CHAPTER

3   Producing and Production Management

Introduction

A producer is often the only key member of the production team who guides a project through all phases of production, from preproduction planning through postproduction editing and distribution. A producer initiates a project by drafting a proposal, obtaining financial support, assembling the necessary personnel, and then managing and overseeing the entire production process. She also ensures that the completed project reaches its target audience and satisfies people who have financially supported it. A producer provides the necessary continuity between one stage of production and the next, and tries to ensure consistency in the final product. Although the producer plays an important part in all three production stages, this chapter focuses on the producer’s role during preproduction and production.

PRODUCING

Role of the Producer

A producer is a risk taker, someone who seizes an idea, runs with it, and convinces others to participate in a project. Producers are creative administrators who act as links between the corporate executives, managers, financial concerns, investors, or distributors who finance video and film productions and the artists who create them. Such productions can require large sums of money, which come in the form of bank loans, outright grants, risk capital, and governmental or corporate “in-house” budget allocations. These productions also require a great deal of logistical planning and administration. Creative artists rarely have the time or the desire to deal with many of these administrative tasks, such as financing, budgeting, scheduling, and overall production management. Producers try to create high-quality products as efficiently as possible.

They know how to turn unappealing or extravagant ideas into workable material and marketable concepts. They understand the diverse needs of creative people, corporate executives, investors, product buyers, and audiences. Producers tread a fine line between the creative talent’s need for artistic expression and the necessity of providing concrete returns on production investments.

Good producers must be effective decision makers and people managers. A producer’s ability to understand and work with many different individuals is constantly tested throughout the entire production process. Ultimately, the production buck stops with the producer, who assumes responsibility for the successful completion of the project. If the production runs over schedule or over budget—that is, beyond the initial guidelines in terms of production time or money—it is the producer who must step in and decide what to do. Should production be terminated, a key individual replaced, or additional time and funds allocated to complete the project? These decisions can be extremely difficult. If a problem develops with a particularly unruly and disruptive actor or staff member, the producer or the director must try to resolve the dispute amicably or take disciplinary action.

Producers often specialize in particular types of programs. Specialists who work with television commercials, dramas, sports news, or interactive multimedia, for example, rarely work outside of their program type because success in one type of production does not guarantee success in another. Producers in charge of sound recordings, multimedia, videogames, and animation carry responsibilities differently than producers of television and film productions because of the nature of the differences in the media and the differences in the methods of finishing these types of productions.

Producers are further typed into at least four different categories according to the nature and extent of their responsibilities: staff producers, independent producers, executive producers, and producer hyphenates.

Staff producers are employed on a continuing basis by a production company or organization. Producers are often assigned to specific projects in a small video or film production company. Local television station staff producers often work in several areas simultaneously, sometimes floating from news to sports to public affairs. At the network television level, staff producers are assigned to specific divisions, such as news or sports, and they work exclusively within these domains. Staff producers in film often specialize in the production of feature films, educational films, commercials, documentaries, sports films, or industrial films. Unit production managers at major Hollywood studios are staff producers who are intimately involved with and extremely knowledgeable about almost every aspect of production. They are directly involved in production decisions on a daily basis. Staff producers of interactive multimedia productions and computer games coordinate a team of artists, designers, programmers, and writers for a developer or publisher.

Independent producers put together and sell production ideas to studios, film distributors, network and cable television executives, syndicators, and publishers. Independent producers are responsible for the bulk of all theatrically released entertainment films and prime-time television programming. They put together marketable story, staff, and talent packages. An independent producer is not employed on a continuing basis by a film studio or a television network or station. He or she works on a specific project on a freelance basis.

Executive producers are often less involved in day-to-day production decisions than other types of producers. They may delegate many production tasks to others and focus on project development and evaluation instead. In television, production executive producers are sometimes legendary figures, such as Norman Lear, Grant Tinker, Michael Crichton, Steven Botchco, or David E. Kelly, who have supervised several productions simultaneously and are constantly developing and promoting new program concepts and ideas. In feature film production, executive producers vary from people whose participation ensures sufficient funding to peripheral nonparticipants whose involvement in any aspect of production is minimal. Co-producers of feature films are rarely if ever involved in production in a major way or on a daily basis.

Finally, producer “hyphenates” combine the role of producer with those of writer or director. Writer-producer-directors immerse themselves in preplanning and the day-to-day production process, almost totally controlling the quality of the final product and preserving the integrity of their original idea. But, at the same time, they must also fulfill the responsibilities of director or writer. Often producers are intimately involved in the writing of those productions they produce.

