Film production describes the different stages—from the financing and scripting of a film to its final edit and, fittingly, the addition of production credits—that contribute to the construction of a movie. Film production is generally broken down further into three stages: preproduction, production, and postproduction. However, these stages often tend to overlap and blend into one another, especially in the age of digital filmmaking.

Preproduction describes the various efforts that occur before the actual filming of a movie begins—this includes financing, screenwriting, casting, location scouting, story-boarding, designing costumes, set building, and so forth. Key preproduction personnel include screenwriters, producers, casting directors, agents, art directors, set designers, and costume designers.

Production typically refers to the weeks or months spent actually shooting film on sets or location. Key personnel for this stage include the director, cinematographer, actors, sound mixers, stunt coordinators, camera operators, grips, electricians, carpenters, make-up artists, caterers, and dozens of other on-set assistants and crew members. Postproduction refers to processes that occur primarily after—but often also simultaneously with—principal photography and production, editing, sound mixing, and special effects like computer-generated imagery (CGI). Most Hollywood movies rely on hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals working in various capacities; even smaller “independent” films rely on multiple dozens of individuals. As Orson Welles once said, to create art “[a] poet needs a pen, a painter a brush, and a filmmaker an army.”