"Roadmap to Success Part 3: Managing Live Productions Today"
- szymborskipiotr
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
By 👨🏽💻 Rodrigo Joaquin Pizarro
Today, we’re bringing you a story straight from Canada — written by our friend and EVS Ambassador, Rodrigo Joaquin Pizarro. In this insightful piece, Rodrigo shares his personal journey and thoughts on leadership, teamwork, and what it truly means to manage a live production crew. If you’ve ever been responsible for a team, or dream of stepping into a leadership role within broadcasting, his perspective will definitely resonate with you.
Have a great read — Piotr Szymborski Founder – University of Television
Early in my career I was a manager for a rental company and I was responsible for production crews, equipment, invoicing and logistics. I found that being the manager is more than sitting in a series of endless meetings and getting pizza for the crew. Most of my time was preoccupied with three areas when I was in charge: (1) Defining the goals and objectives for the production, (2) staffing and crewing, and (3) figuring out how to get the job done. Here are some of my observations in management and a starting point if you’re looking to get into leadership positions or suddenly find yourself the boss.
Hiring A Good Team: Assembling the right crew so that they work well and enjoy working with each other is what you are reaching for. Whether it’s a team of eight or 80, it begins by making clear what your expectations are and making it clear what you’re trying to accomplish. That is what drives the makeup of the team. Not all productions are the same in scope and complexity. Red carpet show crews will have a different makeup than a sports production crew. You need to build a crew with a balance in experience, personalities, and institutional knowledge with an eagerness to learn and pitch in. Hiring becomes more than just collecting CVs, conducting interviews, and doing reference checks. Do not overlook reference checks, seek out trusted recommendations. And have a zero tolerance for toxicity. The days of the superstar operator who acts however they want and treat the crew poorly are going away. Some of the managers I have worked under have been reluctant to replace the toxic personality because that operator is so amazing a their job and the manager thinks there’s a risk the production will suffer. From experience that’s not true but the opposite, removing the toxic person frees the rest of the crew and they elevate their efforts and achieve much better results.
Set Yourself Free and Delegate: Being in charge can be overwhelming, and sometimes that can lead to Impostor Syndrome. I produced a corporate live event in back to back to years and in my first year I tried to do everything and I was involved in nearly all the decision making. I was afraid to lose control and overcompensated. I wasted a lot of time attending meetings that I didn’t have to be present at when an email would have sufficed. It was exhausting and I decided that next time I would put my trust in more people and delegate more of my responsibilities. I found people to be eager to help and be accountable because they believed in me and in the objective. Avoid micromanaging and play to the strengths of your team and ensure they have the necessary tools and workflows, step back, and get out of the way. Team success is giving the group space to work and provide input and support when needed.
Gather and Give Feedback: Tight deadlines are common in live production and creating an environment of open discussion and constructive feedback is vital. Success is dependent on the ability to solve and pivot quickly to reach production goals that may be constantly changing. Establishing open lines of communications early in the process are key in identifying and resolving problems quickly and establishing a culture where operators are free to present ideas and solutions. You need to enjoy talking to people in large groups and 1 on 1. And talk to other managers, they may have insights and scenarios that you hadn’t thought of and could be helpful in future projects. Finally, just because your job title says manager or supervisor doesn’t automatically make you a good leader. Managing well is a skill that can be developed and learned. Always be listening and foster a work culture where ideas and concerns can be expressed freely. A good manager is someone who can assemble the right mix of people who want to follow you and are receptive to your ideas and guidance.
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