Production Strategies

Producers often rely on production strategies to help ensure that a project is successful in obtaining necessary funding, fulfilling its purposes, and reaching an audience. The development of a production strategy involves at least four steps:

Market Research

Where do media production ideas come from? Creative minds? Obviously creativity is a necessary asset in production, but it is not sufficient in itself to guarantee success. Producers must also be sensitive to the needs, preferences, and desires of potential funding sources, investors, executives, managers, buyers, distribution channels, and audiences. Project ideas can arise from a variety of sources, including personal experiences, such as a chance encounter with an impressive human being, an unusually committed or effective organization, or a compelling social problem. An idea might be generated by a current event in a newspaper; a presold property, such as a successful book or play that suddenly becomes available; a desire to make a statement or to explore a specific issue for the public good; a need expressed by a corporate executive, government administrator, or a consumer or labor group; or a previously successful television program, film, or computer game. Exactly where an idea comes from is not as important (unless it involves copyrighted material whose media rights have already been secured and are unavailable) as what is done with that idea to make it appeal to potential funding sources, distribution channels, and audiences. Successful producers are people who not only develop or recognize good ideas but also know how to package, promote, and execute their ideas and to communicate them to others.

To transform good ideas into funded, marketable, and doable material, producers put together marketable packages featuring components of known or presumed value to reduce the uncertainty that sponsors and investors feel about whether or not a proposed project will be successful. Many people believe that the prior success of a similar venture or previous productions by members of the creative staff enhances the chances of success for a new project. According to this view, a producer, writer, director, or star performer who has recently had successful films or television programs is likely to be successful again. Obtaining production financing for proven talent is always easier than doing so for unproven talent. The prior success or notoriety of the subject of a documentary or of a novel or play on which a dramatic film or television program is based is also presumed to provide some guarantee of success.

Noncommercial projects initiated by people who have been previously successful are also more likely to receive funding than those undertaken by neophytes, but inexperienced producers can overcome this problem by involving at least a few experienced creative staff members in their project. Previous success in production can be defined in terms of awards, published reviews, specialized showings, and satisfied clients, as well as in terms of profits. In any case, an attractive media idea and package plays on prior success to appease sponsors and partially reduce financial risks inherent in production support and investments.

Unfortunately, producers rarely have the luxury of waiting for prior success of a similar project or property to be amply demonstrated before they initiate a project. Screen rights to novels and plays are often secured before publication or staging. A hot topic may have lost its popularity before a project is actually completed because of the long lead time between project initiation and completion. Successful producers anticipate trends almost before they happen, but they are also able to package these new concepts and ideas in traditional ways that help a sponsor or investor to see how appealing or marketable a new concept can be.

Production Goals and Objectives

Defining the goals and objectives for a project begins with the formation of a project idea, which must be refined as it is transformed into workable material. The importance of defining the goals and objectives of a project cannot be overestimated (Figure 3.1).

FIGURE 3.1 Precisely conceived and researched production goals and objectives keep a production on track and moving toward a complete and finished production.

For example, when major film producers and directors David O. Selznick, who had previously produced Gone with the Wind (1939), and Alfred Hitchcock, who subsequently directed Psycho (1960), vehemently disagreed about how literal the adaptation process—that is, how true to the novel a film should be—the initial result Rebecca (1940) was a major success which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. But subsequently they produced a complete disaster—The Paradine Case (1948). Bitter disagreements over goals, objectives, and methods of producing and directing films led to major headaches and problems for everyone involved in the production process during all of their “collaborations,” and despite their early success, they parted ways soon after experiencing failure, and Selznick in fact closed down his production studio.

Members of the production team need to be aware of a program’s overall objectives and to share common goals to prevent unnecessary conflicts from arising during the production process. Obtaining financial support for a project is much easier when the goals and objectives of the project are clearly specified. Any potential sponsor or funding source wants to know what you are trying to accomplish. If your goals and objectives remain vague and unspecified, your project is unlikely to generate much support.

Although the goal or objective of a project may be primarily a commercial one, it is rarely exclusively to make money. Project goals may be quite specific, such as winning a particular award, or they may be more general, such as reaching a new level of artistic expression. They may involve a political agenda, such as changing people’s minds about an important issue or problem, or motivating concrete actions, including voting for a particular candidate or buying a specific product. The goal might be primarily educational, such as teaching students to use a new computer program through the production of an interactive CD. On the other hand, the goal might be to produce a challenging computer game, an emotional piece of music on an audio CD, or a compelling or exciting animation using computers or traditional techniques. It might be to increase public appreciation of work undertaken by a fascinating person or a highly committed organization. It might also be to increase public awareness about compelling social problems, such as hunger, disease, and violent conflict at home or abroad, or to serve the needs of children or a minority group for nonviolent entertainment and educational programming.

Whatever the goals and objectives of a project may be, it is important to write them down so that they can be clarified, carefully considered, and discussed before developing a script or recording and editing a project. Enumerating the goals and objectives of a project will help to galvanize support and to ensure that everyone on the production team is using the same playbook. It will help to reduce future conflicts and to increase the appeal of a project to potential funding sources.

Researching a topic is another important step in the development of a production strategy. Topic research allows a producer to gather accurate information about a specific film or television topic. Careful research ensures that productions do not misinform. The quality of the research directly affects the integrity of the entire project. A hastily produced, poorly researched production can generate a great deal of antipathy from its audience. Sometimes pressure groups are aroused and legal actions, such as libel suits, are taken against the producer or production company. Careful research can make the difference between promoting misinformation versus carefully examining the key issues and stimulating a reasonable debate. Exciting action and intense, well-acted performances contribute a great deal to the impact and success of any dramatic production, but thorough topic research gives a project significance, depth, and lasting value and promotes the long-term interests of the producer.

Topic research requires imagination and determination. New sources of information are only uncovered with extreme diligence and persistence. Research can involve the collection and inspection of at least four different types of data or material records: written, visual, oral, and digital. Data banks of information are produced daily as vast quantities of information of all types are collected and released in digital form, either on disc, CD-ROM, or through the Internet or various web sites. Producers or their researchers can save many hours traditionally spent in libraries by using digitized sources. Books, magazines, newspapers, diaries, and private correspondence are written materials that often need to be uncovered, read, and analyzed. Good producers read extensively about their subject in preparation for production. Unlike scholars, producers may perform their research with a broad brush and with little attention to footnotes and minute details in order to get an overall understanding of their topic. This will facilitate the presentation of information in an accessible and logical manner.

Visual records may include photographs, and drawings of relevant settings, props, and costumes may also need to be examined. Actual locations may need to be visited as well. Historical visual and audio records and stock footage may need to be examined. Performing research in archives often requires considerable time and effort. Location scouts may use the World Wide Web and electronic mail (e-mail) to provide a rapid method of corresponding with location sources and interviewing subjects without waiting for mail service or a telephone response. Stock footage of historical events is expensive, because rights to duplicate this material must be obtained.

It is often important to examine or conduct oral interviews with people who are knowledgeable about specific topics. Interviews might be conducted with actual participants in events or recognized experts in a field. Interview questions should be written down and carefully planned, but the interviewer should not read them but rather remember them as a guide so that a more lively and spontaneous interview can be recorded. In some cases, experts who are interviewed during preproduction may be retained as consultants throughout the production phase. Sometimes consultants are supplied by specific organizations, such as the American Medical Association, which do not want to be slighted by improper or inaccurate information. In any case, extensive topic research often helps a producer make intelligent production decisions, while impressing potential sponsors and funding sources with her or his knowledge of the subject, adding program depth, and avoiding a variety of ethical pitfalls and problems.

Proposal Writing

One of a producer’s first responsibilities is to create a proposal. A proposal is a written document designed to help raise money and obtain other kinds of support for a project. It may be submitted to a group of investors, a private foundation, or a government agency such as the National Endowment for the Arts, or a regional, state, or local arts council. An effective proposal generates enthusiastic support. It should be written in clear and engaging language that any nonspecialist can understand, but it should also be sufficiently thorough to meet the expectations of media and subject area specialists.

Good proposals usually contain the following elements: a provocative opening statement of purpose; a rationale of the need for such a project; its structure, organization, and approach; a preliminary budget and schedule; specific information concerning the anticipated audiences and the means of reaching them; and short, paragraph-length summaries of the careers of the producer, director, and other key creative personnel. Proposals are sometimes accompanied by videotape “show reels” containing clips from previously successful works by members of the creative staff (Figure 3.2).

FIGURE 3.2 A proposal is a sales tool that needs to be written clearly and to describe completely the intended project, including all critical or unusual aspects of the production involvement in this project.

The opening statement of purpose for any proposal is extremely important. It should provide a concise summary of the goals and objectives of your project. It should also generate interest and enthusiastic support. Try to imagine that you have just read about 100 proposals, and, although some of them are stimulating, you are becoming quite bored with the whole process. Suddenly something hits you like a breath of fresh air. One proposal stands out above the others. The writer is particularly clever, insightful, or committed. The proposal generates a contagious feeling of excitement. This is what you must try to accomplish in your opening statement of purpose. What is it that has stimulated your own interest? Now encapsulate this feeling and communicate it to someone else by putting it into powerful prose that relies on active rather than passive verbs in every sentence.

The opening statement usually includes a tentative title for the project. It also identifies the subject matter and convinces the reader of its importance and impact, often by providing a taste and flavor of the story that will unfold, including at least a hint of the conflicting forces and elements of dramatic structure that stimulate and propel it. Try to specify what you want your project to accomplish and who you hope will be moved by it.

What important need justifies the expenditure of the money and resources required to undertake and complete your project? Will it serve the public good? How? Will it be commercially successful? Why? Does it help to solve a social problem or promote greater understanding among and between different groups of people? Does it have a particular appeal to young or old people?

