What Makes a Commercial Production Run Smoothly?

There’s a lot that happens between the first conversation about a commercial project and the moment cameras start rolling.

Budgets need to be built. Crews need to be scheduled. Talent needs to be booked. Sets, props and products need to arrive. Creative needs to be approved. And even after all of that planning, something will probably change.

For Hannah DiMatteo, TRG’s Director of Production, that’s just part of the job. After nearly 12 years at TRG, beginning as an intern before moving into producing and eventually leading the production department, she’s learned that a smooth production isn’t necessarily one where everything goes exactly according to plan.

It’s one where everyone is prepared enough to adapt when it doesn’t.

Start With a Clear Understanding of the Project

According to Hannah, one of the earliest indicators of a smooth production is simply knowing what you’re trying to accomplish.

“Right away, it’s a client who understands what they want. I think if they can come to the table with a shot list, a storyboard... it just helps us better understand how we can approach the whole project and attack it more succinctly.”

That doesn’t mean every detail needs to be figured out before contacting a production partner. Part of the production process is helping clients work through those details.

But there are three pieces of information Hannah considers especially valuable at the beginning: deliverables, budget and timeline.

A shot list, storyboard and other creative direction can make that foundation even stronger. The clearer the end goal is, the easier it becomes for the production team to determine what people, resources and time will be required to get there.

A Lot Happens Before Shoot Day

Some of the most important work on a commercial production happens long before anyone steps onto set.

Even creating an estimate can require conversations across multiple departments.

“In order to get an estimate created, you have to check with the set manager. We have to check with set designers. We have to check with their timing, the crew’s availability, even reaching out to talent agencies.”

All of those conversations are happening early because decisions throughout a production are interconnected.

A creative decision might affect the set. The set might affect the schedule. The schedule might affect talent availability. Talent usage might affect the budget.

One detail Hannah says can have a surprisingly large impact is how and where the final content will be used. Talent needed for a limited use case can be priced very differently than talent appearing in broadcast media, for example.

Understanding the media plan and usage early helps the production team build the project around what the campaign actually requires rather than discovering those needs later.

Know Who Has the Final Say

More people involved doesn’t always mean a better production process.

In fact, one of Hannah’s biggest recommendations is establishing a clear approval hierarchy from the beginning.

“Honestly, I think the biggest thing is when there are too many cooks in the kitchen. Having kind of a set hierarchy of who has final say would make things exponentially helpful in every step of the process, whether that’s pre, during or in post.”

Without that structure, feedback can become contradictory and projects can move backward just as quickly as they move forward.

That doesn’t just make the process more frustrating. Extended revisions and changes can eventually affect timelines and budgets.

Clear, direct feedback from the right decision-makers keeps everyone moving toward the same end goal.

Plan for the Plan to Change

You can spend hours building the perfect production plan.

And then shoot day arrives.

“You’re gonna spend hours and so much time hoping and praying that it’s gonna work a certain way, and then the second you get on set, everything’s gonna be different.”

For Hannah, adaptability is simply “production 101.”

The goal of pre-production isn’t to eliminate every possible surprise. It’s to create a strong enough foundation that the team can make smart decisions when surprises inevitably happen.

Sometimes those surprises are small. Sometimes they involve discovering a built set is a couple of inches too large for the product and literally cutting it down the middle to resize it.

And sometimes your talent doesn’t show up.

Hannah has experienced that one, too.

“There was a time where I had to step in and be talent because our talent just didn’t show up that day.”

Luckily, the role only required operating a faucet.

Other pivots have included repainting a set after a last-minute color change. After enough years in production, Hannah says those moments become part of the process.

The important part is being able to remove the emotion from the problem, assess what’s possible and find the best solution for the project. Experienced producers may already have Plans A, B and C in mind before something goes wrong.

Think Beyond a Single Deliverable

Good planning can also help brands get more from the resources they already have on set.

Historically, a client might approach a production specifically looking for photography or video. Increasingly, Hannah sees opportunities to capture both at the same time.

“You have the setup, you have all the propping available where they need to be. You can get it for social. You can get it for all these different types of platforms that you might need, especially with talent, if that’s incorporated too.”

If the set is built, products are styled and talent is already there, capturing additional assets can be more efficient than recreating those circumstances during another production.

That doesn’t mean adding deliverables simply for the sake of having more content. It means thinking about the full campaign before production begins.

Could the campaign eventually need vertical social content? Photography? Shorter video cutdowns? Additional lifestyle imagery?

Identifying those opportunities early can give a brand more options for extending the campaign down the road.

The Best Productions Are Collaborative

When asked to describe her dream client in three words, Hannah’s answer was simple:

Organized. Direct. Willing to adapt.

Organization gives the production team the information it needs to plan. Direct communication keeps everyone moving toward the same goal. And adaptability gives both sides room to solve problems when circumstances change.

“At the end of the day, we’re just trying to make the final product work for everyone.”

And if there’s one thing clients might be able to worry about a little less, it’s whether all of those moving pieces will eventually come together.

After more than a decade in production, Hannah has seen plenty of unexpected changes along the way.

“At the end of the day, we always make it work, and we always get to the end result.”

The thing she would worry about?

Shipping timelines.

Products, props and set-design elements all have to physically get where they’re going, and delays can quickly ripple through a production schedule.

So plan early. Know what you’re creating. Establish who makes the final decisions. Get your products in the mail.

And then be ready to adapt.

Because a smooth production isn’t one where nothing unexpected happens. It’s one where the right people, preparation and processes are already in place when it does.