Project management at the movies

Abstract

Making a successful blockbuster movie is the ultimate in project management. So why don't we run our projects like leading directors run their movies?

Movies have long had a mystique that has captivated many an audience. The work and preparation that goes on behind the scenes to make a successful movie is a model we could all learn from.

This paper will explore some of the key success factors that are used to deliver successful movie projects; from outside the movie industry looking in.

Setting the Scene

Exhibit 1.0 Introduction to this paper and sample Script Page for Project Management at the Movies.

A movie fits the description of a project - Start, End, Unique Endeavour (PMI, 2004). But how often do we in the “real world”, detached from the silver screen, consider what people in the movies do to complete their projects. In the IT industry we often look to the age old construction industry for Project Management analogies and guidance. Construction has had thousands of years to consider how they go about their business. When we compare construction project management to IT or Business Process project management, construction in the main is considered more mature in how it plans and executes projects and delivers a successful outcome. But the uptake of construction methods and practices in the delivery of business projects whether IT or NON IT does not at face value appear great though proven to deliver success. Could it be that these traditional sources of comparison by which we strive to learn from and relate to are boring and lack the ability to captivate and motivate those not in that industry to use them? Let's consider building a house or pool - the audience's eyes roll - not that exercise again!

Movies however hold a mystique, capture people's attention, motivate and excite. When you can get people's attention they are better positioned to learn and apply that learning. Examining project management from the movie or feature film context can provide another valuable tool in the development and adoption of project management processes throughout organisations with the view to lifting organisational project management maturity and increasing the chances of successful delivery of projects that are deemed to be successful. Moving forward we will associate a feature film or large film production with the general term movie.

This paper seeks to provide an opportunity to explore practices and processes utilised by movies, those that lead them and those that participate in them by observing and commenting on what makes them successful in meeting their goals. The research into this topic is from a Business and IT Project Management perspective in the main and not Construction. The aim is to provide another paradigm by which to associate with. A paradigm that has a strong association with a vision, driving that vision, communicating it through a structured framework; adjusting it and making it reality. Project Management at the Movies has a people focus which is one of the most difficult aspects of managing any project (Standish Group, 1995). Let's see what we can learn and more importantly take away and apply.

Movie Directors as Project Managers - are they the Project Manager?

When we think of movie directors, we think of the person running the show. They often get top billing along with the star actor and can be the difference between success and failure.

Who you have leading and directing and who you have delivering the work is a critical success factor for a project.

Is the Movie Director the best person to describe as the project manager for a movie?

In researching this topic I came to the view that the Director has a strong visionary role, heads creativity, leads and directs, uses many project management processes, tools and techniques but would best be described when working on a movie as taking on the role of a “Solution Architect” (Exhibit 2.0).

I would best equate the Production Manager as the person filling the role of the “Project Manager” and the Producer as filling the role of the “Project Director, Executive or Senior Organisational Manager”.

These three roles, Director, Producer and Production Manager set the foundation for building a movie project and form the initial team or “crew”. It does not mean that there will not be examples of one person filling all three roles. However that brings risk. In movies that are the result of major productions we observe that the risk is mitigated by clearly separating the roles, making sure they are resourced and having good communication processes in place to deal with the number of people involved.

George Lucus, Director of Star Wars and its pre and sequels indicated in a Q and A session with staff and students at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) in November 1998 “…That when hiring a crew that compatibility is the key. He looks for a crew that can not only do the job, but that are able to understand each others ideas, craft and responsibilities, convey information without dispute, often across great distances.”(Strain, 1998).

Choosing the right people for the Job that can effectively communicate is one of the key measures of success. In Business and IT projects we often “talk it” but settle for less that what we believe to be needed.

When we consider the A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) processes they are not limited to use by the person assigned the role of the project manager, but valuable and scalable for use by other key project roles as outlined above.

