What does it mean to “Produce a Film?”

• It means applying organizational skills to a creative process that defies and actively resists organization.

• The use of logical constructs to achieve a creative result.

• It’s an oxymoron. Or some would call it, an exercise in futility.

Apply Skills in Creative Ways

Either develop skills that aid in organization and learn to apply them creatively, or the production process will be excruciating, and the film will become something unwatchable.

How Many Producers Does It Take to Make a Movie?

Regardless of how long you work in the industry, you will never be able to definitively describe what it is that a producer does, let alone qualify exactly how much It takes to make a movie.

There are a few roles for which we can rely to fulfill some basic needs and carry some standard responsibilities.

In the Office

Executive producer

Off-set entity that oversees the work of the producer on behalf of the studio, the financiers, or the distributors. They function as the business face of production and generally have no creative impact.

Producer

Handles logistics, management, and supervision, and can negotiate contracts with actors and crew

Co-Producer

Works alongside the producer to oversee and manage various aspects of the film production process, from development to post-production. They are an extra set of hands with less responsibility than a producer but more than a line producer.

Line Producer

At the heart of the production, allocating the money and making sure the filming is done safely, creatively, on budget, and on time, and is the most senior member of the production team, second only to the producers.

Unit Production Manager

The UPM oversees production and helps decide costs related to the daily production of a film. Often a UPM is given the title of line producer instead of monetary compensation for a job well done.

Associate Producer

Assists the producer in completing basic assisting tasks to keep the production running smoothly. It is a title often given as thanks to someone who has aided the production in some way without monetary compensation, or to an especially helpful assistant.

Production Office Coordinator

Sets up the production office, organizes the rental of equipment, purchases supplies, and hires office staff. They coordinate travel, accommodation, work permits for cast and crew. They also distribute all paperwork such as schedules and script revisions. They are the center of the hub for the flow of information between the office and the set.

On the Set

First Assistant Director

Handles the logistics of running the set during production. They are the liaison between the director and the rest of the crew. In preproduction they create and manage the shooting schedule and shot lists, coordinating with all department heads to plan out each day of shooting.

Key Second Assistant Director

Prepare and draw up the next day’s call sheet, ensure that all actors are ready for filming when they are required, and coordinate transport and make-up, and wardrobe timetables.

Second, Second Assistant Director

Serves to lighten the load of the 1st AD and 2nd AD, working under their direction and responsible for assembling and directing extras, coordinating on=set vehicles, managing Pas, and preparing production reports for the work completed the day before.

Additional Second Assistant Directors

May come on for just one day when the set has a particularly large number of extras or other needs for backup support that by contract a production assistant is not allowed to do.

Key Production Assistant

Responsible for the entire production assistant department. This means communicating with all other Pas and making sure that each of them is successfully carrying out their assigned tasks.

Production Assistants

Responsible for maintaining the base camp, distributing paperwork, running errands, making sure no one walks into a shot managing the craft service area, helping with company moves, managing crowds, extras registration, loading and unloading equipment, and other duties as assigned.

The 5 Stages of Production

• Development

• Writing

• Pre-Production

• Production

• Postproduction

Software for Creating and Organizing

• Final draft

• MM scheduling

• MM budgeting

• Adobe Premiere Pro

• Templates