What does a
Production Company Do?
The
production company may be directly responsible for fundraising for the
production or may accomplish this through a parent company, partner, or private
investor. It handles budgeting, scheduling, scripting, the supply with talent
and resources, the organization of staff, the production itself,
post-production, distribution, and marketing. Production companies are often
either owned or under contract with a media conglomerate, film studio,
entertainment company, or Motion Picture Company, who act as the production
company's partner or parent company. This has become known as the "studio
system". They can also be mainstream independent (see Lucasfilms) or
completely independent (see Lionsgate). In the case of TV, a TV production
company would serve under a television network. Production companies can work
together in co-productions.
A production
company is responsible for the development and filming of a specific production
or media broadcast. In entertainment, the production process begins with the
development of a specific project. Once a final script has been produced by the
screenwriters, the production enters into the pre-production phase, most
productions never reach this phase for financing or talent reasons. In
pre-production, the actors are signed on and prepared for their roles, crew is
signed on, shooting locations are found, sets are built or acquired, and the
proper shooting permits are acquired for on location shooting. Actors and crew
are hand picked by the producer, director, and casting director, who often use
collaborators or referenced personnel to prevent untrusted or unwelcomed people
from gaining access to a specific production and compromising the entire
production through leaks. Once a production enters into principal photography,
it begins filming.
Most productions are never cancelled once they
reach this phase. Codenames are often used on bigger productions during filming
to conceal the production's shooting locations for both privacy and safety
reasons. In many cases, the director, producers, and the leading actors are
often the only people with access to a full or majority of a single script.
Supporting actors, background actors, and crew often never receive a full copy
of a specific script to prevent leaks. Productions are often shot in secured
studios, with limited to no public access, but they are also shot on location
on secured sets or locations. Due to the exposure, when shooting in public
locations, major productions often employ security to ensure the protection of
the talent and crew working on a specific production.
After
filming is completed, the production enters into post production, which is
handled by a post production company and overseen by the production
company. Once a final film has been
approved, the film is taken over by the distributors, who then release the
film.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_company
