Creative Production Secrets: Managing Vendors and Global Logistics for Themed Attractions

Katapult Team
Apr 15
3 min read

Have you ever wondered how an experience goes from a creative concept to an actual themed experience? One thing’s for sure, it wouldn’t be possible without our Project Producers.

The role of the Project Producer at Katapult is to help translate those ideas into something that can actually be delivered in the real world, and that is exactly what they do time and time again.

Producers sit in the middle of creative teams, production partners, stakeholders, timelines, and a concerning number of spreadsheets (don’t be alarmed, they enjoy them!), making sure that complex experiences actually get delivered - on time, on budget, and at the level of quality they were designed for.

Most of what they do is about keeping a lot of moving parts aligned so nothing falls through the cracks, and this is particularly important during the creative production phase. The producers’ job is to help turn creative ideas into buildable experiences. That means:

Working with the creative team and vendors to turn the creative intent into production components
Building realistic schedules across design, fabrication, and installation
Balancing creative ambition with technical and logistical constraints

It’s a constant negotiation between what’s imagined and what’s physically possible.

Core responsibilities in creative production

There are a few key areas that define what producers actually do day-to-day within the creative production phase. These are the parts that keep projects moving from concept to reality.

IP approvals

Every project involves structured approval processes. Creative outputs are reviewed internally and externally by stakeholders such as IP owners, licensors, and investors. We manage this flow, track feedback, and ensure nothing gets stuck in approval loops that could delay delivery.

Brand consistency

We act as a constant check that everything produced—whether graphic, physical build, or interactive element—stays true to the IP and the intended experience. It’s about making sure the final result feels coherent, accurate, and aligned with the brand world it belongs to.

Vendor coordination

We work with a network of 500+ vendors across fabrication, graphics, construction, and logistics. Our role is to match the right suppliers to each project and coordinate delivery across them, so clients don’t have to manage that complexity directly.

Quality control

We oversee installation and production outputs to make sure what gets built matches what was designed. That includes checking detail, finish, layout, and overall experience flow.

On-site problem solving

Things rarely go exactly to plan during installation. When issues come up, we’re often part of the immediate response—working with teams on-site to find practical solutions quickly so delivery can continue without major disruption.

Global production and logistics

Many of our projects involve international suppliers and installation sites. We’ve delivered graphics and event builds across 40+ global locations for clients such as LEGO, which requires careful coordination across time zones, production partners, and shipping routes.

On any given day, producers might be:

Coordinating production in one country
Managing shipping logistics in another
Tracking installation schedules somewhere else entirely

To support this, we’ve built internal tools such as a shipping database to standardise documentation and reduce friction across global delivery.

Large-scale creative outputs

Some projects involve managing high volumes of creative assets and approvals.

The Gladiators Experience project included over 100 individual graphics, each requiring multiple rounds of revision and stakeholder approval.

In cases like this, our focus is on:

Version control and tracking
Managing structured feedback cycles
Coordinating approvals across multiple stakeholders
Ensuring deadlines are maintained through iterative changes

It’s less about creating the work, and more about making sure the work moves cleanly through the system.

The systems behind the delivery

A lot of what keeps projects running smoothly is the internal infrastructure we’ve developed over time, including:

Cost tracking tools
Vendor databases
Shipping and logistics systems
Production planning frameworks

These systems help manage complexity, especially when multiple projects are running in parallel.

So why are Project Producers so important?

At its core, their role is to make sure complex projects run smoothly.

They sit between creative ideas, production realities, and a large number of moving parts, ensuring everything stays aligned long enough for ambitious experiences to actually be built and delivered. It’s this structure and expertise that results in real-world experiences people can step into and enjoy.