It’s a pretty rare thing that a director has the opportunity to watch other directors at work. As a crew-member, I had a front row seat to almost every aspect of the job, pre-production through post. I never worked on a film that didn’t teach me something—whether it fell in the “to emulate” or “to avoid at all costs” column. These lessons helped me direct actors, assemble good crews, communicate effectively, have realistic expectations, and generally feel at home on a film set.
Tag: crew
Today’s guest post is courtesy of James Fair.
When I wrote ‘Linearity is the Enemy’ for Ted last month, I briefly mentioned how I felt the ‘family tree’ style organisational structure of filmmaking could look more like a ‘mind map’. I want to clarify my point a little further and follow it with why I think it is relevant.
In Figure 1, I have drawn what many consider to be the model that represents filmmaking structure best.
As an indie film producer, what can you do to show appreciation for all those that are helping you make your film?
- Do your job well. Make a film everyone is proud of. Give the team memories that they were lead well.
- Provide timely information and decisive actions, as clearly as possible. Don’t try to hide anything. Don’t sugar coat; speak truthfully about the situation — reality may not be pretty, but presenting it clarifies your mutual trust.
- Recognize how well your collaborators do their jobs and show how much you appreciate them. Show respect. You can’t make this film without them; they chose to join you and you are fortunate to have them.
- Learn everyone’s name. Learn something about them. Take interest in their lives. Remember & celebrate their birthdays. Thank them for their work.
- Demonstrate that you are concerned for your crew’s health. Provide vitamins and sun screen. Can you provide flu shots on set? When someone is sick, send them home.
- Have a true commitment to safety. If working long hours on location, provide overnight accommodations. Don’t let people drive when they are over tired. Really have a safety meeting each day.
- Good food is quickest route to someone’s heart. Provide thoughtful craft service: healthy food, fun food, new food, fresh food. Work with your caterer to make sure people are getting what they want.
- Provide a constructive work environment. Keep the workplace clean and orderly. Don’t joke around camera. Don’t let people read in view of others. Give everyone access to information.
- Don’t contribute to a bad world. Help your team recycle. Don’t force them to waste due to their work situation. Use less paper.
- Bring some fun into their world. Provide entertainment or education at lunch breaks. Do “dollar days” at the end of the week.
- Let them help the world at large. Organize a blood drive at lunch during production, a toy drive, or coat drive during the winter months. Get absentee ballots when they will be working during election periods.
- Adopt and post/display strong anti-discrimination, anti-sexual harassment policies.
- Help them enjoy themselves. On location, provide an extensive entertainment list for all visiting crew and cast, including restaurants, theaters, medical, specialty stores, massage, and directions. Organize some group outings during non-working hours.
- Go that extra distance to make things better for the team. On location, provide laundry service. In booking travel, always enter everyone’s Frequent Flyer miles. Provide direction books in all vehicles.
- Recognize everyone as a key part of the process. Get them the tools they need to do their work well. Screen dailies and invite everyone. Create a blooper reel to screen for crew. Give them posters, DVDs, t-shirts. Inform them as to the progress of the production. Allow them to comment on the website.
When I have asked for some of these things from past production teams, I have occasionally met with some resistance. “I am a production manager, not a camp counselor!” “These people are adults; they should be able to take care of themselves!”.
I don’t agree. Everyone works hard. We need to show that we appreciate it. It’s funny though, when I put this question out there to the Facebook & Twitter worlds, I think people mostly recommended alcohol and backend points. Money and booze, maybe that’s all it takes…
Special thanks to all of you who contributed to this. This was a crowdsourced post.
