What to Ask in Crew Interviews

Job interviews are notoriously poor predictors of performance. If you're a producer who's hiring, is there anything you can ask that will cut through the noise?

A feature I’m a producer on is nearing production. And lately, our team has been doing a lot of hiring. When considering different candidates, the biggest considerations have been A) past experience, B) recommendations from people we trust, C) the ability to work locally, and D) generally good vibes.

The audition scene in Mulholland Drive.

We’re fortunate that much of the crew will be composed of people the director has worked with in the past. But everyone else, of course, has required an interview. We’ve gone into these conversations with the knowledge that job interviews are notoriously poor predictors of performance. They’re small samples and we bring all sorts of biases to them. In helping to conduct more and more of them, I’ve been thinking a lot about what they can be good for and how to get the most out of them. What should you be looking for? What should you ignore? And what are good questions to ask?