How to Build Trust With Your Crew as a Director

A director is more than just a storyteller, they’re the leader of the set. Like any team, your crew will only give you their best if they trust you. Trust isn’t given automatically; it’s earned. If you want your crew to believe in your vision and follow your lead, you need to put the work in before the cameras even roll.

These are the basic principles I implement on every set, and why the crew we work with continue to collaborate with us time and time again.

Collaboration between DP Ryan Leuning and Director Dimitri Lazaris.

Prep Is Everything

The fastest way to lose your crew’s trust is to show up unprepared. Nothing frustrates a team more than a director who doesn’t know their vision or has no plan.

I still have fever dreams with my first short film, I thought I was prepared until our 1st AD told everyone to settle and all eyes were on me to begin executing orders and start blocking my actors. I was terrified, and my crew saw that.

Prepping your film, shot lists, storyboards, rehearsals, schedules, isn’t just about your creative comfort. It’s about respecting your crew’s time. When you come prepared, your setups run smoother, days move faster, and you avoid unnecessary 12+ hour marathons that burn everyone out.

Prep isn’t glamorous, but it’s the foundation of good leadership.

Respect Their TimE

Crew members aren’t robots. They’re hardworking professionals who thrive when their time is respected. Long days are inevitable in filmmaking, but your job as a director is to be efficient.

If you know what you want and can communicate it clearly, you’ll spend less time fumbling on set and more time actually capturing great work. Efficiency = respect. And your crew will thank you for it.

Don’t Micromanage

Remember this: you hired talented people for a reason. Let them do their jobs.

Your cinematographer knows how to shape the light. Your sound mixer knows how to make dialogue clean. Your costume designer knows how to dress a character. Micromanaging not only slows everything down, it signals you don’t trust them.

Collaboration thrives when you provide direction and then step back to let your crew bring their expertise to the table.

Feed Them (Seriously)

It sounds simple, but it’s one of the biggest signs of respect: feed your crew.

A hungry crew is an angry crew, and no one wants to work while running on fumes. One of the most disrespectful things you can do is skimp on food, or worse, throw a stack of greasy pizzas on a table and call it lunch.

In fact, crew members will tell you their worst nightmare is showing up to another “pizza set.” That’s why we even made a shirt that proudly reads: “Pizza Free Set”, because we believe your team deserves better. (Yes, you can grab one from our store!)

Feed your crew well, and they’ll bring energy, focus, and loyalty to your production.

You can purchase this and more from our Parthenon Store!

Final Thoughts

Don’t be a director that everyone warns not to worth with. I promise, it’s easier than you think. Show up with a plan, respect your crew’s time, let them do their jobs, and keep them fed. Do those four things, and you’ll not only earn your crew’s trust, you’ll create a set people actually want to come back to.

Because at the end of the day, filmmaking isn’t just about what’s on screen. It’s about the people behind the camera who make the magic happen.