RJ Collins is an award-winning writer/director, renowned for founding the trailblazing directing collective Everdream. Their viral Tesla spec commercial revolutionized branded content, demonstrating the immense potential of young filmmakers. His unique talent for blending narrative depth with commercial appeal quickly established him as a preferred director for top-tier brands, elevating the art of storytelling in the advertising industry. RJ has perfected the art of winning commercials through his unique approach to treatments and pitches. His creative prowess carried into narrative with his Streamy-nominated mini-series "Simi Valley," a personal reflection of his upbringing, and his acclaimed sci-fi script "Vapor," which won the ScreenCraft Grand Prize and earned praise from Oscar-winner Diana Ossana. He's also behind the buzzed-about horror-adventure short "Dropping," featuring talents like Reign Edwards, Devin Druid, and Mia Threapleton, with plans for a feature adaptation. Currently, RJ is working on his pioneering debut feature, "Left Alone," a screenlife thriller starring RJ Mitte, aimed at transforming disability representation in film. Full Bio Âğ

A-List filmmakers such as David Fincher and Ridley Scott started their careers directing commercials. Directing commercials can be a great way to make a living, gain valuable experience working with cutting edge technology and prepare yourself to direct movies.
Plus! Receive an exclusive handout that will help you build your commercial directing career!
Whether you're an aspiring filmmaker, a seasoned director looking to transition into the lucrative field of commercials, or someone simply passionate about visual storytelling, directing commercials is an exciting and fruitful creative career path.
Many of the most well known film directors started working in commercials and honed their craft working on branded commercial content. And some directors have built long lasting and successful careers only directing commercials for an array of clients. However, how do you break into the commercial directing industry? And once you’re in, how do you forge a successful career for yourself?
In this exclusive Stage 32 webinar, you will learn how to create and build your career as a commercial director from an industry leader who built his directing career from the ground up. Teaching you everything you need to know about the business and craft of directing commercials is RJ Collins, the pioneering mind behind Everdream and the viral Tesla spec commercial that redefined branded content.
RJ has built a career at the nexus of deep narrative and commercial sensibility, becoming the director of choice for top brands through his innovative approach. His foray into film and TV includes the Streamy-nominated "Simi Valley" and the ScreenCraft-winning script "Vapor," earning accolades from Oscar-winning screenwriter Diana Ossana. His latest endeavor, the buzzworthy horror-adventure feature film "Dropping", is on track to roll cameras in summer 2024.
As a commercial director, there is a constant balance between honing your pitching skills to book work and developing your directorial style so you perpetuate a lasting career in the marketplace. In a jam-packed 90 minutes, RJ will teach you not only how to develop your style, brand, and relationships to ensure you have a successful commercial career, but also how you can leverage your work as a commercial director to move into film and television work.
This course is a golden opportunity for you to learn how to become a go-to director for clients across the commercial industry and use that to propel your directing career.
PLUS! You’ll receive an exclusive Director Treatment Template to create winning pitches to help hone your commercial directing work.
If you’re a director in any medium with a passion for visual storytelling, this webinar is a must!

RJ Collins
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Learn how to make a profitable film under $10MM from a producer who's worked with NETFLIX and LIONSGATE Some of the most profitable and most award winning films in recent years have been movies made for a budget between $5MM-$10MM. Feature films like The Big Sick, Moonlight, and the megahit Get Out were all made for less than $10MM but grossed 10 or even 20 times their initial investment. So how do you position your film and make the best use of your $5MM-$10MM budget for profitablity and success? In this exclusive Stage 32 on-demand webinar, an industry expert will show you the finance, production, and distribution options for your mid-budget film. The market has been hot for this budget level of films, and it's on innovative filmmakers like yourself to fill in the void and bring your unique perspective to audiences. Providing her experience and insight in finance and producing is Jeanette Milio. She has worked on over 45 films and television programs for companies like Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, HBO, Showtime, and many more. Her projects have also starred Academy Award-winning performers, including Halle Berry, Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, and Mickey Rourke. She's also a member of the Producer's Guild of America, Women in Film, and the Cannes Film Festival Producer's Network and structured her own media fund in 2009 that financed theatrical features with a production volume of $60 million. Jeanette's providing her vast experience for your benefit and will answer any questions from those who attend the live webinar. You'll also have access to the recording for future viewings to ensure that you don't miss any information that can benefit your production. You'll also walk away with these exclusive handouts from Jeanette: Excel Finance Plan Template Sample CAMA (revenue/profit) agreement Sample story rights agreement (option) Sample talent offers for director and cast (pay-or-play) PRAISE FOR JEANETTE'S TEACHINGS: "Jeanette is dynamite. Her knowledge level on financing is spectacular!" - Anne R. "Outstanding with real information." -Jamie J. "She is fantastic. I feel like it should be a two-part event." -Talaya G. "Jeanette was terrific, very informative, receptive to questions, and spoke from experience." -Gio S.
