For us, the film production process consist of five major phases, and they are always the same on the highest level. In parallel, there is a generic project management process.

The descriptions for these phase are focused on drama productions and other types of scripted productions

Development - The first stage in which the ideas for the film are created, rights to books/plays are bought etc., and the screenplay is written. Financing for the project has to be sought and green lit.

Pre-production - Preparations are made for the shoot, in which cast and film crew are hired, locations are selected, and sets are built
Production - The raw elements for the film are recorded during the film shoot.
Post-production - The images, sound, and visual effects of the recorded film are edited.
Distribution - The finished film is distributed and screened in cinemas, TV, Internet and released to home video.

We have two variants of this main process, scripted vs. non-scripted productions as they differ substantially.

For the documentary Wild Again will we use the non-scripted process and in the next article will we start to describe the development phase.