The Producer's Checklist.

The top five most commonly missed items, ranked by how often they cause problems: (1) Music licensing — producers budget for production but forget that commercial music licensing can cost $5,000-$50,000+ per track. Always budget for music, or plan for original composition. (2) Overtime — union and professional crews are paid for every hour worked, and overtime (1.5x after 8-10 hours, 2x after 12) adds up fast. Budget realistic hours or have an overtime contingency. (3) Permits and location fees — that beautiful public park? It needs a permit. That office building lobby? Location fee. That drone shot? FAA authorization and possibly local permits. (4) Data management — footage that only exists on one drive is already lost. Minimum 3 copies: production drive, backup drive, cloud/offsite. Budget for storage. (5) Client review time — the schedule that says 'client reviews in 24 hours' never survives contact with reality. Build realistic (padded) review cycles into the post schedule from the start."

Industry standard is 10-15% contingency on the total production budget, and this should be a line item — not a 'hope we don't need it' afterthought. Where contingency typically gets spent: weather days (outdoor shoot rained out — crew still gets paid), overtime (complex scene takes longer than estimated), equipment (backup camera body when the primary fails — it happens), location (discovered on scout that the 'free' location needs $500 in cleanup/prep), talent (reshoot day needed because wardrobe continuity was off), and post-production (extra revision round, additional VFX shot, rush delivery fee). Productions that budget 0% contingency end up cutting creative scope or quality when the unexpected happens. Productions that budget 15% end up with funds left over — which can be reinvested in additional content, better music, or a more ambitious grade. The best producers budget 15% and spend 10% — delivering under budget with better creative than originally scoped."

These three roles form the production management hierarchy: (1) Producer — the project owner. Responsible for the overall project: securing the budget, hiring key creative (director, DP), managing client relationships, and ensuring the final deliverable meets the brief. They're involved from concept through delivery. (2) Line Producer — the budget executor. Responsible for creating and managing the detailed production budget, hiring crew, negotiating rates, and ensuring every dollar is spent effectively. They're primarily involved during pre-production and production. (3) Production Manager (PM) — the on-the-ground logistics lead. Responsible for day-to-day operations: equipment rentals, location logistics, crew scheduling, call sheets, permits, insurance, travel arrangements, and making sure everyone is where they need to be with what they need. On smaller productions, one person may handle multiple roles. On larger productions, each role is a full-time job — the producer focuses on creative and client, the line producer on budget, and the PM on logistics. All three report to each other constantly; none works in isolation.