Today I was asked by a colleague to part of his production team and one of the things the roles he mentioned was producing. I enjoy producing and I've come to like it a lot. It's been one of those things I didn't know much going into school and I have come to learn a lot about it.
Along the way, I have learned a couple of lessons about producing. Unfortunately, often times I learn these things too late and it's not a pleasant realization. Filmmaking is much like everything else: the foundation of the project must be set correctly or things may get out of control or out of hand really quickly.
When my colleague asked me today, a couple of questions came to my mind that I thought I'd share here. These are questions that should be asked to the filmmaker (usually the director):
1. When do you want to have a festival-ready cut ready for release?
This, of course, sets in motion all the other dates for pre-production, production and post-production.
2. Who is editing the film? And can he do the job within our time-frame?
I've come to realize this is important and you have to take this seriously. A super busy editor, even though he is good at what he does, may not be the best choice, depending on the time constraints.
3. What is the budget? Is anyone being paid?
Goes without saying. Having paid people changes a lot of things and opens up possibilities that having everyone do pro bono doesn't (duh!).
4. Where is this money coming from?
Again, goes without saying.
Lastly, and this is not a question, but YOU MUST READ THE SCRIPT before saying 'yes'. I know this sounds obvious, but working on a script you really don't dig will kill any gung-ho attitude you may have. You may do it anyways but at least know what you're going to do be dealing with.
Those are probably not all the questions and things you must think about when getting onto a project. It also may not be relevant for the higher level filmmaking, where some of these decisions may have already been made. At a low-level of independent filmmaking, though, you'll want to make sure you don't just take anything because that marks you prospective projects to come.
Till next time... (I know, I have yet to finish those LAFF reviews, I will get there soon)
