Become a Perfect Producer: the Essentials of TV, Events & Video Production.

1. What You will find in this Course?: Hello, my name is Charlene ascii Vegas. I'm a creative producer and director. And in this course, I will talk about the essentials of production and share insights of what makes a person a perfect producer. Perfection might not exist, but you can do perfect for someone in someone else's work if you are interested in TV, advertising, film events, Music, Theatre, Arts. These are the industries that constantly need producers with a very particular as a creative myself, I can assure you that between the creator and their final work, there's always a gap of tasks and challenges that can wait for perfect producer to come in and help make great things happen. I've spent over 15 years in event management and TV production, working with TV formats like the voice Dance Revolution. Also with brands like Nord VPN, Porsche, Euronext, Phillips, and many more. And I can assure you none of these things would have happened, would have been possible if I hadn't had a perfect producer by my side, production is a non colloquial occupation, meaning it's available for everyone to try, but there's a blindfolded way of doing things. Then there's a way when you know how the kitchen work, I'm sharing my best experiences working with greatest people. All of this is divided into six modules, because who's better to tell what created needs from a producer, then the creatives themselves. What you will learn in this course. The first part of the course, we will be talking about what makes a person a producer will go through types of productions, names of producer positions, and what kind of responsibilities they have. Second part is dedicated to identifying personality traits within you that are helpful to do this kind of job. Personality traits you already have and trace you can develop over time. Third part is about time management. Not only your time, but also your teams. And most important, you are project. We're talking about, especially the arranging meetings, distributing time resources, seeing things through timelines, and making deadlines work for you instead of against it. The fourth part is about finances. It's inevitable to talk about numbers when learning the essential of production, we will practice negotiating, thinking about taxes, the importance of knowing prices of the market, and also what points should be mentioned. Your contracts when it comes to money. In the first part, we'll talk about human resources people, and choosing them for the right task. Also, how to form long-term work relationships with their providers, how to keep your team motivated, and how to deal with a tough crowd. The sixth part will let you rest of it from all the serious stuff and go right into the fun stuff, which is creativity. And with a few examples, we'll find out how to explain creative ideas and then engaging matter, how to create your own elevator pitch and fill in creative gaps. Seven part will conclude our course and I will leave you with a task for a personal project. So let's jump right into it. 2. What is a Producer? Terms & Responsibilities.: What is a producer? A dictionary has the following description. Producer is the person responsible for the financial and managerial aspects of the making of a film or broadcast, staging a play, opera, etc. You could also be accompany or even a country that makes, grows or supplies. Goods are commodities for sale. And in my words, producer is simply a person that makes things happen. As a producer, it's most likely you will work with one of the following. Making of an entertainment product, like a movie or a concert tour, video shoots of commercials or music videos. Theater, musical theater, a variety of events formats from corporate to product launches to music festivals. Also TV show formats, live broadcasts and our filming TV series. Finally, exhibitions, music recording, radio, and video games, to name a few. A producer is quite a broad term in TV production alone, there are numerous positions, just like these. Show runner is the chief executive in charge of everything related to the production of the shelf. It is the highest rank. Executive producer, one rank lower. It's a show crater and possibly the head of the production company. Usually someone with writing credits, co-executive producer, experienced wise, is very close to the executive producer. That's why this person takes other chunks of responsibilities like managing the staff while still contributing a lot and the writing room, discussions and revisions. Producer. Within any project, a producer is the one who plans ahead, arranges, managers, begins and also closest every aspect of production. And they also typically involved in every stage of the overall production process, co-producer. If there is a team of producers, co-producer takes any available functions, necessary roles that a single producer would take on a smaller project. Coordinated producer helps the producer during the production process. They can sometimes be involved in coordinating other jobs, such as creating people's schedules and hiring the main tower. These three positions are what we're going to focus on the most, since this is a realistically achievable job, if you have the right mindset. Keeping in mind that this is not only for working on TV, but also other fields mentioned above. 3. TEST: Find out Your Personality Traits as a Perfect Producer.: So what makes a person a producer? You can tell from your behavior in certain professions like engineer or Dr. it requires years of studying of a sudden material that I've experienced at being a perfect producer relies more on your character, mindset and personality traits. Whether you have a potential for what it takes to work in the production. You can easily check by simply monitoring how you behave in particular life situations. There is something you are lacking. It is definitely attainable through inviting new practices in your day-to-day life. Let's test it. I've created a list of ten fun situational questions you have to answer with a yes or no, and how or why. Read the questions, then pause the video and first answer a question with a simple yes or no. Then in maximum two sentences, explain how you can back up the answer with a real-life example or why you don't do that? Write it down. First. Do you see how some of your friends can be helped by simply structuring their day? Yes. No. And how or why you don't see that? Are you good at telling adventures you or your friends experienced in a vivid manner? Yes. No. And how do you do that or why you cannot do that? Are you able to borrow things you need but don't want to buy without any problem and return them in a good shape. You have a sibling you've grown up with and learn how to navigate around in a friendly manner. Are you a curious shopper who knows which store has what supplies? Like, unique floor tiles, variety of fabrics are one of the kind food ingredients? Yes. No. And how do you do it or why it's not your thing? Are you good at calculating how much time you will need for your errands during the day. Like going to a bank and commuting to leave a package, meeting a