What a fixer actually does on a shoot in Portugal

"Fixer" is an old word from news crews: the local person who knew who to call. In commercial and branded production the job has grown into service production, but the core is the same. You bring the idea, the director and the key creatives; we make the country work for you.

Before you commit

Most of our relationships start with a loose brief and a question: can this be done in Portugal, and roughly what will it cost? At this stage we:

• Read the treatment and flag what is easy, what is possible and what is a problem.
• Send a first location selection from our own library and recent scouts.
• Build a local budget: crew, equipment, locations, permits, transport, accommodation, catering.
• Check the calendar for holidays, festivals, school breaks and anything that affects access.

You should be able to walk into your client meeting knowing what Portugal costs and looks like for this job.

Prep

Once the job is confirmed, the work becomes practical:

• Scouting and recces with your director and DoP, in person or remotely with video and sun-path notes.
• Permits and location agreements, filed early and in the right order (more on permits here).
• Crew: building the local team around your key people, from AD to runner, with rates, contracts and paperwork.
• Equipment: camera, lighting, grip, generators and specialist kit from local rental houses, including delivery and technicians.
• Logistics: flights, transfers, hotels, production vehicles, unit base, catering, carnets.
• Casting and talent support through local agencies when the brief needs faces from here.

On the shoot

On set a service producer is the person who answers the question before it becomes a problem. Weather plan B is already scouted. The neighbour who complains gets a conversation, not a confrontation. The extra lens arrives before lunch. When the schedule slips, the permit for the next location is extended with a phone call, because the person on the other end knows us.

After wrap

Returns, invoices, location handovers, lost property and a final cost report that matches the budget you approved. Boring, and exactly what makes the next job easier.

What we are not

We are not a post house, not a casting agency, not a talent manager, and we will not pretend to be. We work with the best people in each of those fields and introduce you directly.

One point of contact

The real value is simpler than the list: one person on the ground who takes responsibility for the whole local side, speaks both languages – Portuguese and production – and tells you the truth about what is possible.

Start a conversation: dates, a sentence about the project, and where you think it might take place.