For many independent film producers and filmmakers, approaching financiers and securing financing for your project presents one of the biggest challenges in the entire filmmaking process. How do you build your team, bring in development funds, attach name talent and work with rebates, sales estimates & distribution to attract financing all while compiling a plan to mitigate your financial risk? This can all be overwhelming for a producer, especially given the ever changing landscape and the increasingly competitive nature of independent film. Your goal as a filmmaker or producer is to make your project more financially attractive to investors over everyone else presenting projects to them. What many filmmakers and producers don't know is that there's a "sweet spot" in a film budget range that will help you raise funds successfully and get the ROI your investors are looking for. Setting the budget for your feature film at between $250,000 and $2 million opens up a variety of options for you to be able to attach the talent you're looking for, the distribution you need and make your investors money. But first, you have to understand the financial blueprint to get you there. Franco Sama has produced 25+ successful independent feature films between $250,000 - $2MM. He has worked with Oscar winner Christine Lahti, Dane Cook, Christian Slater, Gary Oldman, David Arquette, Brittany Snow, Vivica Fox, Michael Madsen and many more. He's worked with first time directors and experienced directors and has seen all scenarios when it comes to putting together financing for films. Franco knows first hand every step of the financial model needed to make a movie profitable and he's bringing this knowledge exclusively to the Stage 32 community. In this webinar, you will learn how to approach your film from the investor’s point of view so you can not only get the money you need for your project but, most importantly, make a profit on your film so your investor gets their money back. You will learn how to build a team around your project that will not only make investing more attractive, but also assure you don't make mistakes when you go after funding. You'll learn the type of funding that is available to you and how to approach the investors attracted to and interested in each type of financing. You'll dissect how to get agents on your side to attach talent to your project and how to work with attorneys. You'll also learn the most effective distribution options for this type of film budget. Drawing from his nearly two decades of experience, Franco will teach you how he gets his dozens of projects financed, distributed and turning a profit, and why he stays in the “sweet spot” range between $250K-$2M. Give yourself the competitive advantage to understand the types of investors you need to approach, how to approach them, how to get talent attached, and, ultimately, how to get your film made, distributed, and profitable so your investors return again and again! PRAISE FOR FRANCO'S TEACHINGS: “Head & shoulders above the usual webinars on film distribution and finance. Franco actually knows his stuff and has a track record to back it up. Really good presentation.” – Scott B. “This webinar gave me a TON of information and things to consider as we move forward with our first feature project. Thank you Stage32 for providing these excellent training opportunities.” – LeAnn M. “Franco was very informative. I've already produced a ton of stuff but have been challenged by the distribution side (although my 1st feature HAS finally gotten distribution!). He gave me some great nuggets of information. I would definitely take another webinar with him.” – Stephanie B. “I thought that this seminar presented a wealth of useful information in a short period of time.” – Glen P. “The material provided is informative and appreciated!” – Andry P.
