What TV Producers Do

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me what a producer does, I could afford to give up the job! With all due respect to other members of the crew providing vital and necessary functions, I like to think of the producer quite simply as the brains of the operation. Responsible ultimately for the entire project from costs to storyline. As such the first responsibility of every producer is to climb inside the heads of the client/bosses, and wherever possible, deliver exactly what they are looking for, and where not possible, to offer viable alternatives that hopefully meet or approximate similar results. From there, it is up to the producer to figure out how to deliver in the most practical sense, usually on the fly.

In the field, describing here the other members of a pretty typical 5-6 person live, news crew, a good producer will give a competent cameraperson almost complete say in how to shoot the subject matter, the on-camera talent has a large degree of input on what to say and how to say it, the audio person is left to get the best sound possible, and the satellite engineer has to solve the transmission issues. The last stop on most projects is an editor who is supremely interested in what it all looks like when it is done. The producer’s job is to facilitate all this, which means he or she needs to know enough about each individual job to make sure they are all getting what they need and communicate intelligently with them about it. As these people are all usually busy doing their thing at the same time, the ability of a producer to multi-task is crucial. As the landscape can be forever changing, it is important for the producer to be flexible and communicate up and down the line to all members of the crew that need to know.

My kids will tell you this involves a lot of time on the telephone, because the producer is also responsible for the outside world, meaning the world outside the crew. People can be skittish around TV cameras, particularly if they are live, so inevitably permissions are needed and there are issues around rights, property and ownership laws. And there is of course the story to shoot, and people to interview which all needs to be coordinated and scheduled making it crucial for the producer to keep one eye on what is next.

And finally there are personal comfort issues. People can get cranky if it is hot out or lunch is overdue or there are no bathrooms nearby. Ultimately it comes down to the producer to arrange for all this.

Toward this end I have come up with my 6 rules of what makes a good producer. A producer must be:

Curious
There are a million great stories out there. A good producer knows that and is interested and excited to dive into each and everyone.

Fearless
In terms of diving into unknown subject matter which frequently requires asking stupid questions, or literally knocking on the door you are not sure who will answer, as well as being comfortable being second-guessed by the boss or client back home, who may not agree with or understand the decision you made on the ground. The decisions made need to be driven by getting the best product, not fear.

Decisive
A good producer must be able to make a decision – frequently without all the information. The worst thing is to be dithering around trying to figure out what to do next – it is hard on morale and drives up costs. A good producer will make the best decision possible and work to push it forward.

Flexible
With all due respect to #3 – sometimes even the best decisions go wrong. A good producer will know when to cut loses and try something else.

Communicate
With so much going on, it is hard to keep everyone in the loop. A good producer must make sure everyone knows what is going on and is comfortable with it, both on the ground and back home.

Focused
A good producer knows how to prioritize and solve one problem at a time while always keeping one eye on the end game.

As you can see, with all due respect to my children, there is plenty involved in being a producer besides just getting cauliflower ear from the telephone. In case it does not show, I love it and find it to be the most challenging and satisfying job there is.