Crewvie.com: Resources

Discover curated, helpful hints, links, and practices for you, the budding independent filmmaker, to help you navigate the intricate filmmaking industry.

BEST PRACTICES FOR INDEPENDENT PROJECTS

Be kind. Remember that your crew is working long hours, with a lot of physical labor, usually for less pay than they usually receive. Treat them well! Say hello, learn their names, feed them well and think about their comfort.
Bathrooms: Make sure there is a bathroom that is nearby, accessible, and clean for both on and off production people.
Let’s talk food! Plan for tables and chairs for breakfast, lunch, and 2nd meal for everyone just in case. Eating in a van does not work. Eating on a curb is not a suitable option. A “reasonable time to eat” means time to sit down (on a chair and out of the elements) and eat. Not a “grab some food-walk-stuff your face-get to work” scenario.
Meal breaks: Break on time or make sure you plan accordingly and have a mid-morning substantial snack (or late day snack) for the cast and crew. Sandwiches/soup/ hot food etc. And make sure your team delivers food to those who can’t leave set (ie. camera/sound/script/ other keys by camera).
Temperature Control: Plan for heaters, A/C’s, and tents. If you keep your crew at the optimal temperature, they will be happier and more productive.
Prep: Budget to pay people to properly prep, it will save you later when you’re filming!
Daily Prep: Everyone starts their day off differently. Make sure your DGA team speaks with your IA dept heads as to their teams needs and expectations for the next day, so people get the proper call times.
Production Office location: Do not abuse the location of the production office. The office location cannot change daily, weekly, or monthly to avoid provisions. Not only is it impractical, but it does not show good faith to your crew.
Call-times and Pre-liminary Call Sheets: When issuing call times that differ from your Pre-liminary call sheet, please be considerate of crew who have already been dismissed for the day. Do all you can to relay the information to them in a timely manner (ie an email, text and/or phone call). Also, if it’s too late (ie splits/night shoots), the crew may not get the message until it’s too late for them to pivot.
Studio Teachers: Studio Teachers is a specific term under Basic Agreement and CA law. In other places they are called a Set Teacher. Some jurisdictions offer Child Labor Coordinators (Georgia for example) and Welfare Workers. These positions caused Producers to take the position they don’t need a Studio or Set Teacher because they have a Child Labor Coordinator or Welfare Worker. All those titles function under the Set/Studio Teacher and teaching is still required.
DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility): Hire a balanced and representative crew.
- Find new voices that are representative of your community and the country.
- Mentor: Try to bring people up and into the industry.
- If you have a qualified candidates to hire that are not yet in the union, call your local union to help them gain access (per Article VIII, Section D in the agreement).
- Pay it forward – teach people and they will teach you.

Safety: Don’t ever skimp on safety! Be alert, ask questions of the team, hire consultants as needed to help you if you do not have the answers. The last thing anyone ever wants is for one of their cast or crew to be injured or worse.
Weather: Watch the weather and send out alerts.
Union Relations: Make your Union reps part of your community and work with them! They are not scary, and they can help you! Do not try to avoid conversations or ask for permission. Best to have the answers upfront and proceed correctly. Remember, fines and grievances can be filed… save yourself the headache!

IS YOUR PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE?

Surprisingly, content production and events are still environmentally aggressive. A standard advertising production of 3 shooting days leaves 20 Tons of CO2eq, the equivalent of 20 Olympic pools or the same carbon footprint than an entire family leaves in 3 years. (CREAST)

As the industry pays sharper attention to its practices, here are some questions you can ask yourself when helming your own production:

PRODUCTION

Do you use a 4-stream waste system, with clearly-marked bins for Paper, Plastic & Aluminum, Compost, and Landfill?
Do you reuse and repurpose office supplies, such as using scrap paper, reusing manilla envelopes?
Do you provide a space for dead batteries, printer ink cartridges and e-waste in the office to be dropped at collection sites?

CRAFT SERVICES

Do you buy local food and seasonally?
Do you purchase foods produced by environmentally responsible companies?
Do you use single use plastics for food distributions

ART / PROPS

Do you source recycled props or reuse materials when possible?
Do you design for disassembly so that sets can be easily repurposed and materials recovered (i.e. making nails easy to remove from lumber.)
Do you donate raw materials or purchased props for reuse?

GRIP & ELECTRIC

Do you donate or repurpose gels in good condition?
Do you use LEDs?
Do you use electric generators when possible?

TRANSPORTATION

Do you track fuel consumption?
Do you use electric / biodiesel vehicles where available?

AUDIO

Do you use rechargeable batteries?

HERE ARE SOME PRACTICES YOU COULD PUT INTO PLACE TO GET YOURSELF STARTED!

1) Efficient Fleets and Fuel: Limit vehicle idling and request the most fuel-efficient vehicles from your suppliers.
2) Electrify Energy: Use grid power as much as possible and supplement with mobile batteries. Use diesel generators only when absolutely necessary.
3) Reuse Materials: Rent costumes, set dec and props, or source used items before buying new.
4) Purchase FSC Certified Lauan or a sustainable alternative (i.e. RevolutionPly) for set walls.
5) Promote Plant-Based Food: Offer vegetarian and vegan options and reduce the amount of beef served at Catering and Craft Service.
6) Donate Food: Excess food from Catering and Craft Service can be donated to local nonprofits.
7) Reduce single-use plastic: (replace plastic water bottles with reusable water bottles)
8) Recycle and Compost: Set up recycling collection for construction material (ie. wood, metals), compost (ie. food scraps), and standard recycling (ie. bottles, cans, paper, cardboard). Use color-coded bins with signage.
9) Efficient Lighting and Operations: Maximize LED set lighting and put procedures in place to power down equipment when not in use.

Please follow these links for some additional, trusted information and bring your production in allignment with the times as together, we curb our carbon footprint.