Learn how you can take your script from good to great by properly incorporating theme throughout your story from Jonny Grant, the screenwriter of THE DARE & ARTHUR & MERLIN: KNIGHTS OF CAMELOT. PLUS! You'll receive exclusive handouts to help you with theme in your script, including Structure & Theme Guidelines and Setting, Dialogue & Thematic Patterning Guidelines While many of your most beloved films feature flashy titles or concepts - dinosaurs escaping from an amusement park, an unsinkable ship hitting an iceberg and sinking into the ocean, a giant shark terrorizing beachgoers - there is always so much more to these stories than what appears at first glance. Beneath the facade, JURASSIC PARK is about a man learning to become a parent, TITANIC is a love story about two people coming together for a happier life, and JAWS is about people facing their phobias. These are all examples of THEME in film and help give those films layers of meaning that bring audiences back for multiple viewings. There’s countless examples of themes beneath the surface of your favorite movies. However, incorporating theme into your writing is tricky; it is often submerged in the words and actions of the characters and subtly built into the plot. How can you effectively weave your theme into your story? How do you subtly get the theme across without hitting the audience over the head with it? Conversely, how can you make sure your theme comes across without being too convoluted? And how can your theme tie into the surface level plot of your story? In this exclusive Stage 32 on-demand webinar, you’ll learn how to effectively incorporate theme into your script to elevate your story and engage your audience. Teaching you everything you need to know about creating a strong theme in your screenplay is accomplished screenwriter Jonny Grant. Represented by top management company, Zero Gravity Management, Jonny’s recent work includes THE DARE for Millennium Films and Lionsgate directed by Giles Alderson and starring Richard Brake (The Mandolorian, Game of Thrones) & Bart Edwards (PeepShow, The Witcher) and ARTHUR & MERLIN, KNIGHTS OF CAMELOT starring Richard Short (Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan). Incorporating theme into your screenplay is a universal strength and powerful tool to make your scripts engaging on multiple levels! Jonny is a master of incorporating theme into his work and is exclusively sharing his expertise with the Stage 32 community. PLUS! You’ll receive exclusive handouts to help you add theme into your screenplay. Downloads include: Structure & Theme Guidelines Setting, Dialogue & Thematic Patterning Guidelines If you're looking to elevate your screenwriting, this webinar is a must!
Any producer can tell you just how much goes into creating a budget for a film. Layer after layer, projection after projection, contingency after contingency, it’s always an incredibly difficult, incredibly fragile, and incredibly intricate document that take an immense amount of work and care to put together. And with so many elements involved, it’s just too big and specialized for a program like Excel to handle. There is a reason why nearly every studio, producer, accountant and unit production manager utilizes Movie Magic Budgeting to write budgets. If you are in the position where you have been asked to create a budget, Movie Magic is absolutely essential. It is the easiest and cleanest budgeting program and can handle anything from shorts to multi-cam and single camera series to full features. It is both simple and deeply complex as you start getting into the minutiae of everything it can do. Yet a solid understanding of how to operate Movie Magic is a powerful tool in the arsenal of those looking to move up into management on either the show or studio level and might be a requirement for those looking to find success in their producing career. Rami Rank is a leading and sought-after producer with credits on shows including Amazon's GOLIATH, Showtime’s DEXTER, SWINGTOWN on CBS, HELP ME and HELP YOU on ABC, as well as features such as the remake of APRIL FOOL'S DAY. Beginning his career working on indie features as a Production Coordinator, Production Manager and Line Producer, Rami later joined Universal Studios where in addition to helping manage the Backlot and Stage Operations he also ran UVS-1, Universal’s Virtual Production business. Since then, he returned to production and continues to put together high profile films and series. Through his storied career, Rami has become intimately familiar with the inner workings of Movie Magic Budgeting and set to share what he knows exclusively with the Stage 32 community. Rami will give a full walkthrough of how to successfully use the Movie Magic Budgeting (MMB) software to put together a budget for your own film or series. He will begin by giving an overview of what the budget will look like on MMB, including the top sheet, the accounts, details, helpful shortcut keys, and understanding what amt, units, x, cur, and rate mean. Next he will talk