Thursday, January 8, 2015

The Secret Behind Successful TV Producers

By Enid Hinton


The skills required to become the producer of television programs are similar regardless of the content. The main role of TV producers is to ensure that the concept captured in the script is actualized. The resulting work must adhere to the quality standards of your broadcaster or organization. There are specific roles depending on whether you are an executive producer or a line producer.

To become a producