Post production Coordinator

[Janis Huber]

Hi there,

What is the skillset a Post Pr. Coordinator should have?
What makes a good PP coordinator?

Interested in your opinion.

Cheers
J.

 

[Marc Wielage]

There's no good simple answer -- that requires a book.

In truth, I think you have to juggle the following:

• keeping track of schedules, so that deadlines are kept for all facets of editorial, visual effects, sound, and color correction

• keeping track of budgets, so that costs are kept under control

• checking every step to make sure the quality isn't compromised

• making sure the producers and director in charge are given the results they expect

• supervising the various vendors (rental companies, dailies operators, sound mixers, color-correction bays, visual effects suppliers) to make sure everything is done correctly and to spec

• carefully checking the final version of the project to make sure every cut is in the right place, the right version is being shipped, the correct audio channels are assigned to the right tracks, the titles are correct, the run time is correct, the files are named correctly, and everything is 100% checked in real time from start to finish

• making sure every facet of the deliverables contract is kept so that the distributor gets exactly what they ask for. Too often, producers forget to budget for things like pan/scan versions, textless versions, foreign mixes, promo mixes, TV-safe versions, and stuff like that, all of which are often necessary for certain distributors. I've seen deliverables contracts that were 12-13 pages long, filled with hundreds of individual items.


My joke is most post supervisors I've worked with just repeat "faster-faster-faster, cheaper-cheaper-cheaper, better-better-better" at every opportunity, like a mantra. My opinion is that a good post supervisor is there to save the production money, not cost money. The good post sups know how to push the project through and keep the gears going 24/7, while making sure the producer, the director, the studio, and the distributor are all happy.

 

[Janis Huber]

Thanks. I'll definitly look into the book.

 

[Marc Wielage]

Be warned that the book is about 10 years out of date and barely covers HD. But the basic principles are correct.