On Making our First Feature Film - Pt.1
Making your first feature is the single biggest milestone in the life of any filmmaker, and it makes me immensely proud to say that we have done just that. Like many of the twists and turns of a career in this industry, it didn’t come about the way I thought it would, and it wasn’t the film we thought we’d make as a first feature, but make it we did, and we’re delighted with what we achieved.
Over three posts, we’re going to give a little insight into the making of the film and share some pics from behind the scenes. We’ll be able to share more information on the film’s release soon; it will screen on broadcast networks in 2023. Huge shout out to Sonja Blietschau for her excellent contributions to the photography.
Toby Trueman, Managing Director
Pre-Production
The deal with Canadian studio Reel One Entertainment landed 8 weeks before the first date of principal photography. Not a huge amount of time, but being confident in our abilities and not really having any other choice, we got stuck in. The project was a micro-budget rom-com set on the Isle of Skye, but with a plan to shoot the majority of the film in East Lothian (naturally). Here’s a synopsis:
Co-producer Penny Cobham and I immediately dived into crewing, casting, and locations. I live in East Lothian and already had a pretty good idea of what could work well visually for our two key locations, the country village, and the family home of our male lead, eventually confirming Gifford and nearby Winton Castle. The rest of the film would take us between Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a jaunt to the Highlands.
We signed up an old friend of ours, experienced promo and commercial director David Lumsden to take the helm, with Remo Catani covering base as 1st AD. Finding the rest of the crew took a while longer, but in the interim Kate & Lou Casting were already gathering audition tapes from our character briefs, and we began the complex process of negotiating details with agents.
As first day of shooting drew nearer, we still didn’t have all our locations or cast confirmed; it turned out the first person we contacted for our female lead was only in the country on a tourist visa, meaning a last minute dash to find an alternative. We got there; just. The week prior to shooting was spent signing location agreements, negotiating with the remaining cast and working out where everyone was going to stay as Edinburgh started booking up for the start of the first open summer since the pandemic. We were getting used to long days….
Top 3 Tips for Pre-Production!
Scheduling - Start as early as you can, and get your schedule drafted first. We’d worked on some big budget per minute productions and knew we were capable, but there are some different processes required for feature film making and everything is amplified over the course of a multi-week shoot. Your 1st AD will be able to help get that first schedule drafted, and from there you can get a holistic view on everything else.
Casting - A shifting production schedule makes things very difficult when negotiating with agents, as you’re constantly having to cancel and re-book to accommodate schedule shifts, paying fees as you go. If you can get your schedule as close to locked as possible, it will save you time and money when dealing with actors agents.
Locations - Consider everything that sits off camera. It’s easy to rock up to a place and be blown away by how good it’s going to look in the frame, but you need to consider parking, toilets, power, distance from unit base to set, hair & make up and changing facilities, where you’re going to feed everyone. Even the smallest location could require most of your crew to be on site, and you have to consider their needs and how they’re going to interact with the space.