What Does a Producer Do and Will That Include Making Your Film?

As a film producer, I am often asked two questions by friends - what does a producer do and will you produce my film idea? The answer to the first question provides the reason for the answer to the second. My hope is that, by explaining what goes in to producing a film, it will become clear why committing to a project requires much more than friendship and a good idea.

Even most entertainment industry professionals are fuzzy on what producers do. It doesn't help that there are many types of producers and the definitions differ between film and TV. I'm primarily a film producer for now, so let's focus on that world.

As a not yet well-known producer and sometime writer - and this is likely true for most producers, directors, and screenwriters - almost every day, someone asks me to make their film. Most of these queries are from screenwriters or authors via LinkedIn. There are just too many to read, even if some of them may have been wonderful concepts. More to the point, my producing partner and I have a line-up of nine projects in our pipeline and we develop all (but one) of our projects in-house (as I state clearly at the beginning of my LinkedIn profile). Other producers are open to hearing about new projects, and I encourage you to find them and send them a query.

On top of hearing from strangers, many friends and friends of friends feel, rightfully, that their experiences would make good films or that they have a great idea. A lot of these people come to me and ask, directly or inferred, that I produce their stories, because they know I am in the Producers Guild of America and have made a handful of films. Very few of them have put thought into the plot of the film or, much less, written a screenplay. And, that's fine. You have to start somewhere.

If you are serious about getting your film made, here is the process, very briefly. This describes a fraction of a producer's role in getting a film from someone's head to theaters.

Before you start, ask yourself if anyone else would be interested in this movie. Are there primal, universal themes addressed? Can many people relate to the characters and their goals and struggles? Is it entertaining? Is the story unique enough that it isn't repetitive of other films, yet familiar enough that you know there's audience appeal? If you haven't had it on your mind for at least a month, maybe it's not even interesting enough to you.

Next, you have to decide what part(s) of your life - or whatever your story idea is - should be in the film. Hint: it's not your entire life. Identify a contained story with a beginning, middle, and end. There should be some sort of arc, that is, the main character or their world changes in this period. Within this plot, there should be, at a minimum:

- Inciting incident - something that triggers the rest of the story

- Active decision by the protagonist that sets her or him down a path

- B-story - the emotional heart of the film, distinct from the main plot - usually a relationship or internal struggle

- Mounting odds against our hero

- Climax - the main character succeeds (or fails)

(There are many excellent books on story structure, if you want to learn more.)

Then, find a screenwriter who is looking for a project or is available for hire. Ideally, this is someone who has an agent. If this is your first film, you may have to settle for a less experienced writer. Most towns have a film or screenwriting organization. If not, check with the screenwriting professor at the local college for recommendations. Note that most real writers have their own projects - just like producers - so you really have to excite them with your idea, or with your money. You could write the screenplay yourself, but frankly, odds are it won't turn out as well as you hope. Writing is a craft that takes time to develop. My partner and I tend to work with a few favorite writers and occasionally write ourselves.

Once you have a screenplay, you should have the writer do several rewrites, based on your feedback, notes from knowledgeable honest critics, maybe a table read with actors, paid script consultants, and so on. My partner and I typically go through at least a dozen rewrites, over a year or more, before we feel our projects are ready enough to move forward. Like most producers, we do this with multiple screenplays in parallel.

When your screenplay is the best you can get it, find a director or actor who loves it. This probably requires networking within the industry. If you or the writer has an agent, the agent can set up meetings to pitch the project. If not, you have to shop it around for a director, actors, funding, etc. Often, this includes pitching the film to distributors and international sales agents and trying to secure those deals. This process can go quickly (almost never) or take years (almost always), with lots of starts and restarts.

Honestly, it has to be a film that the producer is in love with to commit several years to making it happen. Our oldest active project is ten years old and is probably at least a year from getting made. The number of my projects that have died on the vine might surprise you. I suspect two of our current nine projects might never happen, just because others may take precedence. Both of those were my idea.

After the years of working toward getting cameras rolling, you arrive at the fun part of planning, prepping, and overseeing production and post-production. This is the magical time. It's also the shortest.

If you haven't previously lined up distribution, that effort now gets fired up in earnest.

It all pays off when you sit in a full theater and see your film on the big screen with an adoring crowd. It's nerve-wracking, as you await a reaction to every line and scene. But, the thrill of an enthusiastic response makes everything worthwhile.

Finally, I should point out that the film would likely need to make over $150M just to pay back the investors, assuming a $20M budget, which is toward the low end. Ideally, you will have the responsibility of monitoring the distribution of revenue for many years to come, long after everyone else involved with the project has left it in the distant past.

So, the answer to whether I will produce your film is almost certainly no. I hope this is a satisfactory explanation and comes across as positive and supportive - as positive and supportive as a "no" answer can be. It would be incredible if you do pursue your dream and make it happen. You don't need me for that. Best of luck to you!

A postscript: I am deeply grateful for the support, encouragement, mentoring, and assistance I have received from countless people - family, friends, and complete strangers who are well-established in the industry. I'm equally grateful to the producers and executives who have welcomed our film ideas, those who have said "no" along with those who've said "yes" or "maybe." Paying it forward to others is the least I can do in return, so I spend a great deal of time mentoring people who are more junior than me in this competitive industry. If you reach out to me for that, you will more likely than not get a "yes."

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Brian McLaughlin has been a film producer since 2005 and is co-president of Emerald Elephant Entertainment, along with Penelope Korff. Their upcoming films include Tiger Zero Three - a true military story written by Nicholl Top 50 honoree and PAGE Awards Gold Prize winner, Ken Henderson - the desert crime film, Oasis - one of Ken's three Nicholl semi-finalist scripts - and Santiago's Children - a memoir adaptation by PAGE Silver Award winner, Ginia Desmond. Brian has produced four feature films, all of which were acquired for distribution. Good Boy, directed by Patrick Roddy, is available on Amazon Prime, as is D*I*Y by Derek Griffith. Brian's screenplay Scylla Dilemma was a PAGE Awards quarter-finalist. Brian is a mentor in the Producers Guild of America's Power of Diversity Master Workshop and is on the PGA's Education and Mentoring committees. Both former army officers, he and Penelope are members of Veterans in Media and Entertainment, as is Ken. Brian was a visiting professor in the Film, Television, and Theatre department of the University of Notre Dame, his alma mater, and has taught at the Los Angeles Film School. He was on General Petraeus' advisory team in Afghanistan as the media production advisor.