How To Run Efficient And Effective Sets

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” ~ Arthur Ashe

“What happens when we go over time?” The room went quiet. The new sound operator repeated himself, “What happens when we go into overtime?” My crew smiled at me as I turned and replied, “We don’t.” I then continued answering and discussing other questions in the pre-pro meeting.

Let me preface this by saying this was not a studio film. This was an indie feature, titled Caralique, which I was the director/producer of. Crew averaging 30 people, cast 10 to 20. A 10-day shooting schedule. My past features have ranged from $30K to $600K, from 8 shoot days to 15 shoot days, from 15 to 35 crew, scripts from 70 to 100 pages, from 5 cast to 200 cast. Genres have been everything from inspirational, to horror, to rom-coms, to kids' films.

The main consistency has been that I’ve been director and producer on them all.

Photo by Angelica Reyn

Find Your “Film Family”

My crew have for the most part remained the same, with changes occurring only due to a few members changing career paths over the years, or occasionally dates not working out.

Other than that, for every new project I call up the “film family”, tell them the dates and budget, they sign up, and then the pre-pro begins. That’s really the secret to how I’ve managed to direct 11 feature films over five years, my film family. Talented individuals who I’ve grown with, and who have grown with me. We have put in the work together to learn and elevate ourselves, making us a stronger team.

I only ever begin the process. Once the money is in the account, the team is immediately called and everything becomes a fun, collaboration. This allows us to build a trust. When I call, my film family does everything they can to make my project work, because they know what to expect. I plan around their needs, the who, what, and where, adjusting to make it work. I take the wheel of the ship and I begin navigating us from the beginning to the end of the process.

I consider running my set as if I'm the mother of the family. I want to make sure my family is fed, and watered, they’ve slept well, and are treated kindly. This is the top priority. They come first, followed by the film, and then myself. Safety, health, and mental welfare are the top priority for everyone. The first day on every one of my sets, my safety announcement always begins with “Remember people, we are not saving the world. We are just making a movie.” This translates to a fair salary that’s available in the budget, a fair 10 to 12-hour workday, and a 12-hour turnaround is necessary, in fact, it’s a must.

Once all logistics have been sorted for hiring, production simplicity is the key. Keep in mind I’m not trying to make a $50 million sci-fi film for $150K in a week. It’s not fair to make people begin with the impossible. Knowing the possible budget, a realistic fun project is chosen that will provide an enjoyable time for everyone. One that allows us all to elevate, earn, or both, is imperative.

Now, I’m not saying simplicity doesn’t cause any problems to arise during production. Yes, giving yourself and your team that proper pre-pro time helps sort out kinks, and yes, not giving yourself and your team unreasonable exceptions within real constraints such as budget, location, and time does make production easier. But as all projects do, we’ll have situations that occur on set, and issues that arise, but we deal with them, in a calm, organized manner. The dedication mixed with experience in my film family allows this to happen this way.

Photo by Angelica Reyn

Promoting Open Communication Is Key

Once I had a set designer come to me all worried, explaining that she couldn’t find the red button that was in the script for one of my scenes. I calmly said this was okay and “What have you got?” She said she had a blue one. I simply suggested that we change it in the scene. Just because it’s written in the script doesn’t always mean we can make the impossible happen in the moment. She was dumbfounded at the simple pivot. If we can’t do it, we alter it and fix it.

This is my philosophy for everything that takes place in pre-production, production, and post. We do the best we can, that’s all I can ask for myself and my team. I’ve been fortunate in all my work with producers that they trust my process and believe in my decisions. They help cover logistics and troubleshoot any problems that may or do occur. Every crew member working together as a cohesive unit enhances open communication and trust, making the project more enjoyable for everyone.

With my latest feature Caralique that wrapped in August 2021, I was working with a new Exec Producer who I had never worked with before. A mutual friend, who happened to be attached as a producer on the project, introduced us and that was it. I called up my film family and we got to work!

Being a new member coming into my film family and the environment I create on my sets, I felt that hearing a few words from that Exec Producer would help you visualize what it’s like being on one of my sets.

