Production coordinator

The job

You run the production office day to day: the office team, crew paperwork, suppliers, travel, and distribution of every script, schedule and call sheet. You're the logistics contact for most departments and for cast agents.

The production manager decides; you make it happen, and say when it won't. On a big show an APOC takes whole areas, such as travel or kit orders.

A typical day

In prep, it's bookings: crew starts, hotels for a location week, kit deliveries, insurance details for a hire.
On the shoot, it's reacting. A schedule change at lunch means rebooking cast travel, warning suppliers and updating the call sheet.
Check the call sheet with the 2nd AD before it goes out, then chase tomorrow's loose ends.
You're often the last to leave the office.

Skills

Running several problems at once without dropping any.
Clear, polite firmness with crew, suppliers and agents.
Strong spreadsheet and document control: versions, colours, distribution logs.
A working knowledge of contracts, insurance and health and safety paperwork.
Calm under late changes.

Who you report to

You report to the production manager, or the production supervisor on a big show. The APOC, production secretary, production assistants and runners report to you.

How people get in

Coordinators come up through the office: runner or PA, production secretary, then APOC. Most have several credits as APOC first. The Production Guild runs training for office grades. ScreenSkills publishes a skills checklist for the grade, which is useful for spotting gaps.

Next step up

Production supervisor on larger shows, or straight to production manager on smaller ones. The step needs a real grasp of the budget and the cost of each decision.

The production coordinator runs the office.