Proposal writers often provide some essential background information so that nonspecialists can begin to understand why this need is so compelling. Background statements provide the reader with sufficient grounding in a subject area to be able to understand and accept a basic premise and to make informed judgments concerning the importance, feasibility, and effectiveness of your project. They should be concise, providing basic and essential information. Writers use computers to access data and information sources during proposal writing to gather accurate and comprehensive information. Two of the resources are Lexis and Nexis. Lexis is a legal database, containing court cases and other legal information in the United States. Nexis is a news-retrieval system, listing most major newspaper, magazine, and newsletter contents. Both systems are designed for searching under a variety of methods to quickly reach the specific information that the research requires.

The approach, organization, and structure of a proposal indicate how you plan to tell your story and from whose point of view. For example, you might classify your project as a serious drama about an imminent separation and divorce, told from a child’s view, or as a documentary portrait of an artist exploring an upbeat former stage designer’s views on his pending blindness as he creates wall hangings and fabric designs that are enriched by his newly stimulated tactile senses. A documentary may consist of vérité sequences, “talking-head” interviews, and traditional voice-over narration. Or it may present dramatic reenactments of what “witnesses” convinced themselves happened at a violent crime scene, such as those presented in Errol Morris’s Thin Blue Line. Each of these descriptions of a project characterizes its approach and structure.

The anticipated audience may be quite narrow or very broad, but it should be described in specific terms. The primary audience for a documentary might be a specific ethnic group, such as African-American communities in northern urban areas. A dramatic Appalachian folktale might be aimed at young Anglo-American teenage girls. In the latter case, the means of reaching that audience, or the specific distribution channel, might be motion picture theaters, prime-time public television, or afternoon commercial television. The former project might be designed for prime-time commercial or public television broadcast, as well as for rental to schools and universities through a nontheatrical distributor.

A proposal should also contain short biographies of the primary creative staff, written in paragraph form. These should highlight previous productions that are most closely related in content and approach to the project being proposed. Citing earlier works that have received major awards or national distribution will encourage potential funding sources to believe that prior success will ensure continued success. If you have a limited track record yourself, you should enlist the participation and support of creative staff members who have extensive experience and impressive track records, if at all possible. Letters of endorsement and support from highly regarded individuals, especially from people with whom the funding source is already familiar, should also be included with a proposal whenever possible. You should also try to make personal contact with the funding source, which, one hopes, will lead to an oral presentation of your project proposal. Writers use computers to prepare all written preproduction materials, such as proposals, treatments, and scripts. A computer allows the writer flexibility to make changes, deletions, and additions quickly and efficiently. Working in the digital domain allows information to be distributed to all involved personnel in either digital or hard-copy form (Figure 3.3).

FIGURE 3.3 A proposal and a treatment together are key tools that a producer uses to sell a production in order to gain financing. They must be concise and accurate if the nontechnical client is to understand them.

Project Presentations

A producer who has interest in a potential funding source usually tries to make a personal, face-to-face, oral presentation to the investor, sponsor, or executive who is considering funding the project. Sometimes the presentation will be made over lunch or dinner. At other times it will be a more formal presentation in an office. At the very least, it will consist of a telephone conversation. Regardless of the setting, it is essential that the producer capitalize on any interest generated by a written proposal during the presentation. A producer who lacks enthusiasm in presenting his or her project to a prospective sponsor or investor is destined to fail. Sometimes the acceptance of a dramatic project hinges on the availability of a well-known creative staff member or star performer. If a producer has some well-known talent under contract before the face-to-face presentation, that presentation is more likely to solidify funding support. The presentation also offers a producer the opportunity to present additional, less fully developed future project ideas to a funding source, to gauge his or her interest, and to make adjustments later based on some of the funding source’s reactions and recommendations. You should always go to a “pitch” or presentation with another idea in your back pocket, just in case you are given the opportunity to present it.

Legal Rights and Concerns

Producers are often involved in legal matters, many of which require the involvement of a qualified entertainment lawyer. Music and written materials are usually protected by copyright. Any use of copyrighted materials is usually secured on the basis of a royalty fee that is paid to the owner of this property. Legal releases free the producer from threat of lawsuits from people who appear in a film or television program and must be secured before that work is publicly exhibited. Private citizens can sue for libel, slander, invasion of privacy, or defamation of character if they believe they have been unfairly portrayed. The law is somewhat different for public figures, but they are still protected to some extent, and, as noted earlier, producers must exercise great care in the treatment of human subjects to avoid lengthy and expensive legal actions. The large number of legal services that are often required for commercial production has resulted in legal specialists, known as entertainment lawyers, who cater to the specific needs of the industry.

Producers are generally responsible for obtaining permissions and releases. Permissions to use personal property and copyrighted works, such as specific locations and music, require negotiations with the property owners. For example, a student who wishes to use a piece of popular music in a film or video needs to obtain permission from both the owner of the musical recording or CD, such as Sony music, and the publisher of the music, such as the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC). Personal releases signed by people appearing in the film or video inhibit subsequent legal suits brought by them against the producer, especially when they are dissatisfied with the final product or outcome.

