Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in afilm,television show,play,video game, or otherperformance, as distinct fromproduction andpost-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content starts being produced.

Pre-production formally begins once a project has beengreenlit. It involves finalizing the script, hiring theactors andcrew, finding locations, determining what equipment is needed, and figuring out thebudget. At this stage, finalizing preparations forproduction go into effect. Financing will generally be confirmed and many of the key elements such as principalcast members,director, andcinematographer are set. By the end of pre-production, thescreenplay is usually finalized and satisfactory to all thefinanciers and other stakeholders.

During pre-production, thescript is broken down into individual scenes withstoryboards and all the locations,props, cast members,costumes,special effects, andvisual effects are identified.^[1] An extremely detailedshooting schedule is produced and arrangements are made for the necessary elements to be available to the film-makers at the appropriate times. Sets are constructed, the crew is hired, financial arrangements are put in place and a start date for the beginning ofprincipal photography is set. At some point in pre-production, there will be aread-through of the script which is usually attended by all cast members with speaking parts, the director, all heads of departments, financiers,producers, andpublicists.

In themusic industry, pre-production is a process whereby a recording artist spends time creating and refining their musical ideas. The artist thus produces a song'sdemo recording, or rough draft, in order to establish the song's creative premise. This reduces the time and money spent in expensive studios. The goal is to enter into the major recording phase of production with the basic and most promising ideas having been already established.

Notable producers who preferred this process have includedBruce Fairbairn andBob Rock. They have both produced successful albums such asBon Jovi'sSlippery When Wet,Mötley Crüe'sDr. Feelgood,Metallica'sThe Black Album, andAerosmith'sPermanent Vacation.

• Casting (performing arts)
• Film budgeting
• Outline of film
• Movie production incentives in the United States
• Post-production
• Production board
• Production strip
• Screenplay (script)
• Screenwriting
• Video game development