ART DEPARTMENT

Job Overview

Working under the direction of the production designer and/or art director, the art department coordinator manages the department office. The coordinator is responsible for tracking the department's budget; negotiating usage and obtaining legal clearances for products and artwork appearing on screen; researching products, periods, and other information; ordering samples and other materials; and dispersing information for the production designer and art director.

Special Skills

A production coordinator must be detail oriented, able to multi-task, have excellent verbal and written communication skills, be a people person, have the ability to negotiate, and be a problem solver.

Advice for Someone Seeking This Job

Most production coordinators begin their career as production assistants, whether specifically assigned to the art department or not, and work their way up. “When you start out as a PA, the best advice I could give is: Move your ass!” says coordinator Laura DeRosa. “When somebody asks you to do something, you get up and you do it right then. Be very anal about what you do and get it done quickly, nicely, and neatly … Try to learn by asking questions and making an effort to help the coordinator as best you can.”

Professional Profile: Laura DeRosa, Art Department Coordinator

While managing entertainment industry hangout The Hollywood Athletic Club, Laura DeRosa became intrigued by the possibility of working in the film business. “We hosted all the big Castle Rock parties … [and] a lot of photo shoots. It was a Hollywood hot spot.” In time, she began to wonder if there was a job in the industry that might be right for her.

Shortly after a friend took a job working on a film, she telephoned to alert DeRosa that an office down the hall was looking for a production assistant for the pilot of the television series Fame L.A. DeRosa'a initial response quickly changed from “I'm not going to make any money. I'm going to make half what I'm making now,” to “I'm going to do it.”

From production assistant on Fame L.A., De Rosa made the jump to art department coordinator when she was recommended for the television movie Virtual Obsession. Soon after it wrapped, she landed her first feature, The Breaks. From that point on, she worked continuously as an art department production coordinator, moving from one feature to another, including The Bachelor and Bounce, and as construction buyer on Mulholland Drive.

While working on Waking Up in Reno, De Rosa impressed set decorator Jay Hart enough that when he went on to do Swordfish with production designer Jeff Mann, DeRosa was recommended for the coordinator position. Already at work on Dude, Where's My Car?, she had to turn down the offer. But Mann remembered the recommendation and when he was hired to design Showtime, he again offered her the coordinator position. Having just wrapped Legally Blonde, she accepted. The working relationship with Mann continued with the film The Antoine Fisher Story.

Three days after the show wrapped, Jay Hart, who was art directing Hostile Rescue (working title), hired her as art department coordinator. Unfortunately, the production shut down for a time. Just after receiving the news that the show had gone down, DeRosa telephoned a friend to share the fact that she was out of work and needed to find a job. Fifteen minutes later, Jeff Mann called offering her the coordinator job on Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.