Some producers maintain their own music libraries, so that they do not have to commission expensive original music for every production need. These music libraries are collections of musical recordings that are available from organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. These music recordings on CDs or digital formats require royalty payments in the form of needle-drop fees, which simply means that every time a cut from the CD or recording is used, a specific fee must be paid, regardless of how long the recording runs. Production music libraries are available on CD, audio DVD, digital and analog tape, and via web site downloads. Regardless of the medium, including downloading from the Internet, the needle-drop fee still applies.

Unions, Guilds, and Nonunion Working Conditions

Talent and technicians in many states are protected by union or guild contracts that have been worked out with major producers and production companies. Union or guild-negotiated contracts specify salary scales, working conditions and policies, and many other factors, such as residual payments. The unions or guilds with which a producer may work, or at least honor in terms of salary and working conditions represent the highest level of professionals in the entertainment industry.

Some states, of course, have right-to-work laws, which prohibit the formation of completely closed shops; that is, they prevent unions from requiring all workers to join their union, pay dues, and abide by union-negotiated contracts. Texas and Florida are examples of such states.

Production in most metropolitan areas is heavily unionized, especially at the highest levels of production, such as network and broadcast station television, feature films, and 35 mm film commercials. In these areas, salary levels must meet or exceed certain specified minimum levels. A union member who fails to abide by these conditions and works for less pay is vulnerable to disciplinary fines or expulsion from the union, and the producer or production company may have to renegotiate a union contract, because its violation of the agreement makes the document null and void. In right-to-work states, union contracts of this type do not always exist, and salaries and working conditions are often negotiated on an individual basis.

Nonunion productions are often difficult to distribute or air at the highest, most lucrative levels. It is well known, for example, that the major Hollywood feature film distributors cannot purchase or distribute more than one nonunion-produced film per year without jeopardizing their union contracts. Most producers of feature films and network television programs must face the added costs of union salary scales during production or accept the added difficulties of finding an effective means of national distribution. Although the highest levels of television and film production are heavily unionized, except in right-to-work states, a great deal of commercial and noncommercial production is accomplished without union talent and crews throughout the country. Much public, cable, local, corporate, government, educational, and religious television and film production takes place in nonunion or partially unionized work environments. It is often easier to obtain initial production experience and employment in these nonunionized production settings.

The “illusion of reality” inherent in nonfiction programming and films, it has been argued, gives television and film producers the power to shape as well as reflect public opinion. Some nonfiction programming, such as network news broadcasts, functions as a primary source of public information about current events. Because nonfiction media producers can influence public opinion, they have an ethical responsibility not to intentionally mislead the public. The fact that many nonfiction film and television producers are concerned with making a profit as well as performing a useful social function often means that individuals will be tempted to compromise their ethical responsibilities. Although it is true that nonfiction works must have entertainment or dramatic value to attract audiences and prove cost-effective, there is a point at which a shortsighted pursuit of profit forces abandonment of long-term social goals and values. Self-serving creators of nonfiction programming have the potential to do harm to individuals and our democratic institutions. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) attempts to ensure that broadcasters operate in “the public interest, convenience, and necessity.”

Private citizens are protected from media abuse by the possibility of bringing libel, slander, or invasion of privacy suits. Documentary filmmakers, for example, must obtain written permission (releases) from private citizens before they can publicly exhibit television or film recordings of them. Public figures are less well protected than private citizens, and even private citizens who are involved in bona fide, public news events may legally be filmed or recorded without their permission. Generally speaking, in a court of law public figures need to prove a producer’s “intent” to do them harm, but private citizens only need to demonstrate a harmful “effect.”

Beyond the legal and public policy limitations and implications of their work, writers and producers of films and television programs have an ethical responsibility to use the “illusion of reality” inherent in nonfiction and fiction formats wisely and to treat their human and nonhuman subjects fairly. From a production standpoint, documentary and news people must be concerned about the potentially negative effects a publicly exhibited work may have on the people who are photographed or recorded. What is done to a human being when his or her picture is shown to thousands or millions of viewers, especially when that person is a private citizen rather than a public figure?

Lance Loud, the gay son who appeared along with the rest of his family before a national public television audience when An American Family (1973) was broadcast on PBS, made a public exhibition of coming out of the closet. In 2001, PBS broadcast a followup after Lance had died of AIDS, titled Lance Loud! A Death in an American Family, which explored some of the benefits and burdens of being publicly exposed, as well as the ethical implications of the earlier documentary. Ross McElwee’s probing and insightful but also highly personal explorations of Southern culture, such as Sherman’s March (1986) (his most recent Southern adventure is titled Bright Leaves [2003]), sometimes exposed Southern women to possible humiliation or embarrassment as he pursued romantic relationships with them on camera. However, some of McElwee’s documentary subjects have been performers who were actively seeking exposure and public recognition. In the latter cases, who was using whom? Are we talking about exploitation or the pursuit of mutual self-interest?

