How to Make an Indie Film with 8‑Hour Days and On‑Set Childcare
“By prioritizing childcare and the eight‑hour days in the budget… that was untouched.”
'Another Happy Day'
In this episode of the No Film School Podcast, GG Hawkins speaks with writer-director-producer Nora Fiffer about her debut feature Another Happy Day, and how she achieved a rare feat in indie filmmaking: shooting on strict eight‑hour days while providing on‑set childcare.
The two explore how this family-friendly approach—driven by Fiffer’s own journey into motherhood—shaped every stage of production, from scheduling and budgeting to set morale and creative decision-making.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The personal impetus behind Another Happy Day—how motherhood inspired the story and production values
- Creating a collaborative, theater-informed mindset that fueled preparation and efficiency
- Concrete strategies for implementing eight‑hour shooting days and on‑set childcare as non-negotiables in budget and schedule
- How fewer setups, lean shot lists, and actor preparation maximized time and morale
- Using fixed creative constraints as generative tools—not limitations
- Securing talent like Lauren Lapkus, Carrie Coon, and Marilyn Dodds Frank through personalized writing and deep connections
- Pitching the film to investors with equity and inclusion baked into its DNA (childcare prominently featured, even in opening credits)
- The importance of making such practices visible to normalize them across the industry
- Lessons learned in post-production—how the same efficiency and clarity from production didn’t automatically carry over
- How Fiffer plans to carry this ethos forward in future projects
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This episode of The No Film School Podcast was produced by GG Hawkins.
