How to Find a Job as a Film Producer

Early-career film producers are likely to start in any of the following positions: associate producer, line producer, visual effects producer, creative producer, and other creative roles taking on a producer credit. Because producers typically earn their livelihood by freelancing on a project-by-project basis, those aspiring to become one should pursue such entry-level positions.

Film projects, especially big-budget ones, have staff in all of the above positions, all reporting to the head or executive producers. On such projects, the term co-producer is often applied to those collaborating in a producorial role in specific departments. 

A film producer can wear many different hats, professionally speaking, but getting started in this field generally involves familiarity and collaboration with multiple departments and an understanding of where you can begin building your résumé. Few accomplished EPs have reached their position without years and years of experience making movies in one capacity or another.

When choosing which film producer job to pursue in your own career, consider the differences detailed below:

• Executive producer: The top of a film production’s chain of command, the head or executive producer is the ultimate authority on all of the financial, logistical, and often creative decisions that go into filmmaking. Whether they’re employed long-term at a major movie studio or producing indies in a freelance capacity, executive producers are usually funding a project, either directly or by pursuing financial investors. That means that all decisions about how a movie’s funding is spent must receive their approval. However, they can also be heavily involved on the creative side, dictating or collaborating closely with directors and writers on a production’s overall artistic vision to make it a success. Executive producers serve as the managers of all of the below producing roles. 
• Associate or assistant producer: Not to be confused with the production coordinator or production assistant roles, an associate producer is typically working directly under top producers, assisting them on a wide range of duties: adding notes to scripts in collaboration with screenwriters, supervising daily deliveries including footage, and adjusting rehearsal and shooting schedules as needed. Associate producers are often referred to simply as producers.
• Line producer: One of a film’s most important roles, a line producer is needed to manage various budgets and the daily production routine. They’re there to oversee everything “below the line,” meaning all financial aspects of production that aren’t related to directors, writers, actors, and producers. This includes managing hiring and contracts, serving as liaison between a film’s financiers (often the executive producers) and all departments making requests on how to spend that funding, and adjusting budgeting and deadlines when problems or shooting delays inevitably arise.
• Supervising producer: A high-level managerial role, typically for big-budget projects, the supervising producer on a film is there to make sure all their fellow producers are executing their responsibilities effectively. That includes developing schedules in pre-production, supervising department heads and finalizing distribution details in post-production, and working with line producers on securing funding, allocating resources, and hiring cast and crew.
• Visual effects producer: An element of the post-production process that often includes its own producer role, visual effects or VFX require someone versed in creating and executing a film’s computer-generated visuals.
• Hybrid producer roles: Especially on independent, low-budget films, fewer staff means more shared responsibilities. Directors, screenwriters, editors, and other heads of post-production or design departments can also have a producing credit, switching hats as needed throughout the production process. 

Creative producer: Those involved in the process of marketing and distributing a movie are a crucial aspect of post-post-production. After all, without a plan for distribution, advertising, and press coverage, how can a film find an audience?

The most important ingredient in a successful producer’s career is on-the-job experience. While that can mean full-time positions at established production companies or movie studios, many producers work independently and on a freelance basis. 

Ask yourself if there’s a more specialized aspect of producing movies, like line producing or associate producing, that appeals to you. Or perhaps you’re interested in writing and directing your own films, in which case you’re looking to dive in as an independent producer, bringing your vision to fruition. The key, as with all areas of the entertainment industry, is to get started in the most relevant entry-level positions you can and begin gravitating toward what you’re interested in as you gain experience. 

Formal education can provide another path toward a successful film producing career. Bachelor’s degree and graduate school programs in filmmaking or film production often include opportunities to gain on-set experience, and internships at studios and even television and radio stations can similarly enable aspiring producers to learn the ropes. 

Related

6 Ways to Put Your Film Degree to Use in Hollywood

Because producing movies involves so many different production departments and areas of expertise, a wide range of skills can be necessary to excel in the field. Here are some to keep in mind as you proceed in becoming a producer:

• Collaboration and communication skills: Producers must be in constant communication with directors, pre- and post-production departments, and clients including vendors and distributors. 
• The ability to juggle details, priorities, and deadlines: Producing can be a fast-paced, wide-ranging job, requiring both big-picture organization and detail-oriented management skills.
• Networking and relationship building: Fundamentally, producers are team builders. Their ability to reach out to and connect various professionals requires negotiating skills; an ability to facilitate both artistic and practical compromises is inevitably crucial.
• Business and finance skills: Film producers are more responsible for keeping a project’s expenses within budget than anyone else involved. Dealing with a film’s finances also encompasses fundraising, so pitching and sales skills also often come in handy.

A bird’s-eye-view creative vision: Depending on the size of the project and when a producer comes on board, storytelling skills are always necessary. They provide the creative as well as logistical throughline of a film.

Producing is the role in the filmmaking business that requires the most initiative. Because the only way to become a top-level film producer is to produce lots of films, creating projects of one’s own is a useful way to gain the necessary experience. If you know of a story, or have a script written yourself, that could become a hit film, putting yourself through the producing process is one way of getting started adding projects to your résumé.

But the internet can also be a valuable resource for finding jobs in film production. It’s where building a web presence, from a creative portfolio to branding on social media, can lead to professional connections and freelance producing work. 

Industry job sites include more specialized search engines and resources specifically for those looking for work in film and television, commercials, radio, or events. Freelance gigs in multiple areas of film production abound in marketplaces like Backstage and Mandy.

Print and online databases like Production Weekly and Production Bulletin are also kept up-to-date with what’s filming and where, so aspiring producers looking to keep track of exciting projects’ stages of production should subscribe and check regularly. 

Online communities dedicated to facilitating networking between entertainment industry members at all levels also post job opportunities; check out Staff Me Up or type relevant terms into LinkedIn or Facebook’s search bar to connect with crew members just like you.

Related

7 Tips for Networking in the Film Industry, According to an L.A. Acting Coach

In order to apply for producing jobs on sites like the ones above, you have to have a résumé that includes all of your relevant production information. Any work you’ve done in a producorial capacity—or in film work adjacent to producing, like administrative or PA experience—should be listed cleanly and concisely in one or two pages.

Networking may be the most essential skill in navigating the entertainment biz, and that’s especially true of a producorial role. Consider the following tips when thinking about kicking your film producing career into high gear:

• Reach out to any industry contacts you may have, even if they’re not producers. Ask what film projects they’re working on. Maintain those relationships so they’re personal, not just transactional. 
• Reach out cold to potential industry contacts you don’t yet have. Contact information at major studios and production companies, which may be looking for production assistants, can be found online. Be courteous and clear, never demanding, in your communications.
• Attend screenings, film festivals, and premieres if possible. There’s no substitute for networking and being your charming self in person. 
• Help connect others! If someone reaches out to you with their interests and you see they’d make a great team with another contact of yours, offer to introduce them. Helping other producer types excel can only help you in the long run; a rising tide lifts all boats, after all.

The more professional connections you have, the more professional opportunities you’re likely to get as a film producer. Keep working those relationship-building skills and you’ll be executive producing an award-winning feature film in no time.