Production: Meet & Greet with Cast

I organised a 'meet & greet' for all our cast to come in and get to know each other as well as us as a team and to conduct a table read of the latest script draft.  This was also a chance for the cast to air any queries they may have and to put across their thoughts of the script and their characters. 

Table reads are really important for a cast to collaborate together before a shoot. It highlights any issues and any changes that need to be made whether to schedule, script or cast. Through research, I discovered what the benefits to doing a table read were and also how to make the best use of it.  Kim Garland's "Write, Direct, Repeat: hosting a table read for your script" article lays out some good ways to get the best out of hosting your table read: 

"Work like a pro. “The best way to show gratitude is to start on time, finish on time and respect everyone’s time,” Sonora said. This can’t be stressed enough. Set a start time and an end time and stick with them."

As the Producer it was my job to ensure that we started and ended on time, along with making sure the day ran smoothly. I managed to get all of our actors in and settled, they were comfortable with each other and had plenty of refreshments on offer. We then began the table read on time and ran through it once with Director Becca reading the descriptions between the lines of dialogue.  We then spoke about it together as a group before just reading the dialogue with the actors to get a sense of how it runs for time and fluency. We then had a feedback session where the actors expressed what they liked about the script and what they thought could be improved. We finished on time and I made sure everyone was happy with the next stage for Young & Famous. 

"Recording & photography. Consider capturing a video recording of the reading so you can go back over it if you need. In addition, take still photos to document the event. Keep this simple though, if you think you’ll get caught up in videography and be too distracted to hone in on the read, have another friend record it for you."

We chose to record the read through as it helped us to remember what was said and to also see where the script felt alive with the actors and where it fell flat.  Nisserin recorded the read through whilst I took notes of what was happening and Becca lead the session.  Here is what we recorded for our table read:

"Taking feedback. I suggest taking any feedback that is offered and even encouraging it. Once the reading is done, you can run a quick feedback session, time-permitting. Be sure to listen more than you talk during the feedback and don’t be defensive – you’re not aiming to justify your script, you’re aiming to improve it."

The feedback session was really useful as it allowed us as writers to adapt our script to make it better with our cast's input. I wrote notes throughout the entire time the read through took place, noting what everyone suggested and taking on board feedback as and when it arose. The feedback suggestions we got were great for improving the script, especially the comedy elements as the group were excited about their characters and wanted to have their own mark on their personalities.  

The changes we made were minor and are listed below: 

• Bob the delivery guy to say "Hi Dean, package for Annie" rather as it highlights how he is familiar with the neighbourhood and Annie & Dean personally. 
• "Small computer if ever I saw one" as opposed to "If I ever saw one" as it flows better when speaking out loud. 
• There should be a framed photo of Betty to add to her creepiness.
• Arnold should look more and more disheveled as the episode goes on to show how Annie & Dean aren't doing a great job of looking after him.
• No one understood what "bin you off" meant so this will be changed to "get rid of you yet". 
• There was some confusion as to whether "I suppose there is a bright side to all this?" was actually as question and because the actress felt it shouldn't be read as a question but read as more of a lecture, we have removed the question element. 
• Betty's character was thought to be a lot more flirty, so by adding in little changes to the way she moves and talks to Dean characteristically makes her more flirty.
• The group had the idea to make the Selfie Annie & Dean do before seeing Betty have snapchat filters on. We liked this idea initially however felt that it took away from what the scene was about and also would have made Betty's sudden appearance less funny. 

When checking if everyone had received all emails and confirmed the dates for the filming, our actress who plays Betty had double booked our filming date with some professional work and thought it was to be filmed at the weekend. Due to this, I needed to amend the filming schedule to work around this issue. If we hadn't found this issue in the table read, she may have turned up on the wrong day without realising and it may have been to late to change the schedule around for the other actors.

At the table read we each brought in our copies of our pre-production book of Young & Famous to show our cast. They were impressed with it as it gave them a greater understanding of everything to do with the production.  It also allowed them to see how professionally we are approaching this project and got the cast more excited for it. They asked me to email them the PDF version of the book to allow them to read through it more thoroughly and to get to grips more with exactly what we hope the project to look like and what they should be wearing. 

Overall, I am pleased with how we handled our first table read of our script and believe it has helped us to improve on the script and collaborate well as a cast and crew.