On Demand Webinar - Available for immediate viewing and unlimited access.
On Demand Webinar - Available for immediate viewing and unlimited access.
Maddie Corman is an award winning actor and writer who has guest starred on over 35 television series including all three LAW & ORDERs, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, and THE GOOD WIFE and has had recurring roles in recent shows like YOUNGER and MADAME SECRETARY. Maddie has also been featured as a series regular on MR. PRESIDENT, starring George C. Scott, ALL AMERICAN GIRL, and ALMOST THERE. Maddie is also a writer and director. Her short film HOW WAS YOUR DAY was selected by Tribeca Film Festival and her first full length play ACCIDENTLY BRAVE was produced by the Tony Award winning Daryl Roth (KINKY BOOTS, INDECENT), which had a critically acclaimed run and also won the Off Broadway Alliance award for best solo performance. Maddie has decades of experience finding work as a guest star on countless acclaimed series and knows better than most what it takes to find success in this way. Full Bio »
As a working actor, some of the best roles you can land are guest star roles for TV series. The money is good and it's an opportunity to become much more visible and have a lot more people see what you can do. Plus guest star roles give you invaluable experience working on a large and professional set. And landing guest star roles aren't just a fantasy; it's something you can actually achieve with the right preparation and understanding. You have to prepare quality reels, rehearse auditions and continuously study and improve your craft. Yet this is only half the battle. The second part of the actor’s journey is knowing how to maintain that trajectory of success after you’ve gotten the job. You need to know how to navigate the industry after you've gotten your foot in the door - so that door of opportunity does not close on you.
There is a lot of information out there on the audition process for actors, but very little on how to actually do a good job once you're on set. If you're on your first guest star role, there's a lot you need to know to be successful. You want to make sure you perform well and that the cast and crew enjoy working with you so you can build your reputation and discover more roles. You want to make sure that your presence is a present to those around you. It isn't always easy making a good first impression on set but actors who accomplish this are able to secure more longevity in their careers. We’ll show you how to attain this same success.
Maddie Corman is an award winning actor and writer who has guest starred on over 35 television series including all three LAW & ORDERs, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, and THE GOOD WIFE and has had recurring roles in recent shows like YOUNGER and MADAME SECRETARY. Maddie has also been featured as a series regular on MR. PRESIDENT, starring George C. Scott, ALL AMERICAN GIRL, and ALMOST THERE. Maddie is also a writer and director. Her short film HOW WAS YOUR DAY was selected by Tribeca Film Festival and her first full length play ACCIDENTLY BRAVE was produced by the Tony Award winning Daryl Roth (KINKY BOOTS, INDECENT), which had a critically acclaimed run and also won the Off Broadway Alliance award for best solo performance. Maddie has decades of experience finding work as a guest star on countless acclaimed series and knows better than most what it takes to find success in this way.
Maddie will provide invaluable guidance and tools on how to land guest star roles on TV series and how to make a good impression on set so you can keep on finding more work. Maddie will show you her own reel to use as inspiration and how to properly prepare for a great audition from wardrobe to improvisation to cues. She will also teach you key specifics around auditioning such as what they are looking for, how to continue prepping while you are waiting, and tips on small talk when you first walk into the room. Maddie will also prepare you for all types of auditions whether in-person, over zoom, or self-tapped, provide you with unique advice on how what to do after booking the role, and how to act on set like how to read your call sheet, nail your blocking, and what to do when you’re not needed on set.
Maddie is tremendously excited to share her infinite wealth of knowledge and expertise with the Stage 32 community.
Maddie Corman
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Exclusive opportunity only available on Stage 32! Stage 32 Masters of Craft Series Presents: Paul Watling, Head of Story for Oscar-Winning SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE and Conrad Vernon, Director of Oscar-Nominated SHREK 2. Animation is one of the most in-demand genres of film and television with a wide audience appeal. Whether it's billion dollar box office hits like THE LION KING, ZOOTOPIA, MINIONS or FROZEN or Emmy-winning television like THE SIMPSONS, BOB'S BURGERS or RICK AND MORTY, there is always a need for fun, fantastic and unique storytelling through animation. Animation as a medium is much different than its live action counterpart and requires a unique series of skills. One of the most important among them is pitching. A good pitch stands between you and your greenlight. Pitching animation is unlike any other storytelling. First, you are in charge of not only nailing a perfect pitch complete with character and story arcs, but you are also in charge of helping your audience visualize something that doesn't exist yet. Being able to do both and succeed can be challenging. You have to know how to map out your story, how to lay out your storyboards and how to verbally hone in on a perfect pitch. Missing a key element can mean you will get a pass. To make sure you put your best foot forward, Stage 32 is thrilled to bring you an exclusive Masters of Craft webinar with Paul Watling, Head of Story for Oscar-Winning SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE and Conrad Vernon, Director of Oscar-Nominated SHREK 2. Paul Watling has orbited the animation industry for the past two decades, honing his skills as a director, story artist and designer, joining Nickelodeon. He was head of story on Sony Pictures Animation’s Academy award winning feature, SPIDER-MAN INTO THE SPIDER VERSE and contributed to numerous television and feature productions most recently, as a director on Craig McCracken's Netflix series KID COSMIC. He served as a story artist on several other Sony Pictures Animation films, including SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE and HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2, along with a multitude of feature development projects. Paul relocated to Los Angeles from Toronto, Ontario where he worked as a storyboard artist, designer and director on a variety of television productions, such as GROJBAND, SIDEKICK, TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND, YIN YANG YO, ATOMIC BETTY and ED, EDD N EDDY. Conrad Vernon is an American director, writer, storyboard artist and voice over artist best known for his work on the DreamWorks Oscar-Nominated animated film series SHREK as well as other films such as MONSTERS VS. ALIENS, MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED AND PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR. He also co-directed the adult animated film SAUSAGE PARTY and the newest release of the animated movie THE ADDAMS FAMILY. Conrad is now tapped to direct an animated movie version of THE JETSONS for Warner Bros. In this exclusive Stage 32 Masters of Craft Webinar Paul and Conrad will go over what a story pitch is for animation and how it can affect your story board. They will teach you how to prepare for a story pitch and how to plan a pitch story board. They will share from their decades of experience things that work well and things that do NOT work well in a pitch. And, exclusively to Stage 32, you will see video of the actual in-room pitch Conrad did for SHREK 2 - complete with the live pitch, the story boards and the final product! Paul will even do a live pitch to the class. You will get to see how the top pros pitch! Join us for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how two of the top people in animation today pitch - you'll walk away with creative ideas on how to apply it to your future pitches! PRAISE FOR CONRAD'S TEACHINGS: "Conrad teaching is like a master class in animation." - Miguel V. "Wit, wisdom and no bull-sh*t. Conrad was clear in what it takes to work in animation. Bring him back please!" - Tiffany F. "Conrad is a terrific instructor who I learned a tremendous amount from. I especially like how thorough he is in explaining technical details." - Paul I.
With all the recent success for true story dramas including Harriet, Bombshell, Judy, Ford v. Ferrari, The Irishman (among many others), it’s an exciting time in the marketplace for non-fiction. If you have found a story that truly inspires you and know it will make a great film, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start to make that happen. The easy part is finding the right story, the hard part is knowing what to do with it. Whether it’s a book, a newspaper or magazine article, a documentary subject, or even if it’s the story of someone you’ve met or are related to, understanding how to get the rights and put the project into motion is paramount. To cover all your bases from the legal aspects to development to filming to distribution, you need someone who has been in the trenches time and time again. And we've got just the person, one of the most experienced independent film producers working today, to help you make sense of it all. Jim Young of Animus Films has created a successful career working in the true story space with films such as The Catcher Was a Spy (Paul Rudd) based off of the life of Moe Berg, Life of a King (Cuba Gooding Jr.) based off of the life of Eugene Brown, The Man Who Knew Infinity (Dev Patel) based off of the life of Srinivasa Ramanujan, Lovelace (Amanda Siefried) based off of the life of Linda Lovelace and the upcoming The People vs. Vegas Dave based off of controversial gambler Vegas Dave. Jim is a leading independent non-fiction producer, with almost two dozen films under his belt. And now he's bringing his extensive knowledge exclusively to the Stage 32 community. Jim will take you through the steps of acquiring the rights to a particular article, book or other printed material about, or the life rights of, a given person (or persons). From there he will cover writing and developing the script, getting buttoned up legally to avoid pitfalls in the pre-production and production phases, and help you navigate the process of releasing and distributing the film. He will provide real life case studies using some of his own films as examples to help you gain real world experience and make the process painless. PRAISE FOR JIM'S TEACHINGS: "Jim was an excellent educator. He really broke down the process of getting life rights in an easy to understand way and opened my eyes to some huge pitfalls I need to avoid along the way. Great examples from someone who's actually doing it right now, which is important. Thanks Jim!" -Jonathan R.
