Chapter 1: What Does a TV Producer Really Do?

Absorbs information

________ better when it comes through hearing the spoken word or audio.

principal point person

Is the ________ for the financing and /or distribution group.

interactive content

They can create and manage ________ for the web, gaming, mobile, and newer systems.

persons emotional strengths

A(n) ________ are considered as important as their intellectual abilities.

The producer researches everything at their disposal

books and magazines, the industry trade papers, newspapers, the Internet, plays, biographies, art and history, and philosophy

They create a loyal and talented team who can all work toward a common goal

creating a compelling story

You can cultivate new friends who share your passion for producing while staying close to your most important supporters

friends and family

The way in which we absorb information: Visual

- Learns best by reading or looking at information
- Creates a mental picture of the data

The way in which we absorb information: Auditory

- Absorbs information better when it comes to hearing the spoken word or audio
- Has strong listening skills and verbal abilities

The way in which we absorb information: Kinesthetic

- Information is best conveyed through ways that are physical

The way in which we absorb information: Analytical learner

- Understands information best when it’s presented as sequential

The way in which we absorb information: Global learner

- The opposite of the analytical learner
- They see the big picture first

The way in which we absorb information: Goal-oriented

- Tends to stick with a task

The way in which we absorb information: Process-oriented

- The process and the journey of reaching the goal can be as engaging as the goal itself

Leadership skills and ideals: Commitment

- Believe in your project
- Stand firmly behind it

Leadership skills and ideals: Credibility

- Don’t let your need to be liked to get in the way of getting things done

Leadership skills and ideals: Delegation

- Hire the best people you can find

Leadership skills and ideals: Motivation

- Find ways to show your thanks

Leadership skills and ideals: Ethics

- Assess your own ethical framework
- Makes it more likely to create a project that’s under control

Leadership skills and ideals: Accountability

- You’re accountable to your team
- Keeping up with changes in technology

Leadership skills and ideals: Honesty

- Your word is solid enough to build your reputation upon it

Leadership skills and ideals: Objectivity

- Listen to criticism
- Don’t take it personally
- Hear all sides of an issue

Leadership skills and ideals: Patience

- Respect the fact that people work at different rhythms with varying working styles

Leadership skills and ideals: Personal balance

- Have a professional and a personal life

Leadership skills and ideals: Will power

- Save your energy

Leadership skills and ideals: Relationships

- You can cultivate new friends who share your passion for producing while staying close to your most important supporters: friends and family

Leadership skills and ideals: Daydreaming

- Make the time to take a walk
- Have a mental break and a few deep breaths

The producer’s role

- Finding, writing, developing, and pitching an idea
- Budgeting a script
- Negotiating a deal
- Securing financing
- Planning
- Shooting
- Editing
- Creating a team of talented people with great attitudes

The producer must...

- Satisfy both the client and the viewer
- Utilize the talents of the cast and crew
- Produce a program or segment
- Be a multitasker

The producer might...

- Write the script
- Do research
- Shoot and produce a program or segment
- Edit the footage on a desktop system
- Mix the audio
- Design and add graphics
- Write and record narration or voice-over

A producer’s job description combines...

- Art with craft
- Commerce with technology
- Leadership with collaboration

Producer’s talent areas

- Creative
- Technological
- Finances
- Marketing

The producer might be...

- The writer
- The director
- A source of the financing
- A part of a producing team

The job of a producer in television and new media

- Governing force
- Often doubles as the director (unless the project is heavily actor-oriented)
- Usually hires and fires the director, writers, key department heads, actors, other talents, and crew
- Makes the final decisions

The job of a producer in the film

- Acts as the liaison between the studio and the production
- Provides a support system for the film’s director
- Might shepherd their own scripts or projects, hire the director and cast, and oversee the film’s integrity, production value, and marketing

What makes a good producer?

- Eager to meet challenges
- Can multitask
- Can handle a steady stream of demands and questions
- Creative
- Flexible
- Open to new ideas and information
- Has genuine respect for all kinds of people
- Has an ethical and profitable approach to business
- Knows about the elements of producing
- Might also be talented as a writer, director, or editor
- Is a storyteller or entrepreneur
- Has strong leadership skills and works well with a team
- Understands the larger context of television and its offshoots, including its past history, current status, and future potential

Skills required for all producers

- Producing a specific kind of program or content
- Creative skills
- Financial skills
- Technical skills
- Interpersonal skills

A good producer is a problem-solver

- Anticipates what’s needed
- Solves problems, rather than creates them
- Is smart
- Plays fair
- Is a nurturer
- Is an arbitrator
- Can be both a leader and a team player
- Is a risk taker
- Has a plan for any predictable scenario

A good producer is a master of multitasking

- Might be working in several stages of production at once

A good producer is a middle man

- Becomes the point person for the director, the Director of Photography, the actors, and the crew members who rely on his leadership
- Balances the needs of the network or client with the needs of the talent and cast

A good producer wants to know everything

- A good story and useful information are both at the core of their craft
- The producer researches everything at their disposal - books and magazines, the industry trade papers, newspapers, the Internet, plays, biographies, art and history, and philosophy
- They look for ideas that interest them and that might also appeal to a wide audience
- Their goal is to understand where the media industries are going and keep current with what is popular now.
- They watch TV and explore new media

A good producer enjoys the process

- The producer is comfortable doing business and being creative
- They don’t need to know how to do everything, but they do know how to hire the best people to do certain jobs
- They create a loyal and talented team who can all work toward a common goal - creating a compelling story

The producer in television and in new media has the power to...

- Educate
- Entertain
- Emotionally move an audience

As the producer you...

