Professional Artist Management

There are many parallels between an Artist Manager and Unit Production Manager that I would like to draw upon. When most people, myself included, hear the words Artist Manager, we immediately think of the manager of a musical singer or group. This may cause some confusion in realizing how someone who manages in this aspect (not solely excluded to musicians, every working artist needs a manager) and the UPM of a project in the film and television industry.

Since the UPM is not in charge of any particular person, and working on the whole scope of the film, in order to make things in a bit more clear, all one simply has to do is envision that the film takes on the role of the final product like anything else would for an artist. The goal is the artist’s CD, finished novel, etc. Here, it is the film. In essence, this makes the client, or artist being managed, the director.

During a Wimba session for the Artist Management course I’m currently taking, I saw a list of duties that immediately made me realize I had the same job as an Artist Manager, essentially. These duties included: planning, advising, organizing, strategizing, overseeing, coordinating details, traveling, and being a friend. All of these things, as well as several more components, go in to what makes a UPM successful. A keen sense of scheduling, a scrutinizing eye for detail, and healthy sense of money management are all essentials.

Since UPM’s create and oversee budgets, and helps work on schedules and call sheets, the similarities are not that hard to see if you only look. The main problem is that people are very unfamiliar with a Unit Production Manager or what it is that they do. Once you have a basic knowledge, you can see that all of the overseeing, organizing, planning, advising, and coordination aspects of both jobs line up perfectly.

A thing that may seem to stand out though is “being a friend”. While working on honing my UPM skills in film school, where I took on this role for almost every in-school and out of school project that I found myself doing, one of the things that was mentioned to me by an instructor, or “producer” for the film, was that it was my job to be there to support our director. We have to support the director’s vision and give them the financial guidance to be able to pull off the film as accurately as they have it worked out in their mind. And if for some reason we have to say no, it’s our duty to do it in such a way, and with several backup plans, that nothing about the director’s true vision will be lost or sacrificed.

To get a little bit more sense of the type of role a UPM has and see if you have what it takes, there are a few very brief videos you can check out:

Terry Bamber, Second Unit Production Manager on Quantum of Solace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R73rfXI2I6M

Tom Kane’s Film Production Workshop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2-Qlv-KP4I

How to Hire a UPM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNp0bXgp5Jk