Indie Film Pre-Production Checklist: 12 Weeks to Day One

The checklist below is organized by weeks before the first shoot day, for an independent feature of roughly 15 to 25 shoot days. If you want it as a file you can assign and tick off, download the pre-production checklist template, which has the same tasks with owner and due-date columns.

To make the timing concrete, the dates below assume day one is Monday, March 1, 2027. Twelve weeks out is Monday, December 7, 2026. Eight weeks out is January 4, four weeks out is February 1, and the final week starts February 22. Count back from your own start date the same way. If your start date can move, set it anyway and move it on purpose. Pre-production with no fixed day one tends to drift.

Nothing here is new to an experienced line producer. The value is in the order: most indie shoots that end in trouble did the right tasks in the wrong sequence, such as booking a location before the schedule said which days they needed it, or casting a lead before anyone checked the budget could pay for the weeks the schedule required.

12 or more weeks out: rights, money, and the company

Before you spend on anyone else's time, confirm you can legally make the film and pay for it.

• Script is at a draft the director and producers will shoot. Rewrites can continue, but the story and the locations should be settled.
• Chain of title is clean. If the script is based on a book, article, or life story, the option or rights agreement is signed. See chain of title for what a distributor will later ask to see.
• Copyright registered with the US Copyright Office. Screenplays are registered as performing arts works, either through the online Standard Application or on Form PA.
• WGA registration done, if you want it, for a dated record of authorship. The WGA West Registry states plainly that its registration doesn't replace registration with the Copyright Office.
• Production entity formed (usually a single-purpose LLC), with its own bank account and bookkeeping.
• Entertainment attorney engaged for investor, rights, and talent agreements.
• Top-sheet budget drafted at the size of money you can realistically raise. The film budget template is a starting point.
• Financing plan written down: equity, soft money such as incentives, grants, deferrals. If you plan to claim a production incentive, read the film office's application rules now, since some programs only accept projects that apply before principal photography starts. The incentive calculator gives a rough first estimate.

Wait until investor money has cleared into the production account before you make cast offers or pay location deposits. A verbal commitment can disappear the week you need it.

10 weeks out: the core team and the breakdown

The line producer (or UPM), 1st AD, and DP should come aboard in this window. Everything after this depends on the breakdown, and the 1st AD is the person who should own it.

• Line producer or UPM hired. On a micro-budget show one person often does both jobs.
• 1st AD hired.
• Director of photography hired.
• Production designer hired.
• Casting director hired, or a self-casting plan with dates.
• Production office set up: a shared drive with a folder structure, a production email address, and a phone number that isn't someone's personal cell.
• Full script breakdown done: every scene tagged for cast, background, props, wardrobe, makeup, vehicles, animals, stunts, special effects, and special equipment. What is a script breakdown covers the categories, and the breakdown sheet template gives you the form.
• Department heads read the script and flag anything the breakdown missed.
• Stunts, animals, minors, water, weapons, and drone work flagged for early planning, since each one brings extra people, paperwork, and insurance questions.

8 weeks out: first schedule, real budget, casting and scouting

Now the breakdown turns into a first-pass schedule, and the schedule turns into a real budget. Casting and scouting run alongside, and both feed back into the schedule.

• Preliminary shooting schedule built on a stripboard, grouped by location and cast.
• First-pass day out of days run from that schedule, to see how many work and hold days each lead needs.
• Budget rebuilt line by line from the schedule: shoot days, cast days from the DOOD, crew weeks, locations, equipment, and post.
• Union decision made for cast and crew. If you plan to work with SAG-AFTRA performers, start the signatory process early; the signatory guide walks through it.
• Payroll company chosen. For union cast or crew you'll want one that handles entertainment payroll.
• Insurance broker contacted with the script, schedule, and budget for quotes.
• Casting: breakdowns released, auditions scheduled, and availability dates collected from every actor you're seriously considering.
• Location scouting under way, with photos, contact names, and availability dates for each option. The location scouting checklist lists what to capture on a scout.

Here's a quick example of why the schedule comes before offers. If your lead appears in scenes spread across days 1 through 18 of an 18-day shoot, their deal covers the whole run. If the 1st AD can group their scenes into days 6 through 15, the DOOD shows 10 days on the show instead of 18, which changes both the offer and the budget line. Make offers after you've seen that number.

6 weeks out: offers, locations, and permits

• Offers out to principal cast, with dates taken from the schedule.
• Main locations chosen, with a backup identified for each.
• Location agreements negotiated and signed, including the hours, the rooms you can use, parking, and what happens if you run over. See location release forms.
• Film permit requirements checked with each city or county film office. Lead times and rules vary; the Los Angeles and New York City guides show the range.
• Neighborhood notification requirements checked for each location.
• Crew hired for all departments, with deal memos signed at the rates in the budget.
• Equipment quotes from rental houses for camera, lighting, grip, and sound.
• Drone work planned with a pilot who holds an FAA Remote Pilot Certificate. Under the FAA's Part 107 rules, drones under 55 pounds flown for work must be registered ($5, valid for three years), and some operations need airspace authorization.
• Animal work planned with a trainer or wrangler. If you want American Humane monitoring for the "No Animals Were Harmed" end credit, productions register with the program and get a safety representative assigned for filming days that involve animals.
• Minors: check the state's work permit and studio teacher rules for any actor under 18. Working with minors on set covers the paperwork.

4 weeks out: lock the schedule and the budget

With cast dates and locations confirmed, the schedule can finally stop moving.

• Shooting schedule locked, version dated, and sent to department heads.
• Day out of days updated from the locked schedule and sent to the line producer and casting.
• Cover sets chosen for exterior days that weather could cancel.
• Budget locked against the locked schedule, with contingency kept as its own line.
• Cast contracts signed and start paperwork collected.
• Wardrobe fittings scheduled for principal cast.
• Insurance policy bound: general liability, workers' compensation, equipment, and any cover your locations, rental houses, or distributor require. Certificates of insurance issued to each location and vendor that asks for one.
• Clearances started: brand names and logos in frame, artwork on set walls, real business names in the script, phone numbers, and any song played on camera.
• Shot lists written for the whole script, and storyboards for stunts and other complicated sequences.
• Tech scouts scheduled for each main location with the director, DP, 1st AD, gaffer, key grip, production designer, and sound mixer.

2 weeks out: paperwork and logistics

• Production meeting held with all department heads, walking the schedule day by day.
• Tech scouts complete, with power, parking, holding, bathrooms, and base camp decided for each location.
• Crew start paperwork collected through payroll, including tax withholding (Form W-4) and employment eligibility forms.
• Contact list compiled: cast, crew, vendors, locations, and emergency contacts.
• Call sheet format agreed with the 2nd AD. The call sheet template and how to make a call sheet cover the sections.
• Daily production report template ready.
• Catering booked for the right headcount, with dietary needs collected.
• Transportation planned: trucks, cast pickups, parking shuttles.
• Walkie channels assigned and radios reserved.
• Petty cash float set up, with a clear rule for receipts and a petty cash log.
• Nearest hospital with a 24-hour emergency department identified for every location.
• Camera tests shot and reviewed: format, lenses, and look confirmed with the director.

The final week

• Rehearsals or a table read with principal cast.
• Every location reconfirmed by phone with the owner or manager.
• Permits in hand, printed, and assigned to someone who will be on set.
• Equipment pickups scheduled and truck loads checked against the order.
• Weather forecast checked for day one; cover set prepped if needed.
• Day one call sheet drafted, approved by the 1st AD and line producer, and sent.
• Every actor working day one has confirmed their call time directly with the 2nd AD.
• Safety meeting plan for the first morning, including anything unusual on the day.

Plan day one as a lighter day if the schedule allows. A new crew is still learning how the director works, and a short list of scenes on the first morning gives everyone time to find a rhythm.

Who owns which part of the list

A checklist with no names next to the items doesn't get done. On a small feature the jobs usually split like this, though one person may hold several rows:

Put the owner's name and a due date on each item in the checklist template, and go through the open items at a weekly prep meeting. Anything still open two weeks out goes to the producer to decide whether to push the start date or cut the item.

Adjusting the timeline for smaller shoots

A five-day short film doesn't need 12 weeks of prep, but it needs the same steps in roughly the same order. Compress the calendar and keep the sequence: rights and money, then the breakdown, then a schedule, then offers and bookings based on that schedule. The 30-day student film plan and the thesis film checklist show a compressed version.

What usually gets skipped on small shoots, and causes problems later, is insurance and location paperwork. A friend's apartment still needs a signed location release if the film is going to a festival or distributor, and a rental house will still ask for a certificate of insurance before releasing a camera package.

Where Storiara fits in this list

Storiara covers several items from the 10-week and 8-week sections. You upload the script as a PDF, Word, or Final Draft file, and it pulls out scenes, locations, characters, props, wardrobe, and music and effects for you to review and correct. From there you drag scenes into shoot days on a stripboard, the cast day out of days fills in from that schedule, the budget is calculated from the breakdown and rate tables you can edit, and call sheets are built for each shoot day. Contracts, permits, insurance, and clearances stay with your attorney, broker, and film office.