PRODUCTION TIP: BETTER Foods for your Cast and Crew

Feeding your cast and crew is usually overlooked until the last minute. Then on the morning of the shoot there's a mad scramble to get coffee, water, bagels and granola bars.  Now this is understandable, since the director and producer are usually preoccupied with more weighty matters regarding the production.  However, providing food and water is crucial to morale and is even a form of compensation for many who work deferred or on no-budget projects.  Even on studio projects, above-the-line people will haggle over what's going to be on the craft services table.  Forward-thinking producers will plan out what to feed the cast and crew and even go as far as catering to people who have particular tastes, vegeterian preferences or allergies.
 
But what if the food you feed your cast and crew could do more than just satisfy a hunger and thirst.  What if it could improve performance on the set and sharpen their focus to get the job done?  That would be a boon since productions are high-stress, long-hour environments.  

I recently read this Inc. article by Barbara Mendez on foods that boost brainpower.  In it she writes, "Most entrepreneurs are accustomed to long days and hectic schedules. But if you want to make smart decisions for your company, what you put in your body matters almost as much as how many hours you put in at the office."  Replace the word "entrepreneur" with "filmmakers" or "cast" or "crew" and the advice is just as relevant.

"Here are seven foods you should add to your regular diet if you want to keep firing on all cylinders. These foods may not make you smarter, but they'll help you stay sharp and think clearly..."  The craft services table should be filled with the following snacks; flax, blueberries, nuts and seeds, and dark chocolates.  Instead of getting pizza or Chinese food for lunch, make or buy meals with salmon, eggs, and dark green leafy vegetables.  For 13 more foods, click here. 

Foods like these can keep you and everyone else sharp and focused on the set.  These are better alternatives to the usual orange-juice-and-bagels-on-the-table set-up.   A well-fed crew is not just a happy crew, it's a productive crew.


If you can think of any other brainpower boosting foods that would be good to have on the set, share them on the comments.