Trending Lounge Discussions

Kyle, the trail idea is the part I keep coming back to. It works because a good antagonist is a pattern, not a person, and patterns leave evidence. Jason, your almost ally version lands for the same reason.

Where my day job pulls me is a slightly different kind of villain. I build AI systems for a living, and the ones that frighten me are never evil. They do exactly what someone decided they should optimize for, and the harm shows up three steps later in a life nobody was watching. No malice. Just a reasonable choice made under pressure by a person who did not want to see the cost.

That antagonist unsettles me more than a mastermind, because the audience cannot point at a face and feel safe. So here is my question back to you. Does an antagonist still need a single body and a name to work, or can the thing the protagonist fights be a decision that already happened before the story started.

Hi Kyle, great topic about villains. Personally, I try to make them like the protagonist, just with different perspectives and reactions to the world — giving them almost the same trauma but different choices. The villain doesn’t need to be completely bad.

I like to make them as normal as possible so that the villainy is simply another character trait. Ideally, I like the villain to be the hero.

I develop my antagonist like my protagonist, @Kyle. I give the antagonist a personality, strengths, flaws, fears, a backstory, etc. And sometimes a character arc.

The most memorable antagonists believe they're the hero of their own story, because they're not just obstacles, they're people with their own logic and wounds. What's the one villain you've written that you found yourself sympathizing with more than you expected?

The audience expectation part is really interesting. You’re not starting from zero with a character like that, people walk in with years of associations already attached. Sometimes letting them bring that baggage with them is more powerful than trying to explain it away.

That's a fascinating directing question, and the rule you've given your actors, perform the person whose actions later become mythology, is exactly right because it keeps the performances grounded. How do you plan to signal to the audience that they're watching the early days of a legend without letting the characters know it?

That is exactly it, Samantha Rivera. I think a lot of it is going to come down to perspective.

The characters themselves don't know they are becoming mythology. They are just living their lives. This is their government, their families, their wars, their culture and their normal.

So I don't necessarily want to point at something and tell the audience, “look, this is important.” I would rather let them notice it.

There could be something happening in the background that looks completely extraordinary to us, but nobody in the scene even acknowledges it because to them there is nothing extraordinary about it at all. It is just part of the world they live in.

That is where the camera can know more than the character does.

And I think that is where a lot of the fun is for me as a director. The audience may recognize the beginnings of something they already know as legend, while the person standing in front of them has absolutely no idea what history is eventually going to call them.

That is really why I keep coming back to the rule I gave the actors: never perform the mythology. Perform the person whose actions later become mythology.

If we get that right, I don't think we ever have to tell the audience they are watching a legend being born. They will realize it for themselves.

Chase Friedman, exactly. That baggage is actually useful to me.

I don't want to spend the series fighting what people already think they know about Odin, Thor, Loki or Tyr. I would rather let the audience bring those expectations in with them and then slowly start challenging them.

They may recognize the name immediately, but then they meet the person before the legend.

That is where I think a lot of the tension comes from. The audience may know the story history eventually tells, but the character standing in front of them is still just living through it.

For me, that is much more interesting than trying to explain every association away.

Christopher Hannon Exactly. And I like that you’re not trying to fight what the audience already knows. Letting that recognition sit in the background probably makes the character feel more human anyway, because they’re not carrying the weight of the legend yet.

Hani, that is great for you. Animation is different. Big and small don't accept unsolicited animation projects. I have tried the small ones. At this point, I would like to focus on getting my absurd comedy screenplay produced..

Hi, Louie Lawent. Welcome to the community. Great to meet you. Congratulations on co-writing songs for "Famous In Love" and "Full Circle"! I like your titles, especially "Zoey the Pig". What's that book about?

Hi Maurice, Good wishes for your faith-based projects! Zoey the Pig, also known as Old Grandma Zoey is Bouchie Gouchie Town's cantankerous but lovable 800 pound pig who likes to do things the easy way. Though everything Zoey suggests leads to near disaster, the town's residents for some unfathomable reason get pulled into the schemes of the outrageous pig. Zoey's latest debacle is setting up a 900 telephone advice line for children so Zoey can rake in the easy money so she can have the luxury mudhole of her fondest dreams. Unfortunately, the town's children follow Zoey's advice and misbehave, much to their parents' dismay. One little girl "Sally" mishears Zoey's advice and runs away into the biggest storm in Bouchie Gouchie Town's history. To save the girl, Zoey and her pals square off against Zoey's archrival Old Grandma Skunk and her skunk friends in a hot air balloon battle in the skies filled with mud pies and stink bombs. Zoey just wants to redeem herself while the nasty skunk seeks a big money reward for the rescue.

