Pre-production is where we take the brief on the project as a whole from the client team, discover the details on what has to be done and achieved, evolve an original solution that will work effectively and interestingly, and then translate this into technology and personnel hours, a budget and a schedule – while continually testing all of these concepts.

Like everything else, the more we know up front, the more accurately we can control everything on the project.  This includes putting the right team together, and devising all of the physical aspects that need to be budgeted and put in place. That’s why on a full blown film or video budget sheet there are many items that come under pre-production, from technical drawings to equipment testing, and from script evolution to storyboards and shot lists to location time breakdown and call sheets.

I like to think of pre-production as where most aspects of a project succeed or fail – the home of the 7P philosophy, Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Painfully Poor Performance (in England we translate this much more colorfully!)… the reality is always the same, get it wrong in the planning stage and you’ll be wrestling with gators the rest of the way home. Experience is king in this realm.