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Gillett, C., & Sheehan, J. (2017). The production manager’s toolkit: Successful production management in theatre and the performing arts. Routledge.

Irving, R., & Rea, P. (2013). Producing and directing the short film and video (p. xviii).

Mykhailiukova, A., & Antonivska, M. (2024). Management structure in the film industry. Socio-Cultural Management Journal, 7(1), 144–161. https://doi.org/10.31866/2709-846X.1.2024.304785

Stradling, L. (2010). Production management for TV and film: The professional’s guide (1st ed.). Methuen Drama.

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Understanding of my role & responsibilities

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Understanding of my role & responsibilities

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“THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD AND MYSTERIOUS ROLE IN THE FILMMAKING PROCESS IS THAT OF THE PRODUCER. WE’VE BEEN ASKED A HUNDRED TIMES, “WHAT DOES A PRODUCER ACTUALLY DO?” THAT HIS ROLE IS A MYSTERY TO MOST LAYPEOPLE IS NOT ALTOGETHER SURPRISING. THE PRODUCER’S POSITION IN THE FILM AND TELEVISION INNDUSTRY IS AMORPHOUS AND HAS VARYING DEFINITIONS. IN ADDITION, THE PRODUCER NEVER HAS THE SAME JOB DESCRIPTION FROM ONE PROJECT TO ANOTHER.”

(Irving & Rea, 2013)

My understanding of being producting manager was that it was my responsibility to co - ordinate & over - see departments to ensure a smooth collaboration throughout the entire production, as well as, schedulling, budgeting and logistics, and being a person anyone can contact in need of anything.

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In terms of the technical teams - lighting, sound and cinematography, they were all extremely organised and responsive. With each of these departments carrying out practical research before production and taking into consideration Khieng's shot list and equipment list.

They used a minimal amount of budget, and only use it for absolute necessities - for example, the batteries to allow for a smoothly run shoot each day.

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I spent most of my time on and off set with the AD's , checking over to-do lists and schedules, ensuring that we were consistently collaborating and moving from one task to the next.

It was important to do this so we could keep a balance of creativity and logistics in mind.

We often discussed call times and schedule changes, as they spoke to Khieng and spent more time with the actors, and we could pass information onto the crew. This system seemed to work well.

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Our production team is made up of Florrie and I as production managers, 4 Production Assistants & 2 Production Coordinators.

Having this team allowed Florrie and I to delegate tasks that were not (at the time) a priority to us as managers.

A few of these tasks involved - sending out allergy forms & planning for catering, progress tracking, attendance keeping, allocating department heads, following up on any missing responses & social media marketing.

As a team we were always succesful and they were always there to help us on what we needed doing (some more than others).

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Working with Hair, Makeup, Costume, Props & Set Dressing

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Working with Hair, Makeup, Costume, Props & Set Dressing

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One of the most significant hurdles I faced was collaborating with the costume department.

Prior to production, I attempted to communicate with all departments about the expectations for the shoot, which was also repeated by other members of the production team.

I requested a detailed costume breakdown, including links to what they need to buy for the budget, images for inspiration and a colour palette for each character per scene.

The response I received was extremely brief with none of the specifics that I asked for included.

Because of this, I had had little to relay to the cast and nothing aligned with the characters or any other departments vision.

I even stressed early in pre-production that it might be a good idea to contact the wardrobe department for an appointment, as they are usually open to collaborating; however, all the wardrobe department was utilised for was the cleaners' uniform.

Several actors were left in the dark with their costumes and were left to find their own pieces last minute. I believe there was an overall lack of co-ordination in the costume department which therefore impacted morale.

This also extended to punctuality & attendance issues, in contrast to the availability we were provided with.When it came to one of the days on production, I was asking around departments, ensuring everyone had what they needed for the next day on set. One of the actresses told me they hadn't been. provided with a weather-appropriate costume as it was going to be 25 degrees, and the shoot was all day.

After expressing their concern to me, I told them to send over any ideas they might have based off what they had been given by costume already and that we could work something out together.

In terms of the props and set dressing department. There was also a lack of coordination and communication. I recall asking for a moodboard and received no response or any effort to be coherent with other departments.

Furthermore, on set, I asked a member from this department why they did not have sufficient materials to create the set look that Khieng wanted. The crew member explained how they asked another member of this department to purchase a certain amount of cloths, but they ordered less than what was required.

After this, I explained how if thise issue arises again, that they should ask me for help and I can request help of others or we could find our own materials together.

On a more positive note, the hair and makeup department team was highly efficient.

Very early on in pre-production, Niamh, a member of the hair and makeup department, submitted a detailed budget sheet of what she needed as well as proactively sourced her own equipment whilst keeping in our set financial constraints.

Additionally, when I aked for a moodboard, it was provided immediately and served as a valuable visual aid for their department.

