by Voyage | Aug 15, 2019 | Producer Interviews
Our producer team is growing! We are pleased to share the new producers recently added to our team. Learn a little more about them below! Chris Armogida Christian Armogida began working in film at Village Roadshow Pictures where he was trained in Development and Physical Production. A lifelong horror nut, Christian put himself in the orbit of all the genre pictures VRP was working on with Dark Castle/Silver Pictures. In 2007, he moved on to Rogue Pictures, the genre division of Focus Features and Universal Pictures. Following Rogue’s sale to Relativity Media in 2008, Christian became Director of Development with Unbroken Pictures, an independent production company that focuses on elevated horror. Christian worked closely on projects such as He’s Out There, There Are Monsters, and Grim Night. He was also an Associate Producer on Bryan Bertino’s Mockingbird and Oz Perkins’ The Blackcoat’s Daughter (FKA February), which Christian discovered and helped develop. Most recently Christian has gone independent and created his own label, Nightshade Entertainment, which focuses on elevated horror and dark and edgy thriller material. Bill Daly Bill has been a television writer and producer for two decades and has written for eleven network comedies, including MIKE AND MOLLY starring Emmy-Award winning actress Melissa McCarthy, 8 SIMPLE RULES starring the late John Ritter, and GARY UNMARRIED starring Jay Mohr. Experienced in both multi-cam and single-cam half-hour formats, Bill has written and produced comedy series that have aired on CBS, NBC, ABC and Netflix. In addition to his own half-hour pilots — which were sold to ABC Family, Touchstone Television, Universal Studios, and CBS Studios — Bill has developed comedies with actors Courtney Cox, Keegan Michael Key... read more
by Voyage | Jun 12, 2019 | Producer Interviews
We are pleased to welcome these new producers to the Voyage Team! From Indie films to TV show dramas, our newly added producers have experience across the board. Let’s learn a little more about them! Wendie Margolis – Wendie is an independent producer and former studio executive with extensive development and production experience. She spent more than 14 years as an executive at Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Walt Disney Pictures. She has worked on projects like THE KARATE KID, GHOSTBUSTERS, BLUE THUNDER, OUT OF AFRICA, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN and CINDERELLA STORY. Annie Girard – Annie is a producer, writer, and performer who’s worked with major and independent studios including Disney, Comedy Central, Warner Brothers, Dreamworks TV, HGTV, and MTV with a focus on live action and animated comedy content for kids of all ages. Annie is known for her work on Disney’s CLUB PENGUIN, DONALD DUCK’S THREE CABALLEROS, and MOM TESTED. Daniel Forcey– Dan ran development for Platinum Studios for nearly a decade, spearheading studio projects like COWBOYS & ALIENS, indie films like DYLAN DOG: DEAD OF THE NIGHT and television series like Showtime’s JEREMIAH. He has also served as a consultant for Arcana Studios, overseeing both their animated and live-action projects, works as a consultant for Drama 3/4, and is partnered with Big Machine on a slate of films designed as Chinese co-productions. Kris Hughes– Kris has over 10 years of experience developing, producing and writing children’s entertainment for independent studios as well as big networks such as Nickelodeon, Nick Jr and Netflix. Kris started her career as a sitcom writer for shows such as The Drew Carey Show and Freddie and continues to write... read more
by Voyage | Jan 15, 2019 | Blog post, Book to Film, Entertainment Business
We are proud to share that Voyage has reached an incredible inflection point, with deal-flow and successful outcomes for projects from our community sustaining an all-time high! Take a look at some of our recent wins, all of which originated from storytellers within our community: ALIVE DAY Alive Day (Feature) is based on the novel “Six Days to Zeus” by Samuel Hill. Screenplay by Voyage’s own Kathleen McLaughlin – now being produced in partnership with Oscar-nominated Mike Medavoy (BLACK SWAN, ALTERED CARBON) and with Phillip Noyce (SALT, REVENGE, CLEAR & PRESENT DANGER) attached to direct. The story is based on the life of a top Special Operations commander who loses his entire team in a friendly fire incident that leaves his body wrecked, but finds himself facing a court martial and a life back home that is falling apart. Check out the story in the trades here: Variety Magazine Article CHANCE Feature by Michael Daly, starring Matthew Modine (STRANGER THINGS, FULL METAL JACKET) and directed by Voyage’s own John Crye and now in postproduction. The tragic true story of teen suicide, bullying, set in the context of youth baseball. 500 MILES TO NOWHERE Feature by Fred Eason, now being produced in partnership with Shaun Redick (BLACKKKLANSMAN, GET OUT). In the 1880’s, Bass Reeves, the country’s first black U.S. Marshal, goes after dangerous outlaws who attempt to hide out in Indian Territory. ON FLEEK TV reality show by Alyx Baranow in partnership with Voyage producer Whitney Beatty, now being produced. Nicole Jackson (star of BLACK INK) moves to Austin for the summer to help get her microblading salon off the... read more
by Voyage | Apr 9, 2018 | Blog post
