Sixty hours of footage from a week in a renovation show, and somewhere in it is an episode. The story producer has watched the transcripts, marked the moment the couple argued about the budget, and found the shot of the builder shaking his head two days later. By Friday there is a paper edit for the editor. The story producer is the person who turns real life on camera into a story with a beginning, middle and end.
What a story producer does
The role exists mainly in reality, documentary and other unscripted television. The contributors do not perform written dialogue, so much of the story is found in the footage, even though there is a format, an outline and often a shooting script for each episode. Story producers work under the series producer, often one per episode or per group of contributors.
Before and during filming they look for the story lines that could carry an episode, and tell the field producers what is still missing. After filming they go through the logs and transcripts, pick the moments that matter, and write a paper edit. That is a written plan of the episode, scene by scene, with the timecodes of the shots to use. They then sit with the editor to build the episode and rework it after notes.
Responsibilities
- Identify the story lines and characters that can carry an episode
- Brief the field team on scenes or interviews still needed
- Review logs, transcripts and rushes
- Write paper edits and structure for each episode
- Work with the editor on the cut and handle notes
- Write voice-over, captions or interview questions where needed
- Check that what is shown is fair to the people in it
How the role touches the budget
No budget responsibility beyond their own time, but real influence on post costs. The story producer does not hold a budget line, apart from their own time on a weekly rate. But they have real influence on post-production costs. A clear paper edit saves days in the edit suite, and edit days are among the largest costs on an unscripted series. When the story is unclear, the edit runs long and the cost report shows it.
How people get into the role
Most story producers come up through unscripted television, as a researcher, logger or assistant editor. Assistant editors in particular learn how stories are built from footage. A good story producer can watch a lot of material quickly and knows how an editor works.
In the US and Europe
The title is common in American reality television. In the UK and much of Europe the same work is often done by the edit producer, a producer who works alongside the editor during post. The tasks are largely the same.