Hair & makeup also conducted patch tests and were responsive to directors feedback, whislt being considerate of the actors well being.

In conclusion, when I came to managing these departments, hair and makeup definitely stood out for being resourceful and organised as well as respectful of the schedule.

When struggling to work with other departments, their contribution made everything rn a bit smoother,

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One of the intial stages of pre-production was the casting process. I wanted to get a stronger sense of what the assistant directors and Khieng expected from the actors and characters themselves, knowing this would allow me to contribute to the establishment of the director's vision. I discussed with the AD's what their interpretation of the script and characters was prior to the auditions also.

The audition process seemed a bit chaotic to me at first. I thought that it was more of a rehearsal than actually grasping a sense of each actor as everyone was in one room together.

I found myself taking notes and reminding Khieng of the time so we could stay on schedule. After making some notes, I then suggested why don't we (AD's, Florrie & Khieng) discuss what we have seen already and then have a couple of callbacks if we have the time. Everyone agreed to this and it definitely gave us a clearer idea of what each character and we even ended up changing our minds.

After this, I knew it was pertinent ot move on to the next phase of pre - production. Now that our casting was secured, Khieng announced the casting and Florrie and I began to delegate tasks to the production team.

Actor consent forms were ready to be sent off and signed, we wanted to ensure that all actors were fully informed of their involvement in the production, keeping in line with ethics.

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"The management structure is not the same at all stages of film production, so it must be adapted to each individual stage. Film production is a long and complex process that, despite the diversity of genres, subjects and stories, has a set of step-by-step instructions to follow."

(Mykhailiukova & Antonivska, 2024)

Various issues came up prior to production such as Location change & accessing permits, lack of communication from costume department and within hair & makeup, budget increase, the weather forecast did not look promising for outside shoot days, limited time in general, script changes that not everyone was aware of etc.

To adapt and avoid these problems, I communicated with the production team and looked over the progress tracker.

I discussed the location problem with the location team and we weighed up the pros and cons of changing the beach shoot from Formby Beach to St Annes. I explained how it would be more ideal for moving equipment due to where parking is located and that obtaining a permit from Fylde county council could be easier.

In terms of the weather forecast concerns, the location team, production team , Ad's, Khieng and Florrie and I went over the schedule draft, availibility and discussed the idea of a back up day to reduce reshoots and any delays.

Communication is such a crucial part of planning, and coherence with each department was becoming a struggle. As Florrie, the production team and I were struggling to get a hold of costume, I suggested a progress tracker in a shared file. Florrie agreed and we delegated this task onto our production co-ordinator. I then announced that everyone should allocate a department head by the end of the day and send this over to us so we can obtain information quicker from a spokesperson. This was on week 2 of pre - production.

At times, information from Khieng would not always reach each department as we were on a time limit this had to be changed. After the AD's held meetings with Khieng we held meetings with them and discussed with the production team what we then expected off the cast and crew.

In temrs of coherence of ideas, I noticed that departments may not be working towards the same vision. To tackle this I sent out a message on teams instructing each department to create a vision board so that we were keeping in line with the expected tone of the film and with each department.

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Collaborating with team in pre-production

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Collaborating with team in pre-production

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In order to effectively collaborate with cast & crew I held meetings with Florrie and the Ad's to check through to-do lists and expectations we all had in order to set deadlines and delegate tasks. We also employed shared documents like availability forms and attendance forms to prep for production scheduling.

Private teams channels were created to streamline information, and I delegated the task of allocating a spokesperson for each department down to the Production coordinators as well as the task of frequent check-ins with cast and crew to ensure everyone adhered to deadlines.

Finally, I aimed overall to foster a more frequent environment to work in by letting all members of the cast and crew know that if they need anything, I am willing to help.

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Demonstrating professional standards in pre - production

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Demonstrating professional standards in pre - production

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“DURING THIS PHASE, YOU WILL PREPARE CIRTUALLY EVERY ELEMENT FOR THE FILMING PROCESS. DECISIONS MADE DURING THIS TIME ARE THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH EVERYTHING ELSE IS BUILT.”

(Irving & Rea, 2013)

As Production managers, cast and crew are reliant on us to demonstrate professional standards.

To do this it was important to adhere to and set deadlines in order to keep pre-production timeline intact. Encourage punctuality, keeping attendance and logging availability. Abiding by risk assessments, allergy forms and consent forms to ensure safety, well-being and legal clarity of the production, aswell as assisting with planning and ethical responsibilities.

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During, production, I faced some problems getting to set due to external factors. Despite this, I made it my priority to remain fully engaged in the production by communicating proactively with the team to ensure I kept updated.

Although I was not always physically present on set every day, I always sought out updates through teams, emails and WhatsApp. This allowed me to be prepared for my next responsibilities, and that all work would not fall on Florrie, the production assistants or production coordinators.