Other questions to consider include: How are releases to use the images of private citizens obtained? Are people coerced into signing a release, or do they freely choose to be publicly exhibited? Does the unannounced appearance of a news or documentary camera crew at a private citizen’s home or office constitute a form of coercion? Does the subject’s initial permission allow the producer or editor to use the recordings in any manner that he or she sees fit, or does a writer, editor, director, or producer have some responsibility to show the completed work to the subject before it is publicly shown so that a follow-up permission can be obtained? These are ethical questions that should concern documentary and newswriters, directors, and producers, who must weigh the public’s right-to-know against the citizen’s right-to-privacy. These questions frequently arise in many different types of nonfiction programming, not only documentaries and news stories, but also commercials and educational programming.

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

Producers are usually responsible for production management. Production management includes the supervision, acquisition, use, and scheduling of the production staff, equipment, and facilities. The producer, or another member of the staff under the producer’s direction, such as a production manager for a major film studio (often called a unit production manager or unit manager), breaks a script down according to its component locations and settings. An experienced individual who is intimately familiar with essential production equipment needs, budget limitations, personnel contracts, and salary scales easily specifies the personnel and facilities needed for each scene.

Script Breakdown

A script breakdown helps a producer estimate and follow realistic schedules and budgets by providing a complete record of all equipment, personnel, and facilities needed for every scene or sequence. It also makes it possible to shoot the production efficiently out of continuity, that is, ignoring the chronology of sequences in the script and shooting all the scenes that take place in one setting at the same time, regardless of where they will appear in the finished product. This procedure is obviously more efficient than returning to the same settings or locations several times in the course of production. After the script has been broken down according to its settings and locations, breakdown sheets are filled out. Each sheet lists the cast members, staff, sets, props, costumes, and equipment needed at one setting or location. An overall shooting schedule and equipment and personnel list can be made and total costs estimated from all the breakdown sheets put together. All of the production management forms are now available as computer programs, allowing for such forms to be manipulated as easily as any word processing program. Shooting schedules, script breakdowns, production reports, and budgets all may be processed in a digital format (Figure 3.4).

FIGURE 3.4 The script breakdown form needs to indicate everything that will be used on a production during a specific shooting period, usually a day or a single location.

Shooting Schedule

A shooting schedule indicates the total number of days of recording that will actually be required to complete the project. Shooting schedule information is often assembled using a computer program that segments a schedule into units of one day’s shooting at a specific location or studio. An individual segment indicates all major personnel and equipment needs for one day at one place. The segments can be moved around if the production schedule must be altered. Because shooting is scheduled primarily on the basis of scenes and locations, the segments for all the days of shooting of the same scene or location usually appear sequentially on a schedule board.

The expense or lack of availability of key production personnel at a certain period can complicate scheduling, sometimes forcing a producer to return to a location or studio more than once during actual production. Once the shooting schedule is finalized, the production schedule for a feature film at a major studio, for example, can be fitted into a master production schedule governing a production company’s overall use of facilities and personnel for several simultaneous or overlapping projects. Scheduling computer software can generate as many hard copies as needed and allow instantaneous changes to be made in production scheduling (Figure 3.5).

FIGURE 3.5 The shooting schedule form lists the key requirements for an entire production broken down by shooting days or portions of days if more than one location is scheduled in any one day.

Production Budget

Production budgets are usually divided into above-the-line and below-the-line costs. Above-the-line costs include the salaries of the creative staff members, such as the producer, the director, the designer (in interactive multimedia production), and the scriptwriter, and the fees paid to performers or talent, such as actors or narrators. Below-the-line costs cover technical facilities, equipment, and personnel, such as production engineers and crew. When below-the-line costs are approximately equal to above-the-line costs, the production values, or overall level of sophistication of the equipment and crew, are usually appropriate for the investment in creative talent.

Running time, the total duration (as well as the complexity) of a completed project, is an important determinant of overall budget. Although it is generally true that longer running times require larger budgets, the case of high-budget, network-level television commercials suggests that there are some exceptions to this rule. Running times for specific types of programs are often standardized. A public television program might run for about 26 or 52 minutes, whereas the same program would be only about 23 or 46 minutes long if it were to be commercially broadcast, to allow time for the commercials. Theatrical films, those that are shown in commercial theaters, are rarely more than three hours in duration, because it is difficult for a theater owner to show films longer than this more than twice a day—once in the afternoon and once in the evening. Film length can directly affect box office revenues.

Shooting ratios represent the ratio of footage shots during production to footage actually used in the final edited version. Such ratios vary considerably from format to format. Shooting ratios for a cinema vérité, a documentary approach in which a single camera is used to record unstaged events, can range anywhere from 20:1 to more than 100:1 of recorded material shot to material used. An efficiently produced, sponsored film or videotape, on the other hand, may be produced at a 4:1 or 5:1 shooting ratio of footage shot to footage used. An average feature film or television action drama requires a shooting ratio of 15:1 or more. Television commercials can easily run up shooting ratios as high as 50:1 or more. In some categories, such as certain soft drink commercials, as much as 50,000 feet of 35 mm film may be originally exposed in order to produce just 45 feet (30 seconds) of the final product.

Producers must determine the exact cost of almost every production item, from equipment rental or purchase to union salary scales, talent residuals, and copyright royalty fees. Television and film equipment can be rented from businesses that specialize in these services, or it can be purchased by a studio or individual and amortized, that is, depreciated in value for tax purposes on a yearly basis over the period of time that it is actually used. Residuals are payments that performers and talent receive for repeat uses of productions in which they appear that continue to earn money (Figure 3.6).

FIGURE 3.6 The production budget form must indicate all costs, regardless of how small, and if unknown, a professional estimate must be made. This is the summary page; each of the categories indicated necessitates one or more pages to include every category of funds required for the production.

Every final budget should include a contingency fund that represents from 10 percent to 30 percent of the estimated budget. The contingency fund permits some latitude for error, which can arise in a number of areas, for unpredictable circumstances such as inclement weather that delays production and for talent or labor difficulties. A budget that does not include a contingency fund is unlikely to attract any but the most naive sponsors or investors.

There are many ways to organize and structure production personnel and the production process, but most approaches can be placed somewhere along a continuum from a strict hierarchy to a loose cooperative. A hierarchical model is basically a pyramid structure. Authority flows downward from the producer to the director and other members of the production team. In short, everyone has an immediate supervisor who is responsible for making production decisions. These decisions flow downward from the top. A cooperative model divides production tasks and responsibilities equally among each of the various areas of specialization. A different individual or group is responsible for each aspect of production, and all decisions are made cooperatively and collectively within and between different divisions.

Few actual production situations are exclusively hierarchical or cooperative in approach. Television and film production is necessarily a cooperative, collective process to some extent. In large-scale productions, specialization forces producers and directors to delegate responsibility to experts, whose cooperation and creative innovation is essential to the completion of a quality product. But media production is rarely a purely democratic art. Most productions are organized somewhat hierarchically around the funding source or the producer, who represents that source. Responsibility for daily decisions is frequently delegated to the director, and by the director to specialists in each area, such as the stage manager, the art director, and the lighting director. The producer and the director must coordinate and supervise the overall production. They must create an effective communication network that ensures that information flows freely from the bottom up as well as from the top down.

One means of ensuring adequate communication among the various staff and crew members is to schedule regular production meetings before, during, and after actual production. Coordinating the overall production minimizes the risk that continuity will be lost, that costumes will clash with sets, that lighting will be inappropriate to the mood of a particular scene, or that staff members will simply misunderstand the overall purpose and design of the production. Involving people in production decision making encourages their support and cooperation. A production meeting may also require some exercise of authority on the part of the producer or director to ensure production efficiency and consistency. In general, the more time allocated to production meetings (provided that these are not simply drink fests or “bull sessions”), the less time and money the production team will later need to spend on costly reshooting.

Producers must constantly evaluate the efficacy of procedures being used in production. Short-term evaluations focus on gathering daily information. The producer fills out daily production reports, based on information received from each production area. Accurate records are kept for financial purposes, and some secretarial or clerical skills are essential. The forms to be filled out concerning a feature film production, for example, are almost endless. There are daily call sheets, weekly budget summaries, revised shooting schedules, lab reports, and work orders. The producer must supervise a staff of assistants and secretaries who are able to organize and maintain production records and quickly respond to daily production needs. Long-term evaluations focus on applications to future projects.

The producer often works in concert with the director in casting the major talent for a specific production. Many variables must be considered before casting decisions are made. Individual agents sometimes suggest selections from the available talent pool, but actors are finally selected and tested at auditions, in which they read segments of the script in the presence of the director, the producer, and sometimes the casting director. The actor’s appearance, voice quality, talent, and salary have to be carefully considered. Sometimes an inexperienced actor or “real” person from the actual locale will offer a more authentic portrayal than a professional actor.

Producers often consider the box-office appeal (theatrical film popularity) or television quotient (or TVQ, an index of popularity that is based on the star’s fame and popularity and that is used by television networks) of specific star performers as a means of justifying the added expense of acquiring proven talent. Directors are often more concerned about aesthetic values, such as whether or not a particular actor or individual is perfectly right or natural for the role, than is the producer, who also worries about salaries and box-office appeal. The producer is often the funding source’s sole representative during production and must therefore consider many financial, as well as aesthetic, factors.

Staff producers in small corporate, government, educational, and local cable television production units function much the same way as other producers. Their budgets may be smaller, and the people they work with are fewer in number, but the same basic skills are required. To illustrate the fact that all producers perform essentially the same role, let us consider a student production made in an academic setting. A student who is producing an assigned project for a grade must obtain funding for the project, either by earning the money, negotiating with parents, or finding a sponsor who can use the finished product. The student producer must procure the necessary equipment, supplies, and personnel to make the best possible film or video project with limited resources. Scheduling the production and acquiring talent within an academic environment is often extremely difficult because students have different class schedules and responsibilities.

