
SCENE 01 / PRE-PRODUCTION
Pre-Production Services
The team handles production planning and creative development and logistics which maintain your schedule and budget and creative vision.
Planning with Precision
Comprehensive Pre-Production Services
From initial concept to production-ready plans, our team sets the foundation for successful films, TV, commercials, and digital content around the world.
Creative Excellence
The creative team at ABC and SBS along with international co-production partners worked together to develop scripts and storyboards and visual treatments for the project.
Strategic Planning
The line producers who created USD budgets with Producer Offsets included in their planning used Australian holiday schedules and union regulations to determine their production timeline.
Local Expertise
Fixers across all 6 states and 2 territories—from Far North Queensland beaches to mountain towns to coastal landscapes.
Service Catalog
Our Pre-Production Services
Every phase is covered—creative development, casting, permits, budgeting, crew, logistics, and compliance.
Creative & Development
Linked ServicesScriptwriting
The process involves two steps which have adapting global scripts for Australian viewers and creating new content and making sure all dialogue functions well in Australian or English or both languages.
Script Consultation
The team gives detailed feedback about each scene which helps identify pacing and structural issues and dialogue problems before production costs rise for extra filming.
Storyboarding
The production team needs to create a frame-by-frame visual plan which sets up camera positions and blocking and VFX needs before starting production costs.
Concept Development
The content development process needs writers to create story direction and visual style and narrative structure before they can start writing production-ready content.
Creative Direction
Keeping visual and narrative identity from first look development through final delivery.
Moodboards
The team needs reference images and color palettes and style frames for visual guidance before starting production work.
Pitch Decks
The firm gives investor-ready presentations which contain loglines and budgets and cast attachments and visual treatments to help with funding acquisition.
Casting & Talent
Linked ServicesCasting Services
Access to Australian actors, fluent English talent, models, and background extras through our network of Sydney and regional casting directors.
Voiceover Casting
The studio provides native Australian voice talent who performs narration and dubbing and ADR services from Sydney studios or through remote session direction.
Talent Coordination
The process of call time management and transportation organization and costume fitting and on-set scheduling enables your actors to perform their roles effectively.
Union Management
The process demands simultaneous management of Australian Australian entertainment industry rules and APRA AMCOS rights and international co-production talent agreements.
Location & Permits
Linked ServicesLocation Scouting
I used my search to find heritage homesteads and Australian rooftops and coastal cliffs which I used to create detailed photo reports while I obtained permission to access these locations.
Location Management
The team provides on-site coordination which includes managing owner relations and neighbor communication and handling parking needs and power supply requirements and maintaining crowd control.
Permit Acquisition
Our team handles all necessary paperwork for Screen NSW and local council authorities and private property owners so you can concentrate on your creative work.
Site Surveys
Your team needs to perform technical recces to evaluate power supply conditions and identify the best routes for power distribution and solar radiation angles and areas with acoustic issues before beginning production.
Production Insurance
The company needs equipment coverage and liability protection and E&O policies which meet the requirements of Australian location owners and international distributors.
Budgeting & Scheduling
Linked ServicesProduction Budgeting
The budgeting system of Movie Magic and Excel accounting requires users to create line-item budgets which handle Australian labor expenses and tax benefits and currency exchange rates.
Cost Estimation
The following estimates will assist you in selecting between Sydney and Melbourne and Perth and regional areas for your commercial and documentary and feature production.
Production Scheduling
The stripboard operation scheduling system needs to account for both actor scheduling constraints and their available time slots and their geographical work areas and their Australian national holiday dates.
Call Sheets
The production team receives all required information through daily crew calls which provide location addresses and weather contingency plans and emergency contact details before beginning each production day.
Crew & Logistics
Linked ServicesLine Producing
I perform daily budget management and crisis response activities to stop unexpected cost growth which would extend Australian production lead times.
Crew Hiring
Our network provides pre-screened DPs and gaffers and sound mixers and department heads who work throughout Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane and additional locations.
Local Fixers
The team consists of field-based problem solvers who understand local operations and maintain production continuity.
Travel Logistics
The company needs to arrange flights and hotels and ground transportation and carnet documentation for international crews who will work in Australia.
Equipment Planning
The rental houses in Australia offer camera and grip and lighting equipment packages which include crew members for service when customers need them.
Catering Services
The production team provides food service during filming which meets all cast members' dietary needs and follows Australian workplace rules and operates from distant locations.
