
Production Management for Film and Television
- Course overview
- Recent credits and successes
- What you will study
- Fees & funding options
- Showcase
- Entry requirements
- How to apply
Location Beaconsfield
Duration One year
Commitment Full-time
Next intake September 2021
Application deadline 06 May 2021
Scholarships available
Begin your applicationOverview
This practical Postgraduate Diploma course is designed to give budding production managers a head start to launch a career in film or TV production.
“I wish this course had been around when I started as a Production Manager, as I would have made a lot less mistakes!” Sue Vertue, Producer of Sherlock.
What does it take to be a Production Manager? Someone who can multi-task, be dynamic, communicate well and stay calm under pressure; is creative with budgets but keeps an eye on the bottom line; who knows enough about health and safety to protect the cast and crew but not detract from getting the right shot; who knows about the best locations at the best price – and who knows production from start to finish. Our graduates are extremely sought after to fill exciting positions from entry level to senior production positions.
We believe the best way to prepare for a career in production is to learn the essential skills and put them straight into practice, working to industry standards using professional processes, software and systems on real productions. This unique course combines taught sessions with extensive hands-on production management of our award-winning short drama films, animations, documentaries, live and multi-cam TV shows. Production Managers at NFTS collaborate across the many departments on several productions, filmed on location and in our studios at NFTS, on 16mm and digital formats to experience setting up many different types of shoots.
Working to industry standards and with the full production budget costs and equipment provided by NFTS, you get to focus on managing the production and working closely with the creatives - there’s no better way to hone your production skills.
Delivered in partnership with the BBC and working with leading industry partners, the course aims to give students the specialist knowledge and practical work experience needed for a successful career.
A 10-day work experience placement is included and previous students have enjoyed placements at Eon, Carnival Films, IMG, Neal Street Productions, Hartswood Films, Endemol, Bedlam Productions, Kudos, Keo, BBC Studios, Renegade, World Productions, See Saw Films, and Revolution Films.
Graduates have gone on to work successfully on award-winning productions. Recent credits include Killing Eve, Silent Witness, The Crown, Call the Midwife, Mary Poppins Returns, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Dunkirk, Doctor Strange, Jason Bourne, Spectre, Wonder Woman, The One Show, Mowgli, Sherlock Gnomes, Paddington 2, Black Mirror, The South Bank Show, The Doctor Who Gave up Drugs, Catastrophe, and many more.
All NFTS students can attend Masterclasses. Recent guests include David Fincher (Fight Club), Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave), Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Ben Wheatley (Free Fire), Rapman (Blue Story), Louis Theroux, Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone), Denis Villeneuve (Bladerunner 2049), Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), Sam Mendes (1917), Asif Kapadia (Senna), Joanna Hogg (The Souvenir), Russell T Davies (Doctor Who) and Rebecca O'Brien (I, Daniel Blake).
This course is industry recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK's screen-based industries, and carries the ScreenSkills Select quality-mark which indicates courses best suited to prepare students for a career in the screen industries.
The NFTS wants to encourage applications from the brightest and best talent out there, whatever your background. That’s why we have made scholarship funding available for this course – find out more here. Two scholarships are also generously provided for this course by Sargent-Disc.
Recent credits and successes
What you will study
This course combines practical experience on fiction films, documentary, animation, commercials and TV Entertainment shows with intensive training sessions taught by industry professionals.
Specialist workshops cover a range of relevant topics across many genres of production, including Setting up a shoot, Health & Safety, Budgeting and cost reporting, contracts and legals.
Specifically students will learn about:
- Budgeting on Movie Magic and Excel
- Contracting cast and crew and the Union Agreements
- Setting up a production in a studio and on location
- Copyright
- Production Paperwork
- Production logistics and planning
- Health and Safety and Risk Assessments
- First Aid
- How to use relevant industry software (e.g Silvermouse, Movie Magic and Final Draft)
- Child Licensing
- Location Management
- Production Insurance
- Scheduling a shoot, including using Movie Magic Scheduling
- Cash Flow and Cost Reporting
- Filming overseas
- Wrapping a shoot and Delivery Paperwork
- Post Production
- Management and leadership
- Preparation for the industry - working freelance, preparing a CV, networking
Download programme specification (PDF)
Head of Department
The course is run by Head of Production Management Bex Hopkins who has worked in film and television production since 1999. Her short films have won BAFTA nominations and won many festival prizes including the LFF Turner Classic Movie Best Short Film award and BAFTA nominations. Credits include Nits, Lucky, Mad, Sad and Bad and Cross My Heart.
Current or Recent Tutors
Recent visiting tutors include Paul Sarony (Show Dogs, Juliet, Naked, Youth, Vampire Academy); Elena Rubio-Hall (Black Narcissus, Sanditon, Humans, Unforgotten); Chiara Ventura (Containment, Alice Through the Looking Glass); Louise Malin (A.D. the Bible Continues, Titus); Shanet Lewis (The Party, Alleycats, Chasing Robert Barker); Tina Jaffray (Blue Peter, Dick and Dom in Da Bungalow, Weakest Link); Ben Green (Rights Negotiation Specialist, previously Head of Rights Business Development at BBC); Sara Putt Associates; Suzie Frize-Williams, (Jamanji: Welcome the Jungle, The Mummy, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Assassin's Creed); Julian Hamlin (Head of Music at Mentorn Media); Lucy Drake (Our Girl, Holby City, Spooks, Silent Witness,); Athena Sammy (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Batman, Wonder Woman 1984, Spider-Man: Far From Home); Tiago Petrica (Killing Eve, Containment, The Time of Their Lives);.
Showcase
Every year, our students work on a number of short films and TV shows, as well as documentaries, animations and games.
Entry requirements
You will be well-organised, effective under pressure, resourceful, problem-solver, computer-literate, financially-minded and have good leadership skills. You will probably already have some experience in the film or TV industry, perhaps as a runner, PA, or in the production office, or you may have completed a degree in filmmaking. You may also have a background in business/financial management, or a job with transferable skills and be looking for a career change.
While many applicants will have a degree from a British or overseas university, we will consider applicants who do not have a degree if they have an impressive portfolio, a creative track record or an alternative qualification.
If you are not an EEA National, you must already be in possession of a UK visa valid for the duration of this course. We are unable to accept your application if you do not.
If you have any questions, please email info@nfts.co.uk.
How to apply
Application deadline: 06 May 2021
Applicants must supply the following:
- Please tell us of an event/production/gathering that you have organized. Include information on whether you had a budget and if so how successful you were in keeping to it; what preparation you did and what you would have done differently. No more than two pages (A4 paper)
Applications open 4th January 2021.
We are happy to receive applications from 4th January until the midnight of the application deadline date.
Begin your application