colleague for a coffee and later picking up a cat from when traveling with a group of friends. Are you the one following the plans and schedules you made? The journey? Are you the one keeping an eye on a monthly budget either in your relationship or your family? Yes. No. And how do you do it or why you don't do it? It is very likely you will commit to a task that must be done, even if you're not sure how to complete it yet, you have the courage to learn as you go. If your car breaks down or you need to buy a new laptop, you know, at least two people that can consult or even find a solution for you? Yes or no. And how would you find these people or why it would not be possible? Now that you have your answers, calculate all the yeses. These are your strongest points that you already have naturally, and that's what each one of them mean. Number one, you might be good at planning projects. Number two, good at pitching or presenting ideas. Number three, it might be good at obtaining barter deals with providers for managing people and working with human resources file. You're good at getting best prices and negotiating. Six, you're good at managing time resources. Seven, supervising. Eight, working budget's, nine, you're trustworthy in the field. And ten, you're good at delegating tasks. From now on, hold onto your yeses and keep developing them. If you are good at borrowing and returning things. Expand into getting services, furniture for birthday parties, or even venues for get-togethers with your friends. When it comes to the no answers, don't worry. If you've got more of those. It just means that these skills must be looked into as your next priority. Of course, with curiosity and a will to overcome your fear and resistance. And the fastest and simplest way to do this is actually just by doing so, go back to the list of the questions and find those or similar situations in your life and try acting differently so that your answer would gradually become a yes. You've got this. 4. TIME: Arrange Appointements like a Perfect Producer.: In this part of the course, we will talk about time management related skills, arranging needed appointments, assigning team members to target meetings, distributing time resources and right proportions, making a timeline, thinking upfront and scouting for possible drawbacks and making reservations. It might sound like a simple task to arrange a meeting, right? But let's take a look at it word by word and do it in the most efficient and comfortable way. Thinking like a perfect producer, first word, arranging. As a freelancer, I love getting options for when and where the meeting might take place, requesting to meet with a few choices of the date and our will let you avoid talking back and forth for too long. Thinking about a suitable location and venue for a certain meeting will result in better quality work. A conference from his great for technical team gathering and a design studio is nice and relaxing for a brainstorming session when the decision is made, I love getting an invitation by email, so I can automatically mark it on my schedule. For that purpose, you can use platforms like Google Calendar or apps like Slack and doodle. Just make sure your team is familiar with those. The second word is arranged, needed, a perfectly producer things ahead, what parts of the project needs to be addressed and discussed, and also in which groups of people, it should be done without leaving anyone behind a great way to do so as narrate each step of production to yourself and see which action items need attention, e.g. first step, you say to yourself, the project begins with brainstorming and concept, location and content of this open-air art Expo event. This step needs a dialogue between creative producer, art curator, performance creator. And at this point, it is still too soon for the floor management and tech team to come in. Then you narrate second step. We are driving to scout the location and see where art installations can be placed. This meeting is beneficial for the tech team. Our curator, Performance Director, and create a producer and floor management should also joined. Everyone who needs to see the space backstage and how things are being mapped out. Do the same with every following stage of development. Third word, needed appointments. That means what type of meeting is needed? It can be one-on-one or in teams of 30 people. It's crucial to understand the purpose of the appointment and which format would work best, e.g. if the whole tech team and floor management needs to understand and learn a completely new location for a musical festival, get them altogether and have a fun field trip. On the contrary, talk about nuances of characters of the movie between a director and a script writer might require a closed one-on-one type of meeting in a quiet studio. Also think of weather too many people are a distraction. Or if people missing in the meeting will make your work double time, retelling the same information twice for the possible loss of important details. 5. TIME: Specifics of Assembling Target Meetings.: Next, sorting our team members into target meetings as a creative producer and big part of my work is explaining my initial idea to different team members over and over again, mentioning the aspects only they need to know based on the part they are doing. I'm always so happy to have a perfect producers who understands which people should hear, which segments of information. Here's a visual example. We are organizing an award show with a live broadcast. So let's take eight types of people who will contribute colder colors, will represent teams who film and broadcast event creates that design, build stage construction, create digital visuals, and work with light and warmer colors, will represent teams who are stylized performers, make calls and signed contracts with performers and manage the backstage. Okay, so now if you place them all in one meeting, in one triangle, you will get to many different questions at the same time and too little interest in the topics of the others. So suggestion Number one called color teams should not meddle with warm colors teams at a target meetings. Here's why people who build the stage and also people who create the style of performers will not very likely need the same information. First group is interested in the venue. It's electricity and grid points. And what is the set design? While the second group needs a list of performers, what is the concept of the show and what message each performance portrays. The only unanimous topic for those two groups is concept of the award show. The rest will be a waste of time for both of them requires two different meetings. On the other hand, if you have a set designer in one room with a lead designer and visual artists, even though they sound like doing different things. The United topic is stage. They have enough space to move around and bounce off of each other with questions and suggestions like, what is configuration of LED screens? How high is the vertical space? What is a suitable color scheme for the show? This meeting takes more of an artistic side of the stage topic, but be careful not to add too many members, even from the