Legal & Administrative
Linked ServicesContract Management
The team created employment contracts for crews and talent agreements and vendor deals which followed all requirements of Australian labor laws.
Talent Releases
On-camera appearance releases, likeness rights, and GDPR-compliant data handling documentation.
Location Agreements
Access terms with property owners and municipal authorities covering damage deposits and usage restrictions.
Licensing & Rights
The process requires permission for using music alongside archival footage and trademarks which need to be obtained for all broadcast and streaming and theatrical distribution platforms.
Health & Safety Compliance
The production team worked with Australian labor inspectors to create risk assessments and safety protocols which would protect stunt performers and special effects personnel.
Why Fixers in Australia
Why Choose Fixers in Australia for Pre-Production
Integrated creative, logistics, and compliance backed by seasoned producers and local fixers.
01.
Proven Expertise
Industry-leading team across all formats and budgets, trusted by global broadcasters.
02.
Fast Response
Rapid 24-48 hour turnarounds for quotes, permits, and scheduling updates.
03.
Global Network
On-the-ground partners in 100+ countries with local permits handled for you.
04.
Full Service
End-to-end coverage from concept and casting to legal, logistics, and delivery.
On Location
Planning Your Australian Production Right
Here is how this works in practice. From Sydney's inner-city studios to remote shoots across the Red Centre, thorough pre-production is what keeps an Australian project on schedule and on brief. Our team handles each planning layer — setting up permits, managing creative development, and building schedules that account for the distinctive logistical demands of filming across a continent-sized country. Whether your production is based in Melbourne, Brisbane, or Perth, we align your creative vision with real-world resources before a single camera rolls. Early investment in planning directly reduces costly surprises during principal photography.
Schedules built on real Screen Australia permit timelines and continent-scale travel realities — never optimistic guesses about either.
Here is the short of it. Concept Development and Storyboarding allow our creative team to visualise scenes well before shoot days, reducing on-set revisions and keeping the shoot efficient. Our Scriptwriting and Script Consultation services make sure your narrative is tight and production-ready for the specific conditions of filming in Australia. When talent is needed, our Casting and Talent service sources verified performers suited to your project's tone and format. Across all of these disciplines, our Pitch Decks and Moodboards help communicate the creative direction clearly to stakeholders and clients across the development and approval process.
FAQs
Pre-Production FAQs
Clear answers on timelines, coverage, and how we tailor planning to your production.
What's included in pre-production services?
Here is how this works in practice. Our team gives complete production services which have script breakdown and scheduling and location selection across 6 states and 2 areas and Sydney agency casting and crew member selection from our OK'd network and budget development in USD with Producer Offset calculations and permit submission to Screen Australia and local councils. You receive a production-ready package which becomes ready before the cameras start filming.
How long does pre-production take?
Here is the short of it. The process of obtaining locations and casting actors and wrapping Screen Australia forms for feature films needs a minimum of 8 to 12 weeks. The production timeline for commercials stays short because they need only 2 to 4 weeks to finish production when shoot sites have easy access. The process of getting documentary access and conducting interviews decides which film projects filmmakers can start their work on. The team can accelerate project work when needed but Australian authority rules about permit processing create key time needs.
Do you work with international productions shooting in Australia?
That's our specialty. We bridge the gap between global shoots firms and Australian crews, vendors, and authorities. Our team handles everything from carnet needs for gear crossing borders to setting up with Australian unions and handling Screen Australia co-production rules. Most of our clients are UK, US, German, and Asian shoots shooting on Australian soil.
Can you work within a specific budget?
Here is the breakdown. The firm creates budgets which use USD as currency and have detailed line items that follow the formatting needs of the Australian industrial sector. If you have a target number, we'll tell you honestly what's achievable—whether that means adjusting the shooting schedule, finding alternative locations, or restructuring the crew. We'd rather have a frank conversation upfront than deliver surprises later.
What happens if permits get denied or locations fall through?
Here is what that looks like on the ground. It happens, and we plan for it. The location packages we give have backup solutions and we have set up connections with Australian property owners and film commissions to handle unexpected changes in filming locations. Our location managers have pulled off same-week replacements for everything from heritage homestead shoots to Australian apartment interiors.
On Set
Ready to Start Your Pre-Production?
We'll build a production-ready plan with detailed budgets, schedules, and permit timelines for your project.