Four productions are shooting in the same month. One is ahead of schedule, one has lost two days to rain, one needs an extra editor, and one has a camera package booked twice. The head of production sees all four cost reports on one desk and decides where people and money move. The head of production is responsible for how every production in the company is run.
What a head of production does
A line producer or production manager runs one production. The head of production sits above them and looks across all of them. Once a project is commissioned or a commercial is won, the head of production helps set the budget and schedule, agrees who will run it, and makes sure the company's standard processes are followed. Think of contracts, insurance, health and safety, crew deals and cost reporting.
During production they read the weekly cost reports from each show, ask questions when numbers move, and step in when a production runs into trouble. At the end they make sure each production delivers what the contract asks, on time, and that the final costs are closed.
Responsibilities
- Agree budgets and schedules for new productions with the producers
- Hire and support line producers, production managers and coordinators
- Set company standards for crew rates, contracts, insurance and safety
- Review cost reports across all productions
- Share resources such as kit, edit suites and staff between productions
- Handle problems that a single production cannot solve alone
- Check that each production meets its delivery requirements
How the role touches the budget
Directly and at company level. The head of production approves the budgets before they go to a broadcaster or client and watches the forecast on each production. They want to know whether each show will end on budget, how much contingency is left, and whether the company's fee is safe. They report that picture to the managing director and the financial controller.
How people become heads of production
Nearly always through the production office. People start as runners or coordinators, become production managers and line producers, and move into the company role once they have run many productions and know what goes wrong.
In TV and commercials
In a TV company the head of production often handles several series with long production periods and detailed broadcaster delivery rules. In a commercials production company the jobs are shorter and come in quickly through bids (fixed-price quotes to an advertising agency). There the head of production checks every quote before it goes out, assigns a commercials producer to each job, and compares the final cost with what was quoted, because any overspend comes out of the company's margin.