same colder colors. If we add more people who are technical, Let's say stage Tax Service, who built the stage, and a broadcast director who checks placement of the cameras. They have less interaction with one another. And the meeting might take a more technical term. And the artistic part might be ignored. Suggestion number to watch over the amount of people in one meeting. It's great to have meetings planned out in gradual development and have several of them that professionals are their field, find the best solutions together. A perfect producer is not the one who makes the best decisions, but the one who invites the best people in one room to make those decisions for them. 6. TIME: Distributing Time Resources of the Project.: Some producers can arrange three months worth of projects in one month. And some projects that should only require three months. It takes six. Wasting too much time, as well as having a tight schedule is wasteful, both money and energy wise. In the first example, three-to-one, it's very likely you will need to work overtime and hire extra staff. And then the second example, three to six, you might pay for the time that is not used efficiently. A great skill to have is finding a golden middle. Let's work with an example. So let's say you got hired for a medium budget music video shoot. And it will require the following crew members. Top director, script writer, storyboard, artist, perhaps artist, cameos, dancers and styling team. The video needs to be ready for release in two months. It's amazing to have a perfect producer can tell almost immediately how much time each team member will receive and check if it's possible for them to prepare. Producer might say, to learn choreography, you will have one week. This way, the manager who ordered this music video can think whether they're singer is skilled enough to learn dance moves in such time. Meanwhile, a producer can already make approximate calculations for how many rehearsals they need to pay the dancers, choreographers, and for dance studio rental. When trying a storyboard of your idea takes three days, says a producer to a client. That leaves us with 11 days to finish a script. This way, the producer squeezes their script writer and director into a timeframe and can expect a response from them if it's doable. How do you do that? How do you know the amount of time you can give to your team members? One way of doing this is catching it backwards storyline. You start with a final date. In this example, a finished music video on one side and the data, the first meeting on the other side. The middle part is all the time that is given to you. So in our case, two months. Then starting with the end point, calculate backwards how much time every step of production will take and market online. Editing time to week's video shoot, two days, styling, one week, assembling the team, then you and cameos, three weeks. Storyboard done in three days, script done in 11 days. And then you come to our first meeting. When you reach the point of the first meeting, take a look at the whole picture. Does it make sense having to squeeze certain processes too much? If at all looks reasonable. Congratulations, the project is possible to make in two months, you can give a positive answer. And if a certain part seem a bit stressful or you're not sure how much time the editing of the video will take. Double-check with your team members and adjust accordingly. My advice, just don't be too optimistic and leave at time butter. 7. TIME: Creating and Working with Timelines.: After you measured the proportions of time given as your grid on the project, it's time to make an indie deal timeline on top of it, making one for yourself and your team is a great tool to follow the deadlines. One of the easiest way to do so is create an online document with platforms that allow access for multiple people, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Excel in the document. As a creative, I would like to see as simple and clean layout of future tasks, I have to complete a mark, whether that line. So let's make one open your Excel sheet and start listing all of the tasks on the left side. Then lock in that column so it doesn't disappear when you scroll to the right. Now, look at the tasks and sort them out based on the category. Which ones are related to human resources? Which ones are more tech and gear related? And which can be defined as creative tasks. Stay within three to six categories and give them any name you want. There are no mistakes here. Then add a color code for the eye to find the right information easier. Now, let's move on to the upper part. The top line is where you write brief information about the project, such as name, start and ending days production company that handles the project. And doing this. Imagine that people who will see this file work with multiple projects. They need to see immediately which project is timelines for when they open the file under the main info, insert a line of number of narrow columns equal to the days you have to complete the project. Divide the columns into weeks. Mark the weekends and holidays with different colors. Again, we're thinking about comfort here. Now it's time to send the deadlines, go through each task on the left and mark an X on the cell that represents the day the tasks should be completed. If you don't have experience yet and are not sure how much time things take. Don't worry, this is the first draft. Simply use a logic and gifts. Then contact each team member with this draft and double-check if your predictions were correct. Now we have a valid timeline pro tip number one, artistic people you will work with are often quite flaky and difficult to catch with and results on time. For this reason, mark not only the final deadline, but also emitted deadline, a point in time where the artists updates you with only a portion of their final work. I find this very useful for myself as well, because honestly, I'm often that person is released work until the last minute. Pro tip number two. In order for these timeless to work, you have to use them yourself. I want you to have them open during online meetings. Point they get columns asking people if they understand them. You can also cut out only portions of tasks for certainty members and send them in separate files. 8. TIME: Valuable Skill of Thinking Up-front.: Another great skill for a perfect producer who have is predicting potential problems as much as the skill has the potential to end up as a constant over thinking and fear of the worst. If you do it with a neutral approach, predicting possible mishaps is extremely valuable. Think of it as a predicting the weather. Should you take an umbrella today? It seems silly now, but it rained in the morning. The weather forecast is predicting a 30% chance of rain. And you can see the darker clouds forming around the horizon. The wind is blowing towards where you will be for the rest of the day. I think you should take that umbrella with you. Same with production. If the venue for the video shoot is not answering you for a week already, and a person working at the front desk doesn't know much, start looking for a plan B, even though the first location seems to be perfect. If the second one gives you their availability, price, and conditions quickly. This allows you to move on with your work right away. And even when the first, then you suddenly wakes up and answers you at the last minute. With suitable conditions. A perfect producer practices to be better safe than, sorry. 