A blog for film producers, screenwriters and filmmakers with articles on film production, screenwriting, and filmmaking.
Second unit exists to protect the main unit, not to compete with it. When both boards live in separate spreadsheets, you double-book cast, steal a grip truck, or discover a shared location clash at 6
Union call times are not suggestions. Miss a meal window and you write a penalty. Shorten turnaround and you risk a forced call or a cast member who cannot legally work the next day. Day-length
A company move looks small on a stripboard and expensive on the day. Pack the trucks, reset lights, re-park catering, and you have burned an hour that never hits the slate. When the board jumps
Every AD knows the moment. The call sheet went out at 7 PM, and at 9:15 PM the location owner pushes access back an hour, or a day player’s flight lands late. The first sheet
Greenlight is exciting and a little dangerous. The start date is usually fixed before anyone knows whether locations can be permitted, key cast can close deals, or the script will lock in time. In those
Short-form shoots break the assumptions built into feature scheduling. There may be no traditional screenplay, page eighths mean little when a thirty-second spot has forty setups, and the client wants to see the plan before
Line producers often treat the schedule and the budget as separate documents that get reconciled on Fridays. Yet most overspend on an indie shoot doesn’t come from a bad budget line. It comes from schedule
Night shoots deliver mood—and risk. Missed turnaround, stacked wrap-to-call gaps, and poorly ordered day/night flips burn out cast and crew and invite safety issues. Film scheduling that respects rest windows is not a luxury; it
Rain, wind, and soft light do not wait for your stripboard. Weather holds are inevitable; losing scene data when you reshuffle is optional. Contingency daybreaks—with a working boneyard and live collaboration—let ADs protect INT cover
A great shooting schedule starts before the first strip is placed. Script breakdown tags cast, locations, props, wardrobe, and equipment; film scheduling then sequences those elements into efficient daybreaks. When breakdown and stripboard live in