The Person entrusted to deliver the movie, taking the planning and making it a physical reality is the Production Manager. This role best maps to responsibilities of a Project Manager in non movie projects and so will be a key focus and centre of learning for our paper.

The Table below, labeled Exhibit 2.0, compares descriptions of key movie project roles and responsibilities (Film Crew, 2006) with sample business project role and responsibility descriptions (EQuest Consulting, 2005).

Exhibit 2.0 comparison of definitions of key movie project roles and responsibilities with sample business project role and responsibility descriptions.

What works for large movies?

What works for large movies is based on an approach to getting the job done that people trust, provides confidence that it will produce results and that they can arrange to have the right level of funding and resource support to allow their approach to be executed. Sounds familiar? There are no real surprises. Project management is not about complexity in my view but about simplicity. It is about doing the basics well, though those basics may apply to many parts that grow into a complex endeavour.

Like any other industry there are set Project Lifecycle phases that are adopted and form the basis for making a movie. There are set methods employed and processes used. Our aim is to not try to mimic what a movie project does step by step, rather to use what they do for guidance and analogy so we can apply successful elements to our environment and make use of the same analogy to allow others to better understand what we are looking to achieve and work together to achieve it.

Movie Project Life Cycle

An indicative movie Project Life Cycle will have at least 3 Phases (Stinsen, May 2005) :

• Pre-Production (Planning the Shoot)
  • Can include a Pre-Pre-Production period
• Production (The Shoot)
• Post Production (Editing and Revising the Shoot)

The “Shoot” refers to the period when we “shoot” film, the traditional media for recording movie scenes. Thus we equate the production phase where people are actively setting up, acting out and recording movie scenes to the “Shoot”.

The period prior to the start of pre-production is an important time. We can refer to it as Pre-Pre Production and is generally encapsulated in the overall Pre-Production Phase when reported. The expected output of this period is a mandate to proceed and get key personnel on board. It equates well to the PMBOK® Guide process output of a Project Charter (PMI, 2004). One of the key people to be employed by the Producer of the Movie during this period is the Production Manager (AFC,2002), which we assigned the role of project manager earlier.

The main players on board prior to the commencement of Pre-Production are the Director, Producer and Production Manager. As earlier stated we can arguably align these roles with the Solution Architect, Project Executive and Project Manager. This Pre-Pre Production period is characterised by high level theoretical plans. Even at this early period there is a plan being formed that is derived from a detailed script whose presence provides a head start for reducing risk. Key assumptions and initial costings using subject matter expert judgement are derived from the script which is used as a powerful tool to communicate, negotiate and plan with the view of securing funds to allow the production to go ahead. The fact that there is a Script in place that provides a description of what is to be created and available for people to interact with is another important success measure.

Of the 3 Phases the Pre- Production Phase will be our focus. This Phase is characterised by Planning, Planning and more Planning and fits well with the Project Management Institute (PMI^®) mantra that is chanted by any aspiring Project Management Professional (PMP^®).

To follow the lead provided by the movie industry, lets frame a picture where we can view some of the key activities that the production manager/project manager is involved in and gain insight into what is involved in managing a movie project.

Pre-Pre-Production Activities and their relationship to the PMBOK® Guide Process and Knowledge Areas

Per (AFC, 2002, p322-325) the table in Exhibit 3.0 seeks to illustrate how many of the activities the production manager engages in relate to and make use of the process groups and knowledge areas we are familiar with in the PMBOK® Guide.

The table is not meant to be an exhaustive reference showing all possible connections; it reflects activities in the pre production phase of a Movie project and specifically the period prior to the Pre- Production Phase taking full flight. The Pre- Pre-Production Stage of the Pre-Production phase.

Exhibit 3.0 Cross reference table of Production Manager Activities during Pre-Pre-Production mapped against primary PMBOK® Process and Knowledge areas.