9. TIME: Making Reservations in a Professional Way.: Making reservations, people services then use n tasks. Making reservations means letting people know they might be needed at a certain time, on a certain schedule for a particular task and payment. There is no right way of doing it, but there's definitely a convenient way. Here's what I admire in a perfect producer regards to reservations. So let's say you're organizing a corporate event. You need musicians, catering services, a venue and a host. For the client to choose from, you should find at least three options of each. The tricky part is to find a way of keeping all three options on standby in order not to lose the one that's client might choose. On the other hand, you will have to eventually let go the other two options that kept the reservation for you. So you have to do it in an understandable and professional manner, even if you don't work with them now, most likely you will in the future. So in this first step, as the person who gets hired, I love when a perfect producer informed me about a possible event and asked me to put a mark on my schedule with a pencil. It means it can still be raised since it's not 100% confirmed, I may or may not hear a lot of details about the project or even payment at this point. What I'm looking for is hearing, I will get back to you with more information in a very short time, then I'm fine. I'm fine with even a small portion of information and okay. With putting a reservation for a few days. Second step, a follow-up should happen within a timespan of maximum one to two weeks in case the client miraculously made a quick decision. This is where you come back with an in detail pitch of the project. Also, what needs to be done by the service provider and the offer of conditions and payment for negotiation. But if the client is still has doubts and it's more information such as pricing or a pitch of an idea is second step is definitely where the perfect producer asks for that information in exchange providing more details, how many days they want to hire the creator, what are the payment brackets? And what is the concept of the project? Asking for a price without letting know the scale of the task is not something you should practice. The first step is for the closure. By this point, it's probably been up to three to four weeks since the initial reservation was made. And the chances that the artist or a service provider is keeping the reservation without a signed contract are getting slimmer and slimmer act on it. Now, pull all the strings, give that answer and sign the contract. You are allowed to be a little bit more assertive at this point. Otherwise, you might lose a very good deal. 10. NUMBERS: Importance of Knowing Prices of the Market.: The fourth part of the course, numbers, knowing prices of rental items, services, venues, and peace. Negotiating best prices, having knowledge how taxes work, preparing contracts. So there is a common opinion that artistic people are bad with numbers. Even though it is definitely not entirely true, It's very convenient for them to have someone else who can determine costs and build estimates and negotiate prices. Let's begin with knowing the prices. Your understanding about how much things cost will grow gradually and should be as broad as possible. Knowing a little about everything rather than everything about certain things is what you want to achieve. It will allow you to effortlessly juggle those prices when assembling estimates, negotiating with a service provider, and keeping things within a given budget. This requires staying constantly updated on trends, tech news, uprising performers and similar. That's why a perfect producer is actually a regularly working producer. There's no better way of knowing the prices than simply contacting and asking for the price. I noticed that a perfect producer stands out with not what they ask, but how they asked. Here's a short example. Let's say you need to get ten realistic wigs for a performance and you have no clue what it might cost. A regular person would either call email, or even visit a store that sells books and see the prices. The perfect producer, on the other hand, would probably do the following. Write an email or call with a detailed requests. Ten realistically looking wigs, color and lens for a certain date and certain amount of hours. Then we'll describe a spectrum of the task. The Whigs should be all of the same cut, but in case there are not enough items, similar cuts can be taken into consideration. As long as all of them are blonde, reference pictures are mandatory, then would ask for quality items in stock, hinting for the price range, we're looking here with the flexibility to try synthetic wigs in case surprise and better, big difference, right? This way, instead of asking one question at a time, you provide a wig store a whole picture of how they can help you. It will save you a lot of time and also help you improvise in case you cannot find exactly what you need. So let other people find solutions and meet your needs. Of course, besides the wigs, you should gradually learn the prices of the following photo studio rental, hourly and daily. Necessary tech equipment, everything from cameras, lenses, monitors, lights, and grip, two microphones, green-screen, etc. You should know artists and musicians fees, how much editing costs, logistics, catering, price per person and service fees. Also props, making them from scratch, buying, orienting, team member's fees of directors, directors of photography and the resistance. Light artists and designers, stylist and makeup artist, floor management, and of course, yourself, the producer. 11. NUMBERS: Research Before Negotiating.: Given the previous example with the Whigs, a regular person would ask for a price right away after seeing the product they need. Now the perfect producer, however, leaves the pricing topic Outside of the equation until later, until they know what's in stock so they can negotiate a better deal if the budget is a little bit tight after asking all the questions. Now they have something to work with and could ask the following. Is there a chance that the sharp will give you a 10% discount on purchasing in bulk. Check if the provider is renting their items. This way you would only pay the service and maintenance fee. Find out if providers interested in collaborations this way you can offer a barter and exchange of goods and services between two or more parties without a use of money. In a given week scenario. If you work with a big artist, talk about this with the provider before closing the deal. And if they're interested, have an offer for them immediately. Note, this might take a bit longer and you will most likely have to contact the store manager directly when negotiating prices and talking numbers, sees them just as numbers avoid personal judgment, whether