Managing Crew: Hire Slow and Fire Fast

How do you as a producer or head of a department handle difficult crew?

Your crew is the machine behind the vision of your commercial or film, and nothing will more predictably cause problems on your set than an inexperienced or difficult crew. Safe sets, personal and creative respect, fair compensation, and respecting your crew’s time, are all important, but there is one aspect of crew management that is often overlooked or ignored…difficult crewmembers.

To begin, we must understand that a team is not as good as its best individual but only as good as its worst individual. A bad apple on set will spoil the bunch by sinking the morale of the rest of the department which will in turn slow down production and/or make for a toxic work environment that can spill into the production at large. We’re not saving lives when we shoot, and we all got into this business because we enjoy the magic of it, so a set should reflect that.

Sure, everyone will have to work hard, and often the days are grueling, but adding a toxic set on top of these things isn’t good for anyone, much less the final product you hope to achieve. As a producer, if you allow your set to become or remain toxic you’ll get a reputation for it and it will be harder to find good crew on subsequent shoots.

The best advice for producers or department heads is to avoid the situation early by not hiring difficult or toxic crewmembers in the first place…but how to do that? Potential crewmembers are often wary of giving an honest opinion about a fellow crewmember, even if that fellow crewmember is a pain in the ass. So, it might take you a little more time and a bit of research by asking in confidence the honest opinions of crewmembers you have good relationships with and reading between the lines when someone hesitates if you ask about a certain individual. Don’t ignore your gut, even if there is a bit of doubt MOVE ON. You will find someone else, even if you have to travel them in.

As a producer, this also goes for hiring above the line. The director will set the tone of the set; choose carefully and slowly. Make sure you’re putting a lot of weight on the attitude and personal reputation of the individual, not just the latest and greatest spot they directed… because you will be stuck with them, the crew will suffer, and you will be the one with the headache.

This is HIRE SLOW.

So what do you do if production is already underway and you identify a crew member that’s truly causing problems? FIRE THEM FAST. Cut out the cancer, don’t hesitate, not even if it’s the middle of the day. Shoots are too short and the days too long to give chances for people to dramatically improve their behavior, they probably won’t change and the rest of the department or crew probably already dislike them and that’s also unlikely to change. The crew doesn’t want to see that person walk on set the next day, and they shouldn’t have to. Understand that firing a bad crewmember will IMMEDIATELY boost the morale of the rest of the crew. Things will generally move more smoothly, attitudes will improve and the crew will be more likely to go the extra mile for you. It will also be a reminder to everyone of what is and what is not acceptable behavior on your sets.

This is not to say that someone might not have a bad day. You must use your gut and ask for real opinions from the other crew to determine if someone is having a bad day or if this is just who this crew member is. If you determine that it’s just a bad day then by all means have a discussion with them ASAP and let them know they need to shape up immediately.

A number of years ago I was shooting a film where the director asked that I put his nephew on the camera team. After several days it became clear that he was not a good fit and only caused problems for the ACs. I knew he had to go and I tell the director, who understood. It was going to take another day or two to bring someone in to replace him so instead of just keeping him on until his replacement could arrive, I asked the ACs if they would rather keep him on or if they would rather work a man down. They both immediately said they would rather work a man down. This wasn’t expected but they were so happy to see him out of the way of the camera team that they had no problem picking up the slack. I would have never known if I hadn’t asked.  

This is a FIRE FAST.

To encourage a comfortable, friendly, and productive set one additional point should be made. As a producer or department head, you should be PROACTIVE and encourage your crew to voice all difficulties to you including difficult crew members. This advice stands even if the difficult person is the director or another producer. We all know how fast we must move when the shoot day starts but it’s worth the time to state to the crew the type of attitude you expect on set and it’s easy enough to do during the morning safety meeting.

Life is too short and the days are too long to endure difficult people on set, so ….HIRE SLOW AND FIRE FAST.

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