Pre-production meetings are a must if saving time and money are important to you. A meeting before the shoot allows all the people involved in the project to get on the same page. It is critical for insuring that all parties understand the end use and vision for the project. Here possible pitfalls can be avoided goals can be attained questions and concerns can be answered in advance. Pre production meeting can be done in person or over a conference call. If meeting in person try to bring samples of the food so everyone can see the true size, color and shape in doing a conference call make sure all participant have the same copies of visual so you are all looking a the same materials and taking about the same issues In my experience this can save thousands of dollars in loss productivity and wasted time because most of the issues can be worked out in advance rather then running to the store for more product, new props backgrounds or other sundry items.
How long is the average production meeting?
The pre production meeting length will vary with each project. It can depend on how complicated the shoot it, if there are special effects to be considered, very involved recipes or even the amount of people how have a part in the project. Typically they run 30 minutes to 1.5 hours the more in depth the shoot the longer the production meeting. Again, planning ahead of time can save us all time and money; I believe it’s imperative to your success!
