Hi all,
I am a writer from down under in Australia. I am new to this site and would love to meet others experienced and not. I have a bit of a different story of how I have ended up here, I am from a small rural town in Queensland (think 20,000 people small) but was the creative recluse of the family from a young age. I am far more comfortable not going out to parties and hanging out with loads of people and would prefer to stay home writing and dreaming up stories and art. I am sure this resonates with a lot of people here. This led me to truly expand my mind and make the move at 16 years old to the city of Brisbane, by myself, where I would live for the next 8 years, bouncing around jobs and eventually settling in marketing roles. I then had a kid and myself and the wife moved back to be closer to the family.
So here we found ourselves back in the rural town we come from. I went to work for the family business as an Operations Specialist, which is running landfills and waste management/mining services (Think heavy and large machinery crushing and rolling rubbish). Not the best place for a creative person to work 12 hours a day let me tell you, but everything must happen for a reason as I came up with my latest novel from an experience I had on the ground sorting out rubbish, hope to finish this one in the coming year.
Being from a small rural town in the outback of Australia, the idea of becoming a scriptwriter in Hollywood just seemed 100% impossible. But since the inception of places like this, Stage 32, and the interconnectivity of the internet around the world, the time to be what ever the hell you want is the most accessible in any of our lifetimes. I am now in the stage of my life where I am saying screw it! I am going to be a screenwriter no matter what. Life is far too short, you really notice that when you have a kid. Just how fast time passes you by.
I have written many thriller/horror features, psychological/thriller short films and just finish my first serious hour long pilot that centres around a post-AI apocalyptic world - title: Nexi. (Can be found on Blcklst for those industry members on here, or reach out to me for more info)
I am very excited about this pilot script having gone through months upon months of drafts, script sharing notes with others and now sent into a few competitions as well as utilising Blcklst.
Enough about me, let's talk about you all! I would love to know your experience with this platform and the best features you have found while using it: could be that you have met some life long friends with similar interests - that you have made industry connections and helped your career move up a little - that you found a screenwriting partner - ANYTHING!
Thanks for indulging me if you got this far and look forward to meeting you all.
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Great story. Maybe write your lifestory as a script.
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Haha thank you, Asmaa, my family moved us to a small village in Papua New Guinea when I was quite young as my father was a mining manager (Near the Korowai tribe, one of the last cannibal tribes out there) and as such we were under armed guard during the nights with local security patrolling the "Westerners camp." Sounds like a story in the making I guess!
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Welcome to the community, Joe Weaven. Here's a blog that'll help you navigate Stage 32: www.stage32.com/blog/navigating-stage-32-for-your-best-experience-3095
And here's a blog for up-and-coming screenwriters: www.stage32.com/blog/the-questions-up-and-coming-screenwriters-need-to-a...
That's a great story how you became a screenwriter. I'm from a small rural town too. Like 500/600 people.
I've had a lot of success on Stage 32. It mainly came from building relationships/networking/being active on here (www.stage32.com/blog/keeping-up-the-momentum-from-introduce-yourself-wee...).
The Lounges (www.stage32.com/lounge), Writers' Room (www.stage32.com/writers-room), Education (www.stage32.com/education), and Blogs (www.stage32.com/blog) are the best features in my opinion.
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Thanks so much for the links and advice Maurice! I will be checking those links out and being active in there for sure so thank you.
Oh, the life of living rural hey, it's boring but that seemed to be what helped me get into the magical world of writing and film. There was nothing else to do except go to our local video store (Video Ezy in Australia) and rent as many as we could for the weekend!
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Matthew that is amazing, when we lived in PNG we had to fly out of Cairns so I know it well. Would be great to connect and hear your story a little more.
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You're welcome, Joe Weaven. I mainly lived in my hometown as a kid, so it was fun. Especially playing outside. During my teen years (in Virgina), we went to the local video store a lot. It was called "Movie Time." The New Release Day was my favorite time to go.
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I just love that those video stores were so influential on so many of us writers. Something that I fear the kids these days won't have! Steaming services are amazing and I would never say a bad thing about them as I use many of them every single day, but I do miss the feeling of going to rent the videos in person. A little nostalgia never hurt anyone.
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G'day Joe! Like you I'm an Aussie (first generation) and as a family our life began in Tassie. We then moved on to Brisbane where my sister was born, while my father had an engineering contract in Papua New Guinea for a few weeks. Long story short, we moved to Melbourne and have been here ever since. Have been writing (if you can call it that) from age eleven and illustrating (drawing more like it) from five years of age. All the best with your endeavours! Passion is the fuel in our creative engines.
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I've never thought about it, but video stores probably did have an influential on me as a writer, Joe Weaven. It's great to be able to watch movies and shows on streaming, but it's not the same as going to video stores and theaters. It wasn't just about watching movies and shows. It was also about being there (in the stores and theaters) -- the environment and experience. I remember going to a theater that was in the mall.
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Maurice Vaughan totally agree the experience will forever hold a place in my heart. I will be taking my son to as many movies at the cinemas as possible once he is old enough!
Marina Albert Wow small world huh! Did your family move there with him for those weeks? Truly a wild and beautiful, sometimes terrifying place haha P.S. Love that last sentence "Passion is the fuel in our creative engines."
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Joe Weaven no mum had two small kids to look after (us) while dad was in PNG. The contract was for six weeks so it was much easier for him to stay the course than tote us up there.
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Hi Joe Weaven, welcome to Stage 32!
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Welcome Joe Weaven! Another Aussie here, living in Sydney.
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I think your son is gonna be blown away by the cinema experience, Joe Weaven. I was. Seeing the posters, playing the arcade games, the popcorn, the previews before the movies, etc. One of the first movies (maybe the first movie) I saw in theaters was "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze."
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Marina Albert Very interesting! Where in PNG was he based out of? Port Moresby?
Sam Rivera Thanks you!
Matt Watters Nice to meet a fellow Aussie in here! P.S. grew up watching Round the Twist, iconic Aussie classic. Love to hear more about your experiences mate
Maurice Vaughan Yes I am so excited - Nothing better then seeing your first film, I am sure we all have those memories! Bit better quality then in the 90s when I grew up watching them! haha
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Joe Weaven - I think he was from memory.
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Hi Joe - what a great story and agree that it’s the most exciting time to be a creative force from anywhere and everywhere! Thanks so much for sharing your story. I’m the Director of Education here at Stage 32 - if I can ever recommend any of our education for you or be of any help on your Stage 32 journey you can email me anytime at edustage32.com.
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Hi Joe Weaven, welcome to S32. Thank you for the interesting introduction. I've never been to Australia or PNG. Nexi sounds fabulous!
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Welcome Joe! Nice to meet you. Glad you're here.