Project Management in Film Making

There is no perfect formula to making a hit film

All of us would have heard the above statement somewhere sometime, but I would say there is always a formula to film making. It is Project Management which is the hidden part which we never get to know. Film making is a perfect planing. I am not a filmmaker but yet have learnt a lot from the intricacies of film making.

Lets first map the phases of Film Making to Project Management

• Phase 1 - Development vs Initiation
• Phase 2 - Pre Production vs Planning
• Phase 3 - Production vs Execution
• Phase 4 - Post - Production vs Monitoring
• Phase 5 - Distribution vs Closure

Very similar right, corporates can learn a lot from film making. The nitty-gritty of film making, if introduced to Project Management, can produce astonishing results to deliver a successful project. A 2016 article on data insights on project statistics provided the following surprising numbers

• Over 34% of projects have no baseline
• For every $1 billion invested in the United States, $122 million was wasted due to lacking project performance.
• 75% of business and IT executives anticipate their software projects will fail. 
• 50% of all Project Management Offices (PMOs) close within just three years. 
• Fewer than a third of all projects were completed on time and budget over the past year.
• Barely over half (56%) of project managers are certified. 
• 80% of project management executives don’t know how their projects align with their company’s business strategy.

Let us do some deep dive into the film making process.

Phase 1: Development

Ideate the film, and pitch it to the Producer, but the User Requirement Specs which go into this are humungous and the director or the story writer never says "This is not my job profile, I am the Operations guy so I do not know what to do"

Development can take months or even years to get the project green-lit by a studio or funded independently and move into pre-production.

The Director and the Writer would prepare the following

• Idea
• One-line
• Theme
• Treatment
• Synopsis
• Story
• Finance and distribution
• Script and Screenplay
• Dialogue

Very similar to the URS and the Project details which need to be presented to the management or the project sponsor to get the project sanctioned or approved. The difference between the User and the Director is the accountability and responsibility to get the sanction.

Phase 2: Pre-Production

In simple words "How to manage time and money". This is the planning phase of a project where you run through your project left and right, top to bottom, you see around corners, you forecast many things, you expect failures and issues and prepare yourself and your team for the worst.

Now lets come to Film Making, Pre-production is the intellectual process in video production. The pre-production stage can last many months from the initial greenlighting of a project to when cameras roll.

If you want to write the best script you must be aware of what is happening around you. Means current affairs, news, events, community, myths, etc. also you need to read books to build more experience. After the scriptwriting process next is Building Character. No doubt it is visual, but characters play the main role. People remember the characters the most. To build strong character and simple story. Locations are needed for character performance which brings your story to life. After location hunting, you need more ideas about framing and composition. For every scene, you need to collect costumes and allocate them, types of equipment like camera and lights position need to be defined, editing is done, production crew managed, and film budget allocated. These all are also to be considered in the pre-production process.

Although years of deliberation, concept moulding, writing and staring into space in a dreamlike daze is likely to occur in development, once shoot dates are confirmed the work becomes extremely focused on adhering to budgets and shooting schedules.

“how much you prepare in pre-production or work in pre-production; chances of success increases in film making.”

Phase 3: Production

The production stage is where the rubber hits the road

It is practical work with the team. Everyone is doing their job in their department. If any department is not doing well then retakes will have to be done. So every part of team camera, direction, acting, sound costume, makeup, etc. must focus on that decisive shot to achieve that Director’s vision. Practice makes a man perfect. So prepare preproduction well.

The execution of the project is as good as the planing, and the communication during the planning. If done well everything can be managed including the unknown risks.

A particularly well-known example of unknown risk was Mad Max: Fury Road. Development & pre-production on the fourth installment of George Miller’s Mad Max franchise, which first launched in 1979, began in the late 90s with a script penned and shooting planned for the early 2000s. A plague of bad luck followed.

The Gulf War deterred filming in the initial scouted location, and when shooting was relocated to the barren landscape and perfect post-apocalyptic desert vibe in Broken Hill, Australia, a decade-long drought broke. Dirt and dust were replaced with lush greenery and wildflowers. After over ten years of planning and delays, the film was finally shot in Namibia and South Africa, with pick-ups in Australia. During this time, George Miller directed both installments of the Happy Feet films whilst waiting for the right time to finish his initial project. The film was released and received massive critical and box office success – proving that sometimes the wait can be worth it.

In the above example it shows that the planing was perfect, the requirements were aptly defined which even due to unknown risks the Project goal could be achieved.

Phase 4: Post Production

The final monitoring or the hand holding which is required for a project to deliver. Post-production begins while the shoot is still going, as the footage is gathered as soon as the first day of shooting commences. This helps see the project finished as soon as possible, but can also help identify problems with the footage or any gaps in the story while the shoot is still happening. If needed, shots can be picked up on later days without too much interference in the shooting schedule.

Now, let us bring in Scrum here, where as soon as some parts of the project start getting developed the releases begin to make sure the smaller packages are perfect and you target the low hanging fruits.

Post-production is not difficult as long as you take it step by step. All you need is to know about post-production and finishing your film in the order they appear below.

• Pick an editor format
• Hire a picture and sound editor
• Do Automatic Dialogue Replacement
• Secure music and effects
• Get Recording/the mix
• Get your Titles and Digital cinema package
• Get a Dialogue script
• Campaign image and Trailer

Same as Project Management,

Project monitoring is focused on tracking project performance and progress using key performance indicators (KPIs) agreed during project planning.

Core to this phase is identifying when a change is needed, what the change entails, and how to implement the change with minimum impact on the direction of the project.

This careful, informed consideration will help to prevent scope creep or the impact of small changes to the original project plan.

Project monitoring also includes:

• Managing risks.
• Measuring deliverables against the original requirements.
• Tracking the project budget.
• Assessing progress against key milestones.

Phase 5: Distribution

This is the final stage, where the film is released to cinemas or occasionally, to consumer media or direct download from a provider. The film is duplicated as required for distribution to cinemas. Press kits, posters, and other advertising materials are published and the film is advertised and promoted.

Without a stringent and robust distribution strategy, the other four stages of production are somewhat redundant, at least from a business perspective. Distribution is the final stage in a project for producers looking to make a return-on-investment.

Although distribution is the final stage of the project, the channel of distribution and marketing of the project will be planned in pre-production. If it is planned badly and fails to garner good distribution, then all the other phases will be wasted as nobody views the final product and covers the cost of the project. 

The Project Closure Phase is the fourth and last phase in the project life cycle. In this phase, you will formally close your project and then report its overall level of success to your sponsor. Project Closure involves handing over the deliverables to your customer, passing the documentation to the business, cancelling supplier contracts, releasing staff and equipment, and informing stakeholders of the closure of the project. After the project has been closed, a Post Implementation Review is completed to determine the project's success and identify the lessons learned.

If all the steps are meticulously following and communication plan is managed well, and the film/project would be a success. The ROI in the film is always tangible and in the project may be intangible so the success measurement criteria are always very important.