The core of the movie approach to project management is no different to that we see in processes used in the PMBOK® Guide and uses the same knowledge areas we recognise though it may not be described by those “in the Biz” using the same language. Both have the main focus on planning, with processes utilised per the PMBOK® Guide to facilitate initiation, planning, executing, controlling and closing, integrated to achieve a successful result.

The structures in Exhibit 4.0 show various Stages of the Pre Production phase of a Movie project lifecycle. It is depicted here to provide an appreciation for the level and areas of activity required to manage a pre production phase of a movie. It has been constructed in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) format (PMI, 2004, p379), to illustrate the power of visual techniques, like a graphical WBS, in quickly grasping the big picture aspect of what is required on a single page. The Visual format allows individuals to focus on the area they are most interested in whilst considering the overall production. This is a very powerful planning technique.

Exhibit 4.0 - Various Stages of the Pre-Production phase of a Movie project lifecycle based on section headings found in AFC,2002, p322-346.

Markers for Success

Listed below are some of the key areas that I have identified that have a strong focus in Movie projects and are markers for success.

• Clear understanding of the vision - it's a movie
• A Story
• A detailed Script - which can act as a pseudo Work Breakdown Structure (Written WBS)
• Passion and Buy-in for the project
• Clear roles and responsibilities
• A story board - acting as visual guide of what is expected to be created (Visual WBS)
• Focus on the Financials
• Cross Plotting (Resource allocation and utilisation)
• Detailed Scheduling - Role of the 1st Assistant Director (AD) - a powerful and dedicated resource and dedicated scheduler
• Change Management (what is the impact and flow on effect)
• Practical Risk Management -related back to the scope of the Movie

We will look to explore some of these in more detail and provide points for contemplation and learning. By no means are these the only areas that would need to be covered to allow success. But we will limit our scope to these to illustrate that we can look to movie projects for guidance and analogy, taking a reasonable bite and not trying to eat too much in one go.

Note: That the list above has a central theme of “People”. We will explore the following in more detail:

• A Story
• Clear understanding of the vision - it's a movie
• A detailed Script - which can act as a pseudo Work Breakdown Structure (Written WBS)

“Why” a Story?

“Because” people remember them and have had experience in interpreting them since a young age. Story telling has been engrained in many cultures for centuries. We like stories, they are one of the most basic but powerful communication vehicles that we can use to sustain our message and meet our goals, especially when dealing with large numbers of people.

“Why” a Clear understanding of the vision?

“Because” to be engaged and motivated people seek to understand the vision so they can make sense of what they are contributing to and so feel that their endeavours are worth something to them. The vision is based on the leaders’ interpretation of the goal and we need to consciously and subconsciously decide if we will follow and how we can best do that. Whilst working in Japan a fellow IBMer made the comment to me. We were examining solutions to overcome a political barrier to a major section of our project. “They believe it up here” (pointing to his head), “but they do not believe it here” (pointing to his heart). Knowledge with commitment is a model for success.

“Why” a detailed script?

“Because” without breaking the story down into smaller pieces that we can structure and derive what we and others need to do, by when and at what cost, we can't see the forest for the trees and we roam in the wilderness lost. Note that you need a story to break down. We don't start with individual pieces acted out in a random fashion. Well successful project don't.

The Why - Because mantra

The “Why”- “Because” pairing is ingrained in our psyche from the time we learned to walk and talk.
Try a short experiment. Ask a 2 year old to do something.

Without this Question and Answer section covered throughout the life of a project we as people are not comfortable and so do not act in the most effective way towards a common goal.

People are central to the success of a project and measures that assist people to work together in a focused way are most valuable to us when managing a project.

Clear understanding of the vision - it's a movie

As with the story, understanding the vision is a key success measure in any project. The fact that the central premise of movie projects is a movie means that it is an easier sell to get people to understand what you are trying to achieve and get them on board.

