, book, or piece of art that has influenced your creative work the most this year?

I’d love to know what made it resonate for you, whether it shifted your perspective, sparked a new idea, or reminded you why you love telling stories.

Share your pick and your “why” below. Let’s inspire each other.

Geoff Hall

Ashley Renee Smith one of the standouts for me was ‘The Eternaut’ on Netflix, from Argentina. It’s a six episode short form series, based on Héctor Germán Oesterheld graphic novel.

I love it because it...

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Shirley Collier

I remember "The Day of the Trigffids." This dystopian film still haunts me, especially when overgrown trees and bushes creep toward my house. Ah, the power of the movie.

Paul Hoppe

Edward Yang's Yi Yi & Taipei Story. It's hard to find something original, new- refreshing nowadays, so in my attempt to turn back the time, i got hold of these two gems and they have influenced and in...

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Tasa Faronii-Butler

I love everything that Octavia Butler has written. However, Kindred and Parable of the Sower stand out as the most significant influences on The Way Makers, my YA historical fiction series. Before she...

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Eon C. Rambally

Ashley Renee Smith, for me it will be what is known as "Vertical media"!

I recently completed a Trailer for my film ,with the "aspect ratio" for demonstration!...

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Liked by Bradford Richardson and 3 others

Libby Wright
Wave Your Wand

Happy Monday! I have a hypothetical I was thinking about this morning, and thought I'd open it up to the group: If you could "wave your wand" and pitch a script/project to an ideal person who would it be? Why? Would you feel prepared, or would you be riding the struggle bus the whole way there? BONU...

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Libby Wright

Fuad Shawn I want to know more!! What logline & genere? Who would your ideal "expert" be? Thanks for sharing!

Fuad Shawn

Thanks for asking! It’s a thriller about "a rookie inspector racing to catch a sadistic killer who leaves a trail of gruesome, organ-harvesting murders across the city". I’m looking for feedback from...

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Ron Micci

Any serious player in the industry whose name you might recognize. No prep needed, I'd just pitch the basic concept. If the hook is strong enough, you've got interest. If not, you're spinning your whe...

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Maurice Vaughan

Thanks, Libby Wright. What pitching resource on Stage 32 do you think helped you the most?

Oh, and I forgot to say who I would pitch the script to. Zach Cregger with him as the producer and director....

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Juliana Philippi

Libby Wright Feliz Diciembre!!! I would pitch my television series "The Girls" to the Exec Developers for YA shows at any streamer shopping for an inspiring, action/adventure, 30 min per episode show,...

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Liked by Maurice Vaughan and one other

Camila G A
Acting in Ireland

Hi!

I’m currently based in Ireland and I’m looking for advice on where to go next in order to continue growing my acting career. I’m open to guidance on casting hubs, agencies, or any recommendations that could help me take the next step.

Thanks!

Cami

Tony Fisher

Hi Camila, so the usual casting sites like Mandy, starnow and Backstage would be good places to start. If you have the credits then there's always spotlight, also spotlight does have a large directory you can look at for things like agencies and other useful info.

Maurice Vaughan

Hi, Camila G A. You could check Stage 32’s Job Board (www.stage32.com/find-jobs). It gets updated regularly....

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Liked by Kenneth Ellis 2 and 4 others

Ehsan Rahimpour
Mystery, Suspense, Dramatic Irony

No. 04 / Robert McKee, a wise voice on storytelling, highlights an important point:

In Mystery the audience knows less than the characters.

In Suspense the audience and characters know the same information.

In Dramatic Irony the audience knows more than the characters.

Maurice Vaughan

I use all three of these in scripts, Ehsan Rahimpour, especially suspense. I don't think I've used all three in one scene. I might try it.

Ehsan Rahimpour

That’s a solid idea Maurice Vaughan, but it really depends on what the scene or story organically calls for. Sometimes all three are essential, while other times one alone packs enough punch....

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Maurice Vaughan

Ok, thanks, Ehsan Rahimpour. I'll definitely keep that in mind.

Liked by Kenneth Ellis 2 and 6 others

Maurice Vaughan

Thanks for sharing the article, Amanda Toney. I haven't written a biopic yet. This article will come in handy. And I might even write a biopic/narrative film mix.

CJ Walley

I adapted a biography this year. The shoot just wrapped. The V.O to death comment is very true. They key part is finding the thematic thread within it all.

Maurice Vaughan

Congratulations, CJ Walley!

Agostinho Izanag

"Adapting real-life stories always seems like such a huge challenge. Is there any approach you recommend to stay true to the person’s essence without leaning too much into over-dramatization?"

Liked by Dwayne Williams 2 and 3 others

Navid Lancaster
Maestro John Williams / Steven Spielberg update!!

From the John Williams Fan Network

Maurice Vaughan

Thanks for sharing this, Navid Lancaster. I'm really excited for this movie, and I'm really looking forward to hearing the music!

Mark Gosney

Awesome to hear, yes thank you Navid Lancaster for the update keep them coming, I also can’t wait to hear the music. It almost sounds like the music could be somewhat similar to the first Jurassic Par...

