ENDA Episode 49→ The time when ENDA learned the importance of submitting on time

“The projects that are made, are not always the best. But they were submitted on time” It was one of the hardest phrases I heard when I was taking a college course in TV Production.

Or it would have been, if not because I had to experience it first-hand a year and a half before.

During my time with the SAMA team, I had the opportunity to participate in a contest to make a short film in just 48 Hours.

I remember that we put in much effort, but in the end, the time constraint and other problems were too much for us and we ended up submitting it past the deadline hour. As a result, our short film was allowed to be projected, but not to compete for any prize.

Now don’t get me wrong. We all agree that it wasn’t our best work and we probably wouldn’t have won the competition. Still, the fact that we were left out of the possibility of competing after all the effort we put in during those 48 Hours of production and all the previous pre-production was a very hard hit for all of us.

And I think that’s one thing that it costs us to learn: deadlines are sacred no matter how talented you think you are.

As I explained in an episode about the Artist’s Complex, time is money in the industry and they can not afford to work with people who are unreliable with deadlines.

For example, not submitting a movie on a deadline, means:

➡️ Overtime that will definitely not be covered by the client’s budget, so it will come from your pocket.

➡️ Problems for the client and the distribution company who already invested a lot of money for a slot in the movie theaters.

➡️ The slot is time-constrained, and the days the movie is not shown in the cinema because of a delay means millions of dollars wasted in the booking.

➡️ Losses of millions of dollars in the tickets that could have been sold.

➡️ The delay itself is a sign of something off in the production.

➡️ The client will not want to work with you again.

So… yes, submitting on time is imperative, and if you want to survive in any industry, the sooner you get used to following them, the faster you will get used to the whole system.

What is your experience with deadlines?

The journey continues…