- Are at the core of a project
- Encourage collaboration
- Provide strong and balanced leadership
- Know when to step back and let people do their job
- Model patience, humor, and a clear vision of the project, supplying creative direction while balancing the pressures of the budget
- Are generous with your flexibility and encouragement, while staying connected to the realities of the budget and time constraints
- Are focused and relaxed

The Five Stages of Production

1. Stage One: The idea (project development)
2. Stage Two: The plan (preproduction)
3. Stage Three: The shoot (production)
4. Stage Four: The final product (postproduction)
5. Stage Five: Next steps (wrap up and distribution)

Where you can meet people for networking?

- Festivals
- Organizations
- School clubs
- Openings
- Charity events

To become a producer you can...

- Create an online presence, write a blog
- Follow the trends in television and new media
- Research who’s financing the ideas and in what ways the projects are financially viable
- Keep on top of media industry news
- Follow the smart blogs
- Observe the ebb and flow of current trends
- Research the legal requirements like copyrights, contracts, deal memos, and other forms of negotiation that can protect your idea and the whole project

Producer’s skills essential to the success of a project

- Creative skills
- Business skills
- People skills

Executive Producer

- Makes the deals
- Finds the finances
- Usually, they set up and control the budget
- May hire various crew and cast
- Can be in charge of other producers for one or more projects

Showrunner

- Responsible for the overall creative direction of a series
- Often he may have the title of executive producer
- Might be the original creator of the show and/or the writer of the show’s storyline overview
- Usually the primary writer
- Sometimes manages and guides other writers in creating the scripts
- Often may rewrite scripts and make sure they’re delivered on schedule
- Might be involved in pitching a new show idea to a network and casting the actors
- Maintains the essential vision of the show

Producer (Senior Producer, Supervising Producer)

- They can be an entrepreneurial producer or a producer commissioned to come in at any stage to work on the project
- Initiates ideas and hires and coordinates the crew
- Might be the writer and/or the director, or might hire them
- Supervises and controls the budget
- Supervises and controls the technical and administrative aspects throughout the project
- Oversees contracts and negotiations
- May receive a percentage of the final profits, if any, as well as a regular salary

Integrated Producer

- They can create and manage interactive content for the web, gaming, mobile, and newer systems
- Is equally adept at directing teams of producers and designers
- They are able to draft project goals, schedules, and budgets
- Has mastered most software programs
- Can shoot live action
- Deals easily with both vendors and clients

Associate Producer

- Also called the co-producer or assistant producer
- Producer’s right hand
- Does specific jobs that the producer assigns
- Their work can be on the creative side, such as helping to set up interviews on a talk show, and can also lean toward administrative tasks, such as making production schedules, allotting budgets to departments, booking talent and/or crew, research, interviewing talent, finding locations, and more

Line Producer (Production Manager, Unit Production Manager, Producer, or Co-Producer)

- Is most involved in the day-to-day operation from the beginning to the end of the project
- Keeps budgets on track and compares estimated costs to actual expenditures
- Represents the administrative side of television
- Turns ideas into reality by figuring out the logistics of a project
- Keeps the production on schedule
- Breaks down the script into a storyboard and its components for production, and decides the sequence of shooting that’s most cost-effective
- They work closely with the producer(s) in various aspects of location scouting, transportation, and lodging

Staff Producer

- Generally hired on a permanent or per-project basis
- Works in a network or production company as an employee with benefits.
- The job usually involves producing an ongoing aspect of the show that’s assigned to them

Segment Producer

- In magazine format shows, news broadcasts, talk shows, and reality-based programming, they are assigned to one of several stories aired within the program
- May produce their own segment
- Some shows may have several teams comprised of a producer, PAs, a camera operator, and an editor who work together on their segment

Independent Producer

- May own their own company with a capable infrastructure, and work on projects for a network, another production company, or a variety of clients
- May have a complete staff, or hire on an as-needed basis
- Usually pays their own insurance, benefits, taxes, and other expenses like overhead and equipment

Field Producer

- A producer who is “in the field” or at a location some distance away from the primary producer.
- They can be on the scene faster and less expensively
- Can work flexibly in a variety of fields like sports, entertainment, and news

Postproduction Supervisor

- They are familiar with the footage to be edited, and keep logs of where the footage is and on what reel numbers
- May create a paper cut or storyboard of the editing order of the shots, with their time code and reel locations
- Keeps track of the graphic and audio elements
- Supervises all editing, graphic, and audio sessions
- Works closely with the editor and the sound designer throughout the final stages of postproduction

Producent skills: Collaboration

- Embraces collaboration
- Encourages teamwork
- Supports each member of the team
- Encourages an open discussion

Producent skills: Communication skills

- Vital skills for effective relationships

Producent skills: Conflict management

- Most conflicts can be managed effectively if you can grasp the cause of the conflict and deal with it
- The peacemaker

Producent skills: Emotional intelligence (EQ)

- A person’s emotional strengths are considered as important as their intellectual abilities
- A high EQ is measured by a producer’s ability to show genuine empathy, respect, positive leadership skills, and sincerity for the team

Producent skills: Learning styles

- When you can understand the different ways in which each member of your team learns, you can strengthen the bonds of communication

Producent skills: Multiple intelligences

- Originally researched and revealed by a Harvard professor, Dr. Howard Gardner
- The research reveals at least a dozen distinct predominant intelligence that each of us can claim, such as a strong musical, mathematical, spatial, or athletic intelligence

Producent skills: Listening skills

- Being attentive
- Not interrupting
- Acknowledging that we hear the other person

Producent skills: Leadership skills

- The producer recognizes that the team is made of individuals with their own needs
- Leadership comes with the producer’s territory

Communication might be...

- Verbal (the choice of words as well as the tone and volume of our voice)
- Nonverbal (facial expressions, body language, gestures)