It’s hard to fully appreciate just how much work goes into getting a film or TV production going. The volume of moving parts and number of i’s to dot and t’s to cross can feel staggering. It takes someone with wicked organizational skills, resourcefulness and the ability to work long hours and handle a multitude of tasks simultaneously under high-pressure situations. Whether you are a director, producer, production assistant or production coordinator, knowing how to discover your crew members’ skill sets, delegate effectively and execute tasks with extreme precision is a must for cultivating a successful career. While organizational skills and drive are certainly important in coordinating a production, it takes more than this to be a successful production coordinator or producer; it also takes a good amount of knowledge and wherewithal that doesn’t simply come naturally. Navigating union rules, building time sheets, filling out permits, working with stunt performers, building your electrical and grip departments, the list goes on. These aspects are all crucial, but if you’ve never carried out these tasks before, you’ll need guidance and education to make sure you’re doing it right and not missing any important steps. Well we have you covered! Carol Kravetz is a veteran and highly sought-after production coordinator who has worked on projects for over 30 years and set up productions for notable series like BREAKING BAD and IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, as well as various features for MGM, Warner Brothers, HBO and USA Network. Very few people know more about production coordination that Carol, and she has built a passion of giving back by teaching others her trade and giving students, career-transitioning adults and veterans of the Armed Forces a good sense of the business end of making movies. In this 4-part previously recorded class, Carol provides a fully comprehensive guide on how to be prepared to prepare, prepared to shoot and prepared to wrap. You will learn Carol’s personal list of Production Coordinator best practices, from the various tasks you will be expected to perform and how to execute them with precision, to how to recognize each document you will need in a mound of paperwork, to how to transition the office from pre-production to shoot to wrap. You’ll learn how everything is paid for, how to facilitate rentals and purchases for on-set departments, and the common pitfalls and traps that happen during production so you can avoid them. Carol then teaches you her networking, resume and follow up tips to help you find work and keep working past the wrap party. With interactive lectures and homework assignments directly geared toward making you a stronger and more competent Production Coordinator, you will leave this class with a comprehensive understanding of how to be an effective Production Coordinator and be a valuable asset to any set you work on! Purchasing gives you access to the previously recorded live class. Although Carol is no longer reviewing the assignments, we still encourage all listeners to participate. Praise for Carol’s Stage 32 Class "Taking Carol's Production Coordinator Class was full of detailed information to get someone up and running in the position of Production Coordinator. Carol also has some great tales from the entertainment industry to make it entertaining along the way. If you want to know the ins and outs of the production office and how it relates to the production overall, this is a great class to take." - Laura D. "Carol is a wonderful source of information. Perhaps best at her department. I'd like to thank Carol for her fantastic contribution to my professional career and private learning. You have been unique and very resourceful!" - Willem V.
