When You Need to Hire a Producer + Free Template

Decide why you need additional producers

If you decide to hire an additional producer, it’s critical to understand your reasons for doing so with as much precision as possible. This information is key to hiring the right producer for your project. It tells you what kind of candidates you both should and should not be searching for. 

In the world of film production, no two circumstances are ever exactly alike, and the number of plausible reasons to hire a producer is essentially endless. However, some situations are more common than others. Below, we’ll dig into a handful of these, as we describe five basic reasons to hire an additional producer.  

1. To bring in specialized expertise

It’s virtually impossible to be an expert in every single aspect of making and releasing a movie. Sometimes, it’s necessary to hire an outside producer to fill in an important gap in your team’s experience or expertise. 

The expertise in question could be anything, provided that clear and significant value can be attached to its presence. It could be that your project requires assistance with development or faces production in a unique environment. Perhaps your project will leverage emerging technology or VFX that requires an unusual pipeline for post-production.

Specialized expertise can be a valuable long-term investment. Over the course of a project’s life cycle, the right knowledge and experience will help reduce costs and increase quality. 

2. To share responsibilities and risk

Producers represent the nexus of physical and financial liability. If a shoot goes way over budget or encounters a major delay, the producers will ultimately bear the consequences for those errors in one way or another. That’s why the management of risk and responsibility is a central part of a producer’s job.

To that end, a savvy producer understands when a project has grown beyond the scope of their personal bandwidth. In that event, hiring an additional producer to share the load may be the best way to maintain efficiency and mitigate risk.

3. To ensure diverse perspectives and ideas

Tunnel vision can run an otherwise incredible project straight into the ground. It can stifle ideas and unnecessarily limit productions. By contrast, diversity can be an enormously valuable asset that creates new possibilities and prevents productions from overlooking important details.

An additional producer may be an excellent way to ensure a diverse range of perspectives and ideas. By consciously hiring a candidate with a different background from your own, you can expand a project’s point-of-view from the top down. 

4. To manage specific aspects of the project

Single aspects of a production may sometimes require hyper-focused attention from an individual producer. In some cases, that need might arise due to scale, as with an extremely large budget or complicated schedule. In other cases, that need might be connected to unique production circumstances, like those that require the kind of specialized expertise referenced earlier in our list. 

Hiring additional producers is not always the optimal solution for these situations, but the authority of an additional producer can be valuable. Their leadership position and direct connection to the other producers may enable them to operate more efficiently than other personnel. 

5. To meet the requirements of investors or studios

A project’s financial stakeholders may require the presence of additional producers as a condition of funding your movie. This often occurs when new investors are brought onto a project. For example, if a producer develops a project then sells it to a studio, the studio will likely want to add new producers and other personnel to the production team.

If hiring an additional producer is a condition of film financing, you may not be able to select your own candidate for the job. Remember to strategically select your production partners in order to ensure the ideal outcome for everyone involved. 

Determine when you need those producers for your project

Once you understand why you need to hire an additional producer, it’s important to carefully consider when you should initiate the process. While it may be tempting to bring the new producer onboard as soon as possible, that might not be the best course of action. Hiring your additional producer too early can be just as disadvantageous as hiring them too late.

You can determine when to hire a new producer by identifying the point at which they either add the most value or meet the strongest need for your production. Specificity is important, but there are two broad categories you can use to get started. 

1. Before the project is finished

Deciding to hire an additional producer before your project has been completed means that you need them to help you complete the project. Their assets will be used to shepherd the project through some part of the pipeline between “good idea” and “final cut.” You may need the additional producer most for development, pre-production, principal photography, or post-production. It all depends on your project’s individual profile.

Note that this category covers a wide range within your project’s lifespan and that you’ll likely want to home in on a more specific phase within that range before making your hire.

2. After the project is finished 

You may find that you only need to hire an additional producer after your project is complete. These producers often help to navigate various aspects of marketing, sales, or distribution. They can play a critical role in releasing your project and putting it in front of an audience. 

While these producers provide value at a relatively late point in a project’s journey, you may still find it necessary to hire them before the project is finished in some cases. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. It’s important to give each decision the careful consideration that it deserves. 

Discuss your needs and concerns with producing candidates

Understanding your own circumstances and requirements is the foundation for hiring an additional producer. The next step is to connect and communicate that information with your producing candidates. 

This is essentially the “interview” phase of the hiring process. This is the point at which you and your candidates will feel each other out in an effort to determine whether or not they’re the right fit for your project and vice versa. 

Unlike most traditional employment positions, producing candidates are generally hired to solve a problem or provide an advantage that is specific to the project at hand. For that reason, the “interview” process may be framed less like a formal interview and more like a general meeting. The conversation may center more on your production’s challenges and less on your candidate’s resume. 

Nevertheless, it’s important to remember your goal. You want to identify the best candidate for the job. To do that, you’ll need to vet each candidate’s qualifications, conditions, and general perspective. You can approach the conversation from any angle of your choosing, but here’s a brief list of topics you might want to address:

• Work experience and past credits
• Union affiliations or other relevant connections
• Budget or finance concerns
• Project schedule or timeline
• Communication styles
• Collaboration and reporting procedures
• Problem-solving experiences
• Level of creative control
• Overall project vision
• Marketing or distribution strategies
• Risk management
• Compensation and other benefits

Above all else, remember that you’re hiring a collaborator. Regardless of personal approach, these early conversations are the ideal time to see if your candidate can work as a team player.

Ways a Producer Agreement can support your producers and facilitate collaboration

The final step in hiring an additional producer is to seal the deal with a contract. The Producer Agreement is a contract whose terms lay out all the operational details of the partnership. It should be thorough, explicit, and clear.

A solid Producer Agreement should accomplish at least the following:

• Define the new producer’s roles and responsibilities
• State any professional expectations and boundaries
• Define all ownership and credits
• Protect the original producer’s IP
• Maintain confidentiality
• Outline compensation and other benefits

A well-drafted Producer Agreement safeguards both parties’ interests, ensuring a smooth collaboration and protecting your project’s integrity. You can customize our free Producer Agreement template to get your next partnership off on the right foot.

Wrapping up

Bringing a new producer onto your project is a major decision. However, if you take the time to identify and understand your own needs, the right choice will present itself in time. 

Don’t forget to download our free Producer Agreement template before you jump into your next production. At Wrapbook, we believe in putting as much power as possible directly into the hands of filmmakers. Visit Wrapbook’s resource center for an exhaustive collection of forms, templates, in-depth guides, and more.