One of the more “interesting” aspects of working on a film is the scheduling, or often lack there of. Especially when it comes to producing a trailer. I liken the experience to compressing an 8-week software development cycle into a 3-week sprint, with no prior warning and the design spec can, and will, change at a moment’s notice during the first 2 weeks of said sprint. The only warning you get about a trailer delivery is when you check your calendar notice a new meeting that wasn’t there before. This is when survival instincts kick in, which typically includes frenetic emails, swearing, and awkward laughter at the absurdity of the entire situation.

Every scenario will be different, but I consider the advice below to be applicable to most situations where there is a massive amount of work that needs to be completed in an extremely short period of time:

Communicate — Communicate the hell out of everything. The cost of over communicating is far less than the cost of under communicating. This seems like a no-brainer, but I’ve seen poor communication really screw things up often enough that I’m including it in this list.

Expect The Situation To Get Worse — Treat the unforeseen circumstances that result in crazy schedules like earthquakes. Whatever happened, it can happen again. Anticipate any aftershocks.

Be Proactive — During tight schedules, time is likely your most precious resource. Don’t waste it by waiting around for directions from others. If you know what needs to be done, then take the initiative and do it. If you’re in the dark, then find a away to shed some light on your next steps. Every minute spent waiting is time that you won’t get back.

Be Realistic — Have an honest conversation with your team and managers about what can realistically be accomplished in the time allotted. There is nothing to be gained and plenty to be lost by over-promising and under-delivering. This is the time to dig into what features or aspects of the project are truly essential for the given deadline.

Keep Calm And Carry On —Properly managed stress can be a great motivator whereas unmanaged stress will destroy you and your team (http://time.com/84080/stress-contagious/). There is camaraderie to be gained within a team working together under stressful circumstances. Keep your focus and conversations directed towards what can be delivered as opposed to getting hung up on the impossible nature of what’s being asked of you.

Don’t Dwell— It’s easy to focus on identifying the root cause of a ridiculous schedule in order figure how you ended up in the position that you are in. Likewise, you might also debate what to do next time this situation arises. Both of these are valuable conversations to have, but only after you have survived your current crises. Until then, focus on the task at hand and save these post-mortem-esque conversations for later.