Filmmaking / Directing

Nothing happens without finance. You should have a properly broken down schedule and budget before you have a target shoot date. Does that exist?

It's a bit the chicken-and-the-egg. Sometimes casting helps you get funds and vice-versa. But as Shadow mentioned, you can't do anything without money. Have a solid budget ready to go, a potential shooting schedule and locations ready to lock but don't sign anything until you can proceed. There are great classes in the Education tab about indie filmmaking.

Everything Everywhere All at Once!

Oof! It's almost as if no one here thinks directing for television is important or something LOL In a SHONDALAND production, directors are a big deal!

You know I loved this show, Karen "Kay" Ross! The directing is so sharp, and I think having just two directors across the entire season really helped keep the tone and pacing consistent, especially with such a big ensemble. It strikes that perfect balance between comedy and tension, which is so tough to pull off in a murder mystery. Every episode feels intentional and cohesive, which says a lot about the creative leadership behind the scenes.

"Deadlines and money may be important, but they should never outweigh safety." You're 100% right, Juanma Mallen! Safety should always be the number one priority. Thanks for sharing this.

This is such an important and necessary conversation, Juanma Mallen, thank you for sharing your perspective so thoughtfully.

What’s helped some friends of mine on indie sets is partnering with retired law enforcement or certified safety coordinators willing to consult affordably, just to make sure protocols are in place.

It was just incredible! They are a tour de force and Philip was an amazing surprise. Thank you both and Stage 32 for this unique webminar:)) Thanks Sydney S :))**

Incredible webinar! Thanks, Sarah, Philip, Stage 32, Annisa, and Sydney S!

You're welcome, Sydney S.

this was a blast! Thank you Sarah and Phil. And Annisa too!

Thx for showing this to a new beginner that wrote books for a script later to come. If you are interested. Why me? A stolen childhood, Why is this happening to me? Love and Disconnections. I am writing in both Swedish, English and will also translate my fairytales to Spanish, I am illustrating all my books and my son with autism made twelve fairytales with me in a different genre than the books recommended you to check.

Very excited to hear what is said in this webinar! I love the holiday genre!! Not sure if it will be included though would like to hear the best way/ways to express thoughts/opinions of characters if not in dialogue or action. Is it okay to express/share these in either dialogue or action and if so, what would be the best way to present it? Thanks in advance!

Great question Elisa!! See you at the webinar :)

Hey all! We can't wait for tomorrow! Last chance, you don't want to miss Matt's live Q & A!

Thank you all for attending! Thank you Matt and Annisa for a great webinar!!

Finally got to listen to the replay and what an awesome class! Very useful and insightful points shared! Thank you so much!!

You can post your questions for the live Q&A here: www.stage32.com/lounge/directing/NEW-Webinar-Coming-next-week-Behind-the...

Tonnecqua Faleti I usually just ask around.

I'd check your state's Film Commission website. They usually keep a running list of projects in production and likely have connections/resources to put you in touch with the right people.

thank you Erin Leigh will do.

Tonnecqua Faleti DM me - depends where you are located (I understand in Florida). I have IPG members there who may be able to get you on set.

I would recommend getting certified through Stage 32 certification. once you complete testing through any of our certification courses, you get entered into a database that is accessible by any of our 40+ partner film commissions around the world, guilds and studios who are looking for talents on productions that are being brought to their area. we have a variety of different certification available, including individual certification and master certification for a variety of below the line roles: https://certification.stage32.com/?\_gl=1*1ph4jrt*\_gcl\_au*MTQwNTI1MzE5OC4xNzQ2MTM5MDg3*\_ga*ODkzMjY3MDgyLjE3NDYzNzYyNDU.*\_ga\_XLNHJMK8VC*czE3NDY2MjY3MTIkbzIkZzAkdDE3NDY2MjY3MTIkajAkbDAkaDA.#/

Alan Pao I have to say, The Studio has been such a surprisingly fun watch all season! I went in with curiosity, but it’s turned into one of the shows I actually get excited to catch each week. It walks that perfect line between sharp industry satire and heartfelt moments, and somehow manages to make even the behind-the-scenes chaos feel genuinely compelling.

