Learning path · Production
The production office
How a production office runs: the PM and coordinators, runners, the paperwork that keeps a shoot legal, and basic health and safety admin.
Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course. This one prepares you for Production office and AD Foundation.
Lesson 1
A Day In The Life - Max, Production Coordinator, BBC
The Aldridge Foundation · 6:37 · original on YouTube
You will learn: See a day in the life of a BBC production coordinator.
Note: UK.
By the end you will be able to
- Explain who does what in the production office
- Work effectively as a runner on set and in the office
- Handle core paperwork: call sheets, purchase orders, deal memos and releases
- Write a basic risk assessment and understand production insurance
Test yourself
Could you do it on a set?
4 real situations, one for each thing this path teaches. It's optional practice, not pass or fail, and your answers stay on this device.
Next: do it for real
This path prepares you for Production office and AD Foundation.
How a production runs from office to floor: call sheets and schedules, breakdowns, paperwork and releases, locations, risk assessments and insurance in a UK frame, and floor running on the radio.
It's coming next: register interest and we'll tell you when it opens. Meanwhile, start with Day One.
How learning with FIF works
Learning path. Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course.
- Learn onlineFree films, paths and Academy coursesYou are here
- Competency checkA short check with us, online or in person
- In-person practicalOn our unit at Pinewood or 3 Mills
- FIF CertificateFrom the practical only
The FIF Certificate comes only from the practical. How it works · Book a competency check
Select Sessions: The Production Office | ScreenSkills & RTS ScotlandRoyal Television Society · Lesson1 h 16 min.
What's a Production Secretary? | Responsibilities, Skills, and SalaryBeyond Film School · Lesson15 min.
Hannah Campbell, Production Co-ordinator at AardmanScreenSkills · Lesson2 min.
#9: Mike Saxon, APOC - Mastering Production Roles: Communication, Discretion, and Problem-SolvingFilmmaking Framed · Lesson56 min.
The Film Production Coordinator | POC Responsibilities, Traits, and SalaryBeyond Film School · Lesson12 min.
Production Assistant Handbook | Win Your First Day on Setamaran · Lesson17 min.
Imogen Turner, Production Runner at Carnival FilmsScreenSkills · Lesson3 min.
What is a "deal memo" in the indie film business?Filmtracts · Lesson4 min.
The Three Parts of Film Production Insurance ExplainedFront Row Insurance Brokers · Lesson2 min.
Go further
Beyond YouTube, labelled honestly. Free first. Paid options are labelled.
- ScreenSkills online learning Free with sign-up
ScreenSkills. Free e-learning, including 'Getting into the screen industries' and safety modules. - The Production Guild Paid membership; training schemes vary
The Production Guild. UK production management training and networks. - HSE: managing risks and risk assessment Free
Health and Safety Executive. Official UK guidance and templates for risk assessment. - HSE: theatre, film and TV Free
Health and Safety Executive. Official UK safety guidance for film and TV production. - From script to screen: the production office Free with sign-up
ScreenSkills. How the office runs a production. - High-end TV scripted production paperwork Free with sign-up
ScreenSkills. The paperwork you will handle. - Screen Production Pathways: Production Intern Free (100% funded, placement paid)
NFTS. Funded route into the production office. - First Steps into Film and TV: Production Assistant Paid (£365; bursaries)
NFTS. Three-day course. - Production Coordinators Paid (£525)
NFTS. Three-day course. - Apprenticeship standard: Junior production coordinator (Level 4) Free to the apprentice (paid job; employer and government fund training)
Skills England. Shows what the apprenticeship covers; find live vacancies on Find an Apprenticeship. - Apprenticeship standard: Production assistant – screen and audio (Level 3) Free to the apprentice (paid job; employer and government fund training)
Skills England. Shows what the apprenticeship covers; find live vacancies on Find an Apprenticeship.
For learners and trainers
Every lesson is a free video by its original maker, played from YouTube with privacy-enhanced settings. Found a broken video? Email [email protected].