Director vs. Producer

Now "vs." in the title isn't fair because director and producer aren't working against each other, they represent a team that brings you entertainment, but it seems appropriate because this post is made to show you difference between director's and producer's jobs. Also we will explain the differences between producers and executive producers as we saw it confuses a lot of people.

Note: we will explain how these positions work in film production. Some things are done differently in TV series production, and we will say couple of things about that as well, bud that is secondary topic.

Before we start with jobs in production we should first explain basic stages of production. After a production company buys rights for a certain scenario, or hires the writer to write it, starts the first phase of production called simply pre-production. It pre-production producer(s) and executive producers hire the director (if he isn't involved with the preparation of the script) and together they hire other important people (we will make another post about jobs on the set and post-production) that are called cast and crew. Cast being all the actors and crew all the people behind the scenes. Also, in pre-production schedules of shooting must be made. After the first phase is completed cast and crew enter the second stage that is production (or shooting scenes). Crew separates in the first and second unit (there were some cases with big blockbusters where the third unit was formed to keep up to the schedule). The first unit shoots all the dialogs and scenes important to the plot of the story, while the second unit shoots "less important" (they are also important for the film, but not as much for storyline) scenes: landscapes, time-lapses, characters walking to the certain destination, battles (and sometimes second unit gets to shoot even a duel, if the first unit is busy shooting other scenes. But mostly director wants to shoot a duel so the two characters fighting would behave the way director imagined). After all the scenes are shot comes the final production stage that is post-production. Making the final look of the film from the material made in the second stage takes weeks. Editors cut scenes, visual effects department add all the effects to scenes and tint the picture, composer makes music and music producer produces it (obviously), sound editing department edits all the dialogs and has to sync them to the scenes (if sound was recorded separately as it is usual case), also they have to design sound effects for every action in a scene (steps, ambiances, object moves, et cetera).

Director is probably the most important person from early stage of pre-production. Film is directors vision, directirs point of view. He makes all the creative decissions in production proces. He can ask for script changes and can add or remove a character. His job is to tell the director of photography (DoP) how to shoot a scene, as well. He tells actors how to behave in situations. Hi decides how fast editing should be (slower edits are used in more dramatic scenes like negotiations or monologues, while faster edits are used for scenes with more action). Also, he decides if music is good enough for a scene.

There you have it. Director is the person who actually makes a film the way it looks. But not alone. Producer is equaly important in production. Producer is the person who owns the film. His job from the beginning is to hire director with the same vision of the film and finance production. The term "producer" isn't always used the same and meaning of his position can be different from film to film. There is some sort of triangle that we developed for easier understanding of there terms: "producer", "executive producer", "producers". The producer is the one who controls production (but doesn't have to be involved in making the creative decissions), executive producers aren't involved with artistinc part at all, their jobs are to ensure the budget (also try to agree with director where to cut the budget), plan the production schedule, etc; and there are other producers who work in different demartments (music producer (the person who produces the music composed by composer), visual effects producer, et cetera). The main producer is usualy the one who owns the company that produces certain film (and in cases like on "Pirates of the Caribbean" series and "The Lone Ranger", if two production companies colaborate (Jerry Bruckheimer Productions and Disney) producer from one company is always involved in the project as the owner of the big part of movie, with executives from his own company and executives from company he colaborates with). Also, every person who helps the production in any way can and should be credited as a producer. Steven Spielberg is commonly credited as one of producers even though he isn't really involved with production - that is how lower budget films with good storylines get better commercial value.
Now, in TV series business creator of a certain show is almost always in position of executive producer as well. In TV show the creator and executive producer is in charge of everything because the show is his vision. He allowes directors to make their signature in episodes and sometimes they even direct some episodes. Producers in TV shows don't have much saying in important story decissions while executive producers (and other writers who can also be in executive producer positions if they are involved enough in the storyline) decide about important things that should happen in story to keep a show fresh.
We hope this helped you understand the jobs of director and producer(s). In our next post we will tell you more about other jobs. We will also leave you a link in next post for some sheet papers so your shooting can be easier.