1. The producer’s job,
A producer’s job is crucial to creating a movie; they have to contend with organising not only the
cast and production team, but also the financial aspects. The first job of the producers is to choose
the script. The producer will be given various genres to choose from and he ultimately has to decide
which one he feels will be a big hit. After choosing the script which acts as the blueprint of the
movie, the producer has to hire the director which will then help him with all the creative objectives.
Together, the director and producers will get the screenplay written and decide which parts of the
movie to cut and which part to keep. When they finally have a finished screenplay the producer will
go on to hire his starring actors and actresses, along with the production team. Along with choosing
the team, the producer also has to find the best setting for the movie, all this needs to add to make
the movie better.
But, before any actors can be cast, the producer has to settle the deals with the investors. Producers
can find investors from all over the place including, television companies, BBC films, regional film
fund or the big companies across the Atlantic. Usually a film will have around three to ten financers
for their film; it is rare for a film to have one financer as further on in the production the investor
decides to put too much input into the film as he is the sole owner of the movie. That is why
producers and directors prefer to have multiple investors as it means they stay in charge of the film
because no one owns enough of the film to put in their input.
Ones the finance is settled the producer has to start planning the movie from the screenplay,
deciding which scenes will be the hardest to shoot and will need the most attention when it comes
to filming or set design. However, the director will always have the cinematographer by his/her side
to help them plan and decide the feel or mood of the scene. The cinematographer eventually plays a
key role in the film as it is up to them whether the film will take a dark atmosphere or a more
cheerful one.
The producer then has to take in to consideration the finance plan. E.g. how much the cameras,
editing, location or props will cost. Usually if a has a niche audience, corners will be cut to make the
film as cheap as possible due to the fact that the film won’t have much funding. There are both
above and below the line costs, above the line costs include buying the script, or the rights to a
novel, the producer and the director, and then the key stars of the film. Whereas below the line
costs are for the more changeable aspects, like the costume or setting.