Overview
Production meetings bring together key department heads and production personnel to review the status of a project, coordinate logisitics, identify concerns, and align departments prior to filming. All crew members (leadership team & below-the-line) must attend the meeting.
These meetings are important because film productions rely heavily on communication and coordination across multiple departments working simultaneously under tight schedules. Structured production meetings help reduce misunderstandings, improve planning, and allow productions to identify and solve problems before they affect filming.
Before the Meeting
The Producer is responsible for the following, but may be delegated to an AD if one is assigned to pre-pro.
- Post the latest draft of the script to the show’s Teams channel.
- Remind all crew members of the meeting time.
At the Meeting
The Producer is responsible for running the meeting by doing the following:
- Opening remarks. Welcome everyone. Go around room and state your position on the show.
- Make sure everyone has the latest draft of the script that was posted to the Teams channel pulled up in front of them.
- Read through the action of the script, stopping after each scene for questions & comments. Each crew member should anticipate anything that would be helpful to discuss (e.g. safety, special equipment, sound, special effects, visual effects, etc.).
- Give overview of location(s) and production schedule.
- If applicable, discuss safety protocols for any hazardous conditions. Reference appropriate Safety Bulletins as needed.
- Discuss any other logistics (e.g. dietary concerns, car pooling).
- Director’s brief comments.
- Producer closes the meeting.