Mapping the Australian Screen Content Producer

Mapping the Australian screen content producer

Deb Verhoeven@bestqualitycrab

Project Team: David Court (AFTRS), Allan Cameron (AFTRS), Deb Verhoeven

Purpose: To map the culture, motivations and aspirations of a highly influential sector of the content production industries

Producer Survey Wave 1

Scope:◦ Defined population > 4,000◦ Sample 2,000◦ 12% participation◦ mix of open and closed questions looking at

classifications, project details, education, employment, industry sentiment, attitudes and perceptions

Producer Survey Wave 1

What does a producer do, exactly?

Who is a producer, typically?

What can we know about producers?

There are approximately one hundred and twenty-eight different crafts and skills called upon in the manufacture of a single picture including a familiarity in depth with story, writing, directing, casting, editing, acting, wardrobe, cinematography, sound, film colour, dubbing, publicity, carpentry, architecture, set design, make-up, music and lighting. It would be astonishing if any single executive had even a superficial knowledge of some of these highly specialized skills. William Fadiman, Hollywood Now, 1972, 128.

The ‘Elusive’ Producer

The ‘Elusive’ ProducerI know that I have opened a can of worms with the word 'Producer' because entertainment entities, both networks and studios, have used the word with such inaccurate profligacy of late that it has lost its power of identification: Associate Producers, Line Producers, Co-Producers, Assistant Producers, Executive Producers! (One can only guess what they all do…probably too much and too little.) Houghton. What a Producer Does, 1991, vii

Peter Weir once described the functions to me thus: the film director is the pilot of a large aircraft wishing to reach its destination, and the producer is the navigator who helps to get them there safely and without hassles…In Australia, certainly, too many producers think they're the pilot and neglect the navigation. Patricia Lovell, No Picnic: An Autobiography, p. 242.

Defining the Producer

Producers need to have skills and dexterity far beyond those of mere mortals. Producers are required to be tactful, witty at lunch, compassionate, charming to actors, clever with money, patient at the fifteenth meeting, mechanically able to fix a photocopier, and able to remember thousands of details and their significance. Damien Parer, 'Excuse Me, but What is a Producer?', Film Business: A Handbook for Producers, p. 2.


I can never understand how anyone can take on the responsibility for planning any big show without guidance from God. J. Arthur Rank


Development

Conceived of the underlying concept upon which the production is based or involved at its inception.

Selected the material upon which the production is based and secured necessary rights for development and production of the material.

Selected the writer(s). Supervised and oversaw the development process. Secured the initial financing. Served as the primary point of contact for the studio and/or financing

entity.

The Producers Guild of America “Truth in Credits” campaign

Subject to the control of the Owner, the "Produced by” in Theatrical Motion Pictures is expected to exercise decision-making authority over a majority of the following specific job functions:

Pre-production

Selected the director, co-producer and unit production manager.Selected the principal cast in consultation with the director.In consultation with the director, selected the production designer, cinematographer, editor and visual effects co.Participated in location scouting in consultation with the director.Supervised the preparation of the preliminary budget and approved and signed the final budget in consultation with the Co-Producer and UPM.Creatively involved in the final shooting script in consultation with the director and the writer(s) and approved and signed the final shooting script.Approved the final shooting schedule in consultation with the director.



Production

Exercised final approval of the deals for the principal components of the production.Provided continuous in-person consultation with the director and principal castIn collaboration with the director, provided in-person consultation with the production designer, art department, wardrobe, make-up and hair.In collaboration with the director, provided in-person consultation with the stunt coordinator and on mechanical effects (if applicable).Supervised "on-set” and on a continuous basis the day-to-day operation of the producing team and the entire shooting company.Approved the weekly cost report.Viewed the "dailies” and provided in-person consultation with the director, the editor, the studio and/or financial entity.



Production

Provided in-person participation on visual effects in consultation with the director, the studio or financial entity.Selected the composer in consultation with the director, and participated in-person with the composer and the director in the scoring processProvided in-person consultation with the editor along with the director, the studio or financial entity, and participated on the final cut of the motion picture.Consulted with the director and the editor during the preparation of the first cut that is shown to the studio/financial entity.Selected the music supervisor in consultation with the director, and participated in-person during the music recording sessions.



Post-Production/Marketing

Provided in-person consultation with the director on the re-recording stage.Provided in-person consultation with the director on the titles and opticals.Provided in-person consultation with the cinematographer, the director, the studio and/or financing entity on the answer print or edited master.Consulted on the media plan and materials, and the marketing and distribution plans for the motion picture.Consulted on the plans for exploitation of the motion picture in ancillary and foreign markets.




“…while no single producer is expected to undertake every one of these functions on a given production, a credited producer must perform a majority of the producing functions listed.”

http://www.producersguild.org/?code_of_credits

http://www.producersguild.org/?code_of_credits

Snapshot Who is the typical producer?

Male

Lives in Sydney

Is Older

Has worked in another profession

• Health and Community Services

• Cultural and Recreational Services

• Education

• Finance and Insurance

• Communication Services

Earns more than $50,000 p.a.

Is highly educated

Runs their own company

Works long hours

Importance of Psychic income to offset precarity◦ The subjective value of non-monetary satisfaction

Cross-media mobility is not simply a characteristic of media consumption, but is a fact of life in production

Producers are ‘idealistic’ rather than pragmatic

Some findings:

Allan Cameron, Deb Verhoeven and David Court, “Above the Bottom Line: Understanding Australian Screen Content Producers” Media International Australia, Issue 136 (August 2010)

Deb Verhoeven and Allan Cameron, “Analysing the culture of Australian screen content producers” Lumina, Vol. 6 (December 2010)

http://csb.aftrs.edu.au/survey/

Following Up

http://csb.aftrs.edu.au/survey/