Producing : What makes a Producer sweat more than anything else? by Stephanie Bulgarino Weier

You might think it is the actor deal memos or the financing, but let's assume that is all safely put to bed and now you are about to shoot principal photography tomorrow! Is there anything you need to be prepared for? Yes! 1. Did you review all the set dressing artwork to ensure it is cleared for use on camera (and any conditions you need to know about like end credit or no advertising of the art piece)? 2. Did you get a Script Clearance Report completed in prepro so that you know all of the character names are cleared for use, dialogue has no defamatory information to a person or company (fact statements), etc? 3. Hopefully, but I have to ask, did you read the Script Clearance Report and review with your department heads :)? 4. Are all of your props cleared for use and being used as intended? This is a critical mistake so be careful and have documentation either from the product placement agency or the brand directly. Please don't take a propmaster's word for it. So many times, it is just easier to respond like "I have used this a thousand times and never gotten sued" instead of them saying "Hey, actually that might be a good idea to get it signed off." 5. As you are moving through production, try to think like the distributor you want to have accept your project. You should be scanning every set, line and agreement to make sure you have all of your releases, memos and reports done and ready to go without blinking an eye. If you have kept vigil on this, then Congrats! You can now have a great nights sleep knowing you did what you needed to deliver a cleared project. If you want to know more, we are hosting a webinar at 1 p.m. with Stage 32 called "11 Things You Must Do Before Approaching Distributors." We'd love to meet you and discuss your specific questions.