ichard “RB” Botto is a producer whose films have played at dozens of festivals including the Sundance award-winning feature, Another Happy Day, starring Ellen Barkin, Demi Moore and Kate Bosworth, written & directed by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, What Lies Ahead, starring Rumer Willis & Emma Dumont, Metaphorms, a Hungarian production, which premiered at the Raindance Film Festival, the documentary Crutch and the upcoming Rain-Beau’s End starring Ed Asner and Sean Young. He is the Executive Producer on Vagic with Amy Baer at Gidden Media and My Clone’s an A-Hole with National Lampoon.
RB is also the Founder and CEO of Stage 32 (stage32.com). Stage 32 is the world’s largest online platform connecting and educating film, TV & digital creatives and executives worldwide. Through Stage 32 he has helped incubate Chick Fight, starring Malin Akerman and Alec Baldwin, produced by Yale Productions and Ramo Law, and 10-31, produced by Eli Roth and Orion Pictures.
Additionally, as a best-selling author, RB’s book Crowdsourcing For Filmmakers: Indie Film and the Power of the Crowd, was published by Focal Press/Routledge under the American Film Market Presents banner and quickly became one of their best-selling titles. It has hit #1 in 6 different film and business related categories on Amazon and Audible and has over 100 5-star reviews.
As an actor, RB’s latest film On the Corner of Ego and Desire premiered at the Raindance Film Festival and is now available on Amazon.
A sought after speaker, teacher and mentor, RB has been a keynote speaker and panelist at such festivals and conferences as Cannes, AFM, Tribeca, Sundance, Raindance, Austin, SXSW, Cinequest, ITVFest, Portugal FEST, Trinidad and Tobago and Winston Baker. He has also taught at institutions such as Harvard, USC and Columbia University on the subjects of filmmaking, producing, film finance, screenwriting, social media, crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, entrepreneurship and business.
Prior to creating Stage 32, Botto was the Founder, Publisher and Editor of RAZOR magazine, a national men’s lifestyle magazine which boasted a readership of 1.5 million at its peak. A former radio host on ESPN and FOX Sports affiliates, Botto has appeared on such networks as CNBC, MSNBC, NBC News, FOX News, CBS News and VH1, riffing about the entertainment business and social media.
In the 90’s, Botto was an integral part of the team responsible for creating the vendor tracking system used by many of today’s top e-commerce companies. Botto headed the development, design and commercial implementation for several of the top 50 most visited sites on the web during that period.
Botto serves on the Advisory Board for Old Town Music Hall, a classic film theater in El Segundo, built in 1921. A lifelong fan of film, a serial entrepreneur and a passionate Creative himself, he’s a great guy to have a drink with!