Don't be a wuss-puss! Be mean!

Every so often, a filmmaker has to fire somebody. There's a whole lot of gray area between a flagrant abuse of the film and "creative differences", and it can be hard to know what to say when you're giving some guy the pink slip...

Whether it's deliberate or accidental, any issues that come up within a production team are the result of miscommunication. I recommend talking to him about what he did. If nothing else, you could use the practice.

Naturally, it's scary and uncomfortable. At the same time, dealing with these things is part of being a leader. While not every person in film is a leader, a director can't afford not to be. Use this opportunity to get a little more comfortable with confrontation, and the practice of claiming your space.

Keep in mind that this person will have reasons for their actions, and those reasons may even be compelling. At the same time, when the actions themselves make a person untrustworthy, it's time to terminate that relationship.

Just make sure you're transparent about why you're doing it. Don't hide behind creative differences, even if that's actually the reason. Always fess up to your actions.

On my last film, I had to tell the costume designer that any recommendation I gave would be overwhelmingly negative, both because of the problems they caused my production and because of how different my costume was from the designs he showed me. After I expressed my dissatisfaction, this person called me two or three more times, hoping he could persuade me to welcome him back into my community.

Each time, I had to explain that they completely failed to meet their professional obligations, as well as the agreements we made in pre-production. Each time, their heart was broken.

At the same time, I can look at myself in the mirror. This person was hoping that I would look past their poor performance and lazy work ethic to see the good, worthy person inside... I do. At the same time, film doesn't record good intentions. Instead, it recorded the results of their unconscious attempt to sabotage my production.

How much would it help that person, if I went out of my way to help them feel ok with that?

No. He needed to know. As a leader, it was my responsibility to tell him.

While it was only a short film and the stakes were relatively low, that's exactly what made it such good practice. Someday, it will matter. When it does, I'd better be damn good at these kinds of confrontations.