What you’ll learn
- Be able to describe what a producer does across development, financing, prep, shoot, post and delivery, and say what each producer credit on a film actually means.
- Know the six routes to producing with realistic years and money for each, and have chosen the one you are starting on, with reasons.
- Have a one-page plan for a first short that can be insured, contracted, cleared, kept safe and sent to festivals, and know which funders and schemes exist for it.
- Know where the first paid producing work comes from, the difference between a fee and a deferral, employed against freelance, and how a British feature is financed in outline, without anyone giving you financial advice.
- Have a saved six-month plan, three people to approach, a review date, and be able to say MFJF's five Stage 1 statements honestly as a producer.
Where this leads
By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.
Finish the course and you can build your personal plan: MFJF's three-stage planner for this role, ticked from Your Profile and your CV, with dated next steps and the CV line each one becomes.
What a producer actually does
20 minThe whole life of a film from the producer's chair, the different kinds of producer and what each word on a credit means, and the honest truth about how producers get made.
- readFrom the first idea to the last sale: the producer's job across a film8 min
- readThe kinds of producer, what a credit means, and how producers get made7 min
- checkCheck: the job and the credits5 min
The routes in, with years and money
20 minThe six roads people actually take to producing, how long each takes, what each pays along the way, and a task to choose yours.
- readRoute one: making shorts. Route two: the production office ladder8 min
- readRoutes three to six: development, television, documentary, and the producer-director partnership7 min
- taskTask: choose your route and say why5 min
Day 1 to year 3: producing your first short properly
20 minHow to produce a short so that the credit is real: rights, budget, schedule, insurance, contracts, clearances and a festival plan. Then the funders, the schemes, and what three years of work should look like.
- readThe first short, done properly: rights, money, paper, safety, festivals8 min
- readThe funders, the schemes, and what three years of work looks like6 min
- taskTask: the one-page plan for your first short6 min
Getting paid
20 minWhere the first paid producing work comes from, what a fee and a deferral really are, employed versus freelance, and how a feature is actually financed, in outline and without financial advice.
- readThe first paid producing work, fees and deferrals, employed or freelance8 min
- readHow a feature is financed, in outline7 min
- checkCheck: getting paid and how films are financed5 min
The industry around you
20 minThe bodies, companies, festivals and markets a producer lives among, the calendar they run on, what the people in MFJF's case studies did, and the library for the years ahead.
- readThe map: Pact, the BFI, sales agents, distributors, festivals and markets7 min
- resourcesThe producer's library8 min
- checkCheck: the map5 min
Your plan: Stage 1 to Stage 2 as a producer
20 minThe plan you take away: what you will produce in the next six months, the route you are on, the three people to approach, and a review date. Then how you know you are moving, and what to do next on MFJF.
- plannerYour producer's plan9 min
- readHow you know you are moving, and the five statements for a producer7 min
- checkCheck: ready for Stage 2 as a producer4 min
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The career map
