Planning Your Production | Pre-Pro Part 1

In my experience, pre-production tends to be the longest part of producing a film (unless you’re doing a super heavy VFX piece, in which case post might end up running super long). Pre-production is the phase where you lay down the foundation for the rest of the project, so needless to say, this is the most crucial phase of production. If you want to make great professional work, you need to make sure you have a clear plan and know what the goals for the film are.

Now because pre-production has so many moving pieces, I’m breaking this phase up into two parts. This post will focus on the logistical set up of pre-pro (we’ll outline a road map for how the production will be executed).

In part 2, we’ll focus on the pre-production prep before the shoot. Like I said, this is the most important part of production that will determine how the rest of your project goes, so pay attention and don’t skip this step!! 

Alright, let’s jump in:

1. Lock Your Script/ Creative

Obviously before we can start planning for anything, we need to have a solid script to guide what the film will be. If you’re planning on adapting a story, book, or theatrical screenplay into a film, you’ll need to have the usage rights for that piece of content before you can start adapting. If you’re creating an original script, you’ll need to collaborate with a writer or writers to create the  screenplay or you’ll need to write the script yourself. 

As a rule of thumb, the script should be at least 90-95% done/ locked before you can start budgeting and planning for the film. Always expect there to be revisions to a script before you begin filming, especially if you’re working with a studio or production company. Revision requests can come from a director, an executive producer, an investor/ financer, or a client if you’re working with a brand or company. 

If the script is 90-95% done (that is, the majority of scenes and action are approved, locked, and will not change or require very minimal change), you can start putting together a cost estimate and production schedule for the film. Always take into account though that any major script changes can or will effect your production budget and timing; so if in that last 5% of the script, the writer decides to add an intricate car chase with pyrotechnics and a slew of VFX...you can definitely expect that to affect the bottom line on your project.

2. Figure Out Your Delivery and Distribution Plan

I’m adding this to the list because so often than not, the question of “where is this film going to live?” is an afterthought. I’ve seen this happen with small and big productions alike and it blows my mind. The reality is this is one of the most important questions to ask from the get go. You need to have a plan for where you want your film to live & where you want people to see it. Knowing this will help you better tailor the film to whatever medium it will live on and it will prepare you for any technical specifications or budgetary implications that might come with said plan.

For example, if you plan on doing a theatrical release of your film, you might want to consider shooting the film in anamorphic, which will require specific lenses and formatting that your DP and director will need to know about. If your video is going to be living on Instagram stories or IGTV, consider shooting the video at a 9:16 aspect ratio. Again, an important factor that will change the look and setup of the scenes during the shoot. If your goal is to run your film through the festival circuit, you’ll need to factor in the cost of submissions, multiple film copies, travel and accommodation if you plan on attending any of the festivals, along with additional fees. 

Your film doesn’t just need to live on one platform, but the more mediums you choose to distribute on, the higher the costs (due to reformatting and resizing, versioning, submission fees, etc). So make sure you have a plan for where it will live so you can make the proper accommodations to make that happen.    

3. Budgeting and Financing

Once you have your locked script, it’s time to start putting together an estimate. An estimate is an educated guess breaking down how much the film will cost to make. At this point, you’re estimating costs based on the creative concept and costs of similar productions done in the past. You can also tap into other producer’s knowledge if they’ve worked on similar productions or reach out to potential partners (production houses, editorial and post houses, sales reps, etc.) to get quotes on what the project might cost based on the script, amount of deliverables, and production schedule. 

I’d suggest not reaching out to production partners until you’ve put together a formal estimate and are ready to bid the project (more on this in a later post), but it might be helpful to get some insight if you haven’t dealt with certain aspects of a production before, say a super heavy VFX film. 

In the estimate, you’re going to account for all production costs, including shoot costs, editorial, post production, music, footage licensing, production insurance, audio mixing, talent, and any other areas you’ll need to budget for. Your estimate is going to be a “quote” that you can present to your client, financier, or whoever will be paying for the film. This lets them know that you’ve done your research and anticipate the project to cost around the ballpark of XYZ, give or take. A good rule of thumb is to always lean towards the “worst case scenario” or more expensive estimate. This will prepare your client or financer with a more extreme representation of what the film might cost, should it end up requiring a hefty amount of funding. 

Once you’ve presented this estimate to your financer, it will usually spark a conversation of how much money they’re willing to provide, if any. When you’re working with a client or brand, this might be the time they tell you they only have X amount of money to make the project, which might mean scaling back on your estimate and potentially changing the script to accommodate the budget. Similarly, a financer might express interest in investing in your film, but might be firm on only providing a set amount. You can then figure out if that’ll be enough for your production or if you’ll need to find additional financing elsewhere. 

Once you know how much money you have to work with and where those funds are coming from and will be allocated, you can start initiating conversations with potential partners (aka, production houses and directors, editorial houses, music houses, etc.) We’ll touch up more on this in Part 2 of the Pre-Pro phase.

4. Production Calendar

In tandem with the production estimate, you’re going to need to put together a production calendar/ schedule outlining key milestones and anticipated timeframes for every stage of production. Your team, partners, and financer(s) will want to know how long the project will be in production for, when you plan to shoot and edit, and any key dates they should be aware of. 

This also gives you a visual reference for how much time you have and need, what you’ll be doing, and where you’ll be so you can manage your own tasks as well as your team’s. Usually if you work with a studio, production company, or client, they’ll have a specific deadline which you’ll need to accommodate the production within. When putting together a production calendar, take into consideration all phases of production (pre-production, shooting, editing and post production). 

I personally love building my calendars out in Google Slides because it allows me the flexibility to easily adjust and update the calendar as things shift. Since it’s a live document, you can share the calendar with your team and they’ll be able to see any updates in live time. It’s also nifty if you’re importing it to a presentation deck or printing hard copies. You could also use one of the more standard scheduling softwares in the industry like Movie Magic Scheduling or Gorilla Scheduling.   

So now that you’ve gone through all of the above steps, you should be in a good place to start planning the logistics for the physical shoot-- which includes attaching a director, editor, and other key partners to the film and collaborating with your team to plan the creative execution of the shoot. In the next post-- Planning Your Production | Pre-Pro Part 2-- we’ll be going over all this.

Any new bit of information you picked up or are curious to learn more about? Leave me a comment below!