Latest Blogs

Where does your career end and your personal life begin? Where does your digital world end and your real world begin?     As a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (EMMYS), I’m currently invited to a lot of For Your Consideration screenings and events around Hollywood. At a recent FYC screening for WESTWORLD, Jonathan Nolan, the co-creator of the show, had some very insightful words about the dangers of “people becoming brands” via social media. He cautioned that he see...

The odds and the realities of making a living at doing what we love, acting, put in perspective, isn't pretty. Actors really have two jobs; first the audition, in which you must be brilliant, and show that you are easy to get along with. And second, after you book the job, to do the job well. Making a living in the industry is not an easy task. Daily you race to auditions, sometimes with only a few hours notice to prepare, and often in an unforgiving environment, stressed by traffic or lack...

  1) Consider the Source If I hear one more person tell me that a friend of theirs who “works as a coordinator at XYZ and said...” I’m going to lose my mind. I’m not even sure what a coordinator does, but I’ve never seen one at a creative meeting. Years ago, my dad knew a producer named Arnold Kopelson who produced The Fugitive and Eraser. I’d written a script about a boy trying to get to Fenway Park for Opening Day. He didn’t like my script and I put it in a drawer. I realize now that as...

One of the most driven, nice and talented filmmakers in our community is director David Rountree, who was voted IMDB's top 30 under 30 directors. For those of you who don't know David, he has been a member of the Stage 32 community since the early years and we've watched him raise financing and shoot several feature films including CUT! and 108 STITCHES. He's even employed over 40 Stage 32 members! His mission is always to support, encourage and teach fellow creatives on how to live their dreams...

You will hate this blog.Not the most inspiring of beginnings, but bear with me…I struggled as a voice talent for almost 15 years. Before that, I went to college and graduate school for acting. It turns out that while I was pretty good at acting, I hated the lifestyle. I hated the competition and how it brought out the worst in people. I hated, well, other actors. Their insecurity, their need to act as a form of therapy, their love of Ramen Noodles. I hated actors because I saw too much of myself...

Hey guys!  Happy Sunday. The past week has been consumed by Cannes prep (see all the details here), so I have something a little different for Coffee & Content this week.  And it's something for everyone.  How about we cover ground on all the following topics: - Why you need to cut the negativity out of your life- Today! - Why you do not need to be micromanaged as a screenwriter or a filmmaker - How you can bring value to every meeting - What I'm hearing in my meetings regarding...

Hey guys, On the AMA last week, many of you asked a number of questions that I have answered on various podcasts over the last few months.  Additionally, some of you asked where you could find certain podcast appearances.  Allow me to be of service!  All of my recent podcasts as well as numerous other webcasts and video content can be found by clicking on Education on the top menu bar and then choosing podcast.  You'll find dozens of hours of FREE content you can listen to and view at your con...

My agent once told me that he was more than happy for me to write my little character drama about a man who lives a double life robbing banks. He then asked me if I could also build him a time machine back to 1975 so he could sell it. Point taken. Hollywood is a fluid business where trends change in a matter of months. Some genres, in fact, go completely dormant. In 2009 The Proposal, It’s Complicated, and Couples Retreat all grossed 100M+ domestically. Know what the highest grossing romantic co...

If there was one subject that dominated the questions asked during my recent Stage 32 AMA, it was about best practices on social media.  Many of you wanted to know how to go about creating meaningful relationships that would help accelerate your path to success.  You know my feelings on this subject as it relates to launching and maintaining a career in film and content creation: Relationships = Reads Relationships = Jobs Relationships = Financing Relationships = Champions of you and you...

Part of why I love overseeing Stage 32's education is because of the incredible array of talent that I get to meet. Recently when Stage 32 hosted the 2018 Film Con Hollywood conference we had the pleasure of working with some incredible executives, including Adam V., a talent agent at the Gersh Agency. Adam works in the TV literary department and has a strong eye for what's happening in the TV space, but he also has great knowledge of the entire industry right now. We took a few minutes to ask...