Scenes from the everyday life of a film production managerOskar and Simona - the masters behind
Five years ago, KAN strengthened our content production offer by acquiring the production company CR Film. Today that film team is a group of 11 people who work closely together, overseeing video production from start to finish.
The work of the film team includes scouting locations, casting actors, and producing and shooting videos for KAN’s clients. In their roles as the team’s production managers, Oskar Ramvall and Simona Grahl are two of the people most involved in making sure things go according to plan. We sat down to talk with Oskar and Simona and get an inside look at the work they do.
“On the film team, we work with all of KAN’s clients that in some way need help with video production,” Simona says.
“Usually, we work directly with the account managers who have primary responsibility for the client in question,” adds Oskar. “For projects involving film, animation or still images, Simona and I are the ones responsible on the ground. That means we take care of planning and oversight of the budget, while also being involved in all aspects of production. We’re on location during the recording, handle makeup for the talent, decorate the sets, and make sure we have the right prerequisites for everybody present. The charm of our job is the operational role: being part of everything from earliest planning to getting into the details on the day of the shoot.”
Planning and coordinating
Simona and Oskar plan time for the team’s resources together, coordinating so that all the different shoots – which can sometimes overlap – will have the necessary logistics in place.
“It’s nice that we don’t have to compete for our resources,” notes Simona. “It means that we can have ownership and that planning within the team usually goes smoothly.”
The experts within the film team include directors, cinematographers, motion designers and production managers. For the last few years, the team has also offered internships to students interested in getting into the industry. Oskar has been with the film team as a production manager since 2021 and was joined by Simona, who came from KAN’s project manager team, in March of 2023.
“Both at previous workplaces and at KAN, I was involved in film production in my role as project manager, so it was a natural transition for me to take on the production manager role together with Oskar,” Simona says. “It’s a lot of fun now being part of the film team, where I have a lot of use of my project management experience.”
But what really happens in a film project?
“It starts with a client coming to use with an assignment,” Oskar explains. “They have a budget and initial thoughts about what they want to accomplish. Our work is to then make a concept out of their brief. Here we get to be creative, making a strategy and setting goals for how much magic we can create based on the existing circumstances.”
Once the concept is in place, there are a few days of prep work where they plan the location, search for actors, put props together and write the script.
“It’s fun when two worlds collide,” Simona says. “It’s a gratifying challenge to film a technical production where there is a lot of functionality that needs to be shown, while we on the film team also strive to deliver a good-looking and creative result. Of course, we always have the client’s goal in focus and check in with them at every step to make sure the results reflect their brand.”
One shoot – 170 film versions for NIBE
Simona currently oversees film productions for the heat pump manufacturer NIBE. Their latest project entailed a number of new challenges.
“We wanted to make unique versions of a video for each and every one of NIBE’s local resellers – while we simultaneously also had a budget to stay within,” she explains. “We explored different possibilities and found a solution: using a plug-in, we could make certain graphics in the video replaceable. This made it possible to insert different logos and company names on cars and uniforms after the fact, while still making sure everything looked completely natural. In that way, every reseller got a production that was completely their own. This way of working enabled us – from just one shoot – to produce around 170 different versions of the video.”
When it comes to what’s most enjoyable about working with film projects, they are in agreement:
”Filming on location! Even when it means a 12-hour workday, it’s incredibly inspiring and rewarding. You disappear into a bubble where the team is collaborating effectively together with the client, everybody working toward the same goal.”
To conclude, Simona and Oskar share their top tips for a successful film shoot:
- Planning is everything. The better you’re prepared, the smoother everything will go.
- Keep spirits high with sweets and music on long filming days.
- Risk management is important. Have a plan A, plan B and plan C. Things don’t always go as planned, and you need to be able to think on your feet.
- Remember to always bring a lot of equipment. More often than not, it’s the times you break this rule that something is missing – be it a tripod or a prop.
- Make sure there’s always coffee on hand. A lot of it. The key to success is caffeine!