Thirty seconds to air. A guest has lost his microphone pack, the studio audience is still settling and the presenter wants to know where to stand for the opening. The floor manager fixes all three, counts down with five fingers and points at the presenter as the show begins. The floor manager is the director's eyes, ears and voice on the studio floor.
What a floor manager does
During a studio programme the studio director sits in the gallery, away from the studio. The floor manager wears a headset and is in the studio itself. They pass on every instruction from the gallery to the people who cannot hear it. They cue the presenter, give time signals, move guests into place and tell the audience when to applaud. Before recording they walk everyone through the running order and the positions on the set.
The floor manager is also in charge of the floor itself. They make sure cables, scenery and lights are safe, that guests are in the right place at the right time, and that the studio is quiet when it needs to be. In a large show they lead a team of floor assistants and work closely with the camera operators.
Responsibilities
- Relay the director's instructions to presenters, guests and audience
- Give cues, countdowns and time signals during the show
- Brief contributors and the audience before recording
- Keep the studio floor safe and clear during moves and set changes
- Manage floor assistants and, on location, local helpers
- Report problems on the floor to the gallery straight away
- Keep the studio running to the timetable of the day
How the role touches the budget
No budget responsibility, and little influence on cost. Floor managers are usually freelance or staff, booked by the day or by the series, and their fee is a line in the production budget. They do not manage money. Where they make a difference is time. A floor manager who keeps the audience and guests moving can save an hour of studio time, and on a booked studio day overtime is expensive.
How people get into the role
The usual route is runner or floor assistant, then assistant floor manager, then floor manager. Some come from theatre stage management, which has much in common with the job. A calm manner, a loud voice when needed, and the confidence to direct famous people politely are the main skills.
In the US and on location
In the US the same job is usually called stage manager. On outside broadcasts and live events the floor manager works in the open, often with a crowd, and safety and crowd control become a bigger part of the role. On a film set, the first assistant director does a similar job of running the floor, but for a single camera and over a longer day.