German Efficiency

Industry Creatives Testimonial Update – Chris Gill


Hi Film Folk,

My partner Frances and I just got back from a holiday in beautiful Germany. This involved flying out from Edinburgh to spend some time in Berlin, Munich, Fussen and Starnberg.

I’d only ever been to Germany once before, when shooting some commercial work for a client in Hamburg. My trip this time was more fun, fuelled with plenty of beer and pretzel action…

Frances teases me, because I’m CRAZY-organised. We have a schedule for everything we do when we go away. Flights, transport, hotels, visits, points of interest, activites… all of it. There’ still room for spontaneous fun, but even that time is factored in!

It’s not as grim as it sounds, it simply means that we’re able to cram a lot into our trips away (we’ve done everything imagineable in Berlin and Munich now) and make the most of our break. For example, by knowing exactly when we were visiting Neuschwanstein Castle (the inspiration for Walt Disney’s castle) we were able to book ahead and dodge a two hour queue. By planning my transport in advance, we were never stuck deciphering maps or waiting for the wrong trains…

Germany is the global home of efficiency (the public transport is more accurate than my watch) so I wasn’t out of place!

Why am I mentioning this? Because all of these skills are fundamental to indie filmmaking!

I cannot emphasise the importance of pre-production and thorough planning enough, it’s critical to a successful production.

Understanding what you need, what you have and how to best make it happen saves time, money and creates far better results.

Ensure you have schedules, shot-lists, call-lists and everything pre-planned and ready to go. Consider what might go wrong and what you can do to deal with it if it does.

These are topics I go into in-depth in “Hollywood Hates This Book: The 7 Step Guide to Making Your Film For Free.” The book is written and I will have some news for everyone soon.

Exciting times!

Prost!
Hollywood Hates This Book Email Signature on Black

P.S. My racing around the globe continues this month. I’m visiting York, Pennsylvania and New York on business. I’ll be sure to be organised! 🙂