you through how to set up a budget from scratch, including how to choose the right template, input budget info, and set up your header and footer. Rami will teach you how to set up and use different units and will then delve into globals, explaining what they are and how to create them. He’ll to through global groups, applying globals and changing globals. Then he will discuss fringes, explaining what they are in the context of MMB, and go over percentage fringes, flat rate fringes, applying and removing fringes, and setting the fringe account. He will also explain how groups work on MMB, why they are important, how to create them yourself, and how to turn them on and off. Next Rami will explain how to use the currency function and how to set up and build contractual fees. Finally Rami will break down additional basic functions of MMB including pagination, recalculation, and printing and PDF conversion. Movie Magic Budgeting can be an intimidating software, but Rami will give you an accessible and actionable walkthrough so you can have the tools and confidence to build your own budget with it. Rami will be operating from Movie Magic's Version 7.7, the Legacy version of its budgeting software, which is also the version that most professional producers currently use. Praise for Rami's Stage 32 Webinar: "It was great, good presenter, very experienced, good communication" -Paul B. "Terrific host, valuable content." -Mark M. "Rami was great. He was entertaining, and showed he knew what he was teaching. Webinar flowed well and was engaging for the whole timeframe" -Nicholas B. "Very helpful, good overview of the software" -Angie L.
Almost every successful filmmaker today—from Ava DuVernay to Rian Johnson to Chloe Zhao to Ryan Coogler—got their start by writing and directing their own short films. It’s so common of a springboard for creatives that most managers and executives actively incorporate scouting short films as part of their recruitment model when looking for new talent or new ideas. If you're an aspiring writer or director ready to make a living as a filmmaker, mastering the art of crafting a short film can be the perfect launching tool for your career. Simply putting together any short film isn’t going to be your instant ticket into the industry, however. Tens of thousands of filmmakers produce new short films every year. With so much competition, how do you make your own film stand out? How can you avoid the mistakes that riddle the writing and directing process of making a short film? Once your film is made, how do you get it out to the world aside from just uploading it on YouTube and hoping people view it? And what can you do to convince investors and producers that you're ready to make the leap into bigger projects? James Kicklighter is a multi-award winning writer and director whose work has been recognized by the world’s press, including The Hollywood Reporter, The Times of India, Film Courage and FilmInk Australia. He has directed nine short films that have found success at film festivals around the world as well as through distribution. He is currently developing projects with Richard Saperstein (THE MIST, SE7EN) and Beau Turpin (COUNTERPUNCH). His latest feature film THE SOUND OF IDENTITY, about the first transgender woman to perform as Don Giovanni in a professional opera, was released this year and is produced by Emmy Award-winning producers Russ Kirkpatrick & Andy Kinslow and executive produced by Golden Globe-winner and Academy Award-nominated Josh Bachove (MINARI, THE LITTLE HOURS). In this 2-part exclusive Stage 32 On-Demand Filmmaking Class, you will learn: How to write, direct and distribute your own short film The art of writing a short screenplay How to develop strong characters that will attract top acting talent, while working within a budget that the average aspiring filmmaker can afford. The process of directing your first short How to get the cast and crew that you want How to raise money and setup the budget, How to select the right camera and technical equipment, How to work with locations and your actors to maximize your production value. Insider tips for distributing and marketing your final product - a step that most filmmakers never learn. Hw to target film festivals, cultivate relationships with media, and create a launch strategy that will best serve your film in the present while preparing you for the future. PRAISE FROM JAMES'S TEACHINGS: “His experience and expertise as a writer and producer of film were greatly enhanced by his enthusiasm and energy as a speaker. He presented a series of workshops in the production of film, and also was the keynote speaker at our Young Writer's Conference. In both cases, he was able to inspire and connect to many different age groups including several professors in attendance.” - Gareth Jones, Brewton-Parker College “I think James is a rare breed of artist that combines his business and marketing skills with a cohesive artistic vision. ” - Jason Winn, Film Director “James is sharp as a razor, quick to grasp an