Introduce Yourself

Quincy Alcantara Congratulations on publishing Trigger Point and completing the screenplay adaptation. That’s a huge milestone, especially as a first-time author and screenwriter. I’d love to hear more about the story and what inspired you to turn it into a screenplay. Wishing you success with both projects!

Hey Quincy, Screenwriter and director here from Jamaica.

What did you find was the hardest part of adapting your own book into a screenplay deciding what had to be cut, or figuring out how to make it work visually?

Quincy Alcantara That’s an exciting milestone, Quincy. Taking Trigger Point from a self-published action-suspense novel into your first screenplay is more than simply rewriting the story, it’s a completely different way of making the audience experience it. I’d be especially curious to see how you translated the tension, pacing, and character moments from the book into a visual format. Congratulations on getting your first screenplay finished. That’s a big step, and I hope you get some thoughtful feedback that helps you take it even further.

Welcome Quincy Alcantara ! I hope you'll join us at our upcoming webcasts in the Writers' Room. Sign up for a Free Month of the Writers’ Room: https://www.stage32.com/writers-room/plans-vip

Here’s a great post that will help you navigate Stage 32: https://www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-p...

Here’s a walkthrough Video: https://www.stage32.com/help?category=how-to-navigate-stage&parent=341676

Be sure to stop by the screenwriting lounge and get to know some of your fellow scribes: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting

Hey @Dmitry great to hear from you! What're you working on right now that you're really excited about?

Welcome to Stage 32, Dmitry Orlov! My name is Ashley Smith, and I’m the Head of Community here at Stage 32. So glad you jumped into the Introduce Yourself Lounge!

That’s a serious musical foundation. Composition and orchestration alongside jazz improvisation and string playing is a rare combination, and it tends to show up in the work. Composers who can actually play in an ensemble hear things differently than those who only write, and it matters when a score needs to breathe with performance rather than sit on top of it.

Working across orchestral, vocal, cinematic, and musical theatre also means you can serve a much wider range of projects than most composers here.

A few things to help you get the most out of your time here:

Be active in the Composing Lounge (https://www.stage32.com/lounge/composing), and spend just as much time in the Filmmaking Lounge (https://www.stage32.com/lounge/directing) and the Producing Lounge (https://www.stage32.com/lounge/producing). That’s where the people hiring composers spend their time, and it’s the room most composers forget to be in. Browse all of them here: https://www.stage32.com/lounge Consistent presence in those spaces is genuinely how collaborations start on this platform.

Jump into our Creative Army Drive this week. We just launched a month-long member event, and Week 1’s mission is simple: share Stage 32 with one of your creative communities, then comment on the post in the Producing Lounge telling us where you shared it. Every member who does it gets a FREE Stage 32 webinar of their choice. Open through Sunday: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/producing/Were-Building-a-Creative-Army-T...

Register for our next FREE Community Open House on Wednesday, September 23rd at 12pm PT. It’s a live event I host quarterly, and a great chance to meet other members and ask me questions directly. Registering gets you the recording even if the time zone doesn’t work for you live: https://www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32s-september-2026-comm...

Welcome again, Dmitry! St. Petersburg to Athens is quite a journey, and I’d love to hear how that shows up in your work.

Dear Ashley, many many thanks for your encouring comments and information, I will definately check out the links you sent me and join . You are more than welcome to visit my website and listen to my music, I would appreciate your feedback. www.orlovmusic.com

Are you currently looking to connect with filmmakers for new film projects, or are you mainly focused on releasing your own music at the moment?

Hello dear Zoltan, yes of course I am always open to new collaborations. I would love to connect with filmakers.

I am a Faith-based writer as well with two projects in the works: JEREMY and OUR FINEST HOUR. May God bless all our projects and see them to fruition.

AMEN

Hi Ashanti. Welcome to Stage32! While I'm not Christian, my grandparents were from different faiths. My grandmother grew up Protestant Christian and my grandfather was brought up Jewish, so I grew up interfaith. While my dad and my aunt have always celebrated Christmas (they were raised secular as my grandparents were never religious once they grew up) , I've always been culturally Jewish, celebrating Hanukkah, eating some of the cultural foods like moon cookies and matzah ball soup. I incorporate Judaism into my screenplays sometimes. There was one play I wrote about heaven being a bar in the sky and the bar being run by a Rabbi. I also work Judaism into my stand up comedy material. I have a whole bit about the awkwardness of growing up secular and patrilineal and never quite feeling like I belong anywhere. Do you have a favorite Christian band or artist?

