The Producer

“What does a producer actually do,” someone asked me recently. I sighed.  This wasn’t going to be a quick and easy answer. A producer is . . .

Oh, yes, the person (people) who tromp up to the stage at Academy Award time and collect the Oscar for best picture, thanking everyone along the way.

Ah, but that doesn’t answer the question. People end up with producing credits for a variety of reason:

• they may have contributed or invested a significant amount of money

• they may have made some important connections to assure the film’s success—maybe have gotten a well-known actor or two to commit to the project, or some important investors, or a studio, or . . .

• they may  have helped develop or shape the idea with the writer and the director

• they may have been rewarded for something they contributed of significance along the life of the film

• they may have worked tirelessly to gather cast and crew, and other resources needed

• they may have organized the shoot, created the budget and schedule, and made sure those documents made sense and were adhered to

• they may have stood around during a shoot in the background, solving problems as they arose

Well, the list could definitely be added to.

The titles that come with producing could be executive producer, producer, associate producer, co-producer, line producer—each of those may or may not connect easily with one of the bullets above.

So, although I didn’t totally answer my friend’s recently asked question, I made a start.

For HATBOXES, perhaps I can tell you what I am doing.  I’m a project manager, essentially. I believe my job is to assure that the film is completed on time, on budget, and at a high level of quality. 

I’ve managed a lot of projects.  In fact, that’s how Susana Darwin and I first met.  I was a project director at an educational publishing company, managing a multi-million dollar textbook project. I hired Susana as a photo researcher—her first position in publishing.

Back to the film.  My job is to make sure that things happen and this baby gets made.  If it was a really big project, there’d be lots of people reporting to me, doing the legwork. But this is a small project, so a lot I’m doing myself.  This is shared as well. Susana is producing as well, but I see my role as making sure those parts of the project don’t overwhelm her, so she can focus on being the director.

Certainly, when we go into production, I  hope that she sheds her producer shawl completely so she can only think of her directing tasks.

So, what is a producer?  It’s somebody who makes things happen.

But I’m interested in finding out something: have you ever wondered what a producer does and if so, has this in any way answered the question?


by Etta Worthington