The client has approved the script. Now the agency producer sends it to three production companies, each with a director in mind. A week later three bids arrive, three fixed-price quotes, laid out in the same format. One is cheaper but skips a second shoot day. One is above budget but has the director the creatives want. The agency producer compares them line by line and recommends one. The agency producer is the agency's person for everything about making the film.
What an agency producer does
In advertising, the agency comes up with the idea, but it does not film it. That work goes to a separate production company. The agency producer is the bridge. Once a script is approved by the client, they find suitable directors (often through a director's representative), brief the production companies, and ask for bids. A bid is a detailed quote with a fixed price for the whole job.
After awarding the job, the agency producer stays involved through pre-production meetings, the shoot and the edit. They check that the production company delivers what was quoted, that the creatives get the film they wrote, and that the client does not get surprise costs. At the end they make sure all versions, cut-downs and formats are delivered to the media channels.
Responsibilities
- Find directors and production companies that fit the idea
- Send out the brief and collect bids from two or three companies
- Compare bids and recommend one to the agency and client
- Negotiate the final price and contract with the production company
- Manage the schedule from award to delivery
- Attend pre-production meetings, the shoot and edit sessions
- Approve extra costs, called overages, and agree them with the client
- Handle music, usage rights and delivery to media outlets
How the role touches the budget
Closely. The agency producer holds the client's production budget and decides how much of it goes to the production company, to post-production, to music and to usage fees for talent. They read every bid in detail, because a fixed price only protects the client if the bid clearly says what is included. When something changes after the award, such as an extra location or a new version, they agree the cost with the commercials producer before the work is done.
How people become agency producers
Many start as assistant producers or production coordinators inside an agency. Others move across from production companies, where they learned what shoots really cost, which makes them hard to fool when reading a bid.
In commercials
The agency producer works in a triangle. The brand manager pays and approves, the agency creatives own the idea, and the production company makes the film. The agency producer keeps all three aligned. More on the process is on how a film is made.