Is the larger business idea you mentioned connected to film and entertainment as well, or is it something separate from your screenwriting projects?

Ashanti Price What stands out most is that you’re not simply looking to create content, you’re building around a clear purpose and a message you’re unwilling to dilute. That kind of clarity can be powerful when it’s translated into strong characters, compelling stories, and projects that connect with people beyond the audience you initially imagined. The combination of faith, entertainment, and creative collaboration gives you a lot of interesting territory to explore. I’d genuinely be interested to see what you develop from these ideas, especially the larger business vision you mentioned. Wishing you the right creative and industry connections for the journey ahead.

Thank you both for the encouragement, Ashley & Zoltán - I've been between jobs in tech for a year and a half, and it feels like a lifetime. Suffice to say it takes a heavy toll on your confidence and self-worth. It's really heartening to see the love and support this place has to offer.

Geoff Hall Many thanks! Well, I grew up on the heavyweights of animation - Disney, Don Bluth, Pixar - They've all left an indelible mark. Combined with the weekday afternoon and Saturday morning cartoons of the 80s and 90s, you can probably guess that I gravitate towards the anthropomorphic characters of such work. A few that stand out in my head would be Aladdin, The Incredibles, Wall-E... Also, Dreamworks' The Wild Robot left me pretty much bawling the entire time at how beautiful the imagery was.

In terms of my own work, I come from a history of fantasy stories, both animated and live. Things like The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, the 1980 animation of LOTR - Return of the King, The Secret of Nimh - there was a golden age of mythical adventures in that time. I suppose I'm trying to capture a sliver of that energy in my Wishmaker series.

How do I reconcile that with my love of comedy? Well, as my bio states, regardless of where one lives in their historical timeline, they gotta have jokes!

Brad Napoliello thanks for your reply, Brad. Me too, for the cartoons I watched at home. Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner come to mind. Ah, you mentioned the animated LOTR version, with John Hurt, I believe.

Later in life, I became aware of Japanese anime and love the work of Satoshi Kon and Mamoru Oshii. I’m now working towards producing my own animated urban fantasy series. I’ll share the concept ad when it’s completed.

Here’s wishing you the best with your Wishmaker series. Keep us posted with updates on that, please Brad.

Welcome Brad Napoliello ! I hope you'll join us at our upcoming webcasts in the Writers' Room. Sign up for a Free Month of the Writers’ Room: https://www.stage32.com/writers-room/plans-vip

I love to hear that, Brad Napoliello. Love and support are a number 1 focus of this community. It's one of the things that makes it so unique.

@Karolina Ferguson Hi Karolina! Thank you for the congrats and for connecting! Glad the contained 2-lead structure resonated - keeping it character-driven was the goal. Would love to exchange insights and stay in touch!

@Debra Withley Hi Debra! Thank you so much for the warm welcome and for getting the core of KYRON CORE - that tension between technology and vulnerability is exactly what I'm exploring. Really appreciate your encouragement. Would love to stay connected as it develops!

Ntokozo, you’re very welcome! I’m glad we connected. I really like the decision to keep the story character-driven while working within a contained two-lead structure it can create a strong emotional focus. I’d be happy to exchange insights and stay in touch as KYRON CORE continues to develop. Wishing you the best with the project!

Ntokozo Ndlovu yes you can send the 10 pages so i can go over it.

Welcome Ntokozo Ndlovu ! I hope you'll join us at our upcoming webcasts in the Writers' Room. Sign up for a Free Month of the Writers’ Room: https://www.stage32.com/writers-room/plans-vip

Here’s a great post that will help you navigate Stage 32: https://www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-p...

Here’s a walkthrough Video: https://www.stage32.com/help?category=how-to-navigate-stage&parent=341676

Be sure to add your photo to your profile. Then, stop by the screenwriting lounge and get to know some of your fellow scribes: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting

Welcome Lúcia Carvalho ! I hope you'll join us at our upcoming webcasts in the Writers' Room. Sign up for a Free Month of the Writers’ Room: https://www.stage32.com/writers-room/plans-vip

Here’s a great post that will help you navigate Stage 32: https://www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-p...

Here’s a walkthrough Video: https://www.stage32.com/help?category=how-to-navigate-stage&parent=341676

Be sure to stop by the post-production lounge and get to know some of your fellow scribes: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/post_production

Hi Ikechukwu! What an interesting concept! Color me intrigued. Where are you in the process right now — still drafting, in the trenches of rewrites, or gearing up for pitching?

