How can you communicate more effectively with your film production team?

From the very beginning as a executive producer I always set the rules of the game my Expectations with my team are always clear. What do I expect from them? 1) Punctuality: For me is probably the most important one. If you are late, you are out as simple as that. 2) Communication: Communication is essential, everything should be written by email paper or phone. 3) Respect: Other one which is essential for me. We are all treated equally, no one is bigger than other. If you feel like Superman…you’re out. 4) Teamwork: As a team I expect all to collaborate and assume their roles professionally.

Ways to effective communicate with your production team: - Clearly define your project's boundaries and pecking order of command. For instance, the Director is the Captain of the film's ship and all need to acquiesce to the Director. - Be consistent. Be it morning meetings, emails, texts; however you set up communicating with everyone, keep it simple and uniformly organized. - Only share vital information. - Get to know people through your work. - Hire trustworthy, respectful, loyal, kind, loving people. The most experienced isn't necessarily going to be the most supportive, and may even be a poison whisperer, sabotaging your hard work. - Fire negative folks. Filmmaking is collaborative ART and there's no room for troublers. Susan Goforth

Break down or disruptions along the comms line do happen even when we are supposed to be the so called experts in communication for various reasons. 1) Choose a team you are comfortable and experienced enough to save you on unnecessary operational headaches 2) Be very clear and concise on the expectations or outcome of the project 3) Give proper guide or instructions to each departments head or leaders 4) Select the most suitable tools or comms channel that suits your project or workflow i.e Remote Production / On Site Live Broadcast / Small Team Corporate Shoots, Promos or Documentaries 5) Be flexible , respect and keep an open door policy to all. 6) Enjoy the process

One very simple but sometimes overlooked thing to do is, have an all-hands meeting during pre-production. Do it to kick off the process. Meet with everyone you're going to be collaborating with directly - cinematographer, head of sound, art director, whoever it may be - to go over all these points clearly, get everyone's questions and feedback, and make sure everyone's clear on the direction. This will make everyone feel like they're part of a good team with a competent leader, and will also make the process run much more smoothly. Once the initial meeting with everyone is out of the way, you can go back to dealing with everyone individually for convenience's sake.

I do this before each production - I have a strong pre-production phase where we have script reads and rehearsals - I also tell the cast and crew about the scale of the project, how I want the performances to be and the days we are filming. because most of my projects are voluntary, that means weekends or evenings after the day-job. And I also make it very clear that actors and crew can communicate with me anytime. A friendly environment is good to work in.

When I'm working remotely during Pre Production I like to have various avenues of communication open to the team eg Teams Chats for quick questions or casual chat, Daily zooms for keeping in touch with the team and staying on top of developments, phone calls, emails and whatsapp. Whatsapp is brilliant when filming as Allie has already mentioned . I have sub groups for production, editorial and whole team - so as not to overwhelm the entire team with information that isn't relevant to them. This means they are more likely to see the key things that they need to know like times, locations and movements. Crew and PDs often have no time to look at whatsapp so being conscious to only drop the essential info that they won't miss.

During pre-production and production, we work with WhatsApp groups. We found out that it's the most efficient way of communicating relevant information, including location photos and call sheets. You can always see who saw the updates.

We use Trello. Over time we've developed a Trello template that works really well for us. We can attach images, links to files, deadline dates, checklists...and it all syncs across devices. It's great for communication as we can message each other. We've found this is a great way to form accountability as a team. (And we always make sure everyone knows where the backups are kept!)

Whatsapp groups are the best. As a producer or director on set, whenever someone comes to me and says 'does so-and-so know that X is happening' I say 'did you put it in the group chat?' I over-communicate EVERYTHING and it allows everyone else (even in large crews) to have the confidence to do the same. It also limits the amount of info silos that can lead to the destruction of a film during any stage of production. No secrets, ever. That's always been my vibe.

I tend to create a private cast and crew Facebook group and a WhatsApp group for the movie, and we communicate through there with dates and storyboards and images. We also do online rehearsals using stuff like ZOOM or other video call software.

Film crews are usually a collections of acquaintances and strangers with various communication styles. Too often a film gets bogged down in a million email threads and precious time is wasted hunting for needles in these haystacks. Communication platforms like Slack, where threads are centralized by topic and only admins can create new ones, are lifesavers.

Having multiple levels of follow up calls with both client, team leads and venue will ensure that you are gaining as much insight into how to better improve team dynamics, performance levels, and leadership effectiveness. This full circle communication is how a small or large company will progressively grow in scope and reputation within the industry.

I like this part of the process especially with actors where they have an idea for a character behaviour/dialogue in a scene, which may not be written in the script - If the production time allows it, I don't mind exploring improvisations and sometimes it can elevate a scene or character to something not originally envisioned.

The best way to encourage collaboration and create a culture of giving and receiving feedback is to make sure this is modelled by the production's leads. Walk the walk, don't just talk the talk...

In addition to being adaptable and flexible, it is absolutely imperative that you stay as calm as you can. Especially as a producer, you are often times the person that sets the tone for a set. Often times, people turn to you for direction and how to proceed. Moving forward in an honest, transparent, and calm manner when challenges arise will help ensure that a film shoot can proceed as smoothly as possible.

With more experience in any aspect of film production, commercial production, or corporate and event production, one can better predict and anticipate the changes in client asks and how best to prepare for these unknown changes. Asking all the possible questions ahead on team lead meetings will allow for better response to changes and challenges.

Film production is hard work, and can be thankless at times, even with paid work. Make sure everyone on the team knows that you appreciate their hard work, and congratulate them for work well done. So many filmmakers neglect this, which is a shame, because not only does it make everyone feel better about the project and more likely to want to collaborate again, but it also inspires them to do even better in the moment. When the film is done, this becomes even more important. Speak with everyone individually to thank them, congratulate them, and then have a wrap party where everyone can unwind and leave the project on a high note. People skills are integral to a successful film production career.

Having experienced producers circle back and thank the team not only on set, but after wrap up with a call or message, can separate out who will build a solid, lasting team or not. Building a solid team and elevating morale can be easily overlooked, but shows strength in leadership.

I have one word, no two words - preparation and delegation. I guess that is three words. Good communication starts in prep. Get your script, budget for it. Get your department heads meet with then and delegate jobs. Meet at the end of every week to be sure that the preparation is going to plan. If it is not find out why and then find a solution. Then when the camera rolls, be there. Let your department heads do their jobs. Be available, be professional, be prepared everyday. Be calm, be polite, always say thank you.