Producer Thoughts: Stewarding Your Production
Earlier this year I was blessed to attend the 2021 Christian Worldview Film Festival and Filmmakers’ Guild. As an up and coming producer in the industry one of my favorite parts of the Guild was the Producer Q&A Panel. One of the things that made this panel so great for me was that the concept of stewardship was brought up in light of a producer. This is a concept that has been on my mind in regards to being a producer for some time and to hear other producers talking about it was really cool. So I thought I’d take some time to break down some of my thoughts on the concept of stewardship and how it applies to being a film producer.
Producer Panel at the 2021 CWVFF. Photo Credit: CWVFF
When it comes to stewardship there’s a lot to learn. Many people just associate the term with giving money, especially if they go to a church but stewardship encompasses so much more. It includes your time, talents, and all your resources, not just your money. When it comes to being a film producer being a good steward is vital to making an amazing end product. While some people are gifted and have a good understanding of this concept from day one , I highly encourage people to take time learning about this concept in the realm of film by working on other people’s film sets.
Shooting the student film at the Motion University On-Set Experience.
See how they run things and how the choices they make affect the set, both the good and the bad. Having that experience is one of the main things I attribute for how well I’ve been able to run my sets because I’ve been on the other side and under the impact my choices will have.
Production meeting on the set of Oh Aching Soul.
As a Christian, the aspect of stewardship in the film industry takes on a new meaning for me. Ultimately I’m accountable to God for everything I do on my projects . Whether it’s the next blockbuster film or a promo for a local charity event. Understanding that makes you look at the choices you make in a new way, because its not just your investors, or client or crew that you're accountable to. But like anything there are two sides to this coin. I’ve seen filmmakers get such a grand vision for their project that in trying to be a good steward to God, the story and vision become all that matters and they forget about the other areas of the production they’re called to be a good steward in. At times this has led to them making hasty decisions and poor business choices that hurt the overall budget and quality of the film while running their crew into the ground with long hours. So when producing our films we must be careful to be a good steward of all that God has given us, which includes things like the budget, cast/crew, locations etc., not just the story.
That being said, the other aspect of being a good steward is taking care of the earthly resources around you, including taking care of your crew physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. They’re all giving of their time to come and bring your project to life so show them that they’re more important than any project. It means making smart business decisions on how you work the budget, who you have business dealings with and in getting advice, not just making the decisions on your own. It even includes being a good steward of the locations, props, wardrobe, etc. that people might be donating to your project. The last thing they want is for you to return the car you borrowed wrecked or come home to find a hole in the wall or melted carpet. And yes, I realize that accidents do happen but, were you creating an environment prone to accidents or not is the question. There’s a lot more I’m sure you could get into when it comes to stewardship and film but these are just a few of the thoughts that have been standing out to me recently.