idea, and like mercury when it comes to social media.” - Lilly Lee, Co-Founder, UNICEF Chinese Children’s Initiative “James exceeds your expectations and helps turn your ideas into reality.” - Susan Woolf, Director of Operations, National Student Leadership Conference “James is an extraordinary individual. He represents to me, the best of what this business holds in the next few decades.” – Gemma Puglisi, Assistant Professor, American University I have been recommending the Short Film Master Class to filmmakers since I completed it. It is entertaining and contains so much information. Not only does he cover "how" but includes the "why". James is phenomenal. --John Garrett Insightful, informative, and entertaining! A must for the rookie and the pro alike. Hames hands you tools to utilize in today's viral distribution market. After the course, you'll feel empowered and prepared to shoot, distribute, and publicize your next project. -- Jaye Lowe
Stage 32 + Netflix join forces to bring you an exclusive television pitch workshop Learn best practices to make your pitch work and what your pitching document should look like You do NOT want to miss this! For many, the holy grail of television has become Netflix. It’s a titan in the industry, and with over 200 million subscribers worldwide, no one can put out content quite like them. Just look at the recent hit show BRIDGERTON, which has already been seen by a massive 80 million households (!!) since its release. If you’re a writer or creator, getting your series onto Netflix’s platform can spell success in a big way. But first there’s the matter of getting your series in front of them and pitching it effectively. It should be a comfort to know that you’re not the only one who wants your series on Netflix. Netflix wants that too! Netflix execs are constantly on the lookout for exciting new voices and new series to fill their slate. Yet it takes more than just a good series or a good pilot script to get on Netflix’s radar; you need to be able to communicate it well and pitch it in a way that will get their team excited. This certainly takes some work, but it’s absolutely achievable. If you’re interested in getting your show on Netflix, it’s time to learn directly from the source what it will take to make that happen. In an effort to reach more writers and find more content, Netflix has joined forces with Stage 32 to present a FREE and invaluable workshop on what it is that they’re looking for in new shows and how you can best pitch your series to their executives. In Stage 32's continued effort to help level the playing field for content creators worldwide, we felt it's important that we help you get tools you need to be able to make sure that you can pitch effectively. Kicking off the workshop will be Stage 32 CEO, Richard "RB" Botto (@rbwalksintoabar), and hosting this presentation will be Stage 32's Managing Director Amanda Toney with Netflix’s Director of Creative Talent Investment and Development for International Originals Christopher Mack. Christopher was previously Senior Vice President of Scripted Content for Stage 13, overseeing all of the brand’s original scripted series and development slates across multiple genres, including Emmy nominated Netflix series’ SPECIAL and IT'S BRUNO. Before Stage 13, Chris headed the Warner Bros. Workshop, the writing and directing program for professionals looking to start and/or further their careers in television. Over a period of 10 years in this role, Chris curated a roster of close to 100 writers and 50 directors representing the breakthrough emerging voices working on high-profile television shows today. In addition to these responsibilities, Chris has covered hit shows such as TWO AND A HALF MEN and SMALLVILLE for the Current Programs department. Prior to joining Warner Bros., Chris spent seven years writing on various one-hour dramas including ER, THE PRACTICE and THE NEW TWILIGHT ZONE. After graduating from Loyola Law School, Chris got his start in television at NBC Studios as an associate and he quickly rose to becoming an executive. During his time at the newly created NBC Studios, he oversaw a varied list of shows including: THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL AIR and IN THE HOUSE, among others. In this exclusive Stage 32 workshop, Christopher will delve into what exactly makes a television pitch work at Netflix. He’ll discuss the essentials you’ll need to catch Netflix’s eye and will zero in on how to write an effective pitch document. He’ll pose questions you be able to answer and communicate for your series and give you ideas on how best to communicate your show’s overview, world, tone, and characters. Christopher will then discuss how season summaries should be built and give you ideas on how to think about and present potential episodes. Finally, you will have the invaluable opportunity to ask Christopher your own questions. You will leave this presentation with the understanding of how to structure and present your series, not in theory, but directly from the source.