Hey Louie Lawent great to hear from you and welcome! If you ever need anything, the success team and I are here to help! Email us any time at success@stage32.com

Thank you!

I would love to work on set or even in a writers room for free! Im not looking to sell anytime soon or doing this for money rn, just eager to jump at any experience or opportunity. Hope it arrives. Thanks Mike!

You’ve already built a pretty solid learning foundation. One thing I’d add is to spend as much time getting feedback on your actual scripts as you do studying the craft. Sometimes seeing how another writer reads your character, pacing, dialogue, or story structure can teach you things a course simply can’t. And of course, keep writing and rewriting—that’s where a lot of the real growth happens.

Hi, Julio Torres. I suggest checking out these Stage 32 webinars:

"Breaking Down the 3-Act Structure in Your Feature Film Screenplay" www.stage32.com/education/products/how-to-use-the-3-act-structure-to-wri...

"20 Steps to Planning and Writing a Memorable Scene" www.stage32.com/education/products/20-steps-to-planning-and-writing-a-me...

"How to Write Effective Action Lines in Your Film or TV Script" www.stage32.com/education/products/how-to-write-effective-action-lines-i...

Join your local group with no-budget filmmakers. To see what happens when a screenplay is filmed will teach you a lot.

That's a solid foundation, and the best next step is to read produced screenplays in the genres you want to write, because you learn more from studying how a professional script actually works on the page. What's the one skill you feel least confident about right now, dialogue, structure, or character?

Great progress, especially with most of the cast already attached and the script continuing to develop alongside the campaign. Reaching 72% with only a short time left makes these final hours especially important. Wishing April and the team a strong finish!

Wishing April and the whole team a strong finish to the campaign. It sounds like a deeply important story, and I hope the film reaches the audience it deserves.

Zoltán Varga Thank you so much! I really appreciate the advice. I’m definitely trying to use this time to experiment, learn as much as I can, and figure out my voice as a writer. I’m excited to meet people here and hopefully learn from their experiences too. What kind of projects do you usually work on?

Abdukalim Mapande Thank you! I really appreciate it! And that sounds awesome — action thrillers are some of my favorite stories to work on, so I’d definitely be interested in hearing more about your project whenever you’re comfortable sharing. Good luck with polishing it and building the new treatment!

Hey, @Alyazan! Welcome to the community. I started writing scripts in 12th grade. I'm rewriting a Faith-based Sports Action feature script and writing a Faith-based Crime Action feature right now.

Maurice Vaughan Hey, thanks for the welcome! That’s actually really cool, especially since I’m in 12th grade right now too . A Faith-based Sports Action and a Faith-based Crime Action sound really interesting, and I’d love to hear more about them. Good luck with the rewrite and the new script!

You're welcome, @Alyazan. Thanks. I'll keep the community posted on my scripts. Keep us posted on your scripts, movies, and shows.

Thanks, Leonardo Ramirez. For the kindness about what happened, and for believing with me in what might come next. I know finding the right partnership will take some discernment, but hearing that from you makes putting this out there feel a little less lonely. Happy IYW, my friend.

Elle Bolan, thank you. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to realize that “I can build this myself” and “I need someone beside me” could both be true. And I think you’re allowed to start the conversation before you have the perfect words for what you need. You’ve made this one easier for me. Happy IYW, my friend.

Thank you, Samantha Rivera. I think I’d most want them to challenge my assumptions about how this gets made. I know the world intimately, but that doesn’t mean I know the best path into production. If I’m pursuing the wrong kind of partner, or overlooking a workable approach because it’s unfamiliar, I want someone who’ll say so—and help me understand why.

Will always believe alongside you Adam J. Spencer. Happy IY weekend!

Leonardo Ramirez, when I first read your reply, I almost responded in a private message. Then I thought, no. That’s the wrong way to go.

