I just had a great mentorship call with Jimmy Cheng from Gersh. That's what I love so much about Stage 32 -- it's so easy to talk to working professionals who are in daily contact with Studios, Producers, Actors, Writers, etc.
I started as a screenwriter, and took the good advice to learn all areas of the business, to be a better writer. After a lot of self-education, I'm now producing my first feature film, which I also wrote. I wanted to get Jimmy's reflection on how to approach big agencies to offer acting roles to their clients, what activities Gersh does with packaging and selling films, Film Festival tips, and what would make an agent/manager at Gersh take on a new writer client.
Jimmy was super nice and helpful, and told me stories from his daily life with varied examples of how Gersh writers were discovered, plus tons of info on the other topics above. Gersh is the biggest agency, after the Big 3, and they are investing in their continued expansion. I love their vibe. I highly suggest talking to Jimmy if you want to get current, practical advice for your career.
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Hi Steve St. Peter, your excitement is contagious! Great to see that you are going for it!
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Glad you had a great mentorship call, Steve St. Peter! Congratulations on producing your first feature film! What genre(s) is it?
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I also talked with Jimmy last wekened and he was great. We went ove some of the scripts I have and one of them he stopped me and said "Wow, that has awards written all over it. This is what I would do with it." He gave me lots of confidence and a direction to go with it.
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Maurice Vaughan the genre is Farce Comedy, like Airplane! I had close to 10 execs read this thru Stage 32 and elsewhere. Everyone says they laugh out loud throughout. But nobody makes farce comedies anymore, so I’m doing it myself! I’m going to heavily use Virtual Production with Unreal Engine (green screen, not with an LED wall) for many of the locations. The plan is to make it look like millions of dollars, but for a fraction of that. Shooting in Phoenix early next year, where we have our shiny new production incentive finally in place.
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Did he ask you to actually send one of your scripts to him?
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Love hearing this, Steve St. Peter. Also thrilled you had a great experience as well, Bill Albert. Jimmy is as savvy and plugged in as they come and obviously his reputation speaks for itself. A perfect mentor.
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Congratulations on all the script requests, Steve St. Peter! I'd love to see new Farce Comedies. I heard the jive talk from Airplane! yesterday (someone near me was watching the scene on their phone), and it's still hilarious!
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Hi Michael Elliott . I booked an hourlong call where he doesn't read material, as I just wanted to ask industry questions. I have had a dozen Stage 32 calls of 30 or 60 minutes where the exec reads the script and shares their thoughts, which has been super useful to validate the quality of my scripts. I'm not sure if Jimmy offers the service to read material and then talk, but from Bill's comment above, it seems he does.
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Great update Steve St. Peter!
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That's awesome! Steve St. Peter That's what it's all about!