I come from the land of lighting and graphics, but I’ve had my share of audio. I LOVE audio. There’s something magical to me about listening to a piece of music or a movie and picking out all the different sounds and instruments layered together to create atmosphere and help place the viewer into the story. When I was in college at Belmont University, I took audio engineering classes to mix tracks and listen carefully to everything in a project. I’m grateful for that part of my education, but I wanted to give you some insight from someone who not just had this education but a career in audio engineering, someone else from Nashville, Tom Reeves.

A week ago, I spent a long weekend working on a new exciting project with Stacy Barton. 

Stacy and I have collaborated on a few projects over the last year. We really see eye to eye on several aspects of storytelling and creating an experience for people to relate to, entertain and form an emotional connection to an IP for a company. 

This time, the task isn’t for someone else but her! We’re creating her Master Class based on the concept of writing stories in themed entertainment, something she knows a lot about. Stacy has been writing and creating experiences for themed parks including Disney and Sea World, for nearly 30 years, in addition to being a published author of many books.

Good character, inclusion, open-mindedness, observance, intuition, humility, and communication; are what make a casting director great at their jobs. These are the qualities you should be looking for when seeking someone to take on this crucial task to produce your story. Once this job is done, you’ll have a cast of talented and creative individuals to make your story the best it can be to attract the investors you need and hopefully keep your audiences coming back for more.

The director sets the creative concept, tone, angle, vision, and plan, no matter what part of the entertainment industry you’re working. Their vision determines the most essential aspects of the project regarding production time and budget.

“The Pre-production budget determines how much money the executive producer should dedicate to developing the story concept with the hope of successfully attracting the right investors” - Denise Perry

“The storyteller, like a music composer, writes for the ear. Words are our notes, and putting them in just the right order gives the sentences a rhythm and can make them memorable.” - Jerry Cipriano