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A kind of film company

Production companies

Production companies: who works there and what each of them does

A production company is a small, busy office that turns reading into films. Most UK companies sit at the small end, two or three permanent staff with freelancers and interns coming and going, which is why a junior here sees the whole business rather than one corner of it.

A film does not start on a set. It starts in an office, usually a small one, where somebody reads something and decides it could be a film. The company's purpose is the same whoever founded it: find material, develop it into a script people will pay for, raise the money, make the film and get it in front of the largest audience possible. A healthy independent keeps ten to twenty projects in development knowing two or three will be made; that is the business model, not failure.

  1. Producer, and the company's founder or head

  2. Head of development

  3. Development executive or coordinator

  4. Development assistant

  5. Script editor

  6. Script reader

  7. Head of production

  8. Legal and business affairs

  9. Producer's assistantEntry-level job

  10. Development internEntry-level job

  11. Office runnerEntry-level job

Drawn from MFJF's own Foundations courses: Development Intern at a Production Company (what a production company actually is; from first read to green light), Producer's Assistant (what a producer does, and where the assistant sits), How to Become a Producer (the kinds of producer; how producers get made) and Start Here (who makes it: departments, companies, freelance and employed), with MFJF's script development and role of the producer maps. The words are My First Job In Film's. © My First Job In Film 2026.

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Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Producer's Assistant. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: Producer's AssistantTwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. Find your role in the career plannersEvery entry-level job by department, with a three-stage planner for each.
  7. Read the career guidesWhat each job is, the day, the way in and the pay: one guide for every role.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

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