Recording - Page 22

After renting an office in 1994, Johnson quickly began working with some of

country music's leading producers, among them, Buddy Cannon, Scott Hendricks,

Blake Mevis, Billy Joe Walker, Jr., and Paul Worley. In 1998, she met with Bill Hamm

and Richard Perna, and three days later was brought in as general manager to set up

the project coordination division of Hamstein Productions. Within six weeks, busi-

ness had grown so much that she hired two staff members.

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT · PROJECT COORDINATOR

JOB OVERVIEW

Production assistants and project coordinators work for a record producer and

handle the business side of recording. This includes formulating a budget, scheduling

the studio, hiring the engineers, musicians, arrangers, and mixers, making arrange-

ment for any necessary travel, tracking the costs, approving and paying bills, and

overseeing the project until it is completed.

PREREQUISITES

To succeed, you should have organizational skills, self-motivation, a friendly per-

sonality, knowledge of the recording process and administration, and sensitivity.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

"At the beginning of a project, I may be sitting in front of the computer writing

the budget," says Ivy Skoff. "If it's crazy and there is a lot going on, I'll be writing the

budget very, very early in the morning, maybe at 4

a.m., so I can do it before the

phones start ringing. There are always AFM contracts to process, budgets to write,

billing for reimbursements and billing the client, and other administrative tasks. Then

"If someone wants to be a project coordinator, they really need to be

aware that it's not the creative side of A&R, it's the administrative

processing."

"Print up business cards that say `Production Project Coordinator.' If you

see it in writing, whatever it is, you'll believe it and you'll start doing it."

Study liner notes and learn what musicians played on each track and

who produced it. Learn about the recording process and who does what.

Try to land an internship in A&R at a record company.

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