What is a Producer?

The Writer's Guild and Director's Guild have clear cut guidelines to what a writer and director are, but the Producer title is much more vague. It's is a funny term, because it encompasses a bunch of jobs. But here is an overview of the different types of producers and their functions.

A Producer....

• Organizes and INITIATES a project.
• Options rights to a book, finds a writer, goes into a studio, pitches, develops the screenplay, and gets paid a fee.
• Gets the money for the film, either from studios or outside funding.
• Gets a project off the ground
• Walks on stage to get the Academy Award for Best Picture!

Most producers spend much of their time in an office, either buying and pitching, so once a film gets greenlight, they start on their next project and the film gets passed to....

The Line Producer....

• This is a former production manager who has worked their way up. They know union agreements, when you have to break for lunch, how many tracks the camera crew needs, and know when you have to stop spending. They deal with a lot of numbers.
• Oversee everything and make sure all the bills get paid.

The Executive Producer...

• This is a person who brings name recognition to a project;
• The one brought in to finance a project;
• Or the person who brought the whole project together.

The Associate Producer...

• Might be the Line Producer;
• Or could be someone who has never done anything but brought a script to the film;
• Or someone who works for the Producer;
• Or even just the Producer's girlfriend.
• This is a flexible title and can mean a lot of things.

The Writer can also get a Producer credit...

• Often times in turnaround or other unique situations the Writer will say they want more.
• Example: In Shakespeare in Love, Mark Norman got the Writing and Best Picture Academy Award.

A Manager (or an Actor or Writer) can get a Producer credit...

• This is often done as a little gift or kudos to the manager
• There are a lot of people who manager Writers and they don't make much money, so this money is how they stay afloat.
• Agents CANNOT get producer credits though.

Keep in mind that everything is different in TELEVISION. In Film, the most important person is the director; but in TV, the most important person is the Writer...also known as the Executive Producer or Showrunner.

• Executive Producer/Showrunner is usually the writer of the Pilot...if not, then its probably the person who hired the writers.

So there is a little overview, hope that's helpful!

Writer's Assistant Salaries

Since I know this is an important issue, I decided to post some info I found on writer's assistant salaries!

WB showrunner's asst: 800/wk + 300 out of pocket from a generous boss (female)  

CW showrunner's asst: 700/wk + raises per yr (female)  

NBC showrunner's asst: 650/wk (50 hrs/wk) (female)  

Disney showrunner's asst: 650/wk, no health benefits (female)  

USA showrunner's asst: 650/wk + health benefits after 1st season (female)  

ABC showrunner's asst: 600/wk (60 hours) + health benefits (male)  

NBC showrunner's asst: 500/wk after taxes (female)  

CW writers' asst: 800/wk, no health benefits (male)  USA writers' asst: 650-750/wk + health benefits (female)  

ABC writers' asst: 650/wk (male)  

ABC writers' PA: 600/wk (60 hrs/wk) + health benefits (female)

TV Producer Talk

Yesterday I went and spoke with a friend of a friend who produces mainly TV series and TV movies (but also some features). He came from a business background, graduated from UCLA. But then switched over and began PA-ing. He did that for a year and then moved up to being an Associate Producer. He says he was sort of thown into the job and didn't really know what he was doing, but as they say..."fake it til you make it!" He now has an office on the Warner Bros lot.

He explained the process a pilot goes through to reach the air.

First step - find an awesome piece of material...this may come from a book or news article, or may just be cooked up in your head.

Next step, attach a writer. Since he is represented by WME, he goes to them first to try to attach a writer. If WME likes the concept, with the producer, they'll put together a package...this may include writers, actors, etc. Anything that would make the show attractive to a network. Packaging is SUPER important to agencies because when they bring a package to a network, they not only get a percentage from their clients but they also get a percentage of the show's budget and backend in the show. So this can mean big bucks for an agency.

June through August: Networks are open for pitches.

November: Scripts are turned in to the network for the shows they are possibly interested in.

December through January: Pilots are ordered by the network for approved scripts.

April through May: Networks look at the pilots and decide what they want to put on their line-up.

The smaller cable channels (ex. TNT, USA, etc.) don't follow the same schedule as the majors, they just ask for what they need at any particular moment...so the time frame will be different. One of the big differences between cable channels and the big networks is that networks tend to diversify more. Cable has niches...most of their shows are all similar in tone and feel. Networks (big and small) though have lost their edge right now for the most part. Most of what is being ordered falls in the category of either comedy or fantasy. This is what is selling at the moment and networks go with what has worked in the past. There is movement away from the TV movie, of which there used to be about 300 a year, now there is closer to 90, because it is the most expensive of TV entertainment to produce. Reality shows are the cheapest to make, then the 1/2 hour Comedy, followed by 1 hour drama, and finally the TV movie (usually 1-4 mil).

So that is a little overview of how the process works. If anyone is interested in seeing the 2010 pilot grid and scripts, I would be happy to share :)