Administrative Role

Research

Production Management 

The production manager is expected to oversee the production from start to finish making sure that the artistic vision can be reached within scheduled time and within the budget available. They can be seen as a bridge between the artistic team/directors and the production/technician departments.

Some of their 'Key Responsibilities' include: Budgeting/Financial Management, Crew Management, Safety Management, and Contracting/Procurement.

Alongside these they looked upon to give insight into certain aspects (mainly technical/production based) and make sure that communication between departments is running smoothly.

Budgeting/Financial Management

Production Managers are in charge of creating and tracking budget expenses in order to make sure the spending stays within parameters. They are also the ones who will work out and give each department their budget for that production - being wary that sometimes these budgets have to be adjusted further into the production.

Crew Management

They ensure that the company has the right people in place for every stage of the production. This can range from designers in the earlier stages to casual crew, technicians, and set construction teams moving towards get in/get out periods. They are also occasionally in charge of dispersing any potential conflicts within departments - anything significant enough to be raised to them.

Safety Management 

It is required of Production Managers to ensure a safe working environment throughout the production period. This includes planning for evacuations/fire drills, writing up or signing off on a full risk assessment for Get In/Get Out and Show Week along with any other time deemed necessary, and regularly checking that everything is being ran within HSE regulations.

Contracting and Procurement

Contacting and negotiating with contractors/suppliers is also part of their role as they are required to organize any potential hires/additional equipment that will be needed to ensure the production can go ahead on schedule.

Production Managers play one of the most essential roles within any production and without them it is likely productions would run a lot less fluently. It is worth noting that depending on the scale of the production determines whether a production manager is required or whether the role can be dispersed between the Stage Management Team.

Contextual Links

During the recent production of Sweeney Todd there were plentiful examples of these key points. For example, we contracted a Freelance Technician to come in and offer some extra support to the Sound Team, along with hiring some additional Sound an d Lighting Equipment in order to cover all needs. Some budgets also had to adjusted in order to make sure we would have everything we needed in order to build the set.