Pre-Production Checklist

As we’re currently in the midst of prepping for our next feature film ‘Mother Sky’, we thought it might be useful to share what that entails for those new to filmmaking.

Pre-Production Checklist

• Lock your shooting script
• Finalize your budget
• Audition/cast your actors
• Pick your crew
• Break down the script
• Shot list and storyboard
• Scout locations
• Do a tech scout
• Rehearsals
• Create a shooting schedule
• Rent equipment
• Collect props and costume

If you’re looking at the above and thinking that’s not a lot, just remember that these are macro-tasks, and completing them means completing a bunch of micro-tasks. For example, casting alone is a big undertaking (see our post on blind casting in 2020), taking an incredible amount of time and preparation in order to hold a successful audition.

To give you an idea of how extensive pre-production can be, we’ve spent over ten months prepping for this latest feature and that has included over 1000 decisions and tasks along the way (trust me, we’ve made note of every one along the way with dates). Some tasks obviously take longer than others – ordering some props and costumes can take half a day; storyboarding can take a month. There are countless pre-production checklists you can find online, some of which are much more lengthy and thorough that this one (including finalising legal contracts and insurance)the key thing is to plan your time accordingly, usually giving yourself more time that you think you might need, as something will always crop up. The more prepared you are walking on set, the smoother the entire production will be.