Career April 2, 2021

What does a Creative Producer do?

By Gilda Furgiuele

The person that makes creativity happen. Creative Producers are part creative and part organizational with just the right amount of gusto to put ideas in motion.

What is a Creative Producer?

A Creative Producer is the right hand in making ideas happen. They understand the creative vision and they understand practical (yet not so creative but albeit necessary) things such as budgets, project management, logistics and hiring a team.

What is a Creative Producer responsible for?

Partnering with the Director on vision: Creative Producers work closely with Directors on artistic matters. They will communicate the Director’s notes, coordinate with other departments or teams, and protect the creative vision through different means of bringing the idea to life (eg: hiring talent, locations, logistics, and problem-solving).
Make the vision a reality: Producers are the people on-set that create the space for creativity to happen. They monitor the space, keep the schedule, ensure the equipment is available and that the creators have everything they need to create. On a smaller production, they may be the person doing all the work. Often times though, Producers have a task list and ensures the team is working to complete all the tasks.
Build budgets: There can be a lot of creativity in this area. Producers have a budget they work within and track all elements in a project to fit a budget. There is, however, an element of craft in this. More than just getting a quote, they leverage relationships, understanding of creative processes, and problem-solve to find ways to make their dollars stretch and add more value to a production.

3 skills you need to become a Creative Producer

Project management & organizational skills: Fundamentally, Producers are great project managers and organizers. They keep a project running smoothly and have a system to keep the creative chaos on track.
Problem solving: There are always problems in a project. It’s bound to come up. Whether the budget got cut, a staff member is sick, an exec wants to see a new cut, there are curveballs left and right. That’s part of the excitement. Producers have the experience and know-how to find a way around this with a solution that works within budget, timelines and the creative vision.
People skills: Producers are generally behind-the-scenes people, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t savvy socializers. This group has many contacts and maintains great working relationships. Producers have portfolios of work they’ve produced and it’s the teams that create it that helps to amplify their careers.