UK Producer Working in the US? Here’s What Zoë Waller Learned (The Hard Way)

Zoë Waller is a London-based producer who’s spent years making creative projects actually happen. With a background in commercials, content and film, she brings experience, calm and a sense of humour to the process. Zoë believes the best work comes from trust, teamwork and keeping things human.

Zoë sat down with LBB to look back on Studio Yes opening its doors to its US base and dealing with the trials and tribulations of dealing with the unknowns when working in a new country.

Studio Yes has just opened a base in the US, but before we got to know how things worked across the pond, we discovered some of the challenges of making work, well, work, when you’re filming stateside…

When you are working in another country, there are – as the saying goes – known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. You know that some things will be different, and you try and prepare for them, but it’s the ones you didn’t see coming that really knock you off course.

When you film in the US, it’s easy to assume that plenty will be the same. We speak the same language, we know each other’s culture, so it’s easy to assume that any differences will be easily overcome.

But filming in the US likes to trip you up. Lulls you into a sense of security, and then reminds you, with all the unexpected unknowns, that it really is a totally different country.

Let’s go back to language for a second.

The biggest challenge can be picking up on the problem in the first place.

When there’s a problem, Brits are often pessimistic. Americans are optimistic. If we think it’s all going to shit, and then our US colleagues consider that everything is going brilliantly, the reality is somewhat more nuanced, and there’s a problem, somewhere, that’s going to need handling…

Big and Little Logistics

Day length, start time and lunch breaks – seems like such a small thing. But US commercial working days are nine hours with a one hour lunch, and are an hour shorter than the UK’s standard (10+1).

Over a working week of filming, if you haven’t prepped for this, that’s five hours, or almost half a day difference that you’ll be finding in overtime from your budget.

Sourcing people and crew is entirely different in the US – not helped by the huge distances between major cities (also see: transport costs). Finding great crew is very much based on personal networks, and while finding someone in the UK might take you a few hours, that same task in the US can take you three days.

Understanding inter-state nuances is really important. More laws than you’d expect can be totally different state to state.

But that means networks are really vital – and once you’ve started to build yours, things will become a lot easier.

Security can also be a shock, when you first start filming. If you’re shooting in a whole range of areas of the US, or with any high profile talent, a security team will be essential. And you’ll have to decide whether you want them ‘armed, or unarmed’.

The Editorial Process

The editorial role of a director is very different Stateside. In the UK, the director stays on the job right the way through post production. In the US, a director normally comes off a project after filming, and the agency handles the post. If you don’t want to work in this way and have someone overseeing creative through the post production stage, you might be better off finding a British director with a US visa.

And while we’re on the editorial side, if you’re shooting in the US for a British audience, you need to get your talent right: someone who understands British sensibilities and humour will be vital, and will probably get you to the result you want faster than an all-US crew.

How to Get Around All This

One good answer to all this is to find yourself a brilliant American producer. Find people who’ve done it, and ask them to look at your plans and find the flaws. Build in time for understanding the nuance – to leave more time for having fun and making great work.