Mary Swain

Experienced Production Leader with 10+ years of managing cross-functional teams both internally and engaging with vendor teams across the world. From global organisations with crews of over 200, through to boutique studios, I apply the same principles to any studio I manage, grounded in structure, communication and continual risk assessment. Working directly alongside the CEO, CTO and Heads of Departments, I have a proven track record of developing production strategies, improving efficiency and delivering multiple complex, high-volume projects simultaneously.

Head of Production & Senior Producer at Mosaic Studios (2024-12 – 2026-04)

As Co-Founder of this boutique, fully remote VFX studio, I oversaw the entire VFX production pipeline, from bidding to 'post-mortem' assessments. Worked alongside CEO, CTO & Creative Director to set studio expectations, objectives and goals. Worked alongside Heads of Pipeline, Media, Technology & Creative to periodically identify areas of improvement.

• From a crew of zero, built a highly productive and efficient team to successfully deliver over 3,000 shots in our first year, impressing clients enough to secure return business
• Used agile scheduling and a flexible pipeline to scale at speed, increasing and decreasing output in accordance with project needs
• Worked alongside CEO, CTO & Creative Director to set studio expectations, objectives and goals, determining strategy for the production team and outlining steps for success
• Worked alongside Heads of Pipeline, Media, Technology & Creative to periodically identify areas of improvement, designing and implementing initiatives to better run our projects and business
• Solely responsible for studio crew planning, projecting utility & forecasting points of expansion and contraction
• Solely recruited, managed, and mentored VFX production team; designed and implemented responsibilities matrices, training documentation and mentored producers and coordinators
• Led daily and weekly production, supervisor & studio action-oriented meetings, designed for valuable communication and accountability
• Actively identified and mitigated potential business risks, anticipating challenges that threatened schedule, budget, team health etc., implementing solutions to keep performance above expectations
• Designed and implemented procedures for tracking business expenses, including crew costs, technology & studio overheads to monitor and forecast the financial health and success of each project
• Main point of contact for client communication and collaboration, from bidding through to post-delivery
• Main point of contact for external vendors working in partnership for shared clients, as well as engaging for outsourcing work where value could be gained
• Evaluated studio production objectives, presenting strategic recommendations and managing their implementation
• Recommended and implemented updates to tools and processes based on agreed priorities, including feature recommendations, working with the Pipeline team to manage their development
• Production Platforms; responsible for design and setup of production spreadsheets, Shotgrid pages, email templates etc., continually reviewing effectiveness and striving for best efficiency
• Resource Management; projected crew needs, including forecast potential risks, responsible for recruitment and onboarding of all production and artist crew

Production Management Consultant & Senior Producer at Assembly (2023-08 – 2024-12)

• Responsible for the day to day management of production operations
• Key role in implementing best practices for Studio Operations including Production, HR and Resource Management
• Implemented and maintained a central platform to share information across the studio
• Researched and developed production tools and their advancements
• Central point of contact for Production with Heads of Department, including editorial, pipeline and accounting
• Chaired daily production and creative meetings, as well as monthly staff meetings
• Resource management, forecasting crew requirements and managing approvals of new hires
• Oversaw all studio recruitment efforts, including contract management, onboarding and managing external recruiters
• Supervised Production Team, supporting training and growth

Senior Production Operations Manager at Nice Shoes (2021-08 – 2023-08)

• Responsible for delivering high profile projects under tight deadlines, managing multiple tasks and projects simultaneously, reporting to studio executives and senior management
• Problem solving and decision making to ensure successful delivery
• Client management; liaising directly with client studios daily to discuss delivery status, address any issues, respond to queries and data requests
• Responsible for crewing, working with Artist Managers to ensure projects are resourced
• Continually adjusting the schedule based on changes in scope and available resources
• Process development and implementation; identifying effective and efficient processes to suit the task, communicating with relevant departments and putting the processes into practice
• Led daily scrums and weekly target sessions

VFX Production Manager at Method Studios (2017-10 – 2021-08)

VFX Production Coordinator at MPC (2016-01 – 2017-09)

Production Coordinator at Electronic Arts & EA Sports (2013-02 – 2015-11)

BSc in Business Property Management – Sheffield Hallam University (2006 – 2011)