TV or film production manager

During the planning stages of a production, you may:

• work with the producer and senior production staff
• draw up a production schedule and budget
• negotiate costs with suppliers
• hire crew and contractors
• approve bookings of resources, locations, equipment and supplies
• arrange permissions and risk assessments
• manage a production office team

During filming, you could:

• make sure the production runs to schedule
• control and monitor production spending
• report on progress to the producers
• deal with any problems during filming
• make changes to the schedule or budget, like rescheduling filming in bad weather
• make sure that health and safety rules, insurance terms, copyright laws and union agreements are followed

• knowledge of media production and communication
• the ability to organise your time and workload
• excellent written communication skills
• leadership skills
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to use your initiative
• to be flexible and open to change
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• a college course
• an apprenticeship
• working towards this role
• a broadcaster's training scheme

You could work on freelance contracts for television broadcasters or independent production companies and negotiate better fees based on your experience and reputation.

You could open your own studio or move into working as an executive producer, where you'll be responsible for several productions at once.