About the profession 

A Production Manager is often at the heart of any production. They are responsible for a lot of planning, such as scheduling shoots, arranging transport for talent and crew, and importantly, managing the budget of the production. The role is there to lay the administrative and logistical groundwork for a shoot to make sure everything is in place so everything can be filmed in the time frame. 

PMs have a huge responsibility in making sure a really complicated production runs smoothly. It’s important to know that there are two different types of PM, for scripted and unscripted productions. Production Managers for a scripted production would work on things like television dramas, and films, whereas an unscripted production could be something like a comedy panel show, or a documentary. A production manager is the next step after the entry-level position of a Production Management Assistant. 

About the industry

In production, we typically speak about three main areas: pre-production, production and post-production. Pre-production is where all the foundations of the project are laid before anything is filmed. Once all the planning is in place, it’s time to move on to the production phase of the project, which refers to the actual shooting of the film! The production team keeps crew and talent organised, on time, and at the right location (whilst all staying to budget). Post-production is where all the raw footage shot during production is organised, colourised, cut, and edited into coherent, emotive, and visually authentic sequences