Stay Calm and Focused – Keep your composure and maintain a clear head. Last-minute changes can feel overwhelming, but staying calm will help you think critically. Assess Impact – Quickly evaluate how the change will affect your timeline, resources, and team. Understand what’s essential to adjust and what’s non-negotiable. Communicate with the Team – Ensure everyone involved is on the same page. Clear communication helps minimize confusion and ensures everyone knows their role in implementing the change. Delegate Efficiently – Trust your team. Assign tasks to those who are best suited to handle the adjustments, whether it’s a script revision, technical tweak, or rescheduling.

We all know how important it is to communicate, delegate and keep calm at such an instance. But if your mindset is not right towards positively accepting the last minute changes then I am guaranteeing you that some thing or the other will go wrong in the process. Remember, Production processes require a leader who before executing absorbs everything that has come in as an input irrespective of it being last minute. I have seen one of the most creative pieces drawn out with inputs received in the last moment. A calm steady mind with the right attitude with understanding of the situation and execution parameters drives a leader to think out of the box, be creative even at the last moment.

All you need to do is Work on the Script before the production starts, Follow the script then, even if you need to improvise in Production, hold a team meeting with Director (Lead), Script writer and DOP. Communication among team is the key.

One thing I found useful is to communicate effectively with your team and crew. Make the decision of changes as the head of production but communicate thoroughly what the impact of these changes would have on the production so they can feel included and that the changes is something that was carefully considered and not rushed into. Nothing creates more chaos than a lack of communication and trust.

Since I am a storm chaser, last minute changes is the name of the game lol communication is key! We have teams in multiple markets during a single storm event, ALL with different weather patterns. WhatsApp and Walkies are staples! So this can apply to any type of production. Know the weather (challenges) and communicate effectively. Every minute counts.