Welcome Ikechukwu Uchenna ! I hope you'll join us at our upcoming webcasts in the Writers' Room. Sign up for a Free Month of the Writers’ Room: https://www.stage32.com/writers-room/plans-vip

Here’s a great post that will help you navigate Stage 32: https://www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-p...

Here’s a walkthrough Video: https://www.stage32.com/help?category=how-to-navigate-stage&parent=341676

Be sure to stop by the screenwriting lounge and get to know some of your fellow scribes: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting

Happy to help, Ali Sayed!

Thank you so much, that really means a lot! This story has been with me for a long time, and I'm genuinely excited to finally bring it to life. To answer your question — I'm at the very beginning of the process. I have the full story completely worked out in my head (characters, plot, arc), but I haven't written anything down yet.

I should be upfront about something: I don't think I'll be the one writing the actual screenplay. I have the idea, the story, and the creative vision, but I'm looking for someone who could take what I have and turn it into a proper written script — where I'd be the creator/story author, and they'd handle the actual screenwriting.

Would love to hear more about your experience and how you typically work in situations like this. And once I share the full story with you, I'd love your thoughts on whether this could be a good collaboration. Debra Withley

Thank you so much, and I really appreciate that insight about the tonal balance — that's exactly the kind of challeng I know I'll need to figure out. I'm still very early in the process (story fully worked out, but nothing written yet), so I'll definitely keep you in mind once I have pages to share. Thanks for the warm welcome Alex Recheal

You could search for a writer in the Browse Members section, Ali Sayed (www.stage32.com/people). You could also make a collaboration post on the Job Board (www.stage32.com/find-jobs).

Welcome to the party.

Andrew Smith Andrew Smith What an incredible journey. Spending 45 years studying tarantulas and turning that experience into natural history documentaries shows the power of passion-driven storytelling. I love how you combine history, exploration, and science to bring these stories to audiences. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Welcome, Andrew! 45 years studying tarantulas and turning that knowledge into documentaries is quite a journey. Your combination of natural history, filmmaking and self-distribution is fascinating. Great to have you here!

Welcome Andrew Smith ! I hope you'll join us at our upcoming webcasts in the Writers' Room. Sign up for a Free Month of the Writers’ Room: https://www.stage32.com/writers-room/plans-vip

Here’s a great post that will help you navigate Stage 32: https://www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-p...

Here’s a walkthrough Video: https://www.stage32.com/help?category=how-to-navigate-stage&parent=341676

Be sure to stop by the screenwriting lounge and get to know some of your fellow scribes: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting

It’s great to meet you, Andrew Smith, welcome to Stage 32! My name is Ashley Smith, and I’m the Head of Community here at Stage 32. So glad you jumped into the Introduce Yourself Lounge!

Forty-five years studying tarantulas and twenty-five making documentaries about them is a genuinely remarkable body of work. And the structure you’ve built is fascinating on its own terms: opening on the type specimen in a London or Paris or Berlin museum, tracing the Victorian collector’s history, then going into the field to find the living spider and meeting whoever is studying it now. That’s a real format, and it does something most natural history documentaries don’t, which is treat the science as a story with a lineage rather than a subject.

The financing model is worth talking about here too. A direct-to-audience platform funded by crowdfunding and box set sales, producing consistently for a decade, is exactly the kind of independent distribution a lot of our members are trying to figure out right now.

Since the Writers’ Room and Screenwriting Lounge are covered, a few other rooms worth your time:

The Filmmaking Lounge (https://www.stage32.com/lounge/directing) and the Distribution Lounge (https://www.stage32.com/lounge/distribution) are where your experience would land hardest. There’s an ongoing conversation in Distribution about how films find and keep their audiences, and you’ve built something most people are still theorizing about. The Financing Lounge (https://www.stage32.com/lounge/fundraising) has active crowdfunding discussions where your track record would be genuinely valuable. Browse all of them here: https://www.stage32.com/lounge

Jump into our Creative Army Drive this week. We just launched a month-long member event, and Week 1’s mission is simple: share Stage 32 with one of your creative communities, then comment on the post in the Producing Lounge telling us where you shared it. Every member who does it gets a FREE Stage 32 webinar of their choice. Open through Sunday: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/producing/Were-Building-a-Creative-Army-T...

Register for our next FREE Community Open House on Wednesday, September 23rd at 12pm PT. It’s a live event I host quarterly, and a great chance to meet other members and ask me questions directly: https://www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32s-september-2026-comm...

Welcome again, Andrew!

Thank you guys - I will pop into your lounges, when I am back from my hols.