It's 1am. There is a thin film of dried coffee on the bottom of your mug. If you tilt the mug way back you might get a drop or two, but there is no need. You have just uploaded your edit to the client review website (if you don't have one, it would be a good investment - simple ftp access if all you need). You took the client's directions (make us a video, not exactly sure what we want, you're the experts) and put your heart into it. You shot the interviews and b-roll with the people and locations provided to you. You were told what locations you did not have access to. A script draft was not returned to you by your direct contact, and the shoot had to happen to hit the deadlines. You owned the project. You feel it is some of your best work, working with what you had available, that is. You view the video one more time before bed and you smile. As you drift off to sleep, either in bed, on the production office sofa or in your car on the side of the road, you smile. tick...tock...tick...tock...time passes snore....snore....(if you are in your own bed, this is your spouse or your dog snoring. If you are in your car on the side of the road, you're in trouble!) 3am - you wake with a start. Your mind is racing: What if the client hates it...did I pick the right music...was I too close to the deadline? Nothing you can do now, the client won't be checking e-mail until morning. Back to sleep. tick...tock..tick..tock The sun's warm rays wake you, not to mention the distant cackle of a rooster (ah, life in the country). You get a fresh cup of coffee, feed the cat and get your morning paper. No messages on the blackberry, which means your client does not check e-mail first thing in the morning. You get to the office, no messages. You send an e-mail to make sure the client got your earlier message. No reply. Days pass - normally your client got back to you by e-mail, and said he preferred it over the phone. Although it didn't exactly work with the script approval, did it? You send another e-mail. THis time, you get a reply: "On vacation. Will watch next week. Bob" Great, glad you hit their deadline. Oh bother, on to other projects until Bob gets back to you. Another week passes. You have a voice mail: Mike, this is Bob. We showed the video to our executive board. We need to talk. Call me as soon as you get this message. Yikes. You dial the phone. Ring..ring.. Bob: Hello? You: Hey Bob. Bob: Oh hey Mike. Glad you called. Listen we showed the video to everyone, there are a bunch of changes, and we need to turn this around this week, as we have the shareholder's meeting next week. You should have sent it to Joe Friday while I was away. He ripped me a new one when I got back from vacation. You: I see. Bob: Anyway, let me e-mail you the list of changes. ... Ok, do you have it? You: Not yet. Bob: How about now? You: Nothing. Bob: Hmm, let me send it again. You: Hmm, still nothing. Bob: Weird. Let's see. Hmm, ok you should have it by now. You: Nothing yet. Nothing in the trash. I usually get your e-mails. Bob: How about now? You: Ok, I got it. (Actually you got about 10 of the same message.) Bob: What do you think? You: Let's see...mmm,hmm. Ok, you want to go over these one by one? Bob: Can't you just run with it? You: Well, I want to make sure we're on the same page, and if there is any input from you I need. Bob: Oh ok You: Ok, let's see: Comments from Joe - that's the boss right? Why was I not shown a script? Well, I guess we should have shown him a script. Bob: You should have sent him the script. You: Mmm, hmm. Bob: For future reference. You: Right. Ok next. Need to show some video from the factory. Why is there nothing from here? We didn't shoot in the factory. I was told by Joe's assistant that we were not allowed on the factory floor. Bob: @#$%^&* You: You think we could get in there tomorrow or the next day? We can provide the operations manager with our specific shot list if that will help. We can probably get in and out in a couple hours. Bob: Let me see what I can do. You: Great. Ok next, we have some comments about specific interview clips - all easy enough to change. Here is a question asking why we don't have any interviews with the two biggest clients. Bob? Bob: I didn't think of that. Let me reach out to a few people and get back to you. You'd have to fly out to Phoenix..? You: I can hire a local crew and listen in over the phone - if you can line something up I'll get a crew on standby. Bob: You have a crew in Phoenix? You: They are easy enough to find in most cases. Bob: Wow, I didn't know that. The conversation continues. You get feedback from Bob, make some decisions and get Bob's help in setting up the missing interviews and shoots. Bob of course make no mention of his part in this missing pieces, but you decide to focus on getting the job done. They hired you for your expertise. Part of that expertise is being a good producer, and massaging the client's responsibilities to help the project. You actually manage to shoot the missing materials using your won and outside resources, and you cut the next version of the video. This time the CEO views it and is pretty happy. A few music changes perhaps and it is ready for the big event. Of course you don't get a lot of praise, but you are satisfied that you did the job, even if it felt like pulling teeth some of the time. Note to self for future projects, keep the following things in mind: 1 -Ask about things you might have missed, for example clients, executives or locations nobody mentioned in the planning meetings. 2 - Try to get your script approved, even if the primary contact blows this off. Ask a secretary or other assistant or marketing person to have a look at it, and just assume your primary contact forgot to get back to you. In fact, make friends with the admin assistant early on, so you can set a precedent for copying them on important messages. It stands to reason that project managers or other personnel you are dealing with have a lot on their plates besides your project. We all have full plates. Give people the benefit of the doubt, and in all but the most dire circumstances, don't call them on it during a project. 3 - Find out who should be reviewing the video before the deadline. Don't assume it will be passed along. 4 - If you can't get the client to lock down their vision for the project, give them a treatment, with or without visuals, adn at least get their feedback. 5 - Get some sleep and for goodness sake - wash your coffee mug. You're gonna need it for that next project that has you editing until 1am then waiting patiently to get feedback. Good luck. | 