they are too little or things are expensive. Also, look at the budget as an unfinished sketch. In case you got smaller funding, go through the lines and through if there is a way to shrink certain numbers. So we could afford something extra needed at some point, you will inevitably encounter a moral dialogue. Should you go for quality or should you go for saving money? Let's work with a possible scenario with a little puzzle for you. Let's say a grand gallery opening has a wish to have been violent Duarte reading their guests. If the budget given us ten units of currency, naturally you will look for musicians within that price range. And instead of Quartet, you might have to hire a solo player. But the budget was given is 100 units. You immediately have an immense freedom to look for the musicians equivalent in experience and quality. Here comes a puzzle. In the first case, you see a 100 and a budget and bring a musician that is an equivalent of approximately 70 in their quality. In the second case, you convince a musician who is within the price range and quality of one-hundred to work for the price of 70. What are the possible downsides in tough situations? And what are the upsides and other factors than pricing that could support these decisions? In the first situation, having a 74, 100 possible downside might be the quality and repertoire of the musicians that are not what was expected. And this factor would bring the tone of the event down. The upside of such a decision could be the fact that musicians in the band are of the secondary focus. And the grid to play a longer than the usual set for only slightly bigger price. And that's what you needed in the second situation, having 100 for 70, The downside is possible friction between you and musicians. Long-term, people might feel under appreciated and stop working with you. The upside of the unseen side might be that musicians have that date empty. They liked the concept of the event and actually needed money. So they agreed on a onetime thing and was a lucky win-win situation for both of you. One of the things that perfect producer will have to face as the moral aspect of why certain things cost more than others. People price their services based on the quality, experience and how well their brand is known, but also based on their confidence and how much they want to be involved in the thing you are producing. So here I can only suggest that you follow your intuition as you go. Dealing with money will play a big part in how you shape your image and present yourself in the market. 12. NUMBERS: Tips When it Comes to Taxes.: Having a little bit of knowledge of how taxes work brings you closer to that perfection we're looking for, for a regular worker. If you work for a company in the European Union, you get your salary minus tax and social security payments in production. You are kinda that company who pays taxes. You will work with freelancers that had their business permits. You will be renting equipment from companies that include BAT. You might also run from people who have a small rental business as freelancers and might have tax deductions, you will be hiring actors, models, and extras that have short-term contracts because one type of texts, but also might hire some of them with a long-term contract that will require them to become a full employee of the company. It might sound a little bit overwhelming, but I would definitely advise you to spend some time with your accountant, ask them all of the questions. Perfect. Producer might not know every detail and it's definitely not a must, but should be able to keep a full conversation with someone who is calculating their payment. What I've learned myself, or were they help with perfect producer? It good starting point could be first, knowing what types of business permits are available in your country. Second, what our taxation brackets for different types of permits. Three, how bad or VAT works when buying and selling goods or services, and for how foreign taxes correlated with the system within the country you work in. 13. NUMBERS: What Should be in Your Contract as a Contractee.: As a creative producer, I trust those agencies the most, who have the most detailed contracts. Creative work is already quite difficult to define where it begins and when the results start coming through. So the more in detail the requirements and conditions are written in the contract, the safer the creator fields. As a beginner producer, you will most likely get a prepared contract from the legal department of the company. However, understanding the nuances will help immensely when talking to the contract T and making sure these things are included. First, the date, name, location, and duration of the project. Second, who is the client that orders the service? I want to know to whom am I responsible? Three, list of services and responsibilities. A director not only directs the commercial video, but also attends an x amount of meetings. It's fitting and rehearsal days, and maybe even participates in promotional engagements for deadlines. In creative industries, deadlines tend to become a bit blurry. Finding them already in the contract is assigned. A client knows exactly what they're doing. And the more defined deadlines are in the contract, the less misunderstandings they are in reality, five, an artist's fee and on which basis the payment will be made. Also, in what period of time it will be transferred. Six, finds both parties should take responsibility. If I, as a creative director, keep a date reserved for you, for your projects are already started working on it. Things like cancellation not only affect our relationship, but it has actual financial consequences for me, vice versa, if the creator disappears right before things need to be submitted, you will have extra travel and expenses to catch up with a new person. Prepare for the possibility of similar situations by keeping finds defined in a contract. Also convenience matters. Find a platform that allows you to create digital contracts that can be signed with a digital signature and put in a safe database. It's quick, it's simple, and artists don't need to worry about losing their paper copy or having a pen. It's a great solution for projects with hundreds of performers, such as music festivals. 