Don't Miss This Meeting.

Jennifer Carriere Author

Mar 24, 2023 |

Why the Production Meeting Signals the Start of Something Awesome.

A couple weeks ago you were hired as a script supervisor for a feature film. You negotiated a certain amount of prep time, and got to work. You did your prep work, which included figuring out script days and checking them against those of the First Assistant Director* and the various vanities departments (especially the costume department**). You did your page counts and matched them to those of the First AD. You did your script timing, put all your script prep work into your script breakdown, and shared breakdowns with the AD Department, Costumes, Props, Makeup & Hair, and any other departments who requested it. The other crew departments, who may have started before you, have been prepping for weeks (sometimes months) in advance of principal photography. During one of the last days of pre-production, you and the rest of the crew department heads will get together with the director, assistant director, and producers for a production meeting to discuss the shoot.

The First AD runs this meeting. They will do a page turn of the script, and all production elements that are required to turn the script into a film are discussed at this time.

During the page turn, at the appropriate time, each department brings up any potential issues they may have with shooting the scenes in the script. For example, a locations department representative may point out that a car explosion that is scheduled to take place during a night shoot would be violating the terms of the location agreement with the neighborhood HOA. In this case, the First AD, Director and Producer would have to look for an alternative location or shooting plan.

The costume designer might point out that the background actors for a particular exterior scene will be dressed for winter to match the time of year in the script, but temperatures during the scheduled shoot will likely exceed 90 degrees. In this case, the 1st AD and producers would have to make a plan to hire extra production assistants to pass around water and fans between takes. (I’ve seen more than a few background actors faint during extremely hot exterior shoots. We want to take good care of our background actors!)

During this meeting, it is your final opportunity prior to principal photography to mention aloud, in front of everyone, any discrepancies, inconsistencies, or anything unclear in the script that you have uncovered during your prep, so that they can be acknowledged or corrected.

You may be asking yourself, wouldn’t I have brought up script inconsistencies before now? Absolutely yes! However, there have been times when prep has been so hectic, and I’ve emailed, called, and reached out in every way possible to clear up a script inconsistency, and my colleagues fell behind and simply hadn’t addressed it before the production meeting. If this is the case, be sure to do so now. There’s nothing like a production meeting to get everyone to focus on whatever your issue is, and get on the same page at the same time about it.

Often times, revised script pages reflecting the changes discussed will follow the production meeting. You will update your prep documents accordingly with any revisions.

Before your first shoot day, keep an eye out for the prelim call sheet. This comes out before the final call sheet, and is the opportunity for you to scrutinize everything listed and make sure it matches your breakdown. (If it’s not, send it back for revisions!)

The night before your first shoot day, wait for the final call sheet to come out. Check your call time, map the route to set, give yourself extra time for getting lost/looking for crew parking/waiting on transpo vans or shuttles/waiting in the breakfast line at catering/jumping on transpo again from catering or anything else that could slow you down from arriving to set on time.

Set your alarm. Set your backup alarm. Have a plan to arrive good and early. Trust you’ve done everything you can to prepare as much as you possible. Now get some sleep.

*the First Assistant Director is one of your greatest allies on set

**the Costume Department and you are closelikethis in terms of being on the same page about script days, thereby ensuring that the actors wear the correct costumes for each scene

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