What is a film producer?

Ok, so DH and I were sitting here talking about movies. We have recently watched Million Dollar Baby which we both thought was an excellent movie! Clint Eastwood won the Academy Award for Best Director. I am pretty familiar with Directors, some of my favorites being Scorcese and Tarantino. But, after much discussion we both realized that we didn't really know what the roll of the Producer was. I decided that maybe I would do some digging and see what I could find.

According to Wikipedia, a film producer creates the conditions for making movies. They initiate, coordinate, supervise and control matters such as fundraising, hiring key personnel, and arranging distributors. They are involved with all phases of the filmmaking process from development to completion of the project. A pretty hefty responsibility if you ask me!

I think they sum it up best when the say that the producer is considered the chief of staff, while the director is in charge of the line. Under this arrangement, the producer has overall control of the project and can terminate the director, but the director actually makes the film.

Sadly, I had to do some more digging. I can name NUMEROUS Directors, but was unsure if I could name even on famous Producer -well, one that wasn't also an actor or director.

Well, I found Mel Brooks (a comical genius) in a list of Producers, the funny thing is he didn't produce any of his own films. Tim Burton is a famous Producer - I was glad I could at least identify with a Producer who wasn't just an actor/actress trying their hand at something different.

George Lucas - ok, now we're talking. But, this is cheating a little because not only did he produce the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, he also directed them and created them. The only person on the list that I didn't know as a creator and/or director or actor/actress was Jerry Bruckheimer. Wow - not a whole lot to say about the Producers - looks like the Director position is where all the glory is.

I am going to make sure to pay more attention from now on when they list the credits on movies. Hopefully some of these Producers names will start to stick with me. Either way I am glad to finally be able to talk about what their job is...funny I didn't know before now.