Film Producing - Week 19.4.21

Have you ever noticed the list of producers at the start of a movie or during the credits? I’d be surprised if you haven’t since they’re normally listed right after the director. So, if they’re ranked so high up they must be important. But what do they really do?

Before I started learning more about the filmmaking world, I didn’t know either. However here’s a quick explanation: A producer is the person in charge of organizing and coordinating everything needed for a film production. Sounds like a lot of work right? You’re right, it is.

I’m currently directing and producing a music video for a friend of mine and his band and have since developed a lot of respect for big-budget Hollywood producers. 

We’re still in the middle of shooting but we’ve been able to collect a modest budget of 1500.- to shoot the project across three days, currently have a six-week deadline to deliver the video and have around 10-15 people involved. It can be a lot of fun to have the responsibility of bringing an entire project to life. It also makes it easier when you have talented and great people involved but it can also be very stressful work.

Not only do you have to make sure that everybody shows up on the right days, at the right time, at the right location but you have to make sure there’s catering, bathrooms available, access to parking, the list goes on. And that goes for every shoot day.

Now if that sounds like enough work already, here’s a little comparison: Christopher Nolan’s latest film ‘Tenet’ came out this year. In the movie, they crash a real-size Boeing 747 into a Hangar at an active airport and the scene takes up maybe two minutes of the movie. You get the picture.