It seems like every day another film festival launches or expands. Specialty festivals are becoming all the rage and major, established festivals have been expanding to accept shorts, digital shorts, documentaries, television pilots, specialty genre content and content focused on diversity. With the market growing, so are the number of submissions to any given festival, especially those which are producing results for the connections of the accepted films. You want to make sure your screenplay is on point, that the story is a fit for the style of the festival you are entering and that the film grabs a judge's attention from the get go. Part of assuring you have a festival darling film is understanding the festival landscape, knowing the right players and making connections that assure your film is being viewed by the decision makers. But this all starts, as it always does, with the script. A majority of screenwriters do not write big budget tentpole blockbusters. They tell more intimate, character driven stories. And these are the kind of stories that most festivals adore. But why do some of these scripts attract financing, producers, and, ultimately, the attention of festival directors while others fall through the cracks? As a writer and/or producer, how can you identify the aspects of your screenplay that might be killing your chances of festival success and fix them before filming begins? And how can filmmakers and producers assure, even if they have a winning film based on a fantastic script in place, that they are entering the right festivals and navigating the circuit correctly? There is a chemistry to all of it. A mixture of the creative and the business side of things. It's imperative that you have an understanding of both. Maren Olson has represented domestic and/or worldwide distribution rights to over 70 finished films, including Academy Award winner The Secret in Their Eyes, festival favorites such as An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Natural Selection and Red Flag, and Sundance Audience Award winners This is Martin Bonner, Valley of Saints and Kinyarwanda. As a producer, she was responsible for critically lauded Short Term 12, which premiered at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival, where it won both the Grand Jury and Audience Awards. The film went on to win 19 other awards including the Gotham Award for Best Actress and Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing. Maren currently works in the film finance division of CAA, and was formerly the President of Traction Media, where she was responsible for the creative development, packaging, production, financing and sale of independent films. To say she understands all the ins and outs of the festival circuit, what festivals look for and how they operate would be a massive understatement. Maren will teach you what kind of independent film project goes on to become a “Festival Darling” and what you can do to better position your independent film for festival success, from script to screen. She will deconstruct both the writing stage- from the major components of a festival-friendly story idea, to what to consider regarding location and characters, all the way to how to incorporate thinking about the budget when writing your script- as well as the production stage – from how to make sure your film gets properly considered by the right people, to which festivals you should submit to and when, all the way to the common ways festival friendly scripts turn into a film that no festival wants to play. She will teach you the 3 components of a festival-friendly story idea and why you must answer yes to each. She will talk budget, shooting locations and when the proper time is to bring on a producer. She will explain the mistakes people make and demystify the myths people believe when navigating the festival circuit. She will go over common pitfalls screenwriters, filmmakers and producers make that can be fatal when submitting to festivals. Maren will give you the tools to get traction on your project. She will lay out, in clear, precise terms, how to assure your project is given the best opportunity to become a "Festival Darling." PRAISE FOR MAREN'S TEACHINGS: "Excellent - informative. Maren brought facts and experience to a very nuanced subject about "Film Festival Darlings - offering an extremely in-depth analysis to the elements of what a writer or producer should consider when moving forward in the Indie film world. My fav Stage 32 webinar so far. Thanks." - Robert G. "Fantastic seminar. Like a good filmmaker, you kept us engaged from opening to close. Thanks again!" - Bob B. "Maren had a lot of practical information and road trap warning for indies. I appreciated the components of a festival face, comps, and specific advice that is useful." - Betty S.
Have you ever wanted to create and write your own TV show that you also star in? Well, that's exactly what writer/actor/producer John Lehr did not just once but twice and now Stage 32 has brought John in to show you how it's done. In this exclusive Stage 32 webinar, you’ll learn how you can create your own star-making television show, how to pitch it, and what it’s like to produce a television series that you also write and play the lead in. John Lehr is an actor, writer and comedian who has sold multiple shows he created to major streaming platforms and networks, including QUICK DRAW on Hulu, 10 ITEMS OR LESS on TBS, and JAILBAIT for Crackle. John is also the original Geico Caveman and has hosted several network TV shows. John believes that knowledge is power and that you too can launch your career as a writer, producer and actor by creating and selling your own television show. He’ll show you what pitfalls and roadblocks to avoid while making your project one that buyers love. John isn't alone. FLEABAG’S Phoebe Waller-Bridge and CHEWING GUM’s Michaela Cole both began their careers more focused on acting before creating, writing and starring in shows that became must-watch television. This webinar covers the whole process including what makes a good show premise, how to pitch your show successfully once you're in the room, and how to even get those elusive pitch meetings. If you’ve been waiting for a star-making role, this webinar will show you how to stop waiting and take control of your own career today.
Hello, Creative Army. It's been a busy few months around the Stage 32 offices and for yours truly as it relates to my personal projects. I'm excited to share with you what I'm hearing, what I've learned, and what I've experienced since we last got together. As always, my AMA's are always free! Watch as many times as you'd like. Cheers! RB