The Light Before the Dawn

I usually insist that there be a meeting at the end of these scouts to be sure everyone is on the same page. If, as producer, I was not able to attend the scout, I certainly attend these meetings.

All of which brings us to the final production meeting. Lead by the AD, it should be a scene-by-scene walk through the schedule, with every department head in mandatory attendance and as many decision-makers present as possible. These meetings should be as long as they need to be. People will tend to get bored when the topic drifts to departments that do not involve them. So be it.

I can't stress enough how important these meetings are. You would be surprised at how many things that seem obvious are points of confusion, simply because departments have been working separately and not able to spend as much time talking together. This is the last opportunity for the director to clearly lay out his vision to everyone at the same time. This may have happened early on, but since then, things have changed. The old mansion became a newer mansion, the red wallpaper became orange, and the 100 extras were narrowed to 50 (probably at your insistence, upon looking at the budget). All of these changes need to be addressed here.

Again, this meeting should take place late enough so as to be final, but early enough so that there is time for the production office to make adjustment in equipment lists and logistics.

Sounds a bit like preparing for war, doesn't it. Indeed, there are many military analogies, especially in terms of logistics.

Of course, this analogy is not meant to trivialize a great and important undertaking. Armies merely prepare to determine the fate of nations. You are making a movie.

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