Photo by Angelica Reyn

Q & A With Dale M. Fiola (Executive Producer and Writer of Caralique)

1) Where did the initial idea for Caralique come from?

DF: I was in Hallandale Beach, north of Miami, and came to write a screenplay. I determined after writing several screenplays about romance, comedy, and horror that I would write one just for children. I wanted to create a prodigy that would astound the fashion world with her talent. She would become the future of fashion. It took me some time to come up with her name but I wanted a French first name. While contemplating the theme it came to me that she would “Care a lick” about the poor and downtrodden; hence, I arrived at the name Caralique.

2) How did you complete this project on such a low budget?

DF: Three words – “Elizabeth Blake-Thomas.” I was quite naïve in budgeting the movie. I wanted a blockbuster movie with all the bells and whistles for next to nothing. Elizabeth was perfect to make the movie with a realistic budget that achieved my expectations. She was extremely organized prior to and when filming occurred. We were averaging more than 8 pages of script filmed each day. Her tireless energy and her creative talents, along with the hard work and talents of our co-producer and fashion design expert, Lana Young, made this movie something quite special and, in the words of Elizabeth, “a fabulous, beautiful movie.”

3) What was it like working with Elizabeth Blake-Thomas as a director?

DF: I have never been on a movie set before so I have little to compare it with, but I can safely say Elizabeth Blake-Thomas is a mighty fine Director. From the outset of when I first met her and she read the script the first time in early June 2021, she had a vision of each scene. She intuitively knew where I was going with the script and what our budget requirements were. During filming she extracted what she wanted from each scene, each syllable, and each actor. It was like an artist staring at a blank canvas posted on an easel and perceiving a finished painting. She is remarkable.

Photo by Abbie Georganna

4) What was it like working with Elizabeth’s team?

DF: The team worked hard and diligently on every scene. I saw some of the work product on the monitors and it was quite impressive. Everyone did such a fine job to make this movie possible. I am so thankful for their efforts. I am anxious to see the finished product.

5) What did you learn from this whole process?

DF: It is not easy to make a movie. It is not just simply grabbing a camera, putting a person in front of and behind it, and shooting a scene. It takes immense planning with the budget in mind to get the most out of a film. This is where pre-production is so important. I can only equate this to my practice as a lawyer when I would spend so many hours getting ready for a trial that would greatly exceed the actual hours of trial time. The whole purpose is to make production (or the trial itself) flow effortlessly to the audience (or the jury).

Photo by Angelica Reyn

Always Be Open To Learn

Each film offers me something new to learn. I also learn from other friends who are directors and look at their experiences. I make strong decisions on who I want to work with and what the film will look like. I look for red flags from producers even before we begin. If they talk about less than a 12-hour turnaround, regardless of being a union crew shoot or not, and I can sense their priority is not the crew, then I reconsider my choices. Without the crew I have nothing. So if I was to explain how I run my set, I’d use the words trust, respect, kindness, and compassion. If the people I work with lack those elements or don’t have trust in me, then I don’t work with them again.

When starting my next project, I live by this concept: Begin with a win. Why try to make something that’s already a loss?

To help you do this, consider:

1. Page counts
2. Cast numbers
3. Location moves
4. Fair salaries based on your budget
5. Timings
6. Practical decisions
7. Mental happiness for your crew

If all of these get ticked with approval, then I can go ahead and make the film.

My actions speak louder than words. If you’ve not worked with me a second time, then there’s a reason. I walked away from a project that I was asked to produce. I initially brought my team in, but due to several issues, comments and bad behavior from the higher management, I pulled myself and my team. Life is too short to deal with that. Make decisions and go with your gut instinct. If there are issues at the beginning of a project, there will definitely be more issues over the next 6 to 8 months. Do you really want this in your life? On set, I enjoy working normal hours for normal periods of time. I don’t want to be tired or not fed well. I want to feel safe and happy, so why would I not want my crew to feel that?

When you run your sets with trust, respect, kindness, and compassion, you’ll form a solid film family in no time. And remember people, we are not saving the world. We are just making a movie.

Get even more great advice from Elizabeth on Running Efficient sets in this video!

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