A Day in the Life of Midlands producer Kelly McCormack
midlandsmovies • September 9, 2019
A Day in the Life of Midlands producer Kelly McCormack
A Day in the Life of Midlands producer Kelly McCormack
In our third "A Day in the Life of" features, local Leicester producer Kelly McCormack herself describes what it's like to be involved on a film shoot in the region.
From early starts and long complicated days to celebratory drinks once a film has wrapped for the day, Kelly explains below the pressured environment of a Midlands film producer and the varied tasks to sort during a production.
0900: Wake up, get ready, sort out my paperwork ready to head to the venue. I choose a bright outfit with our production company’s logo so that any extras or location staff can recognise me as a point of contact.
10:00: I arrive early and the first person on location to ensure I can handle any early problems with the city centre venue such as no answer or room not cleared. Fortunately on this occasion everything goes to plan so I order myself a coffee.
10:20: Crew and main cast start to arrive, I keep an eye out for who is here and who there is no sign of. I start to ask around to see if everyone has heard from each other and if they are ready and excited for the day ahead.
10:45: I ensure whoever is due to have make up is in the makeup chairs while the crew continue to set up. Anyone already made up, I ask them to run through lines with each other. I let everyone know where the ‘snack trolley’ is based.
11:00: I sit down to have a chat with the director to see where his head is at. I explain we are slightly behind schedule and need to make a start asap. We discuss cutting a potential scene to help with timing if necessary. I help an actor with a read-through of his scenes whilst he is waiting to go on set.
11:00-13:00: I sit back and observe the shots that are happening, answering queries from the director, venue staff and actors not in the current scenes. I remind the director of timings when needed. I ask those not on set to take regular breaks when they can and ensure they have had something to eat.
13:00: Extras begin to arrive whilst I am covering clapper board duties so I ask my production runner to get them all signed in. I remind the director that we are technically behind schedule but I think we will be ok to catch up.
1330: I have a chat with my extras to ask how they are, how they feel about the shoot, if they have been on a film set before.
14:00: I do a speech to the thirty extras about the filming day, the scene they are in and what they need to do; it’s a gig scene so they just need to react to the two bands playing. I remind them that this is all for fun so to go with it and enjoy it but if anything concerns them or makes them uncomfortable that they can talk to me or our production runners. I ask them to only talk to the director and camera men if essential as they will do a lot of moving in this scene so need to focus. Everyone gives a big cheer to signify that they are happy. We sing a quick happy birthday to one of our cast members and the scene sets to begin.
14:00-16:00: We spend a good amount of time on the scene, rerunning about ten times to get different angles, ensuring the extras only put 100% when the camera is on them to ensure they aren’t too worn out! They all do brilliantly. I help by pressing play on the audio system for playback purposes about six or seven times. I take some behind the scenes photos.
16:00: I clarify with the director and camera men that we have everything we need, they confirm so we wrap the shoot early! We have an hour still in the venue so take our time to pack away, chat to the extras and lock them into some more shoot and just have a breather after an intense but seriously fun shoot.
17:00: I chat to the main cast and crew informing them of when the next shoot is scheduled and what is needed, they have already been told electronically so it is more of a reminder. We all thank each other for the hard work that has been put in.
18:00: We head to the bar, order a Guinness and toast to an enjoyable St Patricks day.
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Pete Key, Jai Blanks and Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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