Saying Goodbye to Biz Kids
Everything I learned about educational television production, I learned from Biz Kids! I didn’t expect to work as a production coordinator, but when my friend Norma called and asked me if I wanted to work on a six month project with her I jumped at the chance. I forgot to ask what I’d be doing, exactly (until it was too late). The production coordinator is middle manager, and that’s quite a feat given that almost nobody else works in the middle. Production is like an hour glass, with production coordinator and line producer (the boss of production coordinator) in the middle part of the glass. Everyone above is “create the creative” and everyone below is “make the creative”. In the middle, where I worked, is “coordinate between the two”. The job was perfect for me, given my work in logistics, planning and coordination as a community organizer. And I got to see behind the set (actually, I got to coordinate the construction of the set), learning everything as I went.
The absolute best part of this experience has been the people. I can see what people are drawn to production – be it film, television, news, theater. The experience is intense like a campaign, but lacks the severe consequences and has an orderly (well, almost) command structure. Plus almost everyone, on all sides of the hour glass, is creative. All of the work is creative, it’s just that the top of glass sets the parameters of the process. So I worked with incredible talent, and (as a bonus) got incredible fashion advice (from the costumer). Perhaps most interesting thing I learned was that television production calls for as much protocol as imagine does the United Nations!
