Your Ultimate Guide to Succeeding at Pre-Production

Get one-on-one guidance on all of the steps you need to take during pre-production with Emmy Award-winning producer and filmmaker Shane Stanley.

PLEASE NOTE: Although this exclusive Stage 32 class is no longer live and the teacher is not available on email, we highly encourage you to do any assignments to get the most out of the educational experience.

It might not be the most glamorous, but pre-production is arguably the most important aspect of putting together a film. The crucial decisions you make and the team you build during this phase will determine the success of your production and ultimately, your film. But no matter what experience level you are at, pre-production can quickly become an overwhelming process. From hiring to budgeting to location scouting to scheduling, there are always going to be a lot of plates you must keep spinning. Yet approaching pre-production with a plan, with discipline, and with the appropriate knowledge will keep your film on track and even elevate it to a level you might not have previously thought possible.

Whatever the size of your project, your ability to carefully plan for production can make all the difference. Too often, green or overly hungry filmmakers will jump into shooting without properly planning the film’s shooting schedule, locking in locations, or otherwise overlooking a cavalcade of vital aspects that should have been fully figured out before production begins. Not putting the time into these steps can cause a production to implode. But the filmmakers who know how to fully prepare for a production, and can do so efficiently and frugally will not only allow an excellent film to be produced but can also build a positive reputation for themselves, allowing for more opportunities, more allies and supporters, and ultimately more opportunities.

Multi Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and author Shane Stanley has worked in almost every capacity on and off the set with hit shows like ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT and SEINFELD and producing films like Sony Pictures’ GRIDIRON GANG a #1 box office hit starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. For three years, Shane was Vice President of Sheen/Michaels Entertainment where he produced several motion pictures starring Marlon Brando, Mira Sorvino, Thomas Hayden Church, Donald Sutherland, Marisa Tomei, Sean Penn, John Travolta, and Charlie and Martin Sheen. Shane recently released his book What You Don’t Learn In Film School, which covers filmmaking from concept to delivery and has already landed on required reading lists at several universities across the country. Shane continues to produce and direct independent films of all levels, and just wrapped production on his latest action thriller BREAK EVEN. Over the countless films he has produced, Shane has gotten pre-production down to a science and knows what it takes to prepare a film of any level.

In this advanced level and intensive 4-session class, Shane will comprehensively teach you every aspect of nailing pre-production for your film. In Session 1 he will dive into building your team, and session 2 will focus on scouting locations and the legalities and traps that go along with it. Shane will spend Session 3 going deep into properly scheduling and budgeting. Finally Session 4 will cover all of the other important steps that many producers often overlook, including production insurance, working with sales agents, dealing with guilds and more.

• Sample Budgets
• Sample Schedules
• Sample Call Sheets
• SAG-AFTRA contracts
• Crew Agreements
• Sample Offers to Principal Talent
• Location Agreements