Director Vs. Producer - What's the Diference?

maxjoy (68)in #film • 6 years ago

What is the diference between a Director and a Producer? I get asked this question all the time, so I decided to put it in writing.

As you will see it’s kinda funny since as you will see, they are completely different positions.

Let’s get into it.

I like to compare film making to running a restaurant… I know it sounds a bit silly, but I do believe we can find some similarities that will help us illustrate this point.

A lot of people are not aware of this but a kitchen’s restaurant is a very stressful place to work. There is fire going on and knife being used, there is boiling oils around and people bump into each other.

Stress is no stranger to movie sets either. There is burning hot lights and heavy gear being used. There can be stunt people doing extremely dangerous things. There can bad weather rendering the shoot much harder and taking away the worker’s comfort.

In both examples, it is essential you have insurance.

In both places, is not uncommon to find people who lead a bohemian life style.

In the restaurant emotions are hight but the dishes must be completed and served to the costumers.

In a set, the shoots must be filmed no matter what.

Both are creative endeavours and both will serve an experience to the costumer.

In the kitchen everyone follows the “commends” of the Chef, no matter how good they are, all the people in that kitchen are working to make the Chef’s vision come to life. And there can only be one Chef in the kitchen… we even have an expression for it. This is the director. The Director is like the Chef and there can only be one director. Most of the rare director’s duo teams are siblings (Eg: Cohens, Wachowskis)

Then there is the restaurant owner. He deals with the diplomatic and logistic affairs of the place. He is more involved with the financial aspect of the business, he talks to investors. He manages everyones schedule and get’s the Chef what he needs to make his dishes. This is the Producer. There can only be one chef in the kitchen, but a restaurant can have many owners. Some owners are there everyday on the field talking and helping the Chef, some invested some money and just want to see the return… and so on…

Let’s have a brief analysis of what they do in a film project.

Director

The director is the person responsible for every artistic decision in the movie. Sure movies are a collaborative art form and in a typical theatrical feature there are thousands of people involved in it. But every department is working towards the directors vision and he accepts, guides or refuses to include it in the final film. Everyone, from the editor to the costume designer to the actors. Like a maestro or a chef.

Producer

There are several types of producers, like different types of restaurant owners, but for the sake of this conversation we are going to keep the definition to the “standard” producer.

The producer is responsible for the logistics of the film. He deals with the studio, raises money, over sees the contracts, makes sure things run on schedule and budget, he can secure locations. Basically he goes out in the “real world” and gets the director the tolls the maestro needs to make his film. The producer can have an idea and contract a writer and then a director. He can be called by a studio to develop a script into a film, he can also start working with the director from the ground up and develop the film. There can be more than one producer in each film. Like a restaurant owner.

In Short

The Director is the supreme commander inside the movie. He guides and choses every single department on what his vision for the film is. The film will have his seal of approval. He his the person responsible for the film, has a piece of art that people will see.

The Producer is the “Owner” of the film, he let’s the director make the film and deals with logistics, finance, contracts, laws and so on… making the job of the director possible. He then takes the piece of art “made by the Director” and figures out how to show it to the world. Has far as the creative process it self, he is only interested in talking to the director, so he has the intelligence to run the “restaurant”

Ok this is it… hope this was helpful and interesting. I do get this question all the time and I find it funny because, like you know, they are total opposites has far as the daily work and aptitude are concern.

Take care and don’t forget to follow for more inside film tips and behind the scenes.

Wish you a great Day!!!

2 Bamboo Logo.jpg