Demystifying Producing: What is a Producer?
Part One: Definitions
So, I’ve decided to start a series of blog posts all about understanding, getting to grips with and breaking down what PRODUCERS actually do.
Because let’s face it, the term and role itself means different things to different people and, depending what context you work in, art form, your lived experiences, what experience you have, then add the perceptions of the sector and other industries = voila, a recipe for an arts industry who doesn’t know what a producer is, how they could call upon and/or use our services or learn how to acquire self-producing skills. I’m referring to producers that work in the English Arts sector, largely governed by Arts Council England, and in particular, producers that work in DANCE. Of which, data shows that we are very few and far between!
Righto, we’ve established that it’s abit of a mess. Let’s start with some definitions:
From the Cambridge English Dictionary:
a person who makes the practical and financial arrangements needed to make a film, play, or television or radio programme:
A quick Google search comes back with the Oxford Languages definition:
a person responsible for the financial and managerial aspects of the making of a film or broadcast or for staging a play, opera, etc.
And finally, the Urban Dictionary says:
(In the music industry) a person who has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. See also Dr. Dre.
Unlike Dr.Dre though, producers are probably skint in comparison and rolling from contract to contract or project to project. But anyway, poor comparison that Dr.Dre is; in a nutshell, producers help make it happen. We’re also:
Leaders
Listeners
Managers
Problem solvers
Counsellors
Advisors
Mediators
Suppliers of hot drinks
The person that has a practical “producers box” that contains miscellaneous items, that might be needed at any moment when on site or in a venue!
Obviously this list is not exhaustive. And each producer I know does different things in different ways.
My work (and calling) is about change-making. And all of this, naturally, is from my own experience.
Please artists and organisations - really consider what support you need and then seek to find someone that matches those skills/needs.
Maybe you just need a PA?