Project managers, Executives and leaders of all shapes and sizes often struggle to convey and maintain a consistent vision of what the project is about which outlines where it is at present and where it is heading. To be engaged and motivated people seek to understand the vision so they can make sense of what they are contributing to and so feel that their endeavours are worth something to them. Regular communication of a vision, allows participants to re-evaluate their commitment, re-enforce it or remove it. Providing a controlled vehicle for this communication will allow the correct messages to be sent and received as intended allowing the participant to make a choice.

There is a communications exercise that simulates a project, assigning roles and responsibilities to the participants whilst hindering the ability to communicate through the various communication paths by restricting communication via a designated path and only allowing written communication via notes to be passed through a central point. No verbal communication is allowed. The project has an achievable goal and is time limited.

In my experience observing and debriefing participants, one of the key lessons that this exercise highlights is that people working in projects regardless of the rhetoric they speak, experienced or novice in the field of projects, behave in similar ways. People seek out information that provides a context to the engagement that will allow them in the first instance to make a decision as to whether they wish to contribute. If this information is lacking or not clear, their ability or willingness to contribute to the goal is hampered. Lack of the communication of a clear vision can result in un-focused enthusiastic or disgruntled activity in some cases; apathetic inactivity in others.

A Story

You can't have a movie without a story and similarly if you can't tell the story of what your project is about in an IT or Business project you are already setting yourself up for failure.

Understanding the story and being able to tell it to a varied audience will be one of the over riding success measures you can apply. The better you can tell it, the more engaged your audience and the more likely your stakeholders are to remember your message, and act in your interests.

The story is an integral part in people accepting the “Pitch” - The pitch can be described as the movie Business Case or Proposal that outlines the movie in terms that a movie investor can understand and be in a position to assess the merits of the movie with the view of providing financial support or deciding not to proceed.

A good story, whether it is the basis for a movie, solution offering by a consultancy firm or sales pitch for a new brand of washing detergent, needs to be easily understood, address the needs or wants of its audience and make sense. If the story holds together and exhibits these characteristics then decisions can be made more readily and risks can be reduced through better understanding of the objectives and what may affect those objectives. People are trained to listen to stories from a very young age and are good at retaining information more readily when they can recognise the pattern of a story within the material they are presented. The concept of a movie project is founded on the idea of a story. The story is what allows movie projects to engage the entire cast and crew and wider stakeholders groups in a common and non complex way, ensuring everyone is on the same page. If we know the story we can foresee the ending and what needs to be done to get us there. If everyone can see the happy ending then there is a better chance of one becoming reality.

“…whatever the production, the medium, and the tools are not the issue, it is the story that counts.” (Strain, 1998)

Annabelle Sheehan - Head of Film and Television AFTRS wrote:

“…Film and television productions that are successful have been so because every crew member took on the story as their ruler, their map, for every creative decision. (2003)”

A detailed Script - which can act as a pseudo Work Breakdown Structure (Written WBS)

An approach to solving many large problems is to break them down into smaller parts. This approach is used in many areas of project management. I most associate it with the term decomposition (PMI, 2004, p358) and very evident when creating work break down structures (WBS) to identify and organise the project deliverables to define the total scope of a project (PMI, 2004, p379). As with our PMBOK® Guide view of the WBS as the corner stone to any project the Script plays a similar role in movie projects.

A WBS can be used to lead to decisions regarding, resources both human and equipment and their location. Identify risks and leads to the create of workable and logical schedule and validates then sets a realistic budge to meet the agreed scope it defines.

So does a Script lead to decisions involving Cast and Crew, equipment, Locations, Budgets for Production and ability to set a schedule (Stinson, 2005).

The Script is the “Hub” as is the WBS when planning a project (I define hub as the central point by which other processes contribute to and draw upon most often).

My view has been that the WBS can be used for so many different things that it is the equivalent of a Swiss army knife and the one tool you would want along if on a deserted project island. If you can define and manage the scope of what you are delivering then you have a usable roadmap as to how to go about putting what is needed in place to deliver it. We use a WBS to represent that map. Likewise a script defines and provides the map of what is in scope. If it's in the script it somehow has to be in scope, if it's not in the script then it is not in scope.

