Feature Film Shooting Logistics

Local Crew

Thailand does not have a very large local crew base for international productions. However, the crew that it does have is very experienced. For example, we have used a Thai first AD for many of our feature projects who has over 50 international feature films under his belt. There are two or three other first AD's with 20 or 30 films on their resumes and after that the experience level drops dramatically.

In the last 10 years, the top Thai crew have raised the bar significantly. For our last big feature film we had a crew of almost 250 people and only had to bring in six people from overseas. This not only saves budget but alleviates the problem of language barriers between departments.

Typically we'll consider bringing crew in from overseas in the following positions: director, script supervisor, head accountant, special effects supervisor, armorer and director of photography.

Depending on the nature of the project we would consider also bringing in: costume designer, gaffer, visual effects supervisor, editor, stunt coordinator and production designer.

In any case, there is an amazing pool of crew talent in Thailand and it always helps if we can confirm a project long enough in advance to lock the best freelance Thai crew into key positions.