What is the best lesson you've learned on set?

Stephen: If someone says the dreaded words “Nah! Don’t worry about it. We’ll just fix it in post,” the entire production team must rise up as one and slay them. Their body shall then be given to the post-production team as a peace offering.

Courtney: Introduce yourself (with snacks) to the local police department in each filming area. That way you have already made a good impression with them when they answer complaints about your filming.

Emily: When scouting a location, always check to see if it’s in the flight path of a nearby airport!

Dan: Assume nothing. As a producer, you must never assume someone has something covered. Or that because they’ve had a job (title) in the past that they were the one responsible for the result, whether good or bad. If you assume things are happening, or that someone is going to do something, you will inevitably find out that it didn’t happen, it wasn’t covered, etc. because they didn’t know they were supposed to do it. Since the exact same job (line producer or production manager, for example) might have vastly different responsibilities set to set, based on the structure or skill set of the rest of the team, you can’t assume someone knows how your set/project runs, or that on this job, they need to cover XYZ task.

Always check that everyone is doing their job, doing it well, and maintaining a professional set. This helps weed out the people who are either cancerous to the process or incompetent, which in turn makes the project better and the experience much more enjoyable.

Taylor: The most important person on set is Crafty!!!

Sarah: Never underestimate the weather!

Exhibit A:

On set of Filling In with 4 layers on, including a fireman’s jacket lent to me from a crew member. I was the L.A. wimp, freezing in the middle of April. Also pictured is my AP, Xavier Cardriche.

Share the best lesson you’ve learned on set in the comments below.