Building Better Indie Film Sets: 5 Mistakes That Can Make or Break Your Production

Posted on: Nov 20, 2025

Photo Credit: iStockphotos: Dmitro2009

By Jessica Mathis

Every indie filmmaker dreams of the same thing: seeing their work on the big screen. Creative fulfillment is the main focus for many, but the secret to a successful experience for your audience, and less headaches for yourself, is creating a safe and fulfilling experience for your team.

After years of working on independent sets, I’ve noticed the same five issues pop up again and again. The good news? If you tackle these from the start with planning, you’ll elevate your production to a professional level.

Key Insights

Many indie productions falter not from lack of creativity, but from overlooking logistics—especially safety, scheduling, and crew welfare.
Proper safety planning, realistic timelines, and adequate food and water are the foundation of a professional and legally sound set.
Strong leadership and thoughtful hiring prevent burnout, boost morale, and ensure your creative vision stays intact from first shot to final wrap.

Safety is Number One

It seems like it might be the most obvious, but it’s often the most ignored. Cast and crew safety should be at the forefront of every filmmaker’s mind.

Safety is often ignored when executing stunts of all types, ranging from simple ones like climbing or driving, to home-made pyrotechnics or wading and swimming, Many filmmakers — especially first-timers — assume they can’t afford a safety coordinator, but the real cost is an injury, lawsuit or even someone’s life. I’ve seen a whole production halt due to a cast and crew strike when we showed up to a quarry, and actors or crew were meant to be in canoes or in the water without any type of lifeguard or safety person on set.

Safety plans should be in place for even the simplest of stunts, such as standing on a chair or ladder. You can’t assume your talent knows how to do anything, especially when fire, vehicles or water are involved. Even if they’ve done it before, they may not know how to do it to protect the rest of the team around them.

Anything requiring people to go into unfinished locations, drive vehicles, enter water, wield weapons or to handle fire definitely needs a plan in place, and it should be clear who has the lead on safety.

Fire extinguishers, life jackets and other safety tools should be on hand. Talent should be educated and questioned about their comfort. The entire crew should be briefed before each scene with an exact plan and details in case of emergency.

Emergency Planning

You’re working with a group of humans, and life happens.

Every location should have an Emergency Action Plan (EAP): nearest hospital, evacuation routes, emergency contacts and weather contingencies. Designate who has the lead on emergency transports and handling first aid — even if it’s a Red Cross-certified production assistant. Your craft services area should have first aid-basics, masks and medicines.

The benefit of a safety supervisor can extend beyond stunts, to safe working conditions. They keep an eye on the whole production to ensure everyone is able to do their jobs safely. Many filmmakers fail to think about the safety of each individual regarding crew working while sick, having to work in the sun, extreme conditions, locations without climate control, or with faulty tools. These concerns aren’t just about safety. They cross over into liability. Keep an eye on the mental and physical health of your team. You can’t allow them to endanger themselves or each other.

Any scenes involving fire, water, stunts or vehicles, or working conditions outside the norm need their own mini safety meetings and written emergency plans. Cast and crew work better when they feel protected, not expendable.

Crafty

Underestimating food costs is a common disruptive mistake. I’ve seen sets run out of lunch for extras, delay meals for hours, or skip the second meal entirely during shoots extending past 10 hours. I’ve seen filmmakers buy a couple cases of 24 water bottles, and expect it to provide for a 25-person cast and crew for several days. Every person drinking up to 64 ounces of water a day really adds up. Hungry people become slow, irritable and unsafe. Sometimes hunger leads to mutiny.

Always plan for more than you think you’ll need, and remember you’ll need to consider dietary restrictions and allergens — everyone deserves to eat.

Logistics also matter. A frequent error I’ve seen on set is holding extras in the craft services area where they instantly devour the entire craft services stash out of boredom while they wait. Labor-intense crew members working in high temperatures need to know they’ll find water when it’s needed.

Alternatively, I’ve seen productions not consider basic needs like water or bathroom breaks for their extras.

Schedules

Showing gratitude and planning realistic schedules is a great way to ensure your crew carries you through to success.

I’ve seen production timelines completely ignore what it takes for departments like art, wardrobe and makeup to do their jobs. You can’t expect the art department to build or even dress a new set within two hours when they also have to load in to a new location.

Load out and wrap out also need to be considered. All too often, a production shoots right up to the 12-hour mark of agreed upon deal memos, and then the art department has to load out despite having the same arrival call time, leading to unbelievably long days hours beyond craft services, support or even bathrooms being available.

Schedule-building should be collaborative. Sit down with your heads of department — especially art, grip and electric, and camera — and ask:

How long do you realistically need between setups?
What’s the minimum turnaround time for location changes?
Can we cluster scenes by set or actor to reduce resets?
How many people do you need to realistically turn around within our schedule?

A good first AD will protect these conversations, but that responsibility often falls to the producer or director on indie films. Prep and wrap days should be part of the budget, because no department magically shows up on the first shoot date with everything they need. At wrap, your staff needs paid time to deal with finishing a shoot. For example, leading in to a film may take months of design and preparation, while wrapping a feature film can mean another week of work for an art department lead to sort, return, restore and account.

Hiring

Not everyone who calls themselves a “producer,” “DP,” or “art director” has the professionalism, experience or temperament your project needs. A single toxic or unreliable hire can derail an entire shoot.

Take time to vet people properly.

Ask for recent references and call them. Do online research.
Watch their reels or review past credits.
Pay attention to how they communicate in early emails — it reveals how they’ll handle pressure.
Make sure they have leadership experience when placing them as department heads.

Anyone who threatens morale, smooth workflow or safety should be addressed early and directly. Listen when others try to speak about difficulties with someone. I once tried to speak with a line producer about a prop master who couldn’t plan ahead, which left me working 22 hour days as art coordinator.

When they wouldn’t listen, I stopped saving him and the production began to suffer and fall apart while waiting on art. Sometimes letting a person go is the best decision you can make for the production as a whole.

Always remember, the reason you’re putting in all this effort is to create something that connects with people, and the team standing beside you should be your first considerations. Indie filmmaking can be grueling, but with smart planning and a happy crew, it’s one of the most rewarding creative experiences there is.

Key Takeaways

Treat safety as your first department—every stunt, location, and setup deserves clear planning and protection.
Respect time and energy: feed your crew well, schedule smartly, and collaborate with department heads to avoid exhaustion and delays.
Hire with intention and lead with empathy—a positive, well-cared-for crew will carry your indie film further than any budget ever could.

Jessica Mathis (AKA Divinity Rose) is an award winning screenwriter/performer/producer from Louisville, Kentucky. She is the CEO of She Dreams Content Development and Production, which focuses on female forward projects in comedy, docustyle and genre entertainment.

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