Welcome to the third and final installment of our Creator Resolutions Blog series. With the new year ushering in a wave of creative energy, we're invited to dream with infinite optimism and real intention! To kick off 2023, we asked Tongal Creators to share with us tips to help you hit the ground running in the upcoming year. Check out the first and second installments.
Earlier this month, I was approached by a very talented creative friend. We’ll call him Bobby. Bobby has been making some waves with his photography and videography skills for some major national clients and brands. One of those big clients wanted to make a TV show and asked Bobby if he would be interested in being a Producer. Bobby, having never been an official Producer on any project, called me to ask exactly how one becomes a Producer?!
Honestly, I’ve never really thought of the question before and, even while evaluating my own career to give advice, I realized I had no real spectacular beginning besides trial and error and just doing it. Fortunately for Bobby, and for the rest of the creative world, the internet is chock-full of some really great resources to make your life as a Producer really easy these days. There’s pages of documents and templates for production; there’s even schedules and fee minimums from our unions so you don’t have to do math. So it shouldn’t be that hard, right? Well, not necessarily.
Listen, I won’t sugar coat it that being a producer is hard work. It takes a lot of sleepless nights and tireless efforts to run a production as best, cost efficient, and safely as one can. Whether you’re thinking of producing a television show, documentary, music video, podcast, commercial, expensive feature film, or web series, there’s always something new to learn in the world of producership. Whether you’re a beginner looking to break into the industry or a seasoned expert, it’s always nice to set some goals or resolutions to perfect your craft. With this being the time to make some New Year’s Resolutions, let’s look at 5 pretty achievable steps to take in order to push your producer career into the next level.
Expand Your Network
Networking within the film industry could lead to a bit of burnout. It can also be insatiably rewarding, fun, and educational! I open with that to say that you don’t need to score a meeting with Jordan Peele to be a successful filmmaker. What I am saying is that expanding your network starts small. While the filmmaker community is a global network, odds are you already know someone who knows someone who has met with Jordan Peele. See what I mean? Expanding your network is a wonderful goal to set in order to really gain some insight into what’s happening in the world of other filmmakers.
Just remember that in your goal to expand your network, it’s not all about you. In fact, film networking is ALL about giving and receiving — not just what someone can do for you. Should you get hired to produce a project from someone you met at a film festival, make sure you offer your skills to add value to your growing network. Sometimes offering to help first can be a great way to show your connections that you’re interested in supporting them, and this can make them more likely to want to return the favor and recommend your services to further expand your network.
Explore Different Genres of Work
I’m sure you’ve heard that as a rite of passage, all filmmakers must pay their dues working the independent film route before cracking into bigger and better projects. This is a double-edged sword. On the one side, you could potentially be committing to free labor while putting blood, sweat, and tears into a project just to pay your dues. It can also make for some great experience starting your career or offering help on a project that might help you gain some more exposure. While it’s totally up to you to decide to take on a free indie project, I do recommend setting some goals to attend as many film festivals as possible to ingest media you may not otherwise know about and speak with the team about the project. I also recommend expanding your reach to a project you may not have considered working previously. Every production has something new and unique to learn, and it will only help your producership skills in the long run to be able to bypass pitfalls with skills you’ve gathered outside of your comfort zone along the way.
Take a Business Class (Bear with Me: It Makes Sense)
I would say the most challenging part of being a producer is knowing where to start with budgets, hourly rates, the contracts and agreements you might need, etc. As I mentioned before, the internet is filled to the brim with resources to help get you started. Tongal has templates for everything from budgeting, to storyboarding, to pre-production checklists. Understanding how to budget is a pivotal and intimidating role for every producer, and creators like Alexi Ouzas and Tongal blogs offer a wealth of information for the more…boring…parts of being a producer. And that’s just pre-production! Understanding things like distribution and developing plans for post is a whole other ballgame, though Tongal has resources to help with post, too!
Luckily, there are classes like this one from Udemy to help. It’s important not to skip out on these especially if you’re trying to start your own production company and look into getting your COI for film permits, equipment, and other liabilities. Just remember to not get overwhelmed. It can feel like a lot, but having the knowledge going into a project, rather than playing it by ear, will save you time, money, and infinite sleepless nights.
Review and Re-engage Your Portfolio, LinkedIn, Community Forums
Update your website and other digital properties to showcase your absolute best work! Opt into features that might help you bolster your profile. If you've got a Tongal profile (and I'm guessing that you do), be sure to let brands, entertainment companies, and other Tongalers see what you're capable of creating. Tongal now also offers Creators a chance to highlight their in-demand skills on their profile.
In the same vein as expanding your network, re-engaging with the film community (looking for quality over quantity) is always a best practice to have on a monthly basis. Familiarize yourself with what’s going on across major production companies and trends in the world of filmmaking. Join and engage with community forums or organizations like Tongal, Women in Film and TV, Free the Work, and the newly formed Producers Union!
While LinkedIn isn’t necessarily the first place I’d go to for filmmaking, there are a TON of freelance creatives, production/media companies, and articles to interact with. Keep them in your back pocket. Using every free resource available is the best advice to get involved.
Set Tangible Goals
We’re all guilty of this from time to time. The best piece of advice I’ll close with is really knowing when to manage your expectations. Let’s say you’re like my friend Bobby and just got asked to produce a pilot. Great! Congratulations! You’ve done all the prep work, and think you’re ready to start the project next month. Better yet, you’ve made the promise this pilot will get pitched to Netflix and has the potential to get funding and go global.
Not everyone is expecting you to promise the world as a producer. All the cast and crew want is an equitable production that means something and is a fun experience. At the very least, setting tangible goals to achieve a safe, healthy, efficient production that your cast and crew WANT to talk about and help succeed are the end-all-be-all in being a good Producer.
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Note From Tongal: This blog is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here!