I wish to note that the WBS and a Script are not substitutes for one another. You can have a script and also create a dedicated WBS that includes other movie deliverables that are not directly evident in the script. These are planning tools; you are free to use them in many different ways for the best benefit of your project. As with a WBS, a script does not have to be so detailed that every possible deliverable is listed and catalogued. They are tools in their respective areas of use that can assist us to define what it is we are delivering and how it fits together. I would also note that though we can more than likely equate the Script to a Project Scope Statement (PMI, 2004, p370) as they share similar characteristics. I would for the benefits we gain by analogy equate it more to the WBS for its work package/planning item like structure (A scene being equated to a WBS Work package and or WBS planning item, depending on the level of detail).

A Script can drive the creation of a WBS; it can be an input to the Create WBS process and an output of Scope Definition (PMI, 2004, p49) which will lead to eventual development of a schedule. In movies the Script acts a pseudo WBS that helps to identify activities in order to deliver the footage for a scene, guide the sequencing of those activities based on the dependencies identified relating to the scene, estimating the resources needed to carry out the required activities and depending on the availability of the resources estimating the duration required to carry out filming of the scene. These processes outlined align with those we recognise in the PMBOK® Guide, (PMI, 2004, p70).

The power of the script lies in the fact that it is already a story. It lays out scene by scene what is needed to complete the story and allows the reader to extract the information they need to do their part.

This is how I would like Project Managers to view the use of a WBS. The WBS should always tell the story of what is being created, it can be scaled and set at different levels depending on the phase of the project but must maintain its cohesive story.

Passion and Buy-in for the project

A team that is committed to a project and passionate about finishing what they started can overcome most barriers. A characteristic of most movie projects is that “the show must go on” (unknown author) and this is as much a cultural driver as it is an industry norm. It is this passion and commitment that is a strong measure of success.

There are different motivational driver for different people. The PMBOK® Guide refers to Motivation as “Energizing people to achieve high levels of performance and to overcome barriers to change” (PMI, 2004,, p15). Motivation theories such as Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's Hygiene theory and McGregor's X,Y theory (Billows &Thomas, 2002, p277-279) all play a part in motivating people to obtain that buy-in and fire up that passion.

In movies we are reminded of the passion that the Director exhibits when selecting who they want for “their” picture! The sense of ownership and dedication is vital to success. This is an attribute we can also associate with a successful project manager. A thinking empowered individual that sets their eyes on the goal and makes it happen.

Clear Roles and responsibilities

The organisational hierarchy on a movie is quite defined. The observation is that people don't argue about what roles are needed. What is required of a person once assigned a role is understood by a wide range of people on the project. The lines of authority are well communicated and accepted in the main. This does not mean that various roles will not be carried out by the same person. Movie project are good at defining the roles and pushing for the right levels of resourcing to carry out the required roles.

A story board - acting as visual guide of what is expected to be created (Visual WBS)

People are great at observing patterns and deciding what should or should not be there. Too often many problems are the result of omission, whether physical in the sense something was not created or more often that someone was not consulted! The more we can visualise a plan the better we are at interacting with and communicating the plan and what needs to be done to deliver it.

Story boarding is a technique used in movies and now adopted in many other industries. It typically utilises visual images of a scene and lays out events as the creator wishes them to be “seen”.

Story boards like any tool that is used to create a detailed result take time and money to create. Depending on the scale and scope of your project they can be a great risk mitigation as well as planning and communication tool to have up your sleeve. Worth consideration.

Please see the photograph in Exhibit 5.0 below (Guldbrandsson, 1992) to get a better understanding of what a story board looks like to “see” how the film director wishes to portray and eventually create the subject images with real actors and a physical setting. “A picture tells a thousand words” (unknown author).

Exhibit 5: Storyboards for the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever, as seen at a convention in 1992. Photograph by Lennart Guldbrandsson.

