Greetings and Salutations, Stage 32 Community!

My name is Tom Lapke, and I could not be more excited to be joining this amazing platform as your new Director of Global Education!

Stage 32 has been on my radar almost since its inception, as I have been part of the entertainment industry in one capacity or another for over 20 years. From my first day on the job to writing this blog, I have been really pleased to see just how much this team is dedicated to serving the community that has been created here by RB and Amanda. Their dedication to you all sets the standard for the company and it makes me excited to come to work every day. I have made it my life’s work to help, encourage, and empower artists to create, follow their passion, and find their place in the entertainment industry.

Hi, I’m Tom!

I started out in this industry as an actor and educator. After receiving my BA in Theatre Arts from Catawba College in NC, I went straight into the graduate program at the University of Florida for my MFA in Acting (Go Gators!). Then it was off to New York City with my wife and two guinea pigs to stake my claim in the acting world. I had an unremarkable run in NYC as an actor for which I am grateful, as it led me to my passion for helping other artists.

Tom From Backstage!?

In 2009, I noticed a hole in the process of how auditions worked in NYC, so I bootstrapped a website service called Audition Update. The site touched a nerve with the acting community and it took off beyond my wildest dreams. MySpace had not been too far from its time in the zeitgeist, so much like the ubiquitous Tom from Myspace, I became known as Tom from Audition Update to the acting and casting community in NYC. In 2012, Backstage came calling, bought the site from me, and hired me to do…well, they didn’t really know at the time, but they liked my ideas and wanted me on their team as they had just been acquired by Prometheus Global Media (Billboard, Adweek, Film Journal, Hollywood Reporter). It turns out they wanted an Education Division, and the obvious choice to run it was the new guy with no experience in educational programming.

For the next three years, I programmed approximately 1000 classes, events, and workshops. My name was attached to all the emails that went out about classes, so I then became known as “Tom from Backstage.” I also started to experiment with a new format that was becoming more accessible and popular called “Webinars.” At this time, there was another company out there that was gaining traction with their online educational content which I would secretly stalk for ideas and best practices because they were doing online education better than Backstage at the time. That company was Stage 32.

Tom From Reelarc!?

While at Backstage, I met and befriended the boys from Reelarc, who were just starting out with an innovative idea to create original narrative content for actors for their reels. Soon after leaving Backstage, I partnered with them to create Six Legions Media, which became the parent company of both Reelarc and Actors Launchpad, where I programmed an additional 1000+ classes, events, and workshops. Once Actors Launchpad had its feet under it, I focused full-time on Reelarc, spearheading sales, and creating hundreds of scene ideas and loglines for actors in both NYC and LA. I also wrote many of the scene scripts during my time there. It was an amazing baptism by fire as a writer. And so I became known as “Tom from Reelarc.”

Throughout my time at Backstage and Six Legions Media, I programmed thousands of educational content for actors, attending many of the classes and events myself. It was through this process that I fell bass-ackwards into becoming a recognized expert in the Business of Acting. This led to teaching opportunities at The Actors Studio Drama School, which in turn led to teaching at NYU and producing separate showcases for both schools. The fact that an actor who once made every mistake he was now teaching his students not to make, who accidentally became recognized as an expert in the Business of Acting will, to me, forever be a stroke of comedic genius on the part of the universe.

…Then in 2020, everyone started getting “the flu.”

Everything shut down, including Actors Launchpad and Reelarc. We decided to move to be closer to family, and so I found myself, for the first time in 16 years, not in an entertainment hub. I parted ways with the day-to-day operations of Six Legions Media. Actors Launchpad did not survive the pandemic, but I am happy to say Reelarc did (especially because I still own a part of it).

A Movie Nerd Now & Forever!

I have always been a huge movie nerd. Film has been such an important part of my life that I can’t imagine life without it. The first movie I saw in the theaters was Return of the Jedi when I was four years old. During the final lightsaber battle, when Luke does a back flip up to a platform to avoid Vader, I stood up, shot my fist in the air, and screamed “YEAH!” The whole theater laughed, but I did not care. I had found my church, and it was dark and smelled of popcorn. From that moment forward, any chance I had, I was watching movies. This was right around the advent of VHS, and we were lucky enough to have a VCR (a hand-me-down from my grandfather). The first film we recorded from the TV was Silverado, followed by The Karate Kid (the third movie I saw in theaters, after Ghostbusters). The centerpiece of life with my family came every Saturday when, as soon as we woke up, I went to the tiny video rental section at our local grocery store to pick out two movies for the night. That night, my dad (a bigger film nut than even me) would dish out ice cream for everyone, put in the movie du jour, and we would all sit around, mesmerized.

As a teenager, we hung out at a local video store where a friend worked. It was something straight out of a Kevin Smith movie. Every weekend was spent at the movies. We saw everything, whether or not we were the intended audience. I started to discover art house cinema, foreign films, documentaries, animated features, books and magazines about movies, and film criticism. I devoured them all and asked for seconds. What kind of kid waits every week to watch At the Movies with Ebert and Roper? This kind, apparently.

Even now, as an adult, my father and I bond over movies. A phone conversation won’t go by without one of us asking, “What have you watched recently?” James Bond films are our jam. I flew home just to see the last Bond film with my dad when it came out in the theaters. Now that I am a father to a little boy, I can not wait to share my love of film with my own son. It’s slow going, he is four and has been more interested in Blippi than P.T. Anderson, but he’ll come around.

So Who Am I?

When Backstage offered me a job, I was very hesitant to give up my acting career. But I am so glad I did because it led me to what I truly believe to be my life’s work, helping artists achieve their potential and goals through education opportunities with the very people they aspire to work with.

So that is the past. What do I have to say about my future with Stage 32? First, I am thrilled to be part of a team that cares so much. Putting all of you first, above all else, is incredibly important to me. I don’t just want to program education for you because I think it will increase sales (though that would be nice too). I want to program content that speaks to you. Helps you. Changes you. Makes you better than before you took part in it. And I can’t think of a better place to do so than where I have landed.

So hi, I’m “Tom from Stage 32.” I can’t wait to meet you.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Emily at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .