How To Survive Pre-Production Chaos?

“Are you able to begin filming this month?”, the grantor asks me. I respond with, “Unfortunately, no. I need at least 2-3 months to prepare before we begin shooting to ensure things are done right”. And even though I worked extremely hard to put things in place early on, when it came down to the wire, pre-production went from smooth sailing to an eruption.

Let’s rewind. It’s two months before production is set to begin and I finally have the three major department heads in place: the director (Morgen Whiteman), director of photography (Simon Efokoa), and the production designer (Yildiz Yilmaz). Now, it’s time to set a schedule.

The grantor really wanted production to be complete before the end of 2022. I didn’t want to intrude on anyone’s Christmas/New Year holiday, I had to consider the city’s NFL team home game schedule and that I also work Monday-Friday.

In the end, we all agreed to shoot over two weekends for a five-day shoot and one of those weekends fell on the weekend of Thanksgiving. Of course, this presented a huge challenge because most people had holiday plans to be out of town, spend time with family, and be on the hunt to reserve the best camera lens equipment (Borrow Lenses).

As the days went by, I had to bring on two assistant camera (AC) crew members, two assistant directors (Mark Ricche, Britt Morten), three production assistants (Cristian Rios, Michael Weimer, Michelle Bowen-Ziecheck), two sound recordists (Ben Weingartner), and one makeup artist (Sara Ritmiller). But the crew members I regret not having on set were: 1) a gaffer, responsible for lighting up a room to help obtain a cinematic film look, 2) a co-producer, and 3) a production assistant who was completely in-charge of crafts to ensure that there was hot coffee and proper protein snacks on each day of shooting.  

Then came the task of hiring actors. Since there was a time jump in the story, I had to hire young and older actors. So, I put out a bulletin on Backstage and didn’t have much luck for weeks. I was getting quite nervous until Morgen suggested Actor’s Access and I was relieved with the qualified leads that I’d received such as Derrell Qualls, DeQuan Rose, Reneice Daniels, Chris Ware, Kike Ayodeji, Reginald Baskerville, Vincent Sistrunk, Kameron Peters, and Nefertari Rasaq.

Now, it’s time for rehearsals and a table read. Morgen really wanted both to be in-person. So, I managed to get an in-person table read with a majority of the cast and based on my previous experience, I made sure Ihana was there to record the entire thing. This proved to be very beneficial because we had the opportunity to bring in multiple wardrobe options, try each of them on and have Morgen make her decisions.

Then things began to turn sideways when I get an email from one of the younger actors saying that he had to drop out of the film due to last minute plans. We then decided to solve this issue by asking the older actor if he could play both ages in the film and we would adjust his makeup and wardrobe. But the pressure to play both roles worried him, so he decided to drop out. I get another email from one of the AC’s informing me she had gotten sick, and she also had to drop out.

I get notified by another actor that she had to go from a non-union member to a SAG-AFTRA member at the last minute, meaning a lot of extra paperwork and clarification calls with SAG-AFTRA. But no worries I was determined to have her in the film.

But literally, every day I was holding my breathe.

It’s 2 days before production is set to begin and we still need to find the proper cars to assist with the time jump in the story. One of the AD’s referred me to a website called Turo. I was able to find a 1996 Buick Roadmaster that was available. I go to put in my information to rent it out and I was immediately denied.

What? Why?

I didn’t meet the age requirement. Wow. This can’t be happening.

Other posts you may be interested in:

• How Important Is Production Design In Film?
• How Important Is Visual Effects In Film?
• How Second Chances Can Lead To Film Success?

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Disclaimer: 

The author is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions of failure to act related to the content in this article. If you need specific legal advice, consult with an attorney who specializes in your subject matter and jurisdiction.