Tip #62: The Importance of Paperwork

By Dan Parkes (Director)

Film making can be a creative and at times very exciting process. However, such is not possible without the all important paperwork that goes behind it. I know what you are thinking, this sounds all rather boring. But like a lot of things in life, sometimes it requires the old adage of 'work before play'.

There are two very important reasons for ensuring the paperwork is never overlooked:

1. Legal obligations
If you are really serious about film production then you will likely be setting up an individual company with separate accounts -either for the film as an entity or as a production company. Becoming a company has its own set of obligations, including the paying of tax and the use of equal opportunity and privacy policies and annual reports. The film itself will require contracts over pay, public insurance liability, ownership agreements, location permits and ever important health and safety and risk assessments forms. To try to avoid any of the above -no matter what budget you are on- is a recipe for disaster. But it is also good practice for the future. And most definitely comes in useful for Errors and Omissions insurance and other festival/distribution paperwork.

2. Organisation
Ensure your paperwork is well organised and always on hand. For example, have a main file that you keep all your documentation in. Have a system for keeping receipts for items purchased or expenses from cast and crew. Have a naming system for your script so you clearly identify what version it is on every page (if the script changes during production) or use a colour coded system (different colour paper for different versions).

Make sure you have plenty of generic release forms always on set. You never know when you will need to include an extra person in a shot! And make sure they sign it before they go on camera rather than having to chase people afterwards. We experienced this on location in the village of Alfriston. While filming an establishing shot to our delight a woman on a horse rode by, perfectly completing the scene. We asked if she could do it again, but not before ensuring she had signed a waiver that producer Sinead Ferguson had on hand for such a possibility. And with a location permit, make sure you have at least two copies on set, along with the associated risk assessment paperwork, so that if asked by a passing police officer or -in a worst case scenario- there is an accident you are well prepared to answer any questions.

Your Master Film File should include:

1. Several copies of the script (they always get lost!)
2. Cast and crew contact list (with names, telephone numbers etc)
3. Call sheets (plus extra copies)
4. Shooting schedule
5. Shot list
6. Storyboards
7. Accounts/receipts/expenses
8. Maps of the area
9. Emergency contact name and numbers
10. Cast and crew contract/agreements
11. Background actors release/waivers (plus loads of extra copies)
12. Location permits
13. Health and safety policy
14. Risk assessments
15. Insurance details
16. Note pad/paper/pens

Anything we missed? Please let us know in the comments below.
Need some example forms? Check out University of North Carolina School of the Arts site.

Tip # 15: Locations as characters

By Sinéad Ferguson (Producer/Production designer)

This is part one in a seven part series on finding the right locations.

We always set out to achieve a low budget film with a big budget feel. One way we did this is by immediately dispensing with the usual low budget approach of using minimum locations. Is it cheaper to have minimum locations? Yes. Easier logistically? Most definitely. But it’s visually boring... it’s bland, uninspiring and unimaginative. So if you’re not afraid of a little or in our case as it turned out quite a lot of hard work...the effort is definitely worth it and means that your final results on screen are something everyone can be proud of.

From the get go I always thought of the locations as characters in our film and they were as important and integral in the storytelling as our leads, especially considering their ever present time on screen. I absolutely consider it time and money well spent even if your budget is almost nonexistent like ours. I maintain that whatever your budget no matter how small, put the money on the screen, ie your actors and your locations.

Finding just the right locations can be a daunting task. From my perspective as both producer and production designer I had a very clear vision of what we were looking for. Understanding their importance I wasn’t satisfied with us finding locations that were anything less than perfect for our purposes. Get it right and the locations would subtlety enhance and compliment the storytelling, get it wrong and they would easily distract from and hinder it.

Ultimately finding and securing all our locations, involved countless hours doing research online, followed by innumerable hours spent in the car driving all over Sussex, add to that an almost epic amount of emails, endless phone calls, meetings, negotiating, compromising, and persuading, followed by even more convincing and eventually after all that rigmarole our locations were secured.