This week’s episode was no exception—smart, layered, and full of great character work!

Hi, Alan Pao. I haven't seen The Studio yet, but it's high up on my watch list. I'll swing back around to this post when I get caught up on the series.

I liked this thought from Ursula K Le Guin (my second quote of the day from her!) when she was visiting a school.

“The kids ask me, “When you write a story, do you decide on the message first or do you begin with the story and put the message in it?”

No, I say, I don’t. I don’t do messages. I write stories and poems. That’s all. What the story or the poem means to you — its “message” to you — may be entirely different from what it means to me.”

That for me is the rub. Even if we desire for this film to have an impact, that isn’t in our hands. We can’t manufacture such a thing. I’m a storyteller not a message-giver. Whilst we address a social issue, it is framed within a psychological thriller story.

I liked the question from the kids about putting something into the story, as if the message is an additive. I’ve never had that approach to storytelling; the idea has always come first - a character, a scene or a dream. For sure, my scripts are ABOUT something, but I have no message to give, one that has been added to the story. each will take from Seeing Rachel, what they will.

When I will discuss the film with people, then they may get me saying that I want to wake people up from their complacency and complicity, but that's not the ‘message’ of the film. My aim is to create something that doesn’t allow you to take your eyes off the screen. To get inside your head and deposit images into your imagination. That’s my job done. What you do with them then, is up to you. What we hope for, is that it will inspire you to take action.

The quote is from The Marginalian:

https://www.themarginalian.org/2017/04/25/ursula-k-le-guin-words-are-my-...

Long replies in this thread.

I have a short one. I'll watch it - looks interesting.

Stephen Folker thank you for your brevity, Stephen. I'm looking forward to talking with you soon.

Geoff Hall 2 points here: (1) Your assertion that propaganda is about "reinforcing the State’s ideologies and the status quo" - if you assert that propaganda is necessarily a state exercise, then I disagree entirely. The connection makes no sense at all and doesn't stand up to scrutiny. There is no necessary connection between propaganda and state use of it, any more than there is between auto manufacturing and the use of cars by a state. Your assertion would mean, for instance, that Nazi propaganda was never propaganda until AFTER Hitler took legal power. But we all know that Nazi propaganda both before and after they took power was about messaging, persuasion and change. Only after taking power could it become about control, and then only about controlling narrative - because it cannot do anything else, by definition. It is not a hammer or a law backed up by force; it is rhetoric. State censorship is control, and it's only effective where the state already has more or less full control of media. So anyone can use propaganda, and we all do. Julius Caesar, long long before becoming dictator of Rome, spread propaganda about his accomplishments, which messaging was repeated and reinforced by his supporters and even those who would become his detractors. His propaganda was aimed, not just at gaining more power, but at creating social change in Rome. It was effective in that. I can point out the complexities of private and state propaganda during the recent covid event, some of which continues today, but messaging and persuasion was and is the point. Control and compliance, if it was a was an actual intent of governments, was very low (at least in the US). Point (2) Somewhere up there in another comment you quoted someone as saying (I paraphrase because I can't see the comment) that artists shouldn't be concerned with how their message is received. This is exactly my point and I agree with it and say that more or less all the time. An artist is required to make her statement and has no business deciding how it is received (as well as no control). But setting out at the start to make a statement with "social impact" requires the exact opposite: to craft a message that you desire will be received in a certain way, or produce a certain thought. That is propaganda, in my assertion, because it set out to persuade, intentionally.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg

“There is no necessary connection between propaganda and state use of it…”

I really can’t really believe that you have said that, Shadow. There is a whole history of the State use of propaganda, from Nazi Germany to the CCP in China and beyond. .

Read Ellul’s book on Propaganda and Bernays’ as well. Beyond that, I really don’t know what to say.