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Television Production & Broadcast Journalism
production manager:
The person who
handles the business
portion of the production
by negotiating the fees
for goods, services, and
other contracts and by
determining the staffi ng
requirements based
on the needs of each
production.
production assistant
(PA): The person
who provides general
assistance around the
studio or production
facility. The PA is
commonly hired to fi ll
a variety of positions
when key personnel
are sick, out of town,
working on another
project, or otherwise
unavailable. In many
facilities, the production
assistant position is
synonymous with the
assistant director (AD)
position.
and talent. The director guides their performance to create an acceptable
representation of his vision. During production, the director must coordi-
nate and manage the staff and cast to keep to the production schedule and
to ensure that all of the program’s elements are properly incorporated.
Very few people begin their career as a director. Becoming a good direc-
tor requires extensive experience. Most directors have worked their way up
from a production assistant and, therefore, know each job on the staff quite
well. That knowledge is key to communication with the staff and crew.
Production Manager
The production manager handles the business portion of the produc-
tion by negotiating the fees for goods, services, and other contracts, and by
determining the staffi ng requirements based on the needs of each produc-
tion. An additional responsibility is to ensure that programs and scripts
conform to established broadcast standards. The production manager con-
tributes to the successful completion of a production by managing the bud-
get and available resources.
Production Assistant
In many television production companies, the titles production
assistant (PA) and assistant director (AD) are interchangeable. However,
these position titles are not interchangeable in the fi lm industry. The PA
serves as a jack-of-all-trades, but is a master of none. In some facilities, the
PA is merely a “gofer.” In most facilities, however, the PA is hired to fi ll a
variety of positions when key personnel are sick, out of town, working on
another project, or otherwise unavailable. Most people begin their career
as a PA. From the PA position, motivated individuals can rise through the
ranks of a facility until achieving the position they want.
On a daily basis, the PA provides general assistance around the studio
or production facility. On the occasion that a staff position needs to be tem-
porarily fi lled, an ambitious PA should offer to perform the tasks of that
job. Competent performance will be noted by the production team and
remembered for subsequent opportunities.
Production Note
If there are several PAs in the company, it is vital that you volunteer
before someone else and take an active part in the advancement of your
career. A passive individual does not last long in a PA position—you must be
active and aggressive. When a qualifi ed person is in front of an
employer eagerly saying, “I am qualifi ed. I want to do the work.
Give me a chance to prove it,” why would the employer offer the
position to a wallfl ower who is too shy to speak up? Aggressive,
energetic, and enthusiastic go-getters populate this industry.
Instead of waiting long periods of time for a promotion at a company,
PAs who have acquired significant skills and experience typically choose to
move from company to company. This is the most common way to move up