Easy peasy !

The next few blogs with give you some practical advice based on our experience with finding and securing locations...

Tip #9: Compare the pros and cons of self-financing

By Itsuka Yamasaki (Producer)

OK so you have exhausted almost all your options and still can’t find enough money. So what now? Well, basically you have two options: 1. Give up (and tell everyone else “we are putting the film on hold") or 2. Pay for it yourself.

Probably most indie filmmakers end up investing in part (if not all) of the budget. With Ambleton Delight, we had one executive producer on board, but we covered most of the budget ourselves - yes, at this time of economic crisis! So we stripped our budget down to the bare minimum of around £6,000 – a budget that is just enough to keep a project together but is still affordable for ordinary people like us. We then organised a business loan through the production company, Parkes Productions Ltd.

Now I’m not going to recommend organising a loan to pay for your film. But I would recommend writing down the pros and cons of self funding, such as:

Cons:
- Should the whole project crash and burn, you pay for the tragedy.
- You still need to earn a living and pay tax.
- Possibly no spending money for other fun (such as holidays!).
- You realise you are becoming and looking very stingy.

Pros:
- The film actually gets made.
- You have absolute control over your own film as you put up the money.
- You don’t have other obligations/pressures except for the bank.
- Should the film make money your initial investment will be returned and you may even receive profit.

Here are some links to free applications that can help you organise your finance:

Managing personal finance online:
https://www.kublax.com
http://www.mint.com/ (currently US only but might be coming to UK soon)
http://www.pocketsmith.com/

Free accounting/bookkeeping software:
http://www.msofficeaccounting.co.uk/
http://quickbooks.intuit.com/product/accounting-software/free-accounting-software.jsp

Tip#6: Form a productive production team

By Sinéad Ferguson (Producer)

The Ambleton Delight production team consists of just three of us, Itsuka (writer/producer) Dan (director/producer) and myself (production designer/producer). Having previously worked together on several projects we had already established and developed a great working relationship, with a certain shorthand and knowledge of our mutual strengths, with a good mix of practical, technical, artistic and creative sensibilities.

Our weekly production meetings were integral to the success of the film. This is where we drank copious amounts of coffee and talked late into the night planning our strategies and hammering out ideas, making every single important decision regarding all aspects of the film.

Overwhelming as the work of planning a feature seemed in those early days we found the secret was to break everything down into weekly and monthly goals, with strict deadlines, by drawing up a “must–do list”. We then divided the work load between us, with each task to be completed before our next meeting. To the best of my recollection I don’t think we ever missed even one of those self imposed deadlines.

We would meet a minimum of once a week but once we got the ball rolling we found these meetings definitely increased as did our workload. After each day’s shoot we would have a post mortem where we would discuss any problems that occurred or conversely strategies that were successful. By immediately identifying issues we instantly implemented changes to the following shoot, ensuring the same problems didn’t reoccur.

So here are some important points to consider when forming your production team:

• If possible work with people you have worked well with before.
• If you are forming a team for the first time, do your research thoroughly. Trust your instincts. If you foresee personality clashes, forget it . Especially as you will be spending a tremendous amount of time with each other and often under stressful conditions. Success or failure can simply be down to having the right or wrong people on board.
• Commitment is essential. The last thing you need is someone who will bail once their initial enthusiasm has worn off and the hard work had begun.
• Play to each other’s strengths and abilities and assign tasks accordingly.
• Avoid having passengers, they’re a liability.
• It’s imperative that overall you share a unified collective vision, but that doesn’t rule out healthy debate and alternative points of view as long as a final decision is made.
• Hold your meetings somewhere you won’t be constantly interrupted, encourage open and frank discussion and have plenty of coffee on hand.
• Make every production meeting you have count. Have an agenda for each one, as it’s very easy to go off topic.
• Have everyone write a must-do list during the meeting, with weekly and monthly targets.
• Lastly remember to enjoy the experience! Take time to enjoy every little success you have along the way.