Producer Does What? (what used to be LO7)

[this was for an essay we were doing, which got cancelled – but i’ve already done a bit on it so i’m just going to post it anyway so it wasn’t a great big waste of time]

In a small class, there are only so many roles you can play when making a film. What we have on offer is Writer, Director, Producer, DOP, Gaffer, Grip, Costume/Set design, Sound and Editor. I can gladly say i’ve filled each role at least once, except for producing. I’m not sure why this is, but it has resulted in a lack of knowledge of what a producer actually does. At this very moment in time, as I write this sentence, I’ve done very little research on what a producer actually does, so with my little knowledge and experience, here is what I think a producer does: they put up casting adverts, as well as help with casting, they organise locations, permits, budgets, set schedules, catering and paperwork regarding actors, such as talent releases. I feel producers are very unappreciated for the work they do, and a lot of the praise goes to the Director because they are the ‘head’ of the project. Now, I also know there are different types of producers. I know theres Executive Producers, Production Managers and Associate Producer … but other than that, I have no clue what each type of producer does, nor how many there are. I do remember Craig Proudley saying he does a two hour lecture on the different types of producers – yikes!

So, the point of this essay-style blog post is for me to learn exactly what a producer does, and document the journey as I go. [Now that this is an ex-essay, i’ll just be exploring a few different roles…]

To begin, according to the Producers Guild of America, a producer:

“initiates, coordinates, supervises and controls, either on his own authority, or subject to the authority of an employer, all aspects of the motion-picture and/or television production process, including creative, financial, technological and administrative”

I feel this accurately describes what a producer does, however it tells me nothing about the different types of producers. I feel its important at this level to understand at least a few of the producing roles found in Film & TV, such as:

The Executive Producer who, in short, “supervises one or more producers as they perform their duties for one or more films” (Dannenfeldt,2008). Occasionally this type of film producer will represent on behalf of a studio to keep an eye on other producers and ensure they are sticking to their assigned budgets. It’s also common for this position to be given to celebrities in order to create publicity.

“George Clooney, for example, was listed as executive producer for “Far from Heaven” (2002) to generate publicity, but didn’t spend any time on the set, according to the film’s producer Christine Vachon” (Dannenfeldt, 2008).

Next we have the Associate Producer, whom “handles certain aspects of the production, as assigned by the producer” (Dannenfeldt, 2008). The Associate Producer is delegated tasks throughout all stages of the production, and also often has an Assistant Producer to delegate tasks too.

Other roles i looked into are:

The Co-Producer, who “shares producer responsibilities as a team or group with other producers”, a Coordinating Producer, who”Coordinates the work of several producers to create a unified end result” and a Line Producer , who”Handles the physical aspects of a movie’s production and usually is not involved in decision-making regarding creative issues” such as budgeting and planning (Dannenfeldt, 2008).

Of course on a smaller production/budget, the a single producer can take on a few, if not all, of these roles. Especially at uni, all of these roles combine into one, plus others I haven’t even mentioned. After briefly looking into what a producer does, I don’t have a great desire to be one. I’m much more comfortable in my Director role, or being DOP. Now, seeing as this ‘essay’ is now void, i’m going to leave this here and save my energy for the real essay. If I had time, and we’re only doing this, i’d go into the difference between film producers & tv/commercial producers, but I guess thats for another time. I know this post cleared up a few things for me about producers, I hoped it did for you too!

REFERENCES

Dannenfeldt, D. 2008.  How Movie Producers Work.  Retrieved from http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-producer.htm

Producers Guild of America. (n.d.). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from: http://www.producersguild.org/?page=faq