What do producers do ?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve seen and heard the names of famous producers in music, movies and TV. But what exactly is their job ? What do they do ?

Thanks

2

Well, everything. Directors shoot the picture and Actors star in it, but Producers make arrangements, and are often present in every major event. They help out with editing a lot, as well. Producers serve to keep the movie-making process focussed on the business, so it doesn’t go too far over budget or take to long.

In short, they’re like a giant-size coffee boy. :slight_smile:

But very useful.

3

You have to differentiate. In music, the producer is the person who determines the sound of the record. They discuss the mix with the engineer, suggest various ideas to the musicians, add studio musicians if necessary, and generally take the raw sound of the musicians and set it up for recording.

In films and TV, there are many levels of producer. The Producer (usually Executive Producer in TV) is the businessperson in charge of the project – he hires everyone involved and raises money to make the film (or sells the show to a network if it’s TV). Other producers in film have various roles – day-to-day operation, for instance. On TV, each episode has a main producer, who handles the logistics, plus other producers who handle smaller tasks.

4

Very generally, in the movie business, the producer (sometimes called the executive producer) is the person in charge of the project, and is often the one who is funding it or has a source of money.

In television, the producer is kind of like the director of a movie. He or she constructs the segment-by-segment rundown, approves scripts, and oversees the shooting.

5

If you listen to Julia Phillips, producers write scripts, cast roles, show directors how to shoot film, rewrite scripts, make lighting decisions, design movie posters, get screwed by men with power and female authors, help movie stars get through addictions to alcohol and drugs long enough to get their parts done, and go to awards banquets.

Oh, and occasionally do some blow and have sex.

I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, but man did that book ever get tiresome.

6

Music producer checking in here. Basically what we do, is take ego riddled, talent less hacks, and make them sound good. Basic responsibilities include…

  1. Being present while recording, and being a middleman between the engineer and the musician. Many producers (myself included), will engineer the damn things ourselves, as there is one less person plotting against you. Also during recording, we eq the sound, put effects on the instrument, and do our best to ‘cover up’ the musicians lack of talent.

  2. Producers also act as a ‘studio mother’, making sure all the little kids are happy and playing well together. I’ve been in some studios that have gotten pretty volatile, and I’ve seen some good producers mellow everyone out and get them focused back on the task at hand.

  3. After the music is on tape, the producer will add things, remove things, re-record things, and generally polish the song up.
    Producers are worrth their weight in gold.

7

Just go watch Get Shorty. Producers rock.

8

Regarding movie producers, I wrote a lengthy article on my website addressing this very issue. All of your questions will be answered here.

9

Sorry for bumping this, but I was searching for information and this thread seemed like the closest to what I was looking for without actually answering the question.

Tonight, I was watching a made-for-TV movie (a really bad one, but that’s beside the point), and it credited, among others:

  • three executive producers
  • one line producer.
  • one producer
  • a director

What’s the difference between the 3 types of producer? I am guessing, due to the ordering (which is as I have given it above), that “producer” is somehow more “significant” - is that correct?