Careers A–Z · Production
Production coordinator
The production coordinator runs the production office. If the unit is a machine, you are the part that gets the right people, kit and paperwork to the right place on the right day.
It is the least visible grade with the most immediate consequences when it goes wrong.
The basics
Also known as, and where the grade sits.
| Production coordinator | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Production coordinator. Assistant production coordinator is the grade below. |
| Level | Mid, heading the production office under the production manager. |
| Reports to | The production manager and the line producer. |
| Comes after | Production assistant or assistant production coordinator. |
| Leads to | Production manager, then line producer. |
The job
What does a production coordinator do?
You crew up alongside the production manager, issue deal memos and start paperwork, book travel and accommodation, manage kit hires and carnets, and keep the distribution of every document under control.
You are the switchboard between departments, cast, agents, suppliers and the office, and the person who knows where everybody is on any given morning.
The unglamorous end: constant interruption, other people’s emergencies, and long office hours that start before the unit call and finish after wrap.
The requirement
What is a production coordinator good at?
Systems, calm and a memory for detail across dozens of moving parts.
Systems thinking
Processes that survive a script revision at midnight.
Prioritisation
Three urgent things, correctly ordered, without visible panic.
Negotiation
Suppliers, hotels, hire houses and agents.
Confidentiality
Contracts, rates and personal data all pass through you.
Precision
A wrong date on a movement order costs a shooting day.
Kit
Tools of the trade.
| What | The actual items |
|---|---|
| Production software | Movie Magic, Scenechronize, Yamdu, and payroll systems such as Sargent-Disc. |
| Documents | Crew lists, deal memos, start forms, movement orders, insurance and carnets. |
| Finance | Purchase orders, hire agreements, petty cash and cost reporting to the accountant. |
| Communication | Distribution lists, shared drives, and version control everybody follows. |
| Logistics | Travel and accommodation bookings, transport, and the contingency for all of it. |
The unit
Who does a production coordinator work with?
| Who | What passes between you |
|---|---|
| Production manager | Budget lines, crewing and the running of the office. |
| 1st AD | Schedule changes, and what they mean for travel and kit. |
| Heads of department | Orders, hires, crew and paperwork. |
| Accounts | Purchase orders, invoices, coding and cost reports. |
| Cast, agents and suppliers | Contracts, travel, and the tone of the whole production. |
Routes in
How do I become a production coordinator?
A grade that people reach from the office, from the floor, and from outside the industry.
From the floor
ADs and runners with good administration cross into the office.
Project management
Logistics, events and project managers transfer with the core skills intact.
Facilities and rental
Hire desk and studio office work teaches the same paperwork.
A degree is not required. Production offices hire on competence, references and whether you can be trusted with confidential material.
The route in is usually somebody who has already seen you handle a busy week.
Nearby
The grades either side of this one.
The office, the floor and the money are three views of the same day.
Production department guide
The paperwork, the office, the published rates and the free route through all three.
Never been on a set? Start here. Offered a first day? Read this first. Want to know where this grade leads? Where people have gone names people who trained here and the productions they went to.