14. HR: Develop Your Network of Contacts.: The first part is about knowing the right people, building long-term relationships with providers, sensing the ups and downs of the team. Working with tough crowd, closing projects. Knowing as many professionals as you can in your field is your bread and butter, you can do the house without bricks, no matter how good of a builder you are, a perfect producer has at least two or three people suitable exactly for the task. We've got also one or two alternatives. At first, options are not available. So if you're not naturally people's person, you should at least consider trying what it takes to be one for the development of your network. I'd suggest exercising these three levels of work relations. First, meet new people to have experiences with people. And three, keep continuous work relationships with people. Meeting the right people is best through creating work, are going to see the work of others. I suggest experimenting with inviting new creators when you have smaller projects. And this way you can see how things work out. See how that sounds. Service team is working. Check if a florist company works efficiently and creates not only beautiful, but also precise arrangements. Based on your reference photos. Finding things on social media is convenient. But seeing people in person might give you a better understanding of their work. To have experiences with people means working in a consecutive amount of projects with the same team members where they can show their skills, their strongest points, and work ethics. A theater set designer who was asked to make props might not do a particularly great job. Not because they're bad at it, but simply because it's not their niche, give them a second chance, ask them to build environments or a whole stage. Chances are they will do just perfect. People are not only what they create, but also what they are. You will naturally gravitate to working with those. You click password. Remember this, before jumping into bigger, more demanding projects, make sure you are familiar with your team members and their personalities. 15. HR: Forming Long-term Work Relationships.: Okay, so now we're talking about keeping certain people close to you. Same goes to your relations with providers. A provider can be a company that is renting you grip and electricity equipment, camera and light equipment, or does casting for your extras in the movie. This could also be a sewing factory, a small business that is catering, et cetera. Building, in this case means taking things from zero and slowly working your way up to something solid relationship with more benefits, but also more responsibilities and required consistency. Just like working with people. Start with a smaller onetime project with your provider and see how they deliver. As a creative producer, I look for providers who don't dwell on small problems. They always come with offers and solutions in case there are difficulties. And they don't put me in a position to solve their issues. Now, long term in this case means having an agreement for a year or two to do business together without a third party that provides the same service in exchange for better conditions and or price, e.g. let's say you have 5-15 commercial video shoots plant in the upcoming year and you need catering service. It is greatly advice to have an agreement with the same provider. This way you get consistent quality and can learn each other's workflows. Because you will know the provider more in-person. Negotiating for a better price when offering a bigger workload is also part of the equation. And finally, work relationship means work is work and both parties have to fulfill their promises and obligations. It is not the same as personal relationship. You didn't get married, and it's totally normal to change your provider after working for a certain amount of time, especially if you feel the winds of change at a staff of one of your favorite photo studios have drastically changed, no matter how amazing, uncomfortable this space is, the Human Resources doesn't do it for you anymore. It is totally up to you to look for another place. 16. HR: Importance of "Reading the Room".: A perfect producer for me is not only one who acts like a boss, but also it's sort of a mother goose that looks after it's ducklings. Production cooperation sometimes take long and intense periods of time. People have to stay over time and work extra hours on the weekends. We make such sacrifices because we love what we do. But sometimes the stress gets the best out of us in those cases. As a creative, I noticed a few nice things. A producer doing. The notice that I work extra hours and stayed together to help out with decision-making and general support. On the other occasions, I got a small bonus for the extra hours. I got one more system for a very particular group of tasks that were distracting my main assistant after one event, the result I was looking forward to came out not exactly how I imagined. I really appreciated having a talk with the perfect producer afterwards, being able to share my slide disappointment and discussing what can be done better next time when the client went overboard with wishes and demands that were clearly beyond their budget and perfectly producer took my side and stood their ground instead of squeezing me and my team further to do the possible. 17. HR: Working with Tough Crowd.: It doesn't happen often, but sometimes a producer has to deal with people that are a little bit of a handful. They might be a frustrated celebrity, a representative of the provider and happy audience member, or a stressed client in those cases, let people talk it out. Some people simply need to vent out or they love to complain, keep things neutral, and don't lose your temper. Understanding another person's perspective, even when they're not exactly right, can quickly solve the situation. Say something like actually mean it. I totally understand what you are saying. And we will do our best to solve this. We do, however, have our limits and not everything can be done as you are asking, but I will keep an eye on things and let you know what can be done. Does that sound like a good solution for the moment? And then actually keep an eye on things and do let the person know what can be done. It won't be pleasant, but you're not required to be cheerful. Just keep things neutral. If things get more intense, try to reach a win-win situation. This is your projects and at this point, unit result. The last resource of persuasion you can use as a signed contract. Hopefully, you won't have to reach that stage, but always know and be ready to cite what is written in the agreement. If possible. Take heated situation somewhere else so we can talk in the lower voice without anyone else watching. This way, increasing the tension. One of my good colleagues told me that during a conflict he always imagines himself in a court standing and being watched by the jury and the judge. And this helps them to remain contained and talk facts only without really getting into the motions. And he also said just avoid imagining being in one dose TV reality shows where people bring their cases to a judge and public court. And when I asked why not, He replied, TV actually loves drama and that is not really helpful. 