While I was unable to attend everyday due to commuting challenges and medical issues, I consistently alerted AD's of any known abscences in advance so the schedule and call sheets were not effected and they could allow for the appropriate amount of crew.

In terms of my time off set, I used this time to prepare for any upcoming tasks, reviewing any production schedules or plans and assisting remotely with logistical coordination.

Overall, I aimed to ensure my abscence had no negative impact on the progression of filming.

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I consistently checked in on the cast and crew when they were busy on set to make sure no task went missed and incase they needed anything. I aimed to act as a point of contact throoughout production so if any problems needed solving, I would be there to do it.

There came a point in production when attendance of PA's was not up to standard, so I stepped in where necessary. I took on various PA duties even if it wasn't in my immediate role. I found myself collecting random necessities, such as cardboard for the Athena poster to lie on, markers for the clapper board, and ensuring props and set pieces were where they needed to be, when last-minute adjustments were required. I also assisted with carrying equipment to take the workload off other busy members of the crew.

I followed up with the costume department when items or fittings were delayed, ensuring actors had the right outfits for the scenes.

My goal on set was to stay proactive and take on a variety of tasks so I could ensure production ran smoothly, keeping everything on track and minimising disruptions or delays.

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"Budgeting is the key to production management, because along with scheduling it forms the heart of the job. Having a realistic schedule and a budget that more or less matches it will mean that you set off on your project with a reasonable chance of getting it made on time and for the right money."

(Stradling, 2010)

From the start of pre-production, Florrie and I wanted to make it clear that we intended to keep costs to a minimum to allow for any unforeseen issues to have money if needed. Therefore, as soon as we received a script breakdown for the directors, we asked everyone to send us a breakdown of what they needed with links, etc and asked for regular updates on anything else they required that came up during production.

After looking over department requests, I noticed that people were noting down a lot of items that could be sourced ourselves. At the end of the meeting on Week 2, I read out a list of these items, giving people the opportunity to volunteer their own belongings. This ended up cutting £50 off the budget quite early on.

After this, cast and crew ended up getting into the habit of utilising their belongings, benefiting the budget overall, allowing space for travel expenditure and any other issues.

Florrie and I urged people to order what they needed on time as well as running what they would be purchasing by us first so we could approve that amount of the budget. It was important we set deadlines for this and stress that reimbursements would not be immediate so that there would be no confusion or conflict.

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Working with the location department was not difficult at all, as they:

Used a minimal amount of budget for location-related expenses

Communicated with the production team and directors effectively, providing regular updates through teams and at meetings

Adapted well to any script changes

Always took travel duration and accessibility into consideration

Made scheduling and crew organisation easier

Always completed risk assessment on time, therefore complying with ethics and well-being

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In conclusion, I would say that Cloths of Heaven was an ultimately successful production, despite any creative differences and challenges surrounding certain departments.

As a crew we stayed on course and met our objectives, yes there might have been areas were things could have gone smoother but there is always room for improvement on every film set and I think we did our best with what we had.

For my next project, I inted to immerse myself further in the prodoction and not be shy to instruct others as a manger, although I do believe I showed a significant amount of leadership where I felt it was appropriate. Overall, this production was a valuable experience and provided me with plenty of learning for future projects.

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Intro to production and Initial thoughts

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Intro to production and Initial thoughts

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Initially, when i was allocated the role of producted manager I was quite overwhelmed, as I had producing expierience but never of this size of cast and crew. I quickly realised that the organising, collaborating and communicating would be a difficult balancing act. However, I do believe that Florrie and i , in communication with the AD's (James and Ella) along with the help of some of the PA's and Pc's were off to a good start.

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Receipt Example for Budgeting Reimbursements

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Receipt Example for Budgeting Reimbursements

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Receipt Example for Budgeting Reimbursements

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Receipt Example for Budgeting Reimbursements

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In post- production I was not present physically, I made sure to check in often with the editing department head, Aofie, to oversee quality control and the end credits. Khieng also provided everyone with updates and footage so I was about to stay in the know.

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"Simply put, it is the ability to manage a production—from beginning to end. But it’s not just the physical production—it’s the people, the resources, the facility, the money, the calendar, the temperaments, the list could go on. It is the ability to make sure the project happens on time, on budget, safely and with everyone still speaking to each other at the end."

(Gillett & Sheehan, 2017)

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My plan going forward after pre-production was to:

Track expenditure by checking everyone's requests on the budget shared doc and their receipts.

Develop the production schedule if needed and ensure the crew meets any set deadlines by looking at the progress tracker.

Continue to facilitate communication between directors, cast and crew.

Manage the production team and assist with marketing/catering.

Guarantee all appropriate equipment, materials, props and catering are available on set.

Provide any required feedback to cast, crew and editors as well as quality control.