INTERVIEW EVERY SINGLE PERSON
You need to interview every single person you bring on your team. You need to know that you can work with that person that you are going to mesh and be able to collaborate. You need to make sure that they see your vision and that they understand that this is your story. People are going to come on with their agendas, and that’s fine as long as it does not affect your vision.
You have so much on your plate that you want to make sure that whoever’s working with you is there to support you and your vision only. You just DON’T HAVE THE TIME to stroke anybody’s ego. Protect your set at all cost. It’s critical to your success.
And if you feel you have brought someone on who is trying to override your vision and is making their agenda a priority over yours, listen to your gut and replaced them IMMEDIATELY. Chemistry is everything for your film.
And if a friend or a contact says, “Hey I know a great person for a particular role,” if you have not interviewed them, DON’T HIRE THEM because you’ve got to make sure that they’re not gonna mess up your chemistry on your film set.
It’s crucial that you interview every single person and if you can’t do it in person, at minimum, do it over the phone.
KEEP YOUR EMAILS ORGANIZED
Keeping your emails organized is something that a lot of artists don’t put enough emphasis on but as a first time director, it’s incredibly valuable. It will dramatically reduce stress and give you leverage to succeed in your film.
Create a simple folder structure with whatever system it is you are using for email. My film was called Landing Home, so I created folders that looked like what I have listed below:
Web Series / Landing Home
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Crew
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PA’s
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PM
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AD
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Costumes
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DP
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Editor
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Music
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Contracts
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Insurance
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Locations
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Hair and Make-Up
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Script Notes
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Sound,
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Casting,
Whatever makes sense for you is fine, but the goal is to stay organized with your emails. It gives you power, clarity, and focus as a director and as a leader of the project. Anytime an email came in that was corresponding to that folder, I immediately filed into its corresponding structure. Staying organized with your emails will serve you incredibly well when you’re shooting your film.
When you’re shooting a project for the first time, and as a first time director, you’re also producing it. So you’re going to to be getting so many emails from so many different people, and all of the information must be filed away in a location that you can access quickly. Because if you don’t, it can all feel so overwhelming. Your inbox and sent boxes can become disaster zones, with information scattered all over the place.
By filling away those emails in the appropriate folders, it allows you to know where all your information is, and be able to access it when you need it. It helps keep things in your head clean so that you can focus on the things that you need to focus on. Keeping your emails organized gives you confidence as a director and producer, and allows you to lead the film.
EXAMPLE
When we were filming Landing Home, the sound guy I had initially hired didn’t show up. Yep, crazy stuff happens on a film set. He went AWOL on the first day of filming, and I had to scramble. My AD had some recording device that we were able to use for the scene. I didn’t tell the actors what was going on, I stayed calm and went into one of the email folders that I had called Sound, and looked at all the other people who had applied for the job that I was not able to hire for because of either our schedules didn’t work out, or because I had already booked my sound guy.
I was able to efficiently and quickly go through my emails within my folder structure, reach out to a few sound guys who’s emails I had filed and who I enjoyed communicating with and be able to find someone to hire. And we had a new guy on set for the second half of the day.
Staying organized allows you to lead the project cleanly and efficiently.
HAVE A NOTEBOOK
Create a notebook for yourself to help you keep all of your notes, thoughts, ideas, and contracts all in one place. Like keeping your emails organized, keep your story and film notes organized also gives you confidence and control on set as a director. Everything that pertains to your film should be put into a notebook and should be with you on set/ I went everywhere on set with this notebook.
I had seven episodes and everything that pertained to that particular episode would go in that section tab of my notebook. Before every scene I shot, I’d open the corresponding section in my notebook and remind myself what I wanted out of the scene. Because there are so many great ideas that you have and that you want to incorporate into either the film, that’s impossible to remember all fo them. But if you have them in your notebook organized into a folder or tab of the corresponding scene, then you’re golden.
Anytime I had a question, or if my actors and team had a question about a scene, I pull out my bible, and we’d go through it so that we all could get on the same page. It’s quite powerful to know where everything is.
And you’ll also need to be able to locate all of your permits and contracts in a moment’s notice. You can be at a location, and the owner of that location will ask to see your insurance or the town or city you are in will ask you to provide your permit for shooting. The last thing you want to do is be in a scramble looking for this stuff. Help yourself out and STAY ORGANIZED.
Things I kept in my notebook.