18. HR: Closing Projects as a Perfect Producer.: So you have gathered the team distributed tasks, maintain the middle lines and final deadlines, which the final goal and had a wonderful result. The client is happy, the team is satisfied. The project is over, not for you. Closing the project when the party is over. It's one of the responsibilities a perfect producer needs to get used to. So what does closing a project mean? Mostly the following, collecting and documenting the invoices and receipts from the artists and companies, in some cases, signing the final part of the contract, the acceptance of transfer, social media posts, sharing photos or tagging the right team members, wishing payments. Having an after action review meeting. Let's talk about the last one. Inviting people for an after-action review. This is what creates those long-term work relationships we talked about in the previous part. Reviewing results after some time has passed can bring some really good insights of what was done correctly and what could be done, improved, better. Have a cup of coffee with the director. It's important to clarify in what terms you both have parted or get a full on meeting with your whole floor management stuff and go through what worked well for failed. And if you have a permanent team of people, do a coaching session to improve their workflow. Take a few situations from the project that had difficulties and play them out once again in the office environment. Then ask each team member how they would have acted differently and what may be done differently next time. So they would do better in the future. This not only shows that you care about your team and their improvement, but actually gives you an understanding of how your people think. 19. CREATIVE: Understanding the Core of Creative Ideas.: The sixth part, creativity, getting the point of the idea, presenting and selling ideas to clients, talking in moodboards, working in a hierarchical manner with a creative producer, being able to fill in small gaps and creative material when needed. Alright, let's talk about getting the point of the idea. Even though production might seem like more of an action and planning related occupation, having a creative mind definitely helps one of the most important things when working with a director or a creative producer for you is to understand their vision. A great way to explain what I mean is a game we used to play us kids called a broken phone. Everybody sits in a line and then the first good things of the world, and whispers it to the next friend in the ear. The second kid whispers whatever they've heard to the third person and so on. Finally, the last kid says the word out loud. And depending on how everyone communicated, it's either a success or a hilarious result. As adults, unfortunately, we play the broken phone quite a bit, especially in the creative world. That's why a perfect producers should firstly, be the one who hears, understands, forwards the original idea with as little personal filters as possible. Secondly, keeps an eye on other members in the chain so that they avoid transforming the idea into something way too far from the original. Here's an example of how an idea can get a simplified when being told by someone else than the original creator. I will give you two examples of the same presentation and dry fan sketch out their dynamics for visual comparison. Let's say we're presenting an immersive, explorative event situated in a beautiful mentioned people arrive on their own time, explore and find clues heading within the perimeter. And this way, they learn about the history of the mansion and household of generations who live there. It's an engaging way to learn history, okay, so the first example, ed director might present this concept in the following manner. A director would start with the value of this historical building and the reason people would be interested in exploring it. Then describe the atmosphere of the premises and the feeling that greets the explorer. Followed by a few stories with possible scenarios and routes and attended might take. Based on their decisions. Then a director would switch things up and start talking through the eyes of a single visitor. When they get excited. Why are they confused? And finally, the euphoric feeling of accomplishment as they reveal the whole story. For the final step, I, director could show examples of ambient music, photos, prop, examples, or names of the artists who may join the team to create the whole experience. Most likely it would be an interesting story to hear right now, here's a second example of the person who does production and might not necessarily have a vivid imagination or in natural talent to captivate their listener's attention, they would introduce the date and duration of the project, working title, location, management company, and probably maintain members. Then give a short introduction of what the project is about. The mentioned the immersive, explorative format. And that audience members will discover the storyline on their own pace in their own trajectory based on their decisions, then a producer might talk about departments and artists that will bring the idea to life. Director and screenwriter, set designer and music producer, actors and costume designers. Essential information about marketing and communication would follow. Finally, it would continue with budgeting or move on to questions and discussion. As you can tell these two presentations, not only sound but also look differently on paper. Of course, there's absolutely more than one way to present things. But if you are in doubt about your storytelling skills and have a feeling and client would love to hear more exciting details. Bring the author to present their vision. Disgust, pure, how much time they have and which points you need help us, and at which point the author should let you continue with more formal topics in case that is not possible. Remember these four things when presenting fully believe the idea. Notice key elements that make it stand out. Avoid simplifying things and remember, your tone, mood, and the way you construct sentences greatly matters. 20. CREATIVE: Effective way to Pitch an Idea. Create your own Elevator Pitch.: Let's talk about pitching the creative idea. A perfect producer is never tired of telling the same thing over and over again with the same excitement without forgetting the important details. One way of practicing to talk and short but informative matter is riding an elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a brief persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in what you or your organization does. So how would you explain your work if you would, only have the time between when the elevator doors close on one floor and then open on the other floor. And your listener, please, a good way to structure your elevator pitch is eight, starting with a sentence of introducing yourself by answering a question, what am I? B, then? What is the title and type of project you're working with? C, follow with up to four to five sentences that describe the unique selling points of the project. Avoid basic information like technical parameters and abstract epithets like big project, amazing team, great performers. Instead be concrete, mentioned the brand you're creating this for an artist that's contributing or compelling message of the project. D, finalize with one sentence to emphasize the following. Purpose related to ability or the part it plays in current events. E, it is advised to finished with a question or a task. What is your ask? What do you need from the person you're talking to? How can they help you with bring your idea to life? If you send it this followed by a way to connect and talk in detail later, if you're pitching and selling your idea in a meeting where you have more time, you might want to prepare more thoroughly for this purpose, I have another course in this platform that covers all the necessary steps, the name of the courses, how to sell your creative idea. And it covers topics of refining your idea, making it scalable, putting it into perspective through timelines, talking with mood boards, and adapting your speech to four different listeners. 