Hi! I’m Jo Henriquez

I’m a Producer and Studio Executive. Throughout my career I’ve Production Managed, Line Produced, Produced, Executive Produced or overseen projects as an Executive with budgets both big and small, independent films as well as studio films.

Why share everything?

I created this site because I felt firsthand how overwhelming and daunting it can be for a starting filmmaker to get their first feature film off the ground. After having attended three different film schools, I still felt lost trying to put together my first feature. It’s overwhelming when you’ve never done it before. There’s a lot of stuff that get in the way. First and foremost, not knowing where to start the process of breaking down, scheduling, budgeting and planning the shoot properly. On my first few projects, I didn’t know where to start or how to best organize my steps.

That’s why I decided to make all of the resources, tools and information I’ve acquired over the last few years available to starting filmmakers to help you be one (big) step ahead of the game. I’m sharing the same exact templates, checklists, organizational tools as well as production tools I personally use on every production, so that these will help you organize & simplify your productions, and help you tackle the challenge with more confidence.

My backstory

I went to way too many film schools. I attended 3x NYFA High School programs, I received a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and then an MFA from the American Film Institute Conservatory, and I still felt I didn’t really know how to produce a feature film. I learned a LOT from these institutions, don’t get me wrong, but film schools just don’t teach everything you need to know to get your first feature made.

I didn’t know how to properly schedule and budget a feature; account for fringes and overtime; how to open, manage or budget for an LLC; I had no idea how to handle payroll or figure out hourly rates for people; I didn’t know what Worker’s Comp was; I was afraid I was violating federal and state laws that I didn’t know existed; and then when crew members were asking me about W-2s, I didn’t even realize that was something I need to provide! It got a little overwhelming! So I studied every resource I could, collected every useful tool I could, interviewed mentors and producers a few years ahead of me, and last but not least I learned by trial and error (and some crash and burns – it happens!)

After a few years of this, what I came out with was a very succinct system of organization that I call my Production Bible along with a folder full of tools and cheat sheets I constantly use to help me set up each and every production, no matter how big or small. It just makes it all so much easier.

What I learned along the way

I really like a quote by Sun Tzu in the Art of War where he writes:

Management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization.

While Sun Tzu was talking about warfare, the principals definitely translate to a film production. I’ve learned that now, managing a 150-person crew with a budget in the 8 figures, is the same as managing my student short films. In fact, if I can be completely honest, my short films back then felt more overwhelming than the productions with 1000x the budget now. And that’s for one reason only: I got better at organization.

Before this site, I really only shared my resources with those closest to me. Having seen the value it brought them, inspired me to share my resources with everyone else. So dive right in! You can get my Production Bible by clicking on this page, the Tools I use constantly are in the FPB Tools page, and you can find my MUST READ books that have helped me tremendously and the online resources I go back to every time on my Resources page!