Hiring a Production Company 101
Many people are intimidated by the thought of reaching out to a production company. You’ve spent all this time organizing and planning your event, and now it's time to reach out to your local production company. You don’t want to seem like you know nothing, so what information should you have on hand? As a production manager, I see a lot of people following this mentality. I’m here to tell you not to worry, you don’t have to know every little detail! A good production company will be the experts for you, and can help you understand everything needed to make your vision come to life. Hopefully this quick guide will provide you with the knowledge and confidence on what you should have prepared when reaching out.
To preface, I’m not expecting you to know everything that I’ll need from you. You’re normally reaching out specifically because you don’t know what it takes to put on a production. That’s perfectly acceptable, because it’s my job to know those details, and have you as a resource of event-specific information that I don’t have access to. However, having a great starting point means that I can get you more accurate pricing, faster.
The Basics
The first thing I’ll want is basic information from you, as well as about the billed entity. We need to take a step back before talking about the event. Having this information means that I can always get in contact with you, as well as with the billed entity. Your own name, email, and phone number, as well as the billed entity’s name, email, phone number, and address, are the most important to keep in touch. After that, we can finally take a step into some event specifics.
The Name
The event name is important as it will be what gets put at the top of emails, quotes, etc, as well as be what we reference your production as. You want this to be personal to your event, but not so long as that it can't be read at a glance. “Outdoor event” is not useful, “Rock concert in the park” is better, but “RowdyRockin at Riverfront Park 2020” is the best. Keep a detail in there that is specific to you and your event name but is short enough to be read quickly. Keep in mind that it doesn’t necessarily have to match your actual event name, though for many people it makes sense to do so. I also always tack on the year the event is taking place, it helps us both out in cases where the event is to be a yearly thing. We can always reference a year that had something specific, and when you search through quotes from years prior, you’re not having to open each one to see when it took place.
The Dates
The next big piece of information is the event dates. When production companies ask for dates, they’re interested in everything that they’re involved in. The actual event dates are not always the most important. What’s more important is knowing when you want us there to begin setting things up. Many times the actual event dates are different from the dates you want to actually start using the stage. Rehearsals and sound checks are always forgotten about, and those are just as important for us to know about. If I don’t know about them, chances are your stage won’t be there when you need it. In the same thread, if you’re having us operate equipment for you, individual dates and times for the event span is important. Having this allows me to quote labor accurately for each day. After you get those dates nailed down, actual setup times are one of the details I’ll be looking for later on, the timing of things depends on the size of your production.
Your Needs (and mine too)
This is the big stuff. Even if you don’t know the size of stage, lighting, audio, or video you’ll need, come up with a list of what you’re planning on taking place on your stage or at your event, and your expected/projected attendee count(Important to know the size of systems needed). Think about what your venue has available, and even then, still consider getting a full quote. More often than not, hotels and event centers will charge more than it would cost you to have us come and do things, especially if we’re already there to do one small part. If you do know what you want, this information is still great. It can help me catch stuff that may have been missed or not talked about. If you have a list of gear from a different production company, let me know what that was, this also gives me a great viewpoint on what you’re expecting at your event. Even with that list, make sure you still walk me through the event, I may have a better idea on how to pull something off at a better price point. Knowing your budget is also important, my goal is to match your budget with the best gear I can get you for that price. Production companies have a plethora of equipment that can be configured in multiple ways, all with different price points and related levels of quality. I’m not here to spend as much of your money as I can, I want to make sure you get an incredible experience for the budget you have. I’m just as interested in your event going flawlessly as you are while staying within budget.
Can we do it? (Yes, we can)
Now we know what you need and what your budget allows, let’s find out if we can pull this all off in your chosen venue. Power is a big consideration, having a list and map of what is available at your chosen venue is certainly important, and can have a large effect on pricing, especially if we have to bring in a generator or pull permits. Access to the actual setup location is also another very important piece. Most companies won’t haul things from the trucks further than 50’ without additional costs being added for more crew and forklifts. Things like stairs without elevators can also make or break the possibility of putting on your show at your chosen location in the way that you had planned. We like to say that everything is possible, the deciding factor is always budgetary. If you’re willing to pay for a crane rental to get a stage up onto a roof, we can make it happen.
