Feedback on Indie Sets: When Candor-Without-Cruelty Fails?

Hey everyone, I’m Ngozi Emeka, a working screenwriter. I’ve been thinking a lot about the Pixar Brain Trust model, 'candor without cruelty' feedback. It sounds ideal, right? Open and honest but always constructive. But I'm genuinely trying to wrap my head around how this translates to a fast-paced indie set, especially when you have established hierarchies or pre-existing friendships/romantic relationships within the crew and cast.

I’m currently writing a dark drama with a very tight schedule, and we had some early reads where feedback was...diplomatic, to say the least, even when things clearly weren't working. It felt like people were holding back to avoid stepping on toes or damaging long-standing dynamics. How do you push for that level of honest critique without it being perceived as an attack, or worse, becoming personal, when the lines are already blurred? When does the textbook 'candor without cruelty' just not work in that environment?