Sabotage!

It feels like spring. Finally a good night's sleep and no alarum clock neither. I was musing on the conditions of production of ALYCE and realised that there is one surprising element missing - one obstacle that we did not have to contend with - and that, remarkably, is SABOTAGE.
Strange as it may seem, I have not actually worked on a single (so-called) professional production, whether as director, script writer, technician or observer, where there was not a major element of sabotage involved.
This, in passing, is one of the wonderful things about Indie: no sabotage.
In case you think I'm succumbing to my own paranoia, I have reviewed most of the projects I fell into and come up with a confirmation. there is ALWAYS some person (if we can use that term) who sits inside the project and funnels all elements to their own advantage. Here I am citing specific persons on specific projects, no abstracts.
And of course, I am not referring to honest mistakes, misjudgements, lack of experience or even avoidable flaky f*** ups here. I am talking about deliberate acts of sabotage.
The personal assistant to a millionaire producer who deliberately cancelled meetings before deadlines to pout pressure on writers and directors who (because of the delay) didn't deliver; a writer who 'accidentally' met with a TV producer on a team project and rubbished four other writers, who were then 'let go', co-incidentally doubling the first writer's salary; a soundman who wasted two hours of a four hour shoot miking up a car, then blamed the re-wiring on the cameraman; the administrator who funnelled more than half the production budget into their own pocket, while the project almost collapsed due to lack of funds; a producer who buried a finished film because the director had begun an affair with the producer's female assistant; an actor who cut his hair drastically in between two days' shoots, thus making continuity impossible; another actor who did not turn up for the morning pick up because he had met a girl the previous night and 'forgot'; a producer who fired the editor mid-edit, thus wasting two months of production time.
The list goes on and on.
Why is this?
Film involves money and prestige. Film is a collective art. There are always people - especially in a reasonably efficient structure - who realise that however small their contribution may be, there will come a time or a stage when it is vital to that production. this is the time to 'make your presence felt', in the easiest way possible, by stopping the process.
The alternative, in less than streamlined collectives, is that some people feel useless, deadwood. And sabotage is a wonderful way to demonstrate to others that they are in fact necessary.
How to avoid this? And how have we avoided this so far? (Beware hubris).
One: make sure everyone involved really is involved, and knows they are involved.
Two: do not exploit people. Even if there is little money, make sure everyone's fed, kept warm (oops!) and looked after. Don't neglect even the young intern who gets the coffee. These things are IMPORTANT.
Three: do not hire the paranoid.
Four: if all else fails, it is the duty of the producer (or director - whoever spots it first) to shoot the buggers.
You don't have to actually kill them, you understand, just disable them long enough so that the film can be finished.
A shot to the knee is most effective.
Alright, treat all of the above as secret information and - as the poster suggests - 'Shhhh! The walls have ears!'.
Do svidanya.