Mastering Pre-Production: Essential Steps for Indie Filmmakers

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    February 11, 2025 1:39 AM PST

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    Mastering Pre-Production

    Essential Steps for Indie Filmmakers

    Taught by Multi-Emmy® Award-Winning Filmmaker Shane Stanley

    Live Webinar Date: Monday, March 24, 2025

     

    Time: 10am to 11:15am PST (California Time)

     

    Who Should Attend

    • Film students seeking a deeper understanding of the pre-production process.
    • Independent filmmakers aiming to streamline their workflow and maximize their resources.
    • Industry professionals looking to refine their approach to pre-production.

    Overview

    Pre-production is the backbone of any successful film project, especially for indie filmmakers working with limited resources. This webinar will guide you through the essential steps to plan and prepare effectively, helping you avoid costly mistakes and stay creatively aligned with your vision.

     

    Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional, you’ll gain actionable insights into budgeting, scheduling, team building, and visual planning.

     

    What You Will Learn

    • How to develop and finalize a production-ready script.
    • Strategies for crafting a realistic budget and *production schedule*This is in the next class. Check out the schedule and sign up!
    • Tips for assembling and managing a cast and crew.
    • Methods for scouting locations and planning technical logistics.
    • The importance of storyboarding shot lists, and rehearsals.
    • Practical tools and resources for pre-production success.

    By the Time You Finish This Webinar, You Will Be Able To

    • Confidently plan and execute the pre-production phase of your film.
    • Create a comprehensive production schedule and budget tailored to your project.
    • Assemble a cohesive team and foster effective communication.
    • Prepare detailed visual guides like storyboards and shot lists.
    • Identify and mitigate potential risks before production begins.

    Testimonials:

    “Shane’s expertise shared on StudentFilmmakers.com was invaluable, significantly enhancing my understanding of lens use in filmmaking.”

     

    “I enjoy Shane’s sessions as he provides invaluable information that I can apply to my work as a Cinematographer and Director.”

     

    “I leave being inspired to try new things, with a new perspective.”

     

    REGISTER NOW: https://www.studentfilmmakers.com/product/webinar-pre-production-shane-stanley-march-2025

    About our Instructor & Mentor

    SHANE STANLEY – Producer/Director

     

    • Two-time Emmy Award-Winning Filmmaker (nominated four times)
    • Produced the #1 Box Office hit Gridiron Gang starring Dwayne Johnson
    • Director/Producer of Night Train, Hulu’s Longest Running #1 Hit
    • Director/Producer of Double Threat, Netflix #1 Global Hit
    • Consulting Producer for the #1 Cable TV Show “Rock of Love”
    • Best-selling author, recognized internationally for his film expertise
    • Winner of over two dozen prestigious international film & TV awards

     Shane Stanley is a multi-Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker and best-selling author who grew up in/around “the biz” in Hollywood. As a childhood actor he had appeared on-screen in over 100 projects with Hollywood legends which included June Lockhart, Lloyd Haynes, and David Arkin. By age ten, he was comfortably running an Arri 16mm camera and Moviola and fell in love with the filmmaking process. Along with his father, Lee Stanley, Shane produced The Desperate Passage Series. The docu-drama series ran on KTLA with world-wide syndication from 1988 to 1994, was nominated for 33 individual Emmy® Awards and won 13 statues. Two episodes of the series went on to become successful feature filmsGridiron Gang was acquired by Sony Pictures and became the #1 box office hit starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

     

    Shane served as Vice President of Sheen/Michaels Entertainment where he produced several motion pictures starring Marlon Brando, Mira Sorvino, Thomas Hayden Church, Donald Sutherland, Marisa Tomei, Sean Penn, John Travolta and Charlie and Martin Sheen. During that time, Shane made his directorial debut with his own screenplay, A Sight for Sore Eyes. The film was honored with the Special Jury Award at WorldFest Houston, won two Telly Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Film & Television, as well as winning top honors at the International Family Film Festival along with Walden Media’s The Chronicles of Narnia. It went on to win dozens of prestigious awards and was invited to screen at Cannes in 2005.

     

    Shane has also directed countless music videos, many which have aired on VH1’s Top 20 Video Countdown, including two that went #1 and another that made the network’s list of Best 100 Music Videos including “Go That Far” with Bret Michaels. The Michaels’ video was used for the television series Rock of Love, where Shane also served as a consulting producer. His other directing credits include Mistrust, starring two-time Golden Globe® winner Jane Seymour as well as Break Even with Tasya Teles, Steve Guttenberg, and Golden Globe® nominee, Joanna Pacula. In 2022, Shane produced and directed the action-comedy, Double Threat starring Matthew Lawrence and Dawn Olivieri (Yellowstone, 1883)which The New York Times listed on their Top 5-Action Movies to Stream Now and was the sole indie feature amongst Hollywood blockbusters on Amazon Prime’s “Top 10 in the US” list remaining there for two months, peaking at #4. The film has enjoyed similar success on Netflix’s world-wide charts, ranking #1 in 16 countries the week of its debut and remained on the platform’s Top 10 most watched film this summer.

     

    Shane’s action-thriller, Night Train, starring Danielle C. Ryan and Diora Baird premiered on HULU where it reached #1 on the platform and remained in the top spot for an astonishing four weeks. Night Train is the story of a single mom struggling to make ends meet as a Hollywood teamster who evades capture by a ruthless FBI Agent while running black market medical supplies in her legendary souped-up pickup truck. It also stars Joe Lando, Ivan Sergei, and Joseph D. Reitman.

     

    Currently, Shane is in post-production on Six Days in Evergreen a music-drama starring Dawn Olivieri, Penelope Ann Miller, A Martinez, and a star- studded cast which he produced, directed, and co-wrote. The film is presented by legendary producer, Mario Kassar (Terminator, Total Recall, Rambo, The DoorsBasic InstinctChaplin, LA Story) and will release later this year.

     

    Shane’s book, “What You Don’t Learn in Film School,” a best-seller earning a 4.5-star rating across the board was listed by CNN, FORBES, and BOOK AUTHORITY among the Best Filmmaking Books of All-Time, which covers filmmaking from concept to delivery. It has landed on required reading lists at several universities around the world and is endorsed by some of the most respected names in Hollywood including Producer, Neal H. Moritz, (Fast & Furious, S.W.A.T., 21 and 22 Jump Street) and Paul Williams, Oscar®, Golden Globe® and Grammy® Award Winner and Hall of Fame songwriter.

     

    In addition to his Emmy® Awards, Stanley has received 11 Telly Awards, 2 CINE Golden Eagles Awards, 5 Aurora Awards, 4 WorldFest Remi Awards, and 28 International Film Festival Awards. He has spoken at several prestigious film and art institutes around the country including The Screen Writers Expo, the world’s largest tradeshow for screenwriters, alongside Oliver Stone, Michael Goldenberg (Harry Potter franchise) and Adam Herz (American Pie) about the secrets of marketing to today’s youth. He is on several advisory boards for film schools and art programs across the country and is a contributing columnist for Student Filmmakers Magazine and NoFilmSchool.com as well as an instructor on Stage32.com, FilmCourage.com and IndieFilmHustle.com and SXSW. In April 2021 he testified before the US Library of Congress on behalf of prestigious universities to help amend a 1978 copyright law that made traditional learning difficult for film school students during the COVID/virtual learning era.

     

    He and his wife, actress Val Barri, are active in charities supporting cancer research, restoring hope for inner-city youth, and animal rescue. They live in Los Angeles.

     

    Please visit shanestanley.net and whatyoudontlearninfilmschool.com for more info.

    Consent Agreement

     

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