BY LAUREN HARBIN For writers, creativity is everything. And getting inspired is somewhat of an art form. But try as we might to get inspired & stay inspired, sometimes it’s easier said than done. But what if I told you that you might actually be undermining your creative potential without even noticing it? Check out these 3 (unfortunately common) habits that may be holding you back from being the most creative you can be… Bad Habit #1: Evaluating & Creating Simultaneously Being creative means, at times, coming up with some crazy ideas—sometimes things that we know definitely won’t work or fit with our story. But even so, let those ideas happen. Flesh out your ideas completely without analyzing whether or not they’re even possible. Once you’ve completely worked out the idea in your mind & on paper, then you can evaluate if it will actually work. Create first; analyze later. But by attempting to do so at the same time, you’re subconsciously limiting yourself & the ideas that you create. Bad Habit #2: Subscribing to the “Light Bulb Theory” I think most of us have been guilty of this bad habit at some point in our creative careers. But by believing that great ideas come to you in a flash of brilliance, you take the easy way out. Creativity, more often than not, emerges over time as a result of a steady & consistent stream of work. So by waiting for a stoke of brilliance, you’re working against the natural flow of great ideas. Rome wasn’t built in a day—neither are robust & compelling stories. Bad Habit #3: Fear of Failure For as long as art has existed, critics of art have voiced their opinions. Of course... read more
by Voyage | Mar 2, 2018 | Audience, Blog post
BY: ELIZABETH UPTON A friend of mine recently told me, “If you don’t have 20 minutes to meditate then take an hour.” I laughed and found this amusing, but it got me thinking… I had always heard that meditation has the potential to improve productivity, but never felt like I had enough time to devote to the activity. If I’m already spread thin, how can I find more time? It’s a catch 22. In order to explore this idea a bit further, my colleagues at Voyage and I decided to give it a try… For the last year, we’ve been doing 10-minute meditations at the office three times a week. And we’ve had some pretty extraordinary results! Prioritization ~ I get more done in less time. Instead of just jumping from traffic into my chair thinking about a million things I need to do for the day, the 10 minutes we take to meditate actually helps me to prioritize my thoughts and helps me slow down. It’s the opposite of what you think you need to do, but it’s actually the trick to accomplishing more. More Clarity & Mental Focus ~ I’m less stressed. By taking a few minutes to deal with my stress effectively, I find that I’m more able to focus on my own goals as well as the goals of the company. Additionally, by removing clutter from my mind I am more easily able to hone in on the things that matter. Improved Communication ~ I express myself more clearly. A clear mind expresses clear thoughts and successful communication includes attentive listening. After meditation, I... read more
by Voyage | Feb 13, 2018 | Book to Film, Entertainment Business
BREAK THROUGH BY BREAKING THE ROUTINE BY: ROB BOWMAN Culture shock. That’s what it was. The phenomenon that many people had less than eloquently described to me over the years had taken a hold of me.Finally, it was my turn. It didn’t disappoint. I was in the back of a tuk-tuk with my sister as we squared off with Delhi’s rush hour traffic. Sensory overload was in full effect. I watched as lanes of traffic transformed into a current of chaos. I heard car horns and new languages volley interchangeably. I felt my comfort zone contract to the point where the hair on my skin was foreign. As for smell, I’ll let your imagination fill that in. Needless to say, my mind was racing. I was overwhelmed. But not in the way I was used to. This was different. It was a spark… And that’s because of what my brain was actually doing. By travelling someplace far away from my norm, both geographically and culturally, I was literally sparking different synapses in my brain by immersing myself in new sights, sounds, smells, languages, tastes, and sensations. To put it simply, I was re-wiring my brain by doing one simple thing: traveling. Now, traveling has been linked to many different health benefits (lower stress levels, stronger immune system, healthier heart), but one thing you may not be familiar with is traveling’s effect on creativity. In general, creativity is related to neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to form and reorganize synaptic connections. By experiencing new environments and cultures, unused neural networks within the brain fire and respond allowing you to broaden how you think. This, along with creating new habits,... read more
by Voyage | Jan 3, 2018 | Audience, Blog post
It’s been an incredible year for the Voyage family and we’re so grateful to you for your hard work, dedication and commitment to your craft. You’ve inspired us in unimaginable ways. As we prepare for an even better 2018, here are some highlights we want to celebrate looking back… Welcome Baby Myles + Our Revitalized Commitments to You We are thrilled to announce that our Operations Manager Elizabeth Upton gave birth to a healthy baby boy in November! If you were at our gala in May, you may have caught a peek of Myles with his mama walking the red carpet 🙂 Mother & baby Myles are doing well! In other Voyage news, this year was huge for our commitment to altering the way Hollywood does business by building a studio for the creator, by the creator. We launched a crowdfunding campaign this year that produced some extraordinary results: 357 investors joined our ever-growing family We raised nearly $400,000 for our creator-owned studio The first $100,000 raised in just one week Thank you to our investors who joined our mission to create a friendlier Hollywood that works for everyone & share great stories with the world. We’re so happy to have you in the mix! Coming off the heels of our successful crowdfunding campaign, we were inspired to up-level the Voyage Mission & Vision by making some heart-centered updates to our commitments to our community, partners, investors & society. We did a deep dive look within the company & spent two days in a retreat honing in on our mission & vision for the company & the... read more
by Voyage | Dec 27, 2017 | Blog post, Entertainment Business
Vision: Voyage has established an open platform on which the creative spark has a seamless conversation with the market, and together we join in the creation of entertainment. The entertainment community has welcomed our passionate crowd of original voices and has participated in a free flow of information and connections in a world of magnificent inspiration. The stories have found their home and the closed doors of Hollywood are open for business! Commitments: The company is committed to… Being a beacon of what’s possible and leading the industry further into its heart, reminding all of us of the original inspiration of why we’re playing this game Living true in the architecture and environment we’ve designed from our original intent. Everyone has an opportunity to fulfill on his or her life’s calling and to live an extraordinary life Having new voices and the market collaborate in an entirely new and innovative way that brings fresh, original stories to life The experience of working with Voyage being delightful and empowering for everyone Challenging the status quo and altering the way the entertainment industry does business Our team is committed to… Being uncompromising in living from our calling and fulfilling the company’s mission and vision We do impeccable work and every detail matters Creating an environment in which we are empowered to do our best work, are lit up, and are fully self-expressed Being a self-generative, high performance team, producing extraordinary results Being accountable to each other, and we can say, “I love my life!” We are committed that our customers… Feel all stories are welcome and given every opportunity to find... read more
by Voyage | Nov 7, 2017 | Blog post, Book to Film
A LOOK AT THE ‘DO SOMETHING PRINCIPLE’ & SELF- MOTIVATING By nature, writing is a solitary exercise. Most of us don’t sit in an office full of other writers to bounce our ideas off of. Similarly, there’s no boss to get on our case about making those edits to our screenplay or completing our next chapter. So in order to move a project forward, we have to motivate ourselves to get it done. But sometimes self-motivation can feel like the most daunting task in the world—like an un-climbable mountain… But what if there was a way to eliminate the necessity to self-motivate to achieve a goal? What if there was a way to alter the way we think about the relationship between motivation and action? Consider this… Action isn’t just the effect of motivation, but also the cause. What if, instead of identifying motivation as the cause of our actions, we thought of our actions as the cause of motivation? Think of it this way: action is always within reach. It is always possible to do something. Even if that something is writing a few crappy pages, you can take the action of writing and harness your reaction to it as a way to begin motivating yourself. Plus, you will often find that you’re actually inspired by the act of writing itself and are able to turn those crappy pages into your next masterpiece (and even if it’s not a masterpiece, it’s something!) The mere action of writing will inspire new thoughts and ideas. But that new insight will never come if you simply sit around and contemplate it.... read more
by Nat Mundel | Oct 20, 2017 | Blog post, Entertainment Business, Font Page
Yes, absolutely. He is 100% responsible for his actions (as we all are). But there’s also a whole lot more at play… I woke this morning and, as in every day leading up to this one, Harvey Weinstein is in the news. And now, as you may know, Roy Price, the head of Amazon Studios, has resigned as a result of a sexual harassment firestorm that’s come out as a result of women in Hollywood finally feeling like they can have their voices heard. Much has now been said on a culture of harassment in Hollywood, and the complicit behavior that goes along with it. BEAUTIFUL GIRLS scribe Scott Rosenberg articulated it clearly in his ‘everybody knew’ letter you might have seen on Deadline. In it, Scott paints the picture of Harvey as ‘a goose laying golden eggs’ that everyone coveted (and therefore kept their mouth’s shut even though they knew what was going on). What I want to address is how the ‘old’, centralized Hollywood model created the inevitability of all of this. When so much power resides in the hands of a few select people – the power to make (or break) a career, the power to greenlight (or kill) a project on a personal whim, the use of implied (or explicit) threat that results in 1000s of voices forced into silence (over decades!) – bad stuff is going to happen. Actors feel like they have to endure unacceptable (and in some cases illegal) behavior lest they not be able to fulfill on their dreams and calling. Writers who give ‘voice’ to so many great and inspiring... read more