Once the actual shooting is scheduled, the weather may not cooperate and the shoot may have to be rescheduled. Perhaps special costumes or props are needed, and the student must undertake delicate negotiations with the drama department or the head of buildings and grounds on campus. If the work is to be publicly screened or used on a local cable channel, the producer must be sure to pay all copyright fees for prerecorded music or commission original music from a friend in the music department. Release forms should be obtained from people who appear in a work that will be publicly exhibited. Finally, when the project is finished, the student must evaluate feedback from a number of people, including an instructor’s unexpectedly high or low grade. The producer, then, has to be an effective supervisor of people, an administrator, a salesperson, a sensitive but objective critic, and, above all, a good fundraiser and money manager. These diverse skills, which combine business acumen and organizational ability with creativity and sensitivity to people, are not plentiful in the profession, nor are they easily acquired. Good producers should be recognized for their unique value to both the artistic and the business sides of the production process.

Summary

Producers plan, organize, and supervise the production process from the initial idea to its eventual distribution and exhibition. Producers adopt conscious production strategies to turn creative ideas into marketable concepts. A production strategy involves at least four steps: generating funded and workable ideas, defining the goals and objectives of the project, researching the topic, and assessing the potential audience. Producers must also estimate the production budget and make a proposal to a potential source of funding during a face-to-face presentation of the project’s ideas and goals.

Effective producers possess a variety of supervisory skills—from the ability to manage people and resolve disputes, to strong organizational skills—which facilitate the flow and recording of information as well as budgetary decisions. Production team interaction can be structured hierarchically or cooperatively. Together with the director, the producer becomes involved in casting decisions. The producer is frequently the sponsor’s or investor’s sole representative during actual production.

Production management involves breaking down the script into its component parts so that the project can be shot cost-effectively out of continuity and coordinating the use of facilities, personnel, and equipment. Script breakdown sheets aid in the preparation of a budget and the scheduling of production facilities and personnel.

EXERCISES

Additional Readings

Albarran, Alan B, Areese, Angel. 2003. Time and Media Markets, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.

Alberstat, Philip. 1999. Independent Producer’s Guide to Film and TV Contracts, Focal Press, Boston.

Alberstat, Philip. 2001. Law and the Media, fourth ed. Focal Press, Boston.

Block, Peter, Houseley, William, Southwell, Ron. 2001. Managing in the Media, Focal Press, Boston.

Cartwright, Steve R, Cartwright, G Phillip. 1999. Designing and Producing Media-Based Training, Focal Press, Boston.

Chater, Kathy. 2001. Research for Media Production, second ed. Focal Press, Boston.

Cleve, Bastian. 2006. Film Production Management, third ed. Focal Press, Boston.

Creech, Kenneth. 2007. Electronic Media Law and Regulation, fifth ed. Focal Press, Boston.

Crowell, Thomas A. 2007. The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers: A Legal Toolkit for Independent Producers, Focal Press, Boston.

DiZazzo, Ray. 2003. Corporate Media Production, second ed. Focal Press, Boston.

Gates, Richard. 1999. Production Management for Film and Video, third ed. Focal Press, Boston.

Gripsrud, Jostein. 2002. Understanding Media Culture, Oxford University Press, New York.

Jacobs, Bob. 1999. The Independent Video Producer, Focal Press, Boston.

Kindem, Gorham. 1982. The American Movie Industry, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL.

Kindem, Gorham. 2000. The International Movie Industry, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL.

Koster, Robert. 2004. Budget Book for Film & Television, second ed. Focal Press, Boston.

Lee, Jr, John J. 2005. The Producer’s Business Handbook, second ed. Focal Press, Boston.

Lutzker, John B. 2002. Contents Rights for Creative Professionals, fourth ed. Focal Press, Boston.

Miller, Philip. 2002. Media Law for Producers, Focal Press, Boston.

Pryluck, Calvin. Ultimately we are all outsiders: The ethics of documentary filming. Journal of Film and Video, 28(1), 21–29.

Radford, Marie L, Barnes, Susan B, Barr, Linda R. 2002. Web Research: Selecting, Evaluating, and Citing, Allyn & Bacon, Boston.

Rosenthal, Alan. 2002. Writing, Directing, and Producing Documentary Films, third ed. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL.

Stone, Chris, Goggin, David. 2000. Audio Recording for Profit: The Sound of Money, Focal Press, Boston.

Tomaric, Jason. 2008. Power Filmmaking Kit: The Make Your Professional Movie on a Next-to-Nothing Budget, Focal Press, Boston.

Van Tassel, Joan. 2006. Digital Rights Management: Protecting and Monetizing Content, Focal Press, Boston.

Warnick, Barbara. 2002. Critical Literacy in a Digital Era, Earlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.

Weise, Michael. 2001. Film and Video Budgets, Focal Press, Boston.