Focus on the Financials

• Right from the Pitch - management of the available funds are critical to success
• Expectations are managed, scope is controlled to fit the available funds
• Contingency is a corner stone driven by experienced planners and assessment of the script and environments
• Comparison to the agreed budget is a key decision making diver.
• Tools and templates to capture track and control costs are the norm
• A Production Accountant is a must!

Cross Plotting (Resource allocation and utilisation)

• A term found in movie industry to describe a technique for resource availability and allocation.
• Use is critical; results are used on a daily basis to mitigate risk of not having the right people available when needed to shoot the scene.
• Allows you to see the total number of days each resource is needed at a single glance, when and where and to determine if days allocated are accounted for in the budget
• Identifies problems with availability of people
• Confirms if all people required are identified
• Makes use of colour coding to identify key information quickly

Detailed Scheduling - Role of the 1^st Assistant Director (AD) - a powerful and dedicated resource and dedicated scheduler

• Movie projects rely heavily on having a sound scheduling process that is real and models what is to happen, does happen and identifies what the impact is when things don't happen as planned.
• Due to the reliance on specialist resources (lead and central actors that cannot easily be substituted), the implications of availability and utilisation to the scope (what can be filmed), schedule (when) and for how long (budget) can be great. Thus the allocation of a dedicated and skilled resource is a key success measure.
• The 1st AD is the dedicated resource that works under the Production Manager and Director and is in charge of overseeing the day to day scheduling of people, equipment or locations with the aim of ensuring the movie comes “in on time” - The Production Manager however owns the schedule.
• Need a good scheduler for your project, look for a 1^st AD. - Don't leave home without one.

Change Management (what is the impact and flow on effect)

• Changes are generally driven by the changes to the script.
• By having the script as the major driver and control point, this will drive assessment of what is needed to deliver what is outlined in the script.
• Other changes that are directly and seemingly indirectly affecting the script such as resources (people or equipment) required to deliver items described in the script are identified and noted and written up by the production assistant then assessed and re-modelled in the schedule by the 1^st AD and Production Manager and communicated to the production team and key stakeholders.

Practical Risk Management -related back to the scope of the Movie

• This takes on many forms:
  • The structure of the production
    • Use of Phases that are geared towards what actual happens
      • Pre- Production devoted to Planning!
        • securing financing and a detailed script in place before move to production.
      • Production fully resourced with experienced and proven resources and attention to managing the plan which is derived from what is needed to deliver what is described in the script
      • Post production, verification and adherence to the plan (script) and comparison to the Story as interpreted by the assigned role of the Director.
  • Daily running of the production
    • Simply design forms and templates with dedicated resources to create them and structured reviews by the leadership team and senior stakeholders.
    • Assessment of changes and status of the production and re allocation of resources
  • Acceptance of the process and understanding of what needs to be done by the cast and crew to deliver the finished movie.
  • Adherence to what is in the script as the driving force for what happens and decision that are made
  • The professional outsourcing of production management to production houses with proven track records and experienced production managers

It's a Wrap

Project Management at the Movies examined what movies do to run their projects, considering some key markers that we can look for to signal a good chance of successful delivery of the movie. However like movies, having the film wrapped up and in the can, distributed and in the theatre does not mean it will be accepted and the investors will get the return on investment. Its can be a difficult world out there.

Similarly when we manage our projects we should keep in mind that just running the project and ticking all the boxes, “doing the right thing; does not always bring success. It is a necessary means to an end, an end that needs to realise a benefit to the stakeholders involved, right throughout the story and after the book is closed.

I encourage you to research and compare practices used in the areas described as Markers for Success and throughout Movie productions with the view of identifying elements that can assist you in your application of project management.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Lennart Guldbrandsson, the author of the work listed in Exhibit 5, who has released it into the public domain. (Per release on source site) Lennart Guldbrandsson (1992), image Retrieved 28 December 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyboards#Benefits