4-Part In-Depth Class - Over 8 Hours of Instruction!

Learn How To Run A Professional Set From A DGA First Assistant Director Who Has Worked With Ang Le, Kevin Costner, Carton Cuse, David E. Kelley, Seth MacFarlane and more!

Whoever said "time is money" must have been thinking about an Assistant Director's job as the AD Department keeps your trains running on time during physical production. Assistant Directors can make or break your project. If even one member of your AD team is missing or unqualified, it can stall your production and create setbacks you’re not prepared for that can affect your shoot and the entire production. 

Whether you’re looking to land a job as an AD, build your resume to join the DGA, or you’re a producer or director working to ensure a great production, you need to know every aspect of this crucial responsibility and every task that assistant directors have to excel in this essential role.

Thankfully, we have the one and only Korey Pollard to teach you!

Korey is one of the most revered and admired assistant directors working today. Korey has worked on films including ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, STAND BY ME, THAT THING YOU DO, WATERWORLD, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, and SPY KIDS 2, among others, and hit TV shows like DEADWOOD, MONK, GREY’S ANATOMY, SALEM, THE ORVILLE, THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE, and many more. Korey also holds a position on The First Assistant Director/Unit Production Manager Committee of The Directors Guild of America.

In this 4-part Stage 32 exclusive on-demand course, you’ll dive into all of the AD's production team positions, discussing who does what and how they all work together harmoniously for a smooth production. You’ll break down scripts, learn what to ask the director and producer to create a pre-production plan, and move into creating a calendar and production schedule so that every department is ready when the shoot begins. You’ll cover call sheets, production reports, timeline targets, and even practice breaking down scripts. This is the real nuts and bolts of production that everyone should know. 

Korey will share his first-hand experiences as an assistant director so that you know how to clearly communicate with your director and crew to maximize the potential of any shoot while also being prepared to recover from inevitable missteps. 

After these four sessions, you’ll be on your path to joining the Directors Guild by working as an assistant director. You’ll be prepared to create an achievable production plan and schedule, the tools to work with your team, and know this vital role in making any feature film or television series.

PLUS! You will be walked through key documents including:

• Call sheets
• Production reports
• Script pages
• Script breakdowns
• More!

Session 1: Your Responsibilities and Your Team

In week one, we’ll dive into all of the AD's production team positions, discussing who does what and how they all work together harmoniously for a smooth production. If you take one person out, the entire team and film may crumble, and if you do have to function without one position, it is vital to make sure their duties are still covered. From 2nd ADs and 2nd 2nd ADs to Line Producers, UPMS and Directors, we lay the foundation for a successful shoot and the following 3 classes.

• Overview of the Roles
• How to build a strong foundation
• Q&A with Korey

Session 2: Starting with the Script & Schedule

This week we will discuss reading the script and the process of unearthing the infinite list of questions and elements you and your fellow team members need to answer and supply crucial information for shaping the schedule and budget. Things like how the Movie Magic Scheduling breakdown creates cast lists and set-lists and how important timelines, construction schedules, location lists, the number of script days, and shooting days are to both the budget and schedule. We will also help you grasp the difference between a shooting schedule, one-liner (strip-board), and the various day out of days (DOOD) documents used to track components and which departments may be responsible for the elements and best answer your questions. These lists and questions allow you to engage with your team, populate your production schedule with the required elements and build a prep calendar of meetings to discuss the challenges and details coming in week 3.

• Overview of breaking down a script
• How to determine which department can best answer your questions
• Setting the tone in prep and shooting
• Q&A with Korey

Session 3: Working with the Team in Prep

In week 3, we will delve into what it means to use a concept meeting and preliminary (prelim) strip-board to facilitate working with your team in the prep process to build a prep meeting schedule. The concept meeting is basically a page turn through the script to discuss the elements and expectations with all the creative departments. After the concept meeting, the prelim strip-board serves as a grouping of hopeful days and a potential workflow that allows departmental issues to rise to the surface in subsequent meetings and be discussed, solved, or make the appropriate compromise. We will discuss working with the Producer and Director first, then communicating with the various departments in meetings. Then, as the department meetings unfold and location scouting begins, your schedule will take shape and continue to change until the shoot is complete.

• Creating a pre-production calendar after the concept meeting
• Creating the schedule
• The different department meetings and what you need to know
• How to use the tech scout and production meeting to get ahead
• Q&A with Korey

Session 4: Organizing Your Days for Production

In this final class, we will discuss the role of the ADs in creating and communicating the production plan using various documents, one-line, DOODs, shooting schedules, calls sheets, and production reports. This will include creating daily timeline targets and contingency planning with your Director, DP, and team to keep your film on schedule and track.

• Creating daily timelines and contingency plans
• Keeping the film on time and on schedule
• The call sheet
• Understanding production paperwork (call sheets, script versions, one-liners, DOOD, shooting schedules, production reports, etc.)
• Q&A with Korey

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• This class is designed for beginner and intermediate students looking to learn the fundamentals of the Assistant Director role. This is an in-depth, practical, and detailed class with significantly more content than a standard 90-minute webinar.
• This class will consist of four sessions, each roughly two hours in duration.
• Purchasing gives you access to the previously-recorded live class.
• Your instructor is no longer sending out or reviewing the assignments, however we still encourage all creatives to participate in the exercises!

Directors (Advanced, Intermediate, Beginner) looking to learn the fundamentals of running a set from prep to post-production.

Writers (Advanced, Intermediate, Beginner) looking to learn the fundamentals of running a set from prep to post-production.

Screenwriters (Advanced, Intermediate, Beginner) looking to learn the fundamentals of running a set from prep to post-production.

Actors who want to understand running a set from prep to post production.