how to become a producer for film

Last Updated on December 28, 2022

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how to become a producer for film

Students need to earn their bachelor’s degree in film production, film studies, or a related field to get started in movie production. Once you’ve earned your bachelor’s degree, you’ll need to gain experience. This can be through acting, film editing, other work in the film industry, or through working in the business office of a theater or movie production company. In order to become a producer, you’ll need several years of experience in the movie industry.

  • Step 1: Get Experience in Film or Theater in High School
  • Step 2: Find a School of Filmmaking
  • Step 3: Earn Your Bachelor’s Degree
  • Step 4: Gain Experience
  • Step 5: (Optional) Complete a Graduate School Program
  • Step 6: (Optional) Apply for Debra Hill Fellowship from Producer’s Guild of America

Step 1: Get Experience in Film or Theater in High School

Experience is key in this field, and producers need to understand every aspect of film production. It is wise to take classes in drama, film, and theater in high school. It is also wise to begin working in film or theater at one’s high school or in the community. This is often as an actor or writer, but you may also begin producing your own films.

Step 2: Find a School of Filmmaking

While in high school, you’ll need to begin looking for a bachelor’s program in film or cinema. This may be a dedicated school of film or cinematography, or a four-year college or university. The goal is to find a program that teaches film history, film production, cinematography, visual storytelling, screenwriting, and film editing.

The College Board has a listing of all colleges, both community and 4-year programs, that offer a major in film production. In order to help narrow things down a bit, The Hollywood Reporter came up with a list of the top 25 schools of filmmaking through consultations with educators, graduates, and people in the industry.

Once you have narrowed down the universities and colleges, you will need to apply for financial aid if you do not have enough savings to pay for all of your expenses for your 4-year program. You will need to first fill out the FAFSA, which is the federal online form that qualifies students for financial aid. If your state offers grants, you should apply for those as soon as you have submitted your FAFSA.

Step 3: Earn Your Bachelor’s Degree

Your bachelor’s program in film production or a related field will provide you the skills, knowledge, and experience necessary in order to be able to perform all of the professional functions of filmmaking. You will be using the tools of the job, such as cameras and film editing software, and learning all aspects of film production.

Part and parcel of most film programs is completion of internships or work in the field. Schools that are in close physical proximity to areas where filmmakers are in more demand will be more likely to be able to provide work/internships near their campus. Students in film programs in areas without a concentration of filmmaking opportunities may have to spend their summers in another area pursuing their internship or field experience work.

Step 4: Gain Experience

Stepping out of college with a bachelor’s degree in some aspect of filmmaking is highly unlikely to land the producer candidate in an optimal position for a job as a producer. This field is strongly slanted towards favoring those with years of experience. Candidates who understand this and look for niches within the field that allow them to learn a lot of skills and earn good pay will be favored.

One can obtain internships at smaller studios and local television and radio stations in production in order to begin to get hands-on experience. Producers also often get their first paid experience in the field as film editors, actors, cinematographers, production assistants, and camera operators. They may gain their industry experience working in a theater management office. The usual path is for the producer candidate to earn their stripes for several years in these lower-level positions, gaining the industry experience they need in order to competently handle all aspects of film production.

Step 5: (Optional) Complete a Graduate School Program

It is not necessary to get a Master of Fine Arts degree or a graduate certificate in theater or film production, but it can help you gain more insight and experience in the career. A master’s degree in film production provides grounding and instruction in both the business and financial as well as the creative aspects of producing films. Other courses you might take in a graduate filmmaking program can include commercial production, advanced script editing for screenwriting, and documentary production.

Step 6: (Optional) Apply for Debra Hill Fellowship from Producer’s Guild of America

For those who have completed a graduate program in producing films, there is a fellowship opportunity. The Producer’s Guild of America chooses one person per year who has graduated from an accredited program in film production for a fellowship grant. The grantee must have a strong work ethic and vision and must have completed the graduate program in production from USC, UCLA, Columbia University, the American Film Institute, Chapman University, NYU, Columbia College Chicago, the University of Arizona, or the North Carolina School of the Arts.

The grant’s yearly funding is totally dependent upon contributions to the fund. The proceeds of the grant must go toward expenses to launch the new producer into their career. This is an excellent opportunity for the fellowship grantee because being a movie producer is a career field that is expensive for most to enter. The reason for this is that the first two phases of production of any film involve securing funding and securing the rights to the intellectual property of the story.

what does a film producer do

A film producer is the person who is the “boss” of the film. When they are not moving between their offices and the studio, they are visiting other offices in order to interact and negotiate with financing and distribution partners.

Producers:

  • Find a suitable script or idea
  • Get the intellectual rights to tell the story
  • Get the funding for the film’s budget from investors, institutions, or a studio
  • Hire the director, lower-level producers, and the film’s crew
  • Ensure that all members of the production understand and are fulfilling their role in making the production run smoothly in order to produce a high-quality film
  • Ensure the production tells the story that the producer envisioned
  • Manage all scheduling and expenses and all aspects of the production
  • Find distribution for the film
  • Market the film

Throughout the steps of this process, the producer must ensure that every portion flows smoothly and well. The producer is ultimately the person responsible for making sure every aspect of production rolls forward.

For larger, more expensive productions, the producer will be able to delegate many tasks to others, but smaller productions require producers to be able to step in at any part of the production and provide assistance. For example, producers often are involved in modifying scripts. They are also often involved in editing and overseeing the editing of the final version of the movie.

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