Executive Producer Pro Tip: Be a Poker Player

In production, like poker, there are variables you can control and those you can't. Similarly there are "cards" you are dealt. These cards are your budget, script, air date... This is the hand you must play. Now an average player can get along by managing his/her cards by the numbers. By playing the odds and knowing statistically when a winning hand is most likely and so forth. They will not lose a ton but they won't win a lot either. Likewise, an average producer can scrape along by simply playing the hand they are dealt. They keep the budget under control. They ship on time, etc... And this is all well and good. There's nothing inherently wrong with being average. Now a master poker player will know the odds on any given hand but will also know how to play with the other players to obtain an edge. By watching and learning how they play, noticing their tells and using them to gain advantage. Knowing when to bluff and when to fold. (singing "WHEN TO FOLD 'EM") This is why online poker isn't real poker. Half of the game is playing the people not the cards.

A master producer will do something similar. Except the goal isn't to win over the other players. It's to help everyone win. But sometimes you have to win the hand to help them win the game. Play more than the cards you're dealt. Get to know the creative team. What makes them tick? Really understand their hopes and fears for the project. Likewise, spend time with the account team learning how they deal with the client. Find problems before they come up. Trust me, account people know all too well the issues that come up again and again. Don't assume there's something special about this production that will be different this time. There isn't. Often the same issues plague clients over and over again. Find that really irritating thing that happens every time and solve for it before it happens. Maybe it's in casting or they have trouble getting to picture lock. But you have to engage the people to figure out where to focus.

This ethos can apply to everyone you work with: Line Producer, Director, Editor, even your clients. Don't assume they are production savvy (actually this goes for everyone attached). And learn to over-explain. More information is always better than less. This is what separates average from Master (or at least "really good") producers. And it's not just good for the project. Your long term success won't be judged on how you played your collective hand(s). And forget credit. We rarely get that. Our names are often left off of the awards list or even the press release in the trades. But great producers get asked to work on more and better work. That's how your boss will notice. Being requested or better yet, demanded, will give you leverage come review time. (Agencies still do reviews right?) Use it wisely and you'll find the hands you're dealt getting better over time. And in turn your leverage and your success will follow. So ante up, go all in and play the people not your hand.

And as always hit me up if you want to chat about anything production, agency or career related. I'm at your service and I have no shortage of opinions.