Casting the perfect set of actors, actresses, and extras is crucial to your efforts to produce a breakout indie film. Iconic films like Juno would have been completely different had the casting directors not picked Elliot Page for the leading role, while The Sound of Metal would have been a flop without Riz Ahmed’s masterful performance.
However, getting the right people in the room is only one part of the equation. If you want your talent to shine, you must take steps to support their well-being. Even simple accommodations, like ensuring everyone is well-rested and properly hydrated, can bring the best out of your cast and help you create a film that everyone loves.
Supporting the well-being of your team doesn’t mean you need to order a thousand green M+Ms or Versace hand towels. Instead, a few tweaks to your schedule are all you need to ensure that everyone remains healthy and happy while on set.
Sleep-Friendly Shoots
Sometimes, you need to shoot late into the night or rise way before dawn to get the perfect light. While inconvenient shoot times can’t be avoided, you can take steps to ensure that everyone gets enough rest between scenes. This is key as failing to get enough sleep is sure to undermine morale and detract from your talent’s wellbeing.
Asking people to work without adequate rest can also undermine your actors’ appearances. Beauty sleep can boost skin health, while inadequate rest will cause swelling, puffiness, and dark circles around the eyes. People feel less attractive when they’re running low on sleep, too. This can be a real issue if you’re trying to shoot a romance or develop cinematic tension between two characters.
By backward planning, you can protect everyone’s sleep schedule when scheduling your shoot days. Start on the final day of filming and work backward while ensuring that your crew has at least 10 hours between shoots. When creating your schedule, consider highlighting shoots that occur late at night or early in the morning to increase visibility for the whole team. This will empower people to make informed decisions that aid their efforts to get enough rest.
Stress Management
Stress is an inevitable part of making movies. Props will break, actors will fall ill, and the weather will refuse to cooperate. This can be deeply frustrating when shooting your first film and may raise the stress levels of your entire cast and crew. Left unchecked, this can lead to burnout and detract from your talent’s performance.
In some cases, a prolonged period of high stress can change your cast’s appearance. Burnout and weight gain are correlated, as people are more likely to turn to unhealthy eating habits and sedentary living when they are under stress. This can cause serious continuity issues if you need to re-shoot later down the line. As a filmmaker, you can reduce your crew’s stress and combat burnout by taking proactive steps to improve morale, including:
- Listening: Sometimes, people just need to vent their frustration. Practice active listening and take their suggestions on board to create a trusting bond and reduce stress.
- Practice Positivity: It’s easy to get down when you face delays and setbacks. Keeping a positive mindset won’t change the weather or fix a broken camera, but it can keep morale high until you get back to work.
- Focus on Productivity: Your talented cast wants to be productive — so let them work! Give them plenty of time in front of the camera and work closely with every actor or actress that you hire to improve their performance.
Sometimes, simply giving your cast enough time to properly recuperate after shoots is all you need to do to reduce stress. This can be particularly powerful if you’re shooting in a visually impressive location — give your cast some time to explore the area and relax when they aren’t in front of the camera.
Mental Health Support on Set
There’s a mental health crisis in the film industry currently. People are being forced to work in poor environments, are subjected to a culture of bullying, and cannot connect with the support they need to feel at their best. As a filmmaker, you can buck this trend by offering mental health support as a benefit to everyone on set.
Get the ball rolling by prioritizing access to mental health services. Even if you can’t afford to offer private mental health services as a benefit, ensure that people are able to connect with NHS mental health support. This may mean you need to rethink your scheduling, as people can’t be expected to perform at their best when they are meant to be in a therapy session to address their anxiety or depression.
You can also support mental health on set by creating a supportive, anti-bullying culture. Get started by creating clear workplace policies on bullying and toxic behavior, and follow through if you suspect that someone is receiving unfair treatment on set.
You can also create a supportive company culture by offering budget-friendly, nutritious food to your cast and crew. Simply offering an array of granola bars, fresh fruit, and packaged sandwiches is a great way to build buy-in and create a more positive atmosphere.
Conclusion
Caring for your cast is key if you want people to put their best performance on screen. Even simple accommodations, like ensuring everyone gets enough sleep, food, and water, can meaningfully enhance morale. Just be sure to offer access to qualified mental health services so people know that they can access support should they need it during your shoot.
Amanda Winstead is a writer from the Portland area with a background in communications and a passion for telling stories. Along with writing she enjoys traveling, reading, working out, and going to concerts. If you want to follow her writing journey, or even just say hi you can find her on Twitter.
