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Who’s Who?
Get to know the industry

By Oliver Ellis
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Director
Characteristics: Creative, Visionist, Artistic, Coprative.
Duties: Being a visonary and leading the visuals of the film.
Responibilities: to ensure a scriptwriter’s work gets translated to the
screen correctly.

A director’s role in the production of a film is to control the artistic

and dramatic aspects of the film’s creation. This makes the
direcrector is responsible to work closley with the
cinematographer and actors. The directors job is to over see all
the production through pre to post production and makes sure
everyone is work to the best of their abilities. Many directors start
small in the industry, beginning as cinematographers, scriptwriters
or even actors. Either way, there is no direct path to becoming a
director, just pure, recognisable talent behind the camera.
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Christopher Nolan
Director
Best known for his cerebral, often
nonlinear, storytelling, acclaimed
writer-director Christopher Nolan was
born on July 30, 1970 in London,
England. Over the course of 15 years
of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from
low-budget independent films to
working on some of the biggest
blockbusters ever made.

Known For:
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Producer
Characteristics: Knowledgable, patient, positive and orgonised
Duties: Coordinates the production in its entirity.
Responsibilities: conducts the film to be created as quickly and
efficiently as possible.

A producer’s role in the creation of a film stands as making

business and budget-related decisions relating to the efficiency of
the project. They are commonly responsible for setting the filming
schedule, being able to multitask in a fast-paced environment,
communicating with all of the crew, and troubleshooting any
issues with cast, crew, or the budget. Whilst one can gain a
bachelor’s degree in film producing, most film producers start
within the industry with smaller job roles with less responsibility on
their shoulders. Many producers in the industry have maintained
roles in film production that involve a small amount of
management for years due to the immense amount of work
experience needed to become a trusted producer. Throughout
the production process of a film, the producer manages what
occurs on set at all times.
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Kevin De La Noy
Producer
Kevin De La Noy is a director known
for working in various positions of
production in films. He was the
director of production in James
Cameron's 1997 film, Titanic, in which
he also cameoed as the third officer
Herbert Pitman in an uncredited
performance

Known For:
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Cinematographer
Characteristics: Creative, Confident, Detailed
Duties: Gives a creative input to the camera techniques. And
oversees shooting
Responsibility: the ability to work with the best lighting, understand
the manipulation of light and know their way around a
camera/the dynamic of photography.

The director of photography works with production designers, art

directors, set dressers and even wardrobe crew and hairstylists to
help establish the look of the film and its individual scenes. The
decisions made in this area should support the script and the
director’s vision and result in imagery that the camera can
capture. Within the production of a film, the cinematographer is
most prominent within the pre-production, storyboarding process
and the production to become a well-experienced
cinematographer, one must first understand the dynamics of a
camera and what makes a good frame. Many cinematographers
understand that patience is required when working their way up
to DOP, some started behind the camera as assistant directors or
even just camera assistants
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Wally Pfister
Cinematographer
Wally Pfister is an American
cinematographer and film director, who
is best known for his work with Christopher
Nolan. He is also known for his work on
director F. Gary Gray's The Italian Job
(2003) and Bennett Miller's Moneyball
(2011).

Known for:
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Screen Writer
Characteristics: Creative, open to ideas
Duties: To create the story script for the cast and crew.
Responsibilities: working alongside the director to make sure their
story gets portrayed properly.

In order to become a screenwriter for film or television, one must

first succeed in producing writing talent in narrative-driven stories
or purely, well-thought-out scripts sent to a production company.
Within the industry, the screenplay writer is one of the most
important roles one could have in film production. Due to the fact
that a film rides off the back of the script produced by the
scriptwriter; a film cannot be created without a story to follow. The
screenwriter can have a range of jobs when writing a script for a
television or film adaptation. This is due to the range of scripts one
can be expected to write for the industry; whether it be
novel/book page to screen adaptations, remakes, reboots or a
completely original script, the screenwriter’s job is one that is most
relied on during the pre-production period.
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Johnathan Nolan
Screen Writer
Attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette,
Illinois, graduating in 1994.

Graduated from Georgetown University

in Washington, D.C. in 1999. Majored in
English.

Shortly after graduating from

Georgetown University, Jonathan Nolan
served as a production assistant
on Memento (2000).

Known For:
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Production Designer
Characteristics: Creative, Visually confident and skilled
collaborating artist
Duties: Organising artistic areas of the production
Responsibilities: to determine the visual style, provide concept
drawings, research locations and manage the art design team

The framing of a shot has to be to considered by the production

designer to ensure for an interesting looking set that will draw the
audience into the world of the film. Within the production of a film,
the production designer works closely with the director of
photography as well as the storyboard designers that produce the
shots that they find to be most appropriate for the overall
aesthetic of the film. They play this heavily collaborative role in the
pre-production process of the film and are a vital part to how
much a particular set would cost to design or create from scratch.
They are also expected to have a high patience level when
working with the crew, especially with the visually designated
crew such as the director as well as the roles previously stated.
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Nathan Crowley
Production Designer
Nathan Crowley (Production Designer)
Born in London, grew up in Islington.
Attended Brighton School of Art in
England. He has received Academy
Award nominations for" The Prestige",
"The Dark Knight" and " Interstellar", also
Bafta Nominations for "Batman Begins",
"The Dark Knight" , "Interstellar" and
"Dunkirk" his seventh collaboration with
director Christopher Nolan

