Production Management

“I turned to my Line Producer and we nearly cried”: inside the logistical whirlwind of Production Management

A collage of three pictures: Squid Game soldiers watch the contestants on a vast array of screens, Betty races across a beach and an Arctic wolf stands still on Ellesmere Island

Take the Production Management category at the RTS Craft & Design Awards. The 2024 nominees were Squid Game: The Challenge, Race Across the World and Planet Earth III. How exactly do you build a set big enough for 456 people to play a game of ‘Red Light, Green Light’, and then deliver those 456 people to the start line? Or plot a racing course over 14,000km through seven different countries, while employing a crew agile enough to change course according to the whims of your contributors?

Production Management: Have You Got What It Takes? | RTS Futures Careers Fair 2022

Are you a problem solver? Do you like a challenge? Do you like making things happen? Have you got what it takes to be in Production Management?

Production Management is an exciting career path in television production which can take you from live studio shows to big sporting events, from finely crafted documentaries to children's animation, from blockbuster dramas to international formats. It's a pivotal role in any production which requires creative and dynamic thinking and the tenacity to achieve a brilliant end result, safely, on budget and with a smile on your face!

Production management: More than just an admin role

Raise the Roof Productions head of production Sandy Robertson defined the role: ‘The production management team ensures that a production gets made safely, on budget and on time.… Usually it’s office-based, as opposed to on location. 

‘Every industry has admin roles but, within television and the creative sector, it’s just so much more fun. It’s enriching… so, although you are doing what is often kind of seen as quite a dull, uninspiring, logistical, admin role, it’s fun.’