With the Raindance Film Festival gone for another year, you might be wondering how to become a film producer. Making a film successfully requires a combination of many different skills. Gaining a career means choosing means deciding on whether or not you want to become a working film producer, or a producer who makes films.
The term ‘film producer’ can mean meany different things. You could be the Mr Fix-it on set making sure that the equipment, crew and talent all arrive on the set at the right time, and within budget. In the film industry this is referred to as the Line Producer. This person needs to work with the different Heads of Department to ensure that all the details are in place.
Other producers handle raising the finance. They may do this by working with film companies who want to board the project under their company’s banner. The producer tries to get upfront money, called development funding to get the project going.
There are also associate producers, executive producers, and co-producers.
The Working Film Producer
If you fancy the life of a problem solver, or that of a magician, this could be the career for you. You will need excellent communication skills, and possess first-rate negotiation skills. When you have established yourself you should be able to enjoy a salary and a life free of financial stress. You will always be working on other people’s projects.
There is more than one way to build a working producing career. There are two main career paths to becoming a working film producer:
1. Employee Film Producer
The employee producer works at a production company. The company will have a list of films they need to create. It could be advertisements or news articles, or corporate videos. The staff producer will be given a brief for each project. They organise the shoot, the art department and the actual shoot. Post shoot they will supervise the post-production and make sure the film is delivered on time to the client.
Advertising agencies employ producers.
2. Freelance Film Producer
A freelance working producer is hired on a per-project basis. It could be a feature film, a short, a documentary or a corporate film. When the production wraps and is delivered you look for your next project. This could come from an advertising agency or film production company making content for the streamers.
The Film Producer
If you possess good organisational skills and have entrepreneurial flair you might find the challenge of creating your very own projects. In this case you will source and evaluate scripts, raise the finance and employ the entire team to make your movie. This is an exciting career pathway – seeing your vision become reality.
There are many different roles a producer needs to fulfil. As a producer working on your project you may partner with different types of producer to assist you in completing your project.
Unlike a working film producer, your personal income rests entirely on the success you have in marketing and selling your film. Once your film is completed you will likely start the marketing by submitting to film festivals like Raindance.
Essential producer skills
Understanding the wrinkles of the film industry is a primary requirement. Understanding how the money flows, and how movies are marketed and sold. Fortunately, Raindance has developed an excellent 5-evening course: the Film Producers Foundation Certificate. In these five evenings youy will learn how to assemble the paperwork you will need to fund your film, sort out the legal contracts and learn the basics of marketing and selling your film.
You will need to learn how to pitch your projects. The skill of pitching is a fine art. You will also need to create good visual presentations – called pitch decks. Raindance uses state-or-the-art software developed by Canva.com. Their software is easy to use and ideal for collaboration with other members of your team.
Another personality trait your will need is learning how to reject rejection. Be prepared to endure the word NO over and over again. Be strong. Be resolute. And to succeed remember you cannot ever give up. Quitters never quit. Winners never win.
Or, you can take the truly indie route, grab your cell phone and start making movies.
Fade Out
If you are a long-term reader of the Raindance blog posts, the chances are good that you radiate towards entrepreneurial filmmaking. Do you know that most of Hollywood does not recognise the value of indie filmmaking? Become a modern filmmaker. Think of yourself as a multi-format visual content creator. Your movies can be shorts, web series or episodic television. You might also work making GIFa or NFTs.
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If this course fails to meet your expectations, let us know at the break.
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At Raindance we make filmmakers.
Photo Credit: Bertie Watson
I founded Raindance Film Festival in 1993 because the British film industry was closed, polite, and congratulating itself while shutting new filmmakers out.
I co-founded the British Independent Film Awards in 1998 because British indie film deserved more than a shrug, a pat on the head, and a Tuesday night screening.
Raindance didn’t start as a brand. It started as a rebellion: film training without gatekeepers, a festival without permission, and a community built by filmmakers who weren’t waiting to be invited in.
Later, we took it global: Toronto, Vancouver, New York, LA, Berlin, and Brussels, because independent film doesn’t belong to one city, one class, or one accent.
I’ve produced 700+ short films and seven features, including Deadly Virtues (2014) and ALICE, which won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize (2019) not because someone “discovered” us, but because the work earned its place.
I’ve written three books used by filmmakers worldwide because too many courses taught compliance instead of survival.
In 2009, I was awarded a PhD for services to film education, ironic, given that most of my career has been about tearing down the rules that education insisted you follow.
I don’t believe in waiting for permission.I believe in making work, building systems, and forcing the industry to catch up.
Specialties: Independent Film (the real kind) · Producing · Writing · Film Education · Festivals · Breaking Broken Systems
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