1. What does a producer do? By J’Nae Phillips

2. Job Description Producers are the major players in the television, film and video industries. The early ideas for a project often come from a producer, who will oversee each project from start to finish, and may too be involved in the marketing and distribution processes. A producer or executive producer is required to report directly to the client. Producers work strongly with directors and other production staff on set. Increasingly, they need to have directing skills themselves as it is likely that the producer will also be the director and is largely responsible for all project operations. Producers organize funding for projects and are responsible for keeping the production within the given budget. Creative input and the level of decision making varies, as this is dependent on the client and the brief.

4. reading, researching and assessing ideas and finished scripts;

5. commissioning writers or securing the rights to novels, plays or screenplays;

6. building and developing a network of contacts;

7. liaising and discussing projects with financial backers - projects vary from a small, corporate video costing £500 to a Hollywood feature film at more than £100million;

8. using computer software packages for screenwriting, budgeting and scheduling;

9. hiring key staff, including a director and a crew to shoot films or videos;

10. controlling the budget and allocating resources;

11. pulling together all the strands of creative and practical talent involved in the project to create a team;

12. maintaining contemporary technical skills;

13. organising shooting schedules - dependent on the type of producer and availability of support staff;

14. troubleshooting;

15. supervising the progress of the project from production to post production;

16. holding regular meetings with the director to discuss characters and scenes;

17. acting as a sounding board for the director;