Tips

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! Let’s kick things off with a huge shoutout to everyone who has already jumped into this month’s Introduce Yourself Weekend. Thousands of creatives from around the world are connecting, sharing their stories, and building relationships that can lead to collaborations, opportunities, and lifelong friendships. If you haven’t made your introduction yet, you still have time. Be bold. Introduce yourself. Your next great opportunity could be just one connection away. Now,...

It is thrilling after all your work on a film, to have the exhilarating experience of a dynamic and successful Q&A at a film festival with a packed audience. Conversely, most of us have experienced the shock of seeing a Q&A where no questions were asked. Worse is having your short-screened with others and ending up the only one not having a question asked after hearing, “Well, guys, that’s all we have time for as the next film is coming in.” You Can Pack Those Screenings You can have jammed-p...

Happy Friday, Creative Community! The 33rd Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference kicks off in less than two weeks, and if you’re going, I want you walking into downtown Austin with comfortable shoes, confidence, and a plan. AFF is one of my favorite weeks of the year. It’s also one of the most overwhelming. Eight days of film screenings. More than 175 panels, roundtables, and meet and greets. Parties every night, pitch competitions, and hallways full of working screenwriters, showrunners...

As filmmakers, we can sometimes forget what it’s like to be the audience. We focus so much on how the film looks, the color, the lighting, the shot composition, the performance, the sound, but we forget how many people first interact with our film. We forget about the poster. It becomes an afterthought, kit bashed together around an image we grabbed from the footage that doesn’t quite work, but we force it to. The movie poster often sets the first impression the potential audience makes of you...

Hey everyone, Sam here. I’ve been watching this wave build from my seat at Stage 32, where I work every day with writers and filmmakers trying to find their footing in a changing industry. What’s happening right now isn’t just a trend. It’s a shift in how movies get made, and who gets to make them. For years, Hollywood has worried about streaming killing cinema, IP fatigue, and the death of the mid-budget movie. Meanwhile, the people making the most interesting work are rewriting the rules i...

I'm a Venezuelan writer who grew up devouring stories and learning from the great masters of the genre. The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Matrix, and other works taught me that suspense and fantasy can coexist with a strong sense of poetic justice. These stories didn't just entertain me; they showed me how to build worlds, how to keep characters human in the midst of the epic, and how to close a story with the emotion audiences deserve. When I started writing my own trilogy, I discov...

Ever dreamt of seeing your comedy feature come to life on the big screen or stream on flat-screens in living rooms across the country? This is your chance to turn that dream into reality! We're proud to announce the 11th Annual Comedy Feature Screenwriting Contest to help discover the next great comedy script! Our Grand Prize Winner will win a Career Accelerator prize package that includes script & career development, writer branding and an education package and will be first in line for VIP M...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! I hope your weekend has been a creative one so far. Whether you have been writing, filming, editing, or sketching out the next spark of an idea, I have something today that will give you a boost. So grab your coffee, and let's dive in. This week's featured video comes from In Depth Cine- How Guy Ritchie Shoots a Film at 3 Budget Levels. I hear it constantly: "Once I get the budget, I'll make the film I want to make." This video is the best argument against that...

I believe in growth on both a personal and professional level. Next-level greatness is only accessible if we know how to do a regular check-in ourselves and take inventory of where and how our energy is spent. As Aristotle has said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act but a habit." Career longevity of 30 years brings gifts. I have applied myself on many levels, from branding to marketing, to selling to learning how to finance, network, create marketing materials, and be aut...

As an audiovisual creator, protecting your project from legal issues is just as important as its artistic quality. This guide will help you understand the fundamental aspects of the clearance process (legal authorization) that you need to consider before exhibiting your work. What is Clearance, and Why is it Important? "Clearance" is the process through which you obtain all necessary legal authorizations to include any material or element in your audiovisual production. This process protects...