Ready, Set, On-Set!

There’s literally nothing that beats the magic of bringing a script to life… and there’s nothing worse than a set full of no-shows, the wrong crew, and sad actors. Every set is full of learning experiences (aka facepalm moments), and we’re excited to share some of our most unexpected on-set challenges so you can hopefully dodge them!

1. Go Overboard on Extras

Extras can be an unpredictable bunch and you’d much rather have too many than too few show! Try to confirm and reconfirm your extras list, because we guarantee there will be no-shows and last minute cancellations. Being an extra can be fun (but not exactly glamorous!) so some will take it seriously while others will blow it off completely out of the blue. Just be prepared.

2. Let Go of Crew Members that Aren’t Right

Even a tight-knit crew isn’t necessarily the right crew, and it’s important to be ready to make the hard decision of letting someone go if they’re not bringing your vision to life. For example, one of our projects started off with an art director that, while affordable, was just not cutting it. It was totally risky to let someone go while the project was well underway, but paid off tenfold since we were able to fill the role with an AMAZING art director who made everything look 100x better. Talk about #WorthIt !

3. Fed Actors = Happy Actors

Welcome to Los Angeles, the land of sunshine, stars, and dietary restrictions. You don’t want anyone on your set to get #hangry, and we learned from experience that when it comes to craft services, don’t assume what you’re providing is okay for everyone to eat!

As a little anecdote, we worked with one actress who had such crazy allergies that there was literally nothing from our catering or on the craft table she could eat on the first shoot day -- she went home half-starved and we felt terrible! From then on, we had her bring her own meals to set and happily compensated her for them. Live and learn, right?

Basically, if you’re filming with any size cast or crew in California, there will be dietary restrictions. While vegetarians and vegans are fairly easy to accommodate, gluten-free vegans might just do you in, lol!

We’d also love to hear any set life advice or challenges you’ve encountered, so definitely hit us up on Instagram @MissDirectionEntertainment