At ten at night the schedule changes because rain is forecast for tomorrow. Within the hour, eighty crew members, six actors and two drivers have a new call sheet in their inbox, the hotel knows two rooms are needed a day longer, and the caterer has a new address. That is the work of the production coordinator, the person who runs the production office and keeps information flowing.
What a production coordinator does
The production coordinator works for the production manager and starts in pre-production, often when the office is still empty desks and a printer. They set up phone lists, crew lists and contact sheets, book travel and accommodation, and keep track of which contracts and forms have come back signed.
Once filming starts, the coordinator becomes the link between the set and everyone else. They distribute the call sheet (the daily document that tells everyone when and where to be) prepared by the second assistant director, handle script changes, arrange shipments and answer the many questions that land in the office every day. On large productions there is also an assistant production coordinator.
Responsibilities
- Set up and run the production office, its systems and its supplies
- Keep the crew list, contact list and distribution lists up to date
- Send out call sheets, schedules, script revisions and other documents
- Book flights, hotels and travel for cast and crew
- Track contracts, start forms and other paperwork until it is complete
- Arrange courier shipments, deliveries and returns of equipment
- Manage the production assistants in the office
How the role touches the budget
Indirectly. The coordinator rarely decides how much is spent, but books a lot of it, from flights and hotels to couriers and office supplies. Those bookings usually go through a purchase order approved by the production manager, and the receipts go to the production accountant. A coordinator who books early and keeps receipts in order saves real money and a lot of questions at the end of the month.
How people become production coordinators
Almost always via the production office. People start as a production assistant or office runner, become assistant coordinator and then coordinator. The job asks for calm under pressure, good organisation and a long memory for names and numbers. Many coordinators later move on to production manager.
In TV and commercials
In television the same work often sits with a production coordinator or production secretary, sometimes covering several programmes at once. At a commercials company the jobs are short, so the coordinator moves quickly from one shoot to the next and works closely with the commercials producer.