From Left to Right: Ashley Smith, Madilynn Conrad, Adam Johnson, Abrielle Millett, Conner Cobabe, Justin Marquardt, Alexia Atwood, Dawson Fenn, McKay Smith, Parker Stevens
My Project
My name is Dawson Fenn, a communications major with a video production emphasis. Nice to meet you. For my project, I worked on a documentary as a producer in the Advanced Moving Image II class. The said documentary is
“Foundations: A Spirit of Ricks Documentary.” There are many aspects to the work of a producer, so let’s hop in.
The Right Tool for the Job
My Professor Brother Rusty Earl recommended we use this amazing tool called Milanote. This tool was the foundation, hub, and home for 90% of our planning and communication. As the producer, I was in charge of keeping this tool organized for instant clarity. Learning from my professor and hearing my team’s preferences, I maintained our standards for assigning tasks and communicating with our client, who was also our professor. After some encouragement and repentance, I provided weekly updates to our client every Friday before 5 pm.
Pre-Production is Vital
Pre-production is, in my opinion, the most important step in making a film. This is where dreams become actionable plans and pave the way for the film to exist. It’s important to do everything you can to make your dream a reality, but scope is something you must consider, define, and abide by. I created the budget, and although we did not have to abide by it for this assignment, it was a useful exercise in understanding the costs associated with a project like this.
Shared Vision
Pre-production is useless if the team does not refer to it on a regular basis. I often encouraged conversations and office hours to occur so the team could collaborate and be on the same wavelength throughout production. When questions would arise, I would say something to the effect of, “What does the calendar say?” “What does the brief say?” Looking back, I should have brought all of our preproduction docs to the set and handed them out to the team according to their department.
Producers = Logistical Engines
Producers are the backbone for communication, task assignment, accountability, and more. I assigned over 100 tasks in total to the team over the course of the project. I consistently assigned these tasks weekly, so every team member knew what they were responsible for. This was paramount for the project to reach completion. A lesson I learned is that I could have communicated the expectations of these tasks from the outset, so the quality would have been higher at the first round of delivery. Establishing a weekly task huddle would have been helpful so we could talk things out and communicate how we felt about the tasks as a team. This likely would have brought concerns to the surface quicker. I’m excited to try this in the future.
Accountability
Tasks are meaningless if there’s no accountability to back them up. It was my hope to keep the team excited and busy so their accountability would come from within, versus me having to breathe down everyone’s necks. While there were times I would have to reach out and follow up with an overdue task, I made sure to make myself approachable with an attitude of teamwork and “we’re all in this together.” I was flexible enough to help others with their tasks and recognize when I gave a heavy assignment to someone who had a lot on their plate. I’d pick up the pieces without burning myself out or reassign the task to someone more available.
Scheduling
Scheduling was a slight challenge, but we made it work nearly effortlessly. I knew the importance of syncing our calendars together and planned out shoot days well in advance. I created a Google Calendar and had everyone recreate their schedule within the calendar. This allowed us to instantly know what times we had available, and we had near 100% attendance from the team on every shoot despite busy college schedules. The hardest part then was plugging the talent’s schedule in, but we made it work.
Documents, Legality, and Ethical Practices
I made sure we followed legal and ethical practices. Before filming at any location, we obtained written permission from the property owner or the appropriate channels. We did not film unless we knew we had the green light. I secured talent release forms for all contributors and actors for the film, so we could have the right to show their likenesses in regard to this film indefinitely. I gave them time to read, consider, and accept the terms of the release
Trusting Your Team
Trusting your team is important. If you trust them and believe they can do hard things, they will. Oftentimes, I would give a task, set my expectations, and say, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out and do great.” Not only did this mean I did not have to spell out everything, but it also enabled the team to have autonomy, problem-solving, and be active thinkers in the creative process. I remembered I was working with people, not task-to-completion vending machines.
Social Media
I oversaw the management of the social media and set goals for follower counts. I also took the posters and turned them into sticker designs to aid in our outreach efforts. You can learn more and follow our progress at “foundations_spiritofricks” on Instagram. You can also come for the film’s premiere on April 7th, 2026, at 7 pm at Spori 035. It’s free, so see you there!
On Set
I had a business-first attitude. Now, this didn’t mean that I wasn’t nice or pleasant to be around; I was, if you don’t believe me, ask my team. If there was a need to get the team back on track, I’d often remind the team why we were there and get things moving. While the team was setting up, I’d obtain signatures from the talent and chat with them, helping them feel comfortable and heard. Lastly, I was a welcome devil’s advocate. I still have a filmmaker’s eye despite being a producer, crazy, I know. If I saw something that needed adjusting or when I knew something was more suggestive, I’d find a moment I could speak to the director or cinematographer, etc., and air my concern in a friendly and thought-provoking manner. I avoided commanding or demeaning them in any way. I made sure not to overstep boundaries, and my team often thanked me for being there to help them check things.
Quality Control
Working with the director, it was primarily my responsibility to ensure tasks were completed on time and professionally. I have been a team player from start to finish. If someone needed help or even if they didn’t, I’d offer to help be a listening ear, or to be someone they could bounce ideas off of, say, during post-production. And I did just that.
Conclusion
I am very proud of the work my team and I were able to accomplish this semester in just a 3-credit class. We had very little stress in terms of due dates and clearly understood the tasks that needed to be completed. I’ve spent 46 hours and counting on this project. I’d like to thank my team members, my professor, campus faculty, our contributors, the BYU-Idaho scheduling office, and anyone else who helped us with these projects in any way. We could not have done it without you. And thank you for reading. Enjoy the trailer!
Watch the trailer for Foundations: A Spirit of Ricks Documentary here