Between The Frames: Production

• Filmmaking as jazz
• Improvisation
• Knowing your actors personally
• Asking for input
• Self-care
• Problem solving/conflict resolution
• Being present

He covers their importance and some best practices to get the most out of each.

He also recommends a list of tools and resources in the form of books, apps, and podcasts that serve the pre-production process, from organization to time management and communication. Here they are:

• The Q&A With Jeff Goldsmith. This podcast is an invaluable resource. The back-catalog is astoundingly large and you’ll have inspiration for weeks. Goldsmith knows how to ask the right questions of his guest filmmakers, actors, writers, etc.

• The Treatment. Host Elvis Mitchell has been around for a while and is a great lover of cinema. He’s done some great interviews from the past and, in this regular show, he dives into true filmmaking craft and appreciation.

• The Director’s Cut. Brought to you by the Director’s Guild of America, this interview show features some Q&As with today’s biggest directors, including Darren Aronofsky, Guillermo Del Toro, Quentin Tarantino, and many many more. There’s no shortage of information here.

• Off Camera With Sam Jones. Sam Jones sits down with great actors and film/TV artists to discuss process. Not only is it fascinating from a fan perspective, but you’ll get many little gems about onset dynamics and how-tos.

• Rebel Without A Crew, by Robert Rodriguez. I don’t think there’s a more reputable or important book on independent filmmaking out there. This one is like a bible of sorts. If you haven’t heard of it before, you just need to read it. That’s all there is to it.

• The Daily Show (The Oral History), by Chris Smith, forward by Jon Stewart. This book was a great peak inside how an American institution grew, evolved, and engendered a collaborative production environment, even under great pressure and scrutiny. It’s a great example of production health being a top-down enterprise.

• The Friedkin Connection: A Memoir, by William Friedkin. This was not only a remarkable walk through a truly remarkable period in cinema history, but also a powerful reminder that your filmmaking principals should be firm. The audiobook is also read by Friedkin himself.

• Robert Altman: The Oral Biography, by Mitchell Zuckoff. Altman is one of American cinema’s truest pioneers—a filmmaker’s filmmaker in the classic sense. This book cobbles together interviews with his family, friends and collaborators—many of whom belong to multiple categories. Through their testimonials the reader gets a comprehensive sense of Altman’s unique and collectivist process. The truest example of filmmaker as jazz band leader.

• Headspace app. This app got me through some very stressful times while producing Counterintelligence. You can do the 10 day beginners course for free, then pay to access advanced and specific courses, like meditations to enhance focus, reduce stress, calm anxiety, and sleep better. I’ve tried many of these to great results. If you’re about to undergo a production, this definitely will not hurt you to try.

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