SYZYGY's Production Service Offers Producers Peace of Mind
SYZYGY’s busting out with a newly launched addition to its services designed to help EPs and production company owners sleep better at night. Best known for its accounting, CFO consulting and HR services, the company now offers on-demand production support to bolster back-office operations and lower overhead costs for production companies.
To lead this practice, SYZYGY recently named Rebecca Siegel as its Head of Production Services. A veteran EP who’s worked for Publicis Groupe’s Prodigious (where she helped launch their live action production arm) and Harbor Picture Company, Rebecca’s role is to provide scalable, on-demand support for production companies who need an extra set of hands (or eyes) as they grow their capacity to take on more work.
The Howler recently checked in with Rebecca to get a deeper dive on how this new initiative is positioned, and what it can do for producers in need.
So how would you explain SYZYGY’s production services to someone?
Rebecca: We offer fractional back-office production support in a flexible, cost-effective way. Our services, which are designed to bolster production staff with supplemental Staff Production Manager and Head of Production-level support, are available to clients as needed—on a retainer or per-project basis or both. This model is designed to help small companies grow, keep mid-sized ones running smoothly, and help larger ones ensure their internal talent is being leveraged as efficiently as possible.
What trends are you seeing that made you feel this was the right time to launch a production service offering?
Rebecca: With shrinking budgets across the board, a landscape that's more competitive than ever, and general unpredictability in the market and economy, we do feel that this is the right service at the right time. Even the most successful production companies are being forced to re-evaluate their structures and find efficiency to meet the evolving reality of our industry. We’ve seen with our accounting service that fractionalization plays a huge part in this, as it allows companies to identify what support they need all the time (i.e., from full-time staff), and what support they need to varying degrees depending on the volume of work. That's why we're so conscious of and strategic about our modular, flexible offering and our pricing structure.
When did you debut your production services capability?
Rebecca: We debuted Production Services this past March, and we’re currently working with several wonderful production companies.
Most people tend to think of global production when they think about production services. Your model is different. Can you explain how? And is this any different from whitelabeling, which other production companies offer at times?
Rebecca: Based on our name, people sometimes assume we function like a foreign service company – producing jobs on behalf of clients. We don’t. Others assume we have a roster of freelancers we place, which is also not the case. Our team is on staff full-time at SYZYGY, specifically trained, and dedicated to supporting our production company clients and their staff from within. Think of us as the team that keeps a guiding hand on freelancers throughout jobs, ensuring that productions are being run effectively, guidelines are being adhered to, and critical details aren’t getting lost in the sauce. Especially in times of extreme busyness, our role is to make sure that internal HoPs and PMs can keep all their plates in the air by taking some of the administrative work and freelancer supervision off their list of worries.
Are there any services that prospective clients might assume are included in your Production Services offerings, but aren’t?
Rebecca: Yes, and we flag this upfront in our sales calls and decks. The biggest one is bidding. We exclude it because we view it as part of each company’s IP. Since we work with multiple clients, we’ve structured our services to avoid any conflicts of interest. Our services aren’t about providing unique production brilliance - rather, we’re an organized, process-oriented group of people who understand production and can support the unique protocols of our clients so that their staff – the real talent! – can do what they do best.
Your accounting practice serves as a production company’s financial department. What’s the equivalent role for Production Services?
Rebecca: SYZYGY Production Services functions as an extension of a company's core staff production team. While our accounting team manages finances from top to bottom, the Production Services team steps in whenever and wherever needed—especially for companies that are growing, but not ready to hire full-time. We offer flexible, affordable support at the Head of Production and Production Manager levels, helping to manage day-to-day tasks so our clients’ internal teams can stay focused on high-value work like pitching, producing, and scaling the business.
What are some of the benefits your Production Services clients might realize?
Rebecca: One unexpected benefit of SYZYGY Production Services is how seamlessly we integrate with our other offerings—accounting and HR. Many clients mix and match these services, scaling up or down as needed. This flexible model means we grow with you, and our departments evolve alongside your business. You’re working with one integrated and consistent team that gets to know you over time, creating a more intuitive, seamless experience across the board.
So in the final analysis, who’s the ideal client for SYZYGY Production Services?
Rebecca: Our ideal client is a company whose owners, MDs, EPs, or HoPs feel like there aren’t enough hours in the week to manage the demands of winning, producing, and wrapping work. We're here for companies that are poised for growth or seeing a need to supplement their team with fractional expertise. If you’ve ever found yourself so busy with the logistics of getting jobs through takeoff and landing seamlessly that you’re not able to focus on what you’re great at, you probably need SYZYGY.
