A production company is a business whose goal is to produce films, television or radio programs, shows, or other cultural and artistic products. It relies on teams, equipment, one or more venues, and know-how that is artistic, logistical, and administrative all at once.
Definition of a production company
A production company is a structure that creates works in the fields of performing arts, digital arts, film, television, radio, but also comics, video games, music, and video. This type of company brings together technical and administrative staff as well as one or more executives who work together. They are often set up as commercial companies. Their goal is to find and provide the financial and technical resources needed for creation.
What is the role of a production company?
In general, the term "production company" refers to all the people responsible for the technical aspects of creating a product, regardless of when they intervene in the process or how long they are involved in the project.
For example, in a play, the production team includes not only the technical team, but also the producer, the set designers and the director. To make the project possible, the production company also holds the necessary skills for all related tasks tied to project management, administration, and above all financing.
How Does a Production Company Work?
A production company must find the financial means to produce the show/work/product. Production companies vary widely; they are independent or attached to larger structures. Because of media concentration, many audiovisual production companies may be owned by a television channel, a film studio, a record label, or a media conglomerate. There are also many independent video production agencies and studios.
Two ways of operating are possible:
- Either it is directly responsible for fundraising,
- Or it delegates this task to a parent company, a partner or a private investor.
What are the activities of a production company?
The activities of a production company are very varied, as they cover all dimensions of making a show or a work:
- Budget management,
- Planning the production schedule,
- Writing scripts, composing music, etc., depending on the type of project,
- Sourcing and hiring talent and resources,
- Team organization and management,
- Production itself,
- Post-production,
- Distribution (link),
- Marketing.
What Are the Types of Production Companies
The difference between a "large" and a "small" production company relates to the scale and size of the budgets of its projects.
Examples:
- Major Hollywood film production companies,
- Small or large show companies,
- Animation studios,
- Small "production shops" specialized in a style of documentary, news report, TV or radio programs,
- Event production of concerts, etc.
What Are the Biggest Film Production Companies?
The major film production companies are those that manage the largest budgets. They are thus even known to the non-professional public.
Internationally, American companies top the ranking with:
- Warner Bros. Pictures: Harry Potter, Batman, The Lord of the Rings, and more recently the DC Comics universe.
- Walt Disney Pictures: Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar.
- Universal Pictures: Jurassic Park, Fast & Furious, and Despicable Me.
- Paramount Pictures: Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, and Transformers.
- 20th Century Studios: Originally a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, it was bought by Disney in 2019.
- Lionsgate: The Hunger Games and Saw.
- Netflix, Amazon, and other pure-player film productions.
On the French side, the big names are: Gaumont, Pathé, StudioCanal, EuropaCorp.
Production companies develop their projects according to their specialties and the culture of the country or countries, or rather the audiences, they address.
What careers are tied to a production company?
The organization of a production company is based on:
- permanent staff, which may be the management team alone, and/or a team of permanent employees in charge of the company’s day-to-day administrative activities.
- related professions: distribution and theater operation.
- many independent professions, which come in depending on and as projects progress: actors, choreographers, musicians, technicians (makeup, lighting, camera, stage management, post-production and image processing, etc.).
Production roles are divided into two specialties:
- Delegate Producer : they handle the financial and legal side.
- Executive Producer: they are the director’s right hand and follow the production in the field in all its technical aspects: budget, shooting permits, hiring, casting, etc.
These two positions are supported by production officers and production assistants whose roles can be technical, administrative or logistical.
Programs to work at an audiovisual production company
The specialties of audiovisual production require many skills and knowledge, but also an address book and a rich professional network. Study paths in this field must allow students to build relationships with the professional environment of artistic production as early as possible.
The specific programs of art schools and culture schools offering film and audiovisual tracks are open after the bac. They are spread across a few French universities and higher education schools. The latter allow close links with the professional world: partnerships with companies and cultural organizations, internship periods, work-study options.
Audiovisual production program after the Bac
After the bac, the study path is divided into two stages:
- The first cycle leads to a bac+3 level in bachelor’s degree or bachelor,
- The second cycle leads to a bac+5 level in master or Master.
The production professions are open with a Bac+5 level degree. IESA arts&culture offers programs dedicated to production careers that can be joined after the Bac or, subject to a file review, during the program.
First cycle: Bachelor in Cultural and Creative Industries
The first cycle of the Bachelor in Cultural and Creative Industries begins with two years of core curriculum that provide a general and professional grounding in the cultural industries in France and internationally, and how they work.
In the 3rd year, a specialization in Cultural Production allows students to refine their profile and focus on skills specific to the profession. Bachelor graduates can then decide to enter the workforce or continue to a Master.
The Audiovisual Production Masters
After a first cycle of Bachelor or possibly a university bachelor’s degree, the Master program lets you develop the operational skills tied to each aspect of production professions:
- Project management, coordination, and administration,
- Financial and legal structuring,
- A technical and artistic approach to projects,
- Distribution, marketing, and communications.
Three specializations are offered to tailor the profile to the different worlds of performing arts, audiovisual-film, and music: