The Witcher
produced by NETFLIX
Jason Kirk, Production Coordinator
“I believe that a production coordinator has to make all of the crew members feel like their problem, if any, is heard and that a solution is on the way“ ![]()
Jason Kirk
Production Coordinator on The Witcher
The Witcher is a famous fantasy drama series created by showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich for Netflix. Based on the book series and subsequent video games of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski, it depicts a fictional medieval-inspired world in which humans along with monsters interact and question the darkest part of our emotions.
Jason Kirk served as Production Coordinator on this show and filled us in on some behind-the-scenes secrets and best practices.
“To coordinate a film production, you need to be very organized and be able to do a hundred things at one”
To succeed at his job, Jason had to remain disciplined and structured at all times, but as he pointed out, “it also consists of ‘people’ management. Shows as big as The Witcher often involves around 400 crew members, and the production coordinator must handle all of their inquiries. Much like a telephone operator with people asking questions, you also need to know everything that’s going on everywhere on the set and acquire at least a vague idea of everyone’s involvement.
I believe that a production coordinator has to make all of the crew members feel like their problem, if any, is heard and that a solution is on the way. One has to be charming and benevolent. Organization and planning skills are necessary to make sure the job is done correctly.”
In the face of COVID-19: “the film industry proved to be particularly resilient, innovative and adaptable”
Jason started his career on smaller shows but expressed genuine excitement and interest towards all his projects: “The Witcher is not my first show. I started working on much smaller productions [and] not much happened but I was like “Yes, I’m dying [with excitement] for this!”
When The Witcher shoot started last year, he had to simultaneously prepare for a large-scale production as well as restrictions related to coronavirus: “The show was produced during the Covid-19 global pandemic, which brought its fair share of complications. Despite this, we spent the whole lockdown preparing, telling ourselves that ‘We’ll make this huge show during the pandemic!’ Seeing the final result is pretty satisfying.
Considering this, I think that the film industry proved to be particularly resilient, innovative and adaptable. Everyone was working from home, even though the shooting took place in another city. The use of technologies like Setkeeper, Google Meets, [and similar tools] make the job so much easier. Traditionally on set, everything is on paper, which is not that practical because everything takes twice as long as usual.”
“Using SetKeeper is like using an iPhone while the competitors are running on Android”
When it comes to Setkeeper, Jason was tremendously satisfied. It helped him handle both the regular pressures of his job and the exceptional ones related to the pandemic: “I’ve used Setkeeper [on projects after] The Witcher. On the job that I'm on, as a production coordinator, I can say my experience was very good and user friendly. \"Using SetKeeper doesn’t take much explanation for someone new : it’s like using an iPhone while the competitors are running on Android. Also, in comparison to other production software, SetKeeper remains affordable while providing high quality services.”
The “user-friendliness” of Setkeeper is what struck him the most. He was seeking a safe, fast and reliable tool: “the fact that the sides are so easy to handle, you can crossboard, drag and drop many files, etc. Also, you can click into a message and check who has read it and when. It makes the whole process much less tedious. The sides usually represent a huge and boring part of my day as a coordinator, so it helps a lot to be able to handle this smoothly. With Setkeeper, you can access all your documents in one click.”
“[As] the shows get bigger and bigger, more and more secretive, security and confidentiality [become] really important.”
During the interview, Jason emphasized how important it is to protect all the data that is exchanged on a set. As such, Setkeeper’s advanced security functions are more vital than ever: “Setkeeper provides excellent security functions. As an example, you can send links that can expire [after a certain amount of time] or identify who exactly got access to a given file.”
Security and privacy are also important when it comes to COVID status reporting - SetKeeper allows you to collect and securely store symptom information and provide a record for insurance companies if needed.
Jason’s predictions for the pandemic’s impact on the future of film production is measured but hopeful: “I get the sense that things are starting to unfold. The film industry is really cautious, more than any other industry, but we’re not as draconian as we were last March or last May. However, I don’t think the covid measures will be going away just yet for maybe a whole other year.”
For his next project, he’s getting ready to shoot an American sci-fi movie in Thailand: “I’m kind of excited and I got my fingers crossed. It’s gonna happen despite covid!”
We’re thrilled for Jason’s next endeavors, thankful for his insight and hopeful that his and all our reader’s productions are safe, efficient and successful.