Sometimes it isn’t wise to display genuine emotion publicly in our professional lives. And sometimes it is exactly the right thing to do.

So I say this with my whole heart: thank you, Elle, and everyone else here for believing with me. I believe with you, too.

I’m deeply moved by this community, and by the few people who have believed, stood beside me, and kept encouraging me along the way. You’ve become my friends, even at a distance.

There may be distance in geography, but there is no distance of heart.

Hey Cheryl, this is Suzanne from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Anything Goes to Screenwriting, as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!

Thank you

Write a brief post about an alternative structure and you will get comments.

Ok thank you

Hire an actor. Or learn to act and direct yourself. AI does not perform, it's programmed.

zolZoltán Varga thank you! That’s a really helpful way to think about it. I’ve been focusing a lot on the voice itself, but directing the AI performance in emotional beats, with pauses, breath and rhythm, makes a lot of sense. I’m going to experiment with that in the next episode.

Pat Cerrato, Thank you I really appreciate the ADR suggestion. At the moment, I’m experimenting with AI-generated performances and trying to improve the emotional delivery before considering human dubbing. I’ve been using Runway for performance work and CapCut for editing. I’m still testing the best workflow for dialogue and emotion.

That's a great question, and synthetic voices often sound controlled because they're not grounded in a body that's breathing and reacting in real time. Breaking each line into smaller beats and adding breaths and pauses can make the voice feel more human. What's the specific emotional beat in your series where the voice is falling short the most?

Samantha Rivera Obrigada, Samantha. Na verdade, segui sua sugestão enquanto produzia o episódio de hoje, especialmente dividindo as falas em pequenos blocos emocionais e adicionando pausas e respirações mais intencionais. O resultado ficou visivelmente mais natural e expressivo. Ainda estou experimentando, mas isso já me ajudou bastante.

I really appreciated the practical advice.

Sara Hamilton Love it.

Maurice Vaughan It means "Honoring our past to voice the future."

Laura Hammer Thanks.

I like that, MB Stevens! Looking forward to seeing what IC63 Films makes! Keep us posted as you build it.

Welcome MB! If youʻre looking for another "what the hell did I just watch?" that's guaranteed entertain and stir up some trouble, I highly recommend the Thai feature film "A Useful Ghost."

I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it, but it does have some similar elements to "I Love Boosters." If you go into it with an open mind, I promise it's the best pro-union love story about a man and his previously deceased wife reincarnating as a vacuum that you will ever see...

Hi Delenn Kerkhof ! I'm deep in the rewrite trenches with my work. Trying to make them into movie shaped things. I've discovered that some of my conventional literary devices I'm used to don't translate onscreen as I would hope, so I'm straightening and polishing and cutting away.

They will be movies. Eventually.

Hey Elle! Regional specificity without caricature is exactly the hard part, and it's the thing that makes folk horror land. Southern Gothic and Appalachian folk horror built on oral tradition sounds like the good stuff. I'm coming from the other side of the map - Brazilian, writing supernatural horror out of Rio - but the dark is the dark. Happy to connect.

Yeah next year might be better Elle Bolan. We all started karate at the same time - she was about four years old. I had to retire from it when I got my 4th so now she'll outrank me! But that's what all of us as parents want - for our kids to outdo us. And I'm right where I want to be.

Next question, @Elle: where's my plate?

Happy IYW, Elle Bolan! You had me at “matters darkly” and then completely won me over with slime molds, snails, 35 reptiles and amphibians, excellent cooking, mediocre guitar, and very bad art :D

I love how deeply your voice is rooted in place and oral tradition. Regional specificity without caricature is such an important distinction; it allows the setting to feel lived-in rather than merely used as atmosphere. And your instinct to notice and photograph the tiny things others overlook feels very connected to writing, the most revealing details are often the ones everyone else walks past.

Your work sounds distinctive, visual, and deliciously unsettling. I’ll happily step into the dark with you but I may need advance warning about which of the 35 creatures is joining us ahahaha Have a great IYW my friend:))

Looking forward to seeing The Ladder

Very cool! Congrats, Maria Romero.

Thank you, Noah! I’m excited to see how far The Ladder climbs.

Hi Michael, thank you!