PM or PC???

Hello good people,

Sorry to keep bugging you all with questions, but I'm trying to figure out my crew (for a short). Can you guys tell me what the difference would be between a Production Manager and a Production Coordinator? I've looked up these positions and they sound very similar. Wondering how necessary either would be.
 
You are correct, each position is essentially the same thing. It
comes down to semantics. Production Coordinator has kind
of fallen out of usage - though many people still use the term.
On some bigger projects the company will split the duties and
call the two people the two different names - one will cover
personnel the other will handle finances.

Depending on the project and the person a good UPM can be
very valuable.
 
On smaller shows this may be true. In agreement with directorik, working on multi-million dollar studio projects, coordinators typically work under the production manager. These folks run the office and make sure information is distributed as needed. That information can be scripts, sides, reports and anything else necessary to making sure the production runs smoothly. More and more, story security is becoming an issue - some of the Production Office Coordinators and the Assistant Production Office Coordinators spend hours at the copy machine figuring out how to watermark scripts and reports for individual recipients.

A Production Manager and a line producer often fulfill the same job. These folks are concerned with the budget. And while I'm on a roll, a 1st AD typically works with a production manager to make sure the movie stays on schedule.
 
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