21. CREATIVE: Working in Hierarchical Manner with a Creative.: Let's talk about working along with a creative producer. Unless you take on a higher role of executive producer or a show runner, it is very likely that most of the creative material will come from someone else. A creative director, director, or producer, makes sure to first find out who does what and how much of a creative input you will have to bring, if any. So let's say you work with the production of these theater plate. Play needs a person who holds a story out of actors, props and lights, and uses the script with emotion and builds a vision on how regular things can be portrayed in a metaphorical manner. This is not your job, but a job for a theater director, a perfect producer, trusted vision and helps with making things happen. And if you're working with a product launch event, it will need guidelines on how the venue should look like, what makes a welcoming atmosphere, and what is the script of the event. For this, you may hire a creative producer. A person with an artistic background also has experience working in the commercial field and then trusting their vision you work hand in hand. In both cases, a perfect producers should find balance in sharing responsibilities with a creative while being careful to not take over their part of the job. That means two things. First, perfect producer looks after creative decisions when it comes to clients, the requests, branding, and overall concept. And second, perfect producer allows the creative person to work freely when it comes to content, important details, and expressing their own style. Okay, let's practice with this fun exercise. Your task is, imagine you're working with a director for a performance piece, a 12th performers 2 h long piece that can be held both indoors and outdoors. Can you sort out which things could be better done by the producer and which ones are better left for the director. Write down the numbers of the questions and your answers next to them so we can compare them after the exercise. Here are the tasks. One, getting a permit to perform in a certain location, to choosing the location of the performance. Three, choosing artists that will be in the performance for inviting artists for a custom call. Five, scheduling rehearsals. Six, structuring the content of rehearsals. Seven, arranging meetings with the costume and the core departments. Ate, preparing reference pictures for costume and decor departments. Nine, brainstorming main message for communication and advertising. Ten, preparing a public relations plan. 11, telling artists what they should correct and the performance. 12th, sending out rehearsals, video recordings, and correction protocols. Pause the video here, double-check your answers. And after you're sure, continue with a video to compare. Here are the possible answers. And as you can see, everything that is related to organizing things and allows the process to go smoothly is a task for a producer. Meanwhile, everything related to creating the content is meant to be trusted by a vision or a director. 22. CREATIVE: Filling-in Creative Gaps when needed.: Although the previous part of the core states that a producer should avoid meddling with accreted material. I will contradict myself a little bit. The more you will work, the more chances you will get to make creative decisions that will influence a final result. If you know the material of the project well and you get into creative emergencies or very last minute situations. Don't miss your chance to make a decision and help out your project. Here's a list of things where you're understanding, taste, and creative input might be needed and looking for possible candidates for a certain character in a movie, music video, or a commercial, you might be creating a mood board of an award show and actually presenting it. You might be searching for designers of a certain style to dress a model for a photo shoot, you might be looking for a few menu options based on the creative directors pitch. It might happen you should cover for first director assistant who called in sick. And then setting up a rehearsal plan for them, might be also helping deciding which had peas a confused performers should wear right before entering the stage. As you can tell, we have reached the point where a perfect producer is not only a task oriented soloist, but is also a team player with a hands-on attitude, has immense time and resources management skills, as well as a spark of creativity. And most important, the ability to connect all the parts into one structure. 23. TASK: Your Personal Portrait as a Perfect Producer.: We came to conclusion of the course. Let's finish with creating your portrait as a perfect producer with four tasks for promises to yourself. First task and a promise, I will start improving my personality traits. So choose one of the situational questions from the second module of the course that you answered with a known, write it down, put your signature under it as a promise that for the next week or two, you will do something about it that will let you answer the same question with a yes. The second task and the promise, I will get better at knowing places. Find three venues in your area that would be suitable for a one-day video or a photo shoot? 12 h long, either during the day or night. First, Then you a hotel lobby or similar. Second, an art gallery or similar. Third, a cozy local cafeteria. Write a mock-up email to them asking if they would agree to this, the data available and how much it would cost. You can actually try and get her real try reaching the manager and rider and follow-up email in case they don't answer you right away. Don't forget to cancel the deal afterwards. Task number three and the promise, I will get better at finding team members. She was one of the following camera operator, the video grab, a cake maker or a makeup artist, and then find the one you like on any social media platform and write a mock-up email asking for their availability for a certain task on a certain date. Choose a photo or video reference of what you imagined they should do and ask if it's within their capabilities and what would be the price range if you're brave enough and we'd like to get a new contact, you can also reach them in person in real life. Just don't forget to cancel if you're not hiring them. Task number four, right, an elevator pitch about who you are, what you do, and how the person you're talking to may help you keep it within thirty-seconds and practice it out loud until you get it right. If you like, write these tasks in a document and upload it here on this platform. I will check them out and leave your comment. So here it is, the course on how to become better at production. I hope you enjoyed my take on the subject, and I hope this boosted your motivation and spark joy to go out there and produce amazing things. I wish you all the best in your creative journey. And I'll see you on the next one.