Producing 101

This book offers a step-by-step exploration of a Producer’s on-set responsibilities within the context of creating a TV series or feature film.

Being a successful Producer requires you to have an intimate understanding of global finances, law, union rules and negotiating. The role also requires solid filmmaking skills from scriptwriting to scheduling, casting to cutting and sound mixing to marketing. But most important of all these skills is leadership – building a team and facilitating a collection of highly trained (and often artistically temperamental) individuals to do their best collective work. This book describes best practice across geographical jurisdictions, identifying key universal principles as well as the specific and unique detail work that make a great Producer. Each chapter offers meaningful advice from experienced industry experts, useful examples including real-world templates of crucial paperwork, and preventative measures that can be implemented. Producers of all backgrounds will benefit from clear, concise writing that outlines industry standard structures, protocols and processes – and why they work.

This book will prove invaluable to people starting out in their careers, but also those interested in exploring producing who come from other departments – such as Assistant Directors, Production Managers and Line Producers – and those changing formats, such as from TV to film.

Liz Gill studied at Columbia University and NYU before beginning her career as an assistant to Martin Scorsese. An experienced Producer, Liz is currently working on the Netflix series Grown-Ups, based on the book by Marian Keyes. Previously, she was Series Producer of the Sky/NBCU comedy series Small Town, Big Story with Chris O’Dowd, Co-Producer of the MGM/Netflix series Vikings: Valhalla and Producer of the final two seasons of the global hit Vikings (MGM). Liz is also a Director, with feature credits in Gold in the Streets and Goldfish Memory as well as TV work for the BBC, RTÉ, Starz and Hallmark. She also worked extensively as a First Assistant Director for Oscar-winning Directors such as Barry Levinson (Everlasting Piece), Todd Haynes (Safe) and Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday), and is Author of Running the Show, now in its second edition.