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Liked by Diane Sismour and 5 others

Serhat Boylu
Documentary “Koçer” | Exploring the resilience of nomadic Kurdish families

Hi everyone,

I’m Serhat Boylu — filmmaker based in Turkey. I recently completed my short documentary “Koçer”, which focuses on the life of Kurdish nomadic families who migrate with their flocks across rural Anatolia.

The film explores:

• their deep bond with nature

• their struggle to maintain ancient t...

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Maurice Vaughan

Hi, Serhat Boylu. Welcome to the community. Congratulations on finishing your short documentary!

Stage 32 has a blog that'll help you navigate the platform and connect with creatives and industry profe...

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Fuad Shawn

How we can enjoy your work?

Daniel Danitto

Hi Serhat Boylu, Your project sounds truly meaningful. I have deep respect for filmmakers who capture disappearing traditions and give voice to communities that rarely get represented on screen. “Koçe...

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David Taylor

Kolay gelsin.

Liked by Arthur Charpentier and 22 others

Maurice Vaughan
Mixed Genres

Mixed vegetables are great (and delicious), but a movie/show with different genres is better! My favorite genre mix is Horror Action. What’s your favorite genre mix to write?

And feel free to post a tip for writing a genre mix script.

Tip for writing a Horror Action script: don’t get so caught up in w...

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Maurice Vaughan

I like the Comedy Western mix, Jim Boston. I haven't heard about a lot of them.

Jim Boston

Quite a few feature-length Western comedies came out of Hollywood in the 1957-74 period. (Two of the most famous ones were 1965's "Cat Ballou" and 1974's "Blazing Saddles.")

I guess what happened to sh...

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David Taylor

It's a good problem to have, but my problem is Comedy - the awful temptation to put comedy gags into serious stories to amuse myself. I'm a natural gag writer so have to stop myself. Nothing ruins the...

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Maurice Vaughan

I think a comic relief character is fine in serious stories, suspenseful scenes, and Horror scripts, David Taylor. Maybe avoid writing too many comedy moments though, or maybe don't make the comic rel...

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David Taylor

Yeah. I do manage to get the balance right.

Liked by Harri-Pekka Virkki and 2 others

Lindsay Thompson
From One Vision to Shared Vision, Part 5 | After Day One

Day one of The Shape of Kindness is officially in the books, and it was the kind of start every indie DP hopes for: steady pace, clear communication, solid teamwork… with one small test from the filmmaking gods.

Mid-take, the camera glitched. Froze. Lagged. Did the exact thing you pray won’t happen o...

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Maurice Vaughan

Congratulations to you and the team on wrapping day one, Lindsay Thompson!

Morgan Aitken Ipg

Love this. That “shared vision = shared pressure” line needs to be printed and gaffer-taped to a few camera carts.

On my first real day as “the cinematographer,” I got thrown into shooting kicking and...

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Liked by Kenneth Ellis 2 and 4 others

Tony Sterago
Introduction

So as a young person in the 80's and early 90's, I dreamed of entertainment as a career. The reality of a life unsupported and full of Darkness had other plans. Now I am here at 49 with 2 kids starting a journey I am feeling to late for. I have started writing a script for the first time with no tra...

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Jack Binder

Welcome Tony Sterago and bravo on your journey. Yes, you can copyright a treatment as Maurice mentions. Write four pages detailing the story and plot. Here's a breakdown I wrote recently on the differ...

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Tony Sterago

thank you. I'll have to put one together and add it to my list of things to do

Maurice Vaughan

Thanks for posting the breakdown, Jack Binder. I remember reading it. Great breakdown!

Tony Sterago

ok.so instead of starting my next 10 pages I need to write a treatment to protect my work by copyright ok. thank you everyone

Maurice Vaughan

You can, Tony Sterago, or you can finish the script and register it before pitching the project.

Liked by Eon C. Rambally and 5 others

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg
AI News - George R.R. Martin et al Move To Trial Against ChatGPT

NO - a fan didn't generate a storyline. The lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT uses his work (and that of 17 other authors, acting in a class action suit against ChatGPT and Microsoft) without permission and without compensation. Microsoft and ChatGPT tried to have the class-action thrown out and tried to...

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Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg

Willem Elzenga 2 Several things. 1. They didn't pay to use the material. It's not in public domain. and 2. ChatGPT will let anyone do it, and has (this is just one of many dozens of lawsuits), so it i...

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Willem Elzenga 2

I’ll eat my hat when ChatGPT is going to pay authors. Basically Google is doing the same thing.

Suzanne Bronson

It's not different than doing a scene from a play and posting it on YouTube. I must write "for educational purposes only" as I do not have the playwright's permission. I can use it in my reel, but I c...

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Eon C. Rambally

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg, it's an important development! Investors for instance will need to know the particulars of this news. Certainly depending on the outcome public relations factors will ha...

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Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg

Eon C. Rambally We'll see how it goes. The AI companies have won in some courts the right to train on copyrighted material. So it's not clear how this will turn out. Unfortunately, the legislators are...

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