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Getting started · Stage 1

Post Production Runner

The software you need to know

The programs a post house runs on, what a runner is actually allowed to touch, and how to move media without losing it.

Nobody expects a runner to cut a scene. They do expect you to know what the machines in the building are for, to move a file without breaking it, and to never be the reason a card got wiped. This is the software half of your first week, in twenty minutes.

20 minutes · 3 modules · 9 lessons

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What you’ll learn

  • Know what Avid, Premiere Pro, Resolve and Pro Tools each do, and which rooms they live in.
  • Know which jobs are yours, which are the assistant's, and the one thing you never do to a camera card.
  • Be able to send and receive large files the way a post house does, and say what a checksum is for.
  • Know the everyday office tools a post runner is judged on, and how to name a file so nobody has to ask.

Where this leads

By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.

Module 1

What the machines in the building do

7 min

A post house is a set of rooms, and each room runs one main program. Learn which is which and you can take a message, find a person and carry a drive to the right door without asking twice.

  1. readThe four programs, and the rooms they live in3 min
  2. readWhat a runner actually touches2 min
  3. checkCheck: the rooms and the rules2 min
Module 2

Moving media without losing it

7 min

This is the part of the job where a runner can genuinely cost a production money. It is also completely learnable in ten minutes.

  1. readHow large files actually travel3 min
  2. readChecksums, offloads and naming2 min
  3. checkCheck: moving media2 min
Module 3

The dull tools you are judged on

6 min

Nobody is promoted for knowing what Nuke is. People are promoted for being the runner whose notes are right and whose files are where they said they would be.

  1. readSpreadsheets, calendars and chat2 min
  2. taskTask: be ready before your first morning2 min
  3. checkCheck: the everyday2 min
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Sources and references

Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.

Check it yourself

This course is written from our own experience of the industry. These are the authorities that set the rules, so you can check anything here for yourself.

Every link checked 21 September 2026. The rules or figures in this course change on 21 September 2027. We check it again then.

You are not doing this alone

You have your own personal career mentor

That is us, the MFJF team. Book an MFJF Mentor Session with us every month: we guide you through this journey and answer all your questions, from which job is yours to your CV and your next application.

Book my MFJF Mentor Session

Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Getting started. 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: Getting startedTwo 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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