Expect the Worst, Hope for the Best

Expect the worst, hope for the best. This has become my unofficial producing motto over the years. 

When I first got into producing small social videos, my optimism often got the best of me. I had a bad habit of assuming things would work out, even when I didn’t have a clear plan of how they would. In my defense, 90% of the time things did work out. It was the 10% that would tank the shoot. 

Now that I’ve produced a few dozen medium-sized videos, I’ve learned to expect the worst. A healthy skepticism and pessimism is helpful because it shows me all the things that could go wrong. Then I troubleshoot those things in advance. 

Bringing this pessimism into the shoot day is a bad thing, though. When producing a shoot, I’ve learned I need to be optimistic and positive, bringing a fun culture to the set. There’s a strong hierarchy amongst film crew and they take their cues from the producer. If I can show them that it will be a great day with my attitude, then it’ll be a great day. I’ve learned to stay in a sort of positive, problem-solving flow state while producing shoots. No room for pessimism here. 

I’m writing these things down this morning mostly as a reminder to myself. I’m on set today for a shoot with a lot of moving pieces. I found myself bringing the helpful pessimism into the day as I woke up. There’s no time for that. Only positivity today. 

I hope this has been helpful to you. Good luck out there!