Round 1- Tips to succeeding in the 48 Hour Film Project

Since I'm not a posting whore, I thought I might try to be and impart some knowledge, or at least encourage discussion with people who read this and never ever post a comment. Not that I'm criticizing y'all's silence. At all.

Anyway, here's round 1. Tips for the producer/team leader. Any questions or comments can and will be used in future versions.

BEFORE THE MADNESS
FOR PRODUCERS/TEAM LEADERS/SHE WHO HOLDS THE MONEY


- Basically, it all comes down to this- you’re the man. You hold the key to making sure this shoot works. Everyone expects you to know what’s going on at all times. If you’re not comfortable with that, find someone who is and modify your role.

- Do not direct AND produce. Unless you’ve done it before, you are Superman, and have a shit-ton of caffeine pills. Or if you’re that CinemaSolo guy.

- Establish up front if you want people locked into roles (which means there’s 1 boss, well, maybe 2 with the director) or if you’re going more egalitarian. Obviously it helps to have 1 person where the buck stops with, but whatever works for your group. Make sure your cast and crew know how you’re running the show. It’s all about communication people! And craft services. Mmm, donuts.

- Write up a contact list of everyone involved that includes name, number, e-mail, do they have a car, what days can they work, and what their position is. If you’re dealing with a bigger crew and multiple producers, make sure all your producers know who their “team” is during pre-production and production.

- Map out a plan of attack for each production day- who’s going to be on set/location, where post is taking place, who will be there, etc. This can be instrumental in figuring out if you have enough crew. Plan to have the actors on Sunday in case you need to do emergency pick ups or ADR. Or if you just need general amusement, praise or more people to suck up your craft services budget.

- Make call sheets for your cast and crew that includes pertinent contact information. Make sure they know the chain of command so calls about their issues (stuck in traffic, slept through alarm, dog died, etc) go to the right person.

- When making up your call sheets, TRY TRY TRY to make sure people aren’t working 3 days straight. Example- make sure a writer isn’t script supervisor on Saturday and editing something on Sunday. People do not work well on lack of sleep. Expand your crew to make sure that doesn’t happen if at all possible.

- Cast beforehand. Meet your actors. Make sure they know what your process is (are they waiting for your call on Friday night? Will they get a script that night or Saturday morning?) If you like an actor a lot, BOOK THEM NOW.

- Have a bank roll for the production in cash. Props and food need to be purchased. PAs are good at this. Keep the receipts and if anyone spends their own money, make sure they get reimbursed. Unless they're feeling generous. And they're your friend.