Founded in Education: Get on Set Orientation

There are many things that set Local Cinema Studios apart from other production companies. One differentiator is that a primary measure of success is professional development—industry professionals able to grow their functional and leadership skills—and intern success—students and recent graduates learning filmmaking skills and being placed on future film projects. To accomplish this, we bring industry professionals and interns together a week before filming begins for an orientation to learn filmmaking skills and set expectations on how a ~40-person team can collaborate on a film set. 

The goals of orientation are simple:

• To build trust, connection, and team bonding among the crew

• To establish (positive and safe) ways of working on set

• To educate students on their department

• To provide leadership growth for professionals

"The Get on Set initiative is about the process as much as it is about the final product. Both elements create impactful experiences for the entire crew. The foundation is a week-long orientation with workshops and hands-on learning in a low pressure environment before filming begins." 

- Olivia Waldrop, Local Cinema Studios Educator Coordinator

Build connection among the crew

A core value of Local Cinema Studios is community. During orientation, the crew—industry professionals and interns—develops trust and connection with their peers. The team will be working long, hard hours together throughout filming and this is special time set aside to get to know each other and build rapport before entering a more stressful environment. 

As a result, the team works better as an ensemble during filming—and has fun doing it! Even when people are tired and hot, they are laughing and enjoying getting to joke around with new friends. Having already built a connection during orientation, everyone is able to assume the best of each other's actions and support each other on set. 

This camaraderie building kicks off the first night of orientation, when we have a social to let everyone shake out the nerves and have fun. This year it was a tie dye and beach volleyball pizza party. Anxieties fall away as people are present in the activity and getting to know each other, which helps when you’re elbow deep in purple dye and a rubber banded shirt in front of you. 

Just a couple of days into orientation the crew begins hanging out organically, and by the end they have built lasting friendships. Often the team we assemble works with each other on future projects. This is when we high five ourselves for collecting such awesome people and putting them in one place together. It is a joy to watch Local Cinema Studios projects be a launchpad for young artists and seasoned professionals to create their own projects and grow together.

Establish ways of working on set

Through the camaraderie and workshops, orientation establishes how the team will work together on set. On the practical side, this looks like the production team walking through ‘setiquette.’ This is how you should behave on set—such as being quiet when the camera is rolling, following the chain of command, and leaving no trace at each location. Additionally, common set terms to know.

Department heads introduce themselves and share the responsibilities of their teams so that crew members can learn and respect what each team does on set. It paints the larger picture of how we collaborate, and provide space for each team to succeed. Producers talk about safety on set—being aware of your surroundings (points coming through!), eating well, staying hydrated, and getting sleep. 

Film sets are unpredictable and constantly evolving. This information helps crew members understand how to adapt to each day. However, it takes more than practical knowledge to stay (physically and emotionally) healthy, which is why we also create programming that centers around emotional wellbeing and communication. 

The intimacy coordinator leads an interactive workshop on how to have open communication with your team members and set personal boundaries that allow you to feel safe and heard. We have sessions on mindfulness and optional yoga sessions. This year Daniel Otero Estevez, a certified breathwork instructor and also the 1st AD, led a breathwork session to teach everyone to come back to their body and breathe in moments of stress. 

These sessions are beneficial to the students, some who have never set foot on set, and professionals often say they learn something new too that they can carry forward in their careers.

In an industry that is known for people being treated poorly, we pride our sets for being kind places that build people up and develop community. We hire for people as much as skills and emphasize these values throughout orientation to establish ways of working before the work on set begins.

Sample orientation schedule

Educate students on their department

Orientation gives departments (think: camera, sound, production, wardrobe, etc) time to bond as a team and talk over their plan for production. Industry professionals teach interns how to use equipment and work as a team on set. This allows students time to learn in a low pressure environment, and to ask questions on the why and how behind their team responsibilities. 

Interns often walk into orientation with jitters. This is a growth project for them where they are placed in a new role and on a larger scale project than they have experienced. This is intentional—we want everyone on set to grow. And we create orientation to support the process, a way for the team to use training wheels before riding a bike. 

“My biggest takeaway from orientation week was the onset crew is definitely a family and you should embrace that family if you want to have the most enjoyable time on set. It’s all an ensemble. All these pieces come together, and I can’t wait to see them come together. Seeing the different departments interact and expressing how much they need each other is exiting because it shows a collaborative and cooperative spirit all around.” - Jaire Aton, Boom Op on The Grand Strand

Provide leadership growth for professionals

Leadership is crucial for a film set. Culture is established from the top down and in this fast paced environment, leaders need to be confident, effective communicators, strong delegators, and give themselves and the team grace. The team we assemble for projects is composed of skilled professionals who are compassionate leaders. Orientation provides the opportunity to create the culture we need to have a successful project and safe set, while providing professionals support in being strong leaders.

“The orientation process that we were able to experience was a fabulous way to start a film production! Instead of the typical, immediate rush into production work, orientation week allowed everyone the opportunity to learn not only each other’s names, but also everyone’s roles on set, which I felt created a very cohesive production team right from the very first day of working on set.  It was also great for everyone to get refreshers on things like walkie etiquette, etc.  Additionally, being able to help students learn all the ins and outs, protocols, processes and rules of a professional film set, along with the additional instructions of how to work calmly yet quickly, reducing both errors and stress on set was absolutely priceless!” - Beth Felice, Production Designer on The Grand Strand.

While I like to think of orientation as a summer camp—working together on a giant art project, spending evenings sitting outside in the cool South Carolina breeze, and sharing laughter over lunches together—it is also an intentional experience curated with science and experience of what will best allow the team to be happy and successful. 

Taking this week of time allows everyone to be more efficient and accurate on set. The end result is a better experience and a higher quality film.