Time To Catch A Breath

Now that our first CCi Live show had been completed, we had time to decide what specific role each team member would have and could also think about our other tasks, including the commissioned show. We decided that I would take up the task of being the producer for both the CCi Live shows and the commissioned show. I wanted to be this role because I have done it several times before and would like to improve the necessary skills for it, because it is a role I would like to pursue as a career.

The Prospects website outlines the role of a television producer:

Job description 

Producers are the main players in the television, film and video industries. A producer will oversee each project from conception to completion and may also be involved in the marketing and distribution processes. 

Producers work closely with directors and other production staff on the shoot. Increasingly, they need to have directing skills themselves as the producer may also be the director and may take care of all project operations. Producers arrange funding for each project and are responsible for keeping the production within the allocated budget. 

Creative input and the level of decision making varies, as this is dependent on the client and the brief. 

Typical work activities 

Producers are responsible for facilitating a project from beginning to end. They are involved in every stage of the television programme, film or video, overseeing the project from start to finish, both in the studio and on location. 

Essentially team leaders, they are supported by production assistants, coordinators and managers, depending on the size of the project. 

Tasks include:  

- raising funding;
- reading, researching and assessing ideas and finished scripts;
- commissioning writers or securing the rights to novels, plays or screenplays;
- building and developing a network of contacts;
- liaising and discussing projects with financial backers - projects vary from a small, corporate video costing £500 to a Hollywood feature film at more than £100million;
- using computer software packages for screenwriting, budgeting and scheduling;
- hiring key staff, including a director and a crew to shoot films or videos;
- controlling the budget and allocating resources;
- pulling together all the strands of creative and practical talent involved in the project to create a team;
- maintaining contemporary technical skills;
- organising shooting schedules - dependent on the type of producer and availability of support staff;
- troubleshooting;
- supervising the progress of the project from production to post production;
- holding regular meetings with the director to discuss characters and scenes;
- acting as a sounding board for the director;
- bringing the finished production in on budget.

In theory, the producer deals with all the practical and political aspects of keeping a project running smoothly, so that the director and the rest of the team can concentrate on the creative aspects. 

Gregory, A. (2010). Television/film/video producer. Retrieved October 5, 2012, from http://www.prospects.ac.uk/television_film_video_producer_job_description.htm

We brainstormed several ideas for our commissioned show, and after a reasonably long session, we brought several ideas into one to make a show we would call ‘Man UP’. The purpose of this show would be to see how much of an ‘idealistic man’ our contestants are by completing several ‘manly tests’ and seeing how they deal with them. Some of the task ideas we thought of were a chilli/curry challenge, doing DIY, a date, and several others.