EXCLUSIVE: Fresh off the release of The Accountant 2, which grossed over $100 million in theaters before debuting on Prime Video, Zero Gravity founders Eric and Mark Williams are partnering with Stage 32, an online platform for entertainment industry education and networking, to launch a talent incubator focused on emerging screenwriters working in the action and thriller genres.
The producers, who originally found Ozark creator Bill Dubuque through a cold query, will launch their worldwide talent search through Stage 32’s platform, featuring over 1.3 million members. Zero Gravity will personally review semi-finalist loglines and all top 10 finalist scripts, with winners selected based on both creative merit and commercial viability. The selected writers will receive script development and industry mentorship, the goal being to help fast-track production on their scripts. Stage 32 and Zero Gravity will jointly package developed projects for production.
Submissions are now open, with winners to be announced December 19, marking the beginning of an annual talent discovery initiative.
“I have known Eric and Mark for over a decade,” said Stage 32 CEO Richard “RB” Botto. “Their commitment to discovering and breaking new talent speaks for itself and is directly in line with the Stage 32 mission. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working directly with them to uncover some fantastic, undiscovered screenwriters.”
Zero Gravity Owner Eric Williams noted that via the company’s long-standing relationship with Stage 32, he’s “witnessed some remarkable talent emerge from the platform over the past decade.”
He added, “Discovering fresh voices through queries has long been a key part of how we do business—it proves there’s no single path to getting noticed. Now, with Stage 32’s global reach, we’re casting the widest net yet to find the next voice—or voices—that could redefine the genre.”
Stage 32 comes to the Zero Gravity partnership following success in helping to launch scribes like Sean Farley, whose comedic crime thriller Neighborhood Watch, starring Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, hit theaters in April. Stage 32 also connected screenwriter James Papa with director Julia Verdin, resulting in the produced film No Address, starring Billy Baldwin and Patricia Velasquez, which debuted theatrically the same month.
