- read, research and assess ideas and finished scripts
- secure the finance for a new production
- commission writers or secure the rights to novels, plays or screenplays
- hire key staff, including a director and a crew to shoot programmes, films or videos
- pull together all the strands of creative and practical talent involved in the project to create a team
- liaise and discuss projects with financial backers - projects can range from a small, corporate video costing £500, to a multimillion-pound-budget Hollywood feature film
- control the production's budget and allocate resources
- organise shooting schedules - dependent on the type of producer role and availability of support staff
- hold regular meetings with the director to discuss characters and scenes
- act as a sounding board for the director
- troubleshoot problems that arise during production
- ensure compliance with relevant regulations, codes of practice and health and safety laws
- supervise the progress of the project from production through to post-production
- deliver the finished production on time and to budget.
Bearing all those jobs in mind think of your favourite film, Terminator? Super 8? Alien? Ok now think of who direted that film, you'll probably be able to guess who it was right? Well what about if you now try and think about who produced those favourite films of yours. I can tell you now that almost everyone who knows the director of thier favourite film will not no who produced it. However some people find being a producer the most fulfilling job they could ask for.
Below are some of the Producers that have influenced my way of managing and producing my project. Gideon's Army
Julie Goldman
Gideon's Army - A documentary about three public defense lawyers (those who defend the accused) who are dedicated to working for those who society condemn on a daily basis. Follwing them working through long hours, low pay and staggering case loads it is an intimate close up doc. I take inspiration from this doc in relation to the kind of access i ideally wanted and the kind of original idea i had. At first i was thinking that our doc would be of similar structure to this in terms of following someone shaky-cam style on a journey in the legal system/ government. Liam was going to be our focal point and the person we follow. However considering time constraints and that his final big speech about people being innocent and wrongly accused etc in the house of commons was after our hand in date, we could no longer consider that approach.
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail - This is a 2016 American documentary by Steve James. The doc centres on the Abacus Federal Savings Bank, a family owned community bank situated in Manhatten's Chainatown in New York City. It was deemed "small enough to jail" rather than "too big to fail" and it became the only financial institution to actually face criminal charges following the subprime mortgage crisis. This doc has great organisation from the perspective of a producer, not only have they got all these high quality and proffesional contributors, the documentary made over $113,000. Also the producer not only secured but maintained thos contributors, which is difficult as they will have extrememly busy lives being active within thier profession. Not only this but they will not want to be in anything that may jepordise thier professional reputation. Contributor aquisition in my opinion is one of the key skills of a producer and the backbone of any documentary.
Where myself and George are concerned with producing however we do have a big team, we do not have outsourced crew, we do not have (much of) a budget. We are a two man band independant documentary team that have to fill every roll and excell at all of them. From writing to producing to directing to being DoP to being the editor and more me must perform well at all of these otherwise the second one part of the production falls behind the whole piece lacks. When it comes to producing i was mostly in charge of aquiring contributors and general research into the subject. The video below explains well what it is like being a producer on a small or indipendent project:
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