Episode six of a consumer series has a gap. The trader who agreed to be interviewed has pulled out, and the edit starts on Monday. The programme producer spends the afternoon on the phone with the researcher, finds two customers willing to talk, rewrites the running order and books a crew for Thursday. The programme producer is the person who owns one programme, or one episode of a series, from idea to transmission.
What a programme producer does
In television the word producer is used more loosely than in film. A programme producer is a hands-on maker. They work under a series producer or executive producer, who sets the tone of the whole series, and they are responsible for their own episodes. That means finding the story, choosing contributors with the researcher, planning the filming days, often directing the shoot themselves, and then sitting with the editor until the programme works.
In live and studio programmes the producer looks after the content (the guests, the running order, the scripts for the presenter), while the studio director looks after the pictures. Programme producers work both at broadcasters with in-house production and at independent production companies.
Responsibilities
- Develop the story and structure of each episode
- Choose and brief contributors, with the research team
- Plan filming days, locations and crew with the production manager
- Direct the shoot or work with a director on location
- Write or approve scripts, links and voice-over
- Run the edit and take notes from the series producer and the broadcaster
- Deliver the programme to length, to spec and on time
How the role touches the budget
Through an episode budget. The production manager usually gives the programme producer a budget per episode with a number of filming days, crew days and edit weeks. The producer decides how to use them. An extra filming day has to be paid for with a shorter edit or a cheaper location elsewhere. Producers also sign off their own expenses, travel and contributor fees. The full budget of the series stays with the production manager and series producer.
How people become programme producers
The usual route is runner, researcher, assistant producer, then producer. Many producers also learn to shoot and edit along the way, because on smaller factual programmes they film much of the material themselves. A good programme producer has made a lot of programmes, in many genres, before they get their own episodes.
In film
On a film the title producer means something else. A film producer finds the project and raises the money, and rarely runs a shoot day to day. The TV programme producer is closer to a director with editorial responsibility.