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Category: Management

Feb282014

Film Awards Calendar

gcupWith the Oscars upon us, we appear to be in the heart of award season. How about a step back to an annual look at film awards?

Mid-January

Late January

Early February

Mid-February

Late February

Early March

Late April

Early May

Mid-May

Late May

June & July – off!

Late August

September – off!

Early October

Late October

Mid-November

Late November

Early December

Ok, ok. So Cannes is actually a festival instead of an awards ceremony, but you have to admit, the awards at Cannes require special inclusion.

Cheers & a happy awards season… all year long!
Deb

Jan102014

Open Concept Confidentiality in the Production Office

ffldrIt’s open concept in the production office, yet many confidential materials cross your desk. Typically people don’t mean to look at those papers on your desk, but standing nearby, it’s hard not to. On your computer it’s easy to hide or minimize confidential material, but paper documents face up on the desk? Oooo, there’s an irresistible quality about them! Plus… no matter how we move to electronic documents and processes, we still manage paper documents too. So, what do you do?

Use file folders on the desk!

On the desk? Not in the filing cabinet? That’s right. These file folders never go into a filing cabinet. Their purpose is to mask confidential papers on your desk and still leave the documents accessible to you. Of course you can organize them further in a on-the-desk organizer, or you can just lay them across the desk as-is… it’s up to you and your style.

The side benefit, too, is that these folders help to group ever-growing piles of papers into manageable subjects: cast contracts, budget, script revisions, screen credits, production schedule, etc. Just keep the groupings large so you are not buried under stacks of file folders instead of being buried under reams of paper.

You can even choose a few colours for the file folders for even faster recognition to help you quickly find “just the right document”… although if you have any superstition in you, I recommend against using a red folder for the budget or cost report. 🙂

Cheers & a confidential shoot to you,
Deb

…for more tips, tricks and a slew of in depth knowledge organizing (and managing) a film production, check out my book, Film Production Management 101.

Nov142013

Film Gifts Can Last A Lifetime

prezyChristmas decorations are filling stores and websites. Catalogues of all types are arriving for perusing both typical and unusual gift ideas. How fun to see what’s been invented or written this year! The season of giving approaches.

When it comes to the gifts we give, we want them to be both thoughtful and meaningful. Though we give for the season, we want the gift’s spirit to last long beyond the days of the winter holidays. Know the saying about “give a man a fish vs. teach him how to fish”? How about a book that helps to teach a new career or new skills? Now there’s a gift that can affect a lifetime!

In that spirit, peruse on over to the MWP online bookshop/catalogue of film industry books at: http://www.mwp.com. What skills and inspiration might you be looking to share this season?

PM101-2nd-EdMy own book (at: http://shop.mwp.com/products/film-production-management-101) covers the entire production process from the POV of the Coordinator and Manager – the folk who know everyone at the wrap party because they’ve been involved in everything along the way.

On MWP, you’ll also find some new, enhanced eBooks, and discover that MWP now takes Paypal to make purchases online-easy for you.

For added interaction and news, drop by the MWP Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mwpfilmbooks) to keep up on events and specials.

Happy holiday shopping and a good shoot to you,
Deb

Sep92013

The Painful Second Chance

datesFill-in the blanks cast contracts, really? Fill-in the blanks? It’s an elementary school activity. What could be easier?

The Assistant Coordinator (APC) asked to take on the task of preparing and coordinating the cast contracts. The production office was busy. The Coordinator (PC) was busy. It was time to learn how to do more and to grow in the job. Her initiative was supported and a training session was arranged.

Growth, however, can be a painful experience.

A few days after the contracts were completed and signed, the weakness in the documents was revealled. It was a typo on a number of different contracts. So what’s the big deal about a typo? It’s not usually a big deal, but that only depends on where the typo is. This one was in the list of numbers that confirmed the date(s) of work for each performer. This typo was a multi-thousand dollar one.

Sure the mistake passed several levels of checks and approvals, but it started with the APC and trust was extended that she was ready to take on the responsibility and the contracts would be carefully checked. Approval checks typically involve both spot-checking and a level of trust; they are not intended to duplicate the work done. Enough of blame. What to do next?

First, of course, production paid the performers as contracted, in effect paying for the current and undisputable mistake.

Next, how do you deal with the issue moving forward? Should the PC take back the responsibility because the potental for error is high risk and high cost? Do you raise the extent of double-checking work done to a level of duplicating the work (even for a trial period)? Do you assess if the APC has learned from the experience to be more careful and not repeat the mistake in the future? Does the APC have sufficient self-confidence left to try again? Does production have the budget to risk affording the APC a second chance?

It’s a painful decision all around. Extending trust now is tainted with reservation.

The immediate reaction of the PM and PC was to return the responsibility of cast contracts back to the PC. Initially. It was a conservative position. It was a logical choice.

The APC, however, with shakey confidence, still wanted to prove she could do it – to production, to herself. The relevant points covered in training made so much more sense to her now. As painful as it felt, she needed that second chance.

The PC was first to agree. After more convincing, the PM extended trust again, albeit nervously.

For the next set of cast contracts, the APC was diligently focussed. The PC resisted further stepping up the level of double-check so that the responsbility was truly with the APC along with the task. The PM was just nervously patient.

This next set of contracts were flawless. In the end, the APC grew in ability, responsibility, professionalism and confidence. The apparent ease of fill-in the blanks never fooled her again, and expensive typos were a thing of the past. She was well on her way to becoming a great PC herself… thanks to the painful growth made possible by a second chance.

Not knowing how the second round would go, would you have given her the second chance? Really?

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb

Jul202013

Hi-Tech, Lo-Tech… The Space Pen

astroThere is a lesson in the urban legend about the Space Pen. The story goes that NASA spent a veritable ton of money developing a pen that could write in zero gravity while the Russian Space Program used… a pencil. In fact the Fisher Pen Co. developed the Space Pen independantly and both Space programs adopted the pen*.

But let’s go back to that urban legend for a moment…

Spending lots of money to develop a high-tech solution when an wildly affordable low-tech solution is already available. Are you doing that with your film?

Yes, we love our digital effects and animation, greenscreens and motion capture… but don’t rule out low-tech just because “everyone” is doing high-tech. Challenge the crew to think up creative, low-tech solutions for shots in order to focus production’s  money to the most important shots and scenes for the story. In a world of high technology, you may even find a publicity story in your low-tech solution(s) to help garner visibility for the finished film.

So here’s to creative low-tech!

Cheers & good shoot to you,
Deb

*Among other things, the graphite dust of pencils is a problem in space. For more info on the urban legend of the Space Pen, look at the summary on Snopes urban legend reference site: http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

Jun282013

Ciné-Surfer: Holidays Around The World

fwksIt’s summer and a lot of country independence (and country constitutions) are being celebrated. Here are just a few for July:

  • Canada (July 1)
  • USA (July 4)
  • Argentina (July 7)
  • South Korea (July 17)
  • Columbia (July 20)

Since we tend to be used to the public holidays of our own country, planning the shoot of an international co-production can be a challenge if you don’t know the holidays that the co-pro country is celebrating too. OfficeHolidays.com is a great site to plot holidays of the world on a calendar and plan the shoot accordingly!

Cheers & a good shoot along with happy summer holidays… whatever one(s) you are celebrating!
Deb