Known For:
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Costume Designer
Characteristics: Creative, able to lead and collaborate
Duties: To understand the characters and the period, to develop
the costumes for the cast
Responsibilities: To produce unique designs for the costumes of
the actors in the production

A major requirement to gain the job of a costume designer on the

set of a film is to have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in
fashion design. Without this it’s very hard to get into this field
without these qualifications. However, if you are talented in the
field of art and design then one’s artistic eye will be considered.
During pre-production, a costume designer has the most to do in
regards to planning the costumes and creating them. They must
be on-set to fix or alter any costumes that malfunction, when
shooting is occurring to ensure continuity, is within the project.
Costume designers are needed in order to make sure that every
character has their own distinctive costume and look that fits with
the genre of film the project is; i.e. period drama, western, modern
or futuristic.
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Lindy Hemming
Costume Designer
Lindy Hemming was born on August
21, 1948 in Wales. She is known for her
work on Wonder Woman (2017), The
Dark Knight (2008) and Batman
Begins (2005).

Known For:
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Financial Manager
Characteristics: skilled in admin and accounting
Duties: Organising the budgets for the funding of the film.
Responsibilities: to control the financial development of the film.

During pre-production, the job of a financial manager is to collect

the film’s expenses and figure out the budget. This
is usually subject to conditions but most of the financial
development is conducted in the pre-production/planning period
of the production process. A financial manager must have an
understanding of numbers and budgeting, therefore is appointed
by the producer to develop a financial plan to their
understanding. To become a financial manager, one would need
to have a degree in finance and be able to use strategy and
planning to conduct the pricing of anything and everything the
production might need. These employees are heavily important
because the project cannot function without a financial backing
supported and controlled by the financial manager.
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Steve Barry
Financial accountant
He has worked in Skyfall. ... 2014 Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
(post production accountant uk) ... 2002 Ripley's Game (first
assistant production accountant).

Known For:
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Location Manager
Characteristics: Creative vision, good management skills
Duties: Find and organise the shooting locations and make them
ready for the production.
Responsibilities: Keeping the location under control of passers-by.

As a locations manager, one must be able to choose a correct

and good location to shoot in, negotiate the fees and funding
processes to film in their chosen place and the availability of the
location. This is all carried out both pre-production and during
filming when changes to the location have to be made on rare
occasions. To become a locations manager, there is not a
specific qualification that is needed, just an understanding of
basic health and safety training in what makes a film set safe and
secure for the actors and crew present. The role involves the
location manager working closely alongside other roles such as
director, producer and production designer to collaborate and
bring life to the location used within the story the filmmakers are
trying to tell
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Emma Pill
Location Manager
Location Manager Emma Pill is known for
her work on action movies Spectre, The
Bourne Ultimatum and Inception. She
talks exclusively to The Location Guide
about working on one of Britain's best
loved film franchises and the pros and
cons of filming in London.

Known For:
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Gaffers
Characteristics: to be careful, focused and patient.
Duties: Managing lighting, manual labour, the set-up of lighting
instruments and electrical equipment under the direction of the
director of photography.
Responsibilities: To look after the lighting set-up.

To become a gaffer on a film or television set, you must have a degree in

engineering. Specifics such as lighting technician is also highly considered for
the role on a film set due to the knowledge possessed by the talented
individual. The key grip is the head grip, in charge of the labour and non-
electrical equipment used to support and modify the lighting. Grip
equipment includes stands, flags and gobos. The gaffer will usually have an
assistant called a best boy and, depending on the size of the job, crew
members who are called "set lighting technicians" or "electricians", although
not all of them are trained as electricians in the usual sense of the term.
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David Smith
Gaffer
I make no bones about the fact
that I work with the
cinematographer and to a level
they trust me to work to – going on
recces and recommending how
sets should be lit. For me it's all
about making it look good, rigging
it efficiently and being able to
manipulate the light once it's
there. The set never stays the
same, so that keeps you on your
toes.

Known For:
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Transportation Manager
Characteristics: Logical, good admin skills
Duties: Organising transportation for actors, equipment, crew and
set-pieces from one location to another.
Responsibilities: Managing all the large vehicles on set.

As a transportation manager, one would be expected to have an enhanced

understanding of shooting geography to ensure that anything, everyone and
everything gets to where it is needed to be. They are expected to work
closely with the locations manager and director to understand the
whereabouts of the sets. There is no specific qualification needed to become
a transportation manager, you do require a formal driver’s licence and a
HGV1 licence in order to drive specific trucks and vehicles. This is to ensure
your own safety as well as the safety of others because of the sheer weight of
the vehicles that are expected to be driven to escort different members of
the crew/cast to different locations; this might include drivers or trailers
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Jason Rowling
Transportation Manager

Known For: