Television production coordinator

Television production coordinators are responsible for the administration, organisation and secretarial work involved in producing a television programme

As a television production coordinator, you may work on different kinds of programmes, such as news and current affairs, reality shows, soap operas, dramas and comedies. Alternatively, you may choose to specialise in one particular area.

You'll be responsible for setting up and running an office for the production, handling shooting schedules, casts lists, work permits, travel and accommodation arrangements and equipment supplies. You'll be involved at all stages of a project, working alongside everyone from the early stages until completion.

Job titles can vary, and you may, for example, be known as a television production assistant.

Responsibilities

As a production coordinator, you'll need to:

• type and distribute schedules or call sheets, and attend production meetings
• help to set up the production office with the necessary supplies
• type, edit, copy and distribute scripts
• arrange any necessary work permits
• organise travel arrangements for cast, crew and production executives
• organise accommodation for cast and crew
• source equipment and supplies
• assist cast and crew members, sometimes running errands for them
• run errands between the production office and other departments
• deal with accounts and expenses
• sort out enquiries and other paperwork
• set up relevant insurance cover and help with visas for cast and crew
• close accounts with suppliers and deal with surplus stock when the production is finished.

Depending on your role and the size and type of the production company, you may also be required to:

• check running orders and scripts
• keep track of timings during a programme
• set up pre-recorded material in the studio gallery
• prepare schedules, shot lists, logs and other paperwork for post-production.

Salary

• Many television production coordinators are freelance and are paid on a contract basis. Rates depend on the type of production and its budget, with pay at a suggested £22 to £28 hourly rate by the Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU).
• According to the Televisual Salary Survey 2017, the average salary for production coordinators is £30,600.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Working hours tend to be irregular, long and include travel. You'll most likely have to work shifts and weekends, depending on the production, often arriving first and leaving last.

Career breaks are possible, but time away from the industry can often result in missed opportunities.

What to expect

• The work is demanding, unpredictable and mainly contract based, which can impact on your lifestyle and make it difficult to plan ahead.
• Shoots take place in a range of settings including indoors in offices and studios, as well as outdoors on location in all weathers. The work may involve waiting around for long periods of time.
• The main source of production jobs are in London and the South East, and at MediaCityUK in Manchester at Salford Quays.
• Travel within a working day is common. Outside broadcasts (OBs) and location shoots may involve working away regularly or for fairly long periods of time, either in the UK or abroad.
• Overseas travel is also possible and production coordinators can spend short or long periods of time away from home.

Qualifications

This area of work is open to all graduates. You don't need a specific qualification to be a production coordinator, but the industry is very competitive and a degree in a media-related subject may be helpful.

To succeed in the television industry you need to be tenacious and enthusiastic. The ability to network is important, so that you can build up useful contacts that may lead to work opportunities.

A postgraduate course can help increase your practical skills, although it isn't considered essential. With media qualifications, it's always important to ask about accreditation by industry bodies, as well as opportunities for placements and using equipment.

Search for postgraduate courses in television production.

Skills

You'll need to have:

• excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• the ability to work effectively as part of a team and alone
• stamina, persistence, enthusiasm, motivation and a proactive manner
• the ability to remain calm and level-headed under pressure
• initiative, flexibility, adaptability, common sense and problem-solving skills
• sound administrative and organisational skills
• a good level of numeracy and fast, accurate word-processing skills
• the ability to prioritise and cope with last-minute changes (e.g. to scripts).

Work experience

Media experience is crucial. It's possible to gain experience from your course, university television unit or filmmaking society. Volunteering on a local community film project or your local hospital radio station, entering media competitions, applying for awards and building up a portfolio of work will all help.

Networking and persistence are vital for hearing about opportunities. You may need to contact companies a number of times to ask about work experience or jobs. The timing of your application and their recruitment needs will affect whether you're successful. Getting work experience within a production company or local TV station will give you the skills that employers require but will also allow you to find out about potential internal vacancies.

Keep an eye out for work experience placements at the BBC. They offer a limited number of work experience placements from time to time, but competition is fierce. Channel 4 also has various work experience and training schemes, including apprenticeships.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

Within the UK television industry, the main broadcasters include the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, and hundreds of cable and satellite broadcasters, such as Sky UK. Although many of the larger broadcasters make TV programmes themselves, they also use independent production companies for some of their shows.

Jobs with production companies are usually found in London and the South East but there are regional bases as well, such as BBC Cymru which has locations throughout Wales.

Hundreds of independent production companies, based mainly in London, mostly recruit freelancers. Many of these 'indies' belong to the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT).

Look for job vacancies at:

• BBC Careers
• Broadcastjobs.co.uk
• ITV Jobs
• Mandy.com
• Sky Jobs

Most vacancies are not advertised externally, so proactively sending CVs with covering letters, making regular follow-up calls, getting work experience and having contacts in the industry will make all the difference. You can make speculative applications and find contact details through resources such as:

• Kays
• KFTV
• The Knowledge

Professional development

You'll receive most of your training on the job by shadowing experienced television production coordinators and attending training sessions organised by the production company. In some companies, particularly larger ones, training opportunities are almost exclusively internally provided.

A variety of short courses (as well as HNDs, degree courses and diplomas) covering relevant creative media production topics are available. You can search for these at ScreenSkills - Courses.

Screenskills also has details of available funding, usually in the form of bursaries, designed to subsidise training for creative professionals.

Career prospects

The television industry is competitive, so it's likely you'll need to work your way up by starting out as a runner or trainee before moving into the role of production coordinator.

There is no structured route for career development and the fact that most production coordinators work freelance makes it even more unpredictable. Your career progression will depend on your networking skills, persistence and motivation, even during times of unemployment.

Success often comes through seizing opportunities, making a positive impression, having good contacts, and being in the right place at the right time. You need to show that you're constantly developing more skills and have picked up a lot of experience along the way.

You can progress to roles such as senior production coordinator or production manager, focusing more on financial management and handling budgets. You may also move into another role within TV such as:

• assistant director
• director
• floor manager
• producer
• unit manager
• location manager
• vision mixer.