Importance of Production co-ordinator in a Studio

By Amod Mantri - December, 13th 2013

 

Production Co-ordinators are the people who reports to producers and Production managers to schedule and decide the daily workings of entire production team. He is the person who ensures that the production team functions like a well oiled machine. They make sure that the artist has everything that he needs to complete a shot on time. They brief the crew about the production schedules, maintain logbooks of purchase order, answer phone calls, updates client about the progress of ongoing project. Production Co-ordinators work for long hours and the job is often stressful particularly during the final days of the project. Studios mostly hire production co-ordinator on freelance basis.

 

 

• Co-ordinate with the production team

Production co-ordinator is a point of contact for team members. Production co-ordinator will inform the timings and the place and changes in schedules and also pass on important information related to production. Travel, accommodation , equipments needed for a shooting are all arranged by production co-ordinator.

 

• Run the office

Studio always has a set of guidelines for every department.Production co-ordinator runs the office according to those guidelines. During the pre production stage, production co-ordinator will order for the supplies that are needed for production. Production Co-ordinator should be organized and efficient in offices to ensure that the office runs smoothly.

 

• Pre production

During pre production , Production Co-ordinator is responsible for following things:

1. Travel and Accommodation
2. Order Equipments for Production
3. Work permits and Visas
4. Insurance paperwork
5. Update client about progress

 

• Production

During the production phase , production co-ordinator will prepare the production sheets which will keep the track of entire production. During the production phase they are responsible for updating crew list, prepare and distribute schedules, prepare daily progress report, distribute scripts to the team.

Sometimes the crew needs to travel out of town to shoot particular scenes. Production co-ordinator will make arrangements for traveling. They also arrange accommodations by finding out the best deals that fits into the production budget.

 

• Wraping up

During the final days of production, Production co-ordinator works closely with production managers to ensure that production is wrapped up neatly without leaving any loose ends. During this phase ,production co-ordinator is responsible for returning the equipments, closing bank accounts, handling all the paperwork and ensure that it is easily accessible to those who want to access them at any given time.

A job of production co-ordinator is stressful, especially during the last week of production. Production co-ordinator should be a good team player and able to work calmly under pressure and constant supervision. They should always remain optimistic and able to motivate the team when they are not performing well. In large studio they may handle a team of 100 to 200 artists, so co ordinator should be socialable and approachable. Production co-ordinator should be able to anticipate problems that may arise and be able to formulate the solutions well in advance to ensure the production is not stalled.

 

• Efficiently juggle between tasks

As a production co-ordinator you work simultaneously with production managers and production team. If you don’t like paperwork,this job is not for you.

 

• Strong knowledge of spreadsheets and scheduling softwares

Entire day of production co-ordinator is spent on a computer preparing excel sheets and scheduling the shoots. They should be able to troubleshoot computer issues.

 

• Strong team leading skills

In large studios production co-ordinator has a team of assistants under him. In case of more work he delegates some of his work to the assistants and ensures that the work is done on time. He should have a kind attitude towards his juniors and should not treat them like a crap.

 

 

• Strong communication skills

As a production co-ordinator you must ensure that you are communicating with right people and getting right message to right people. There are no room for assumptions. Communication between yau and the team or a third party client should be crystal clear.

Apart from all this skills , production co ordinator should also have knowledge about Health and safety regulations and first aid.

 

• Qualifications

There is no specific degree program available for production co-ordinator. Studios mostly hire fresh graduates from film school with good communication skills as Production Assistant. A degree in any major will do if you are open to learning and adapt quickly. Degree in Business administration and human resources is an added advantage. One must take courses in MS Office and Scheduling software but it is not an essential criteria since most studios use their proprietary softwares.

Production Co-ordinator is a rewarding career as it allows you to work on incredibly exciting projects. It is a fun and a very demanding job. If you are passionate and love making motion pictures you will enjoy this job.Studios hiring fresh graduates from film school mostly offers salary ranging from Rs 10,000 to 15,000per month. Average salary with 3-5 yrs experience can go upto 5.5 lakhs per annum.Average Starting salaries in US can go upto $45000 per annum.

 

An incredibly rewarding career ,a role of Production Co-ordinator is not for faint hearted people. This job is very demanding and they often end up working for long hour. It can become stressful during the end of production where they have loads of work which actually tests your mental and physical strength. If you are passionate and self motivated , if you think you can do it, you will do really well as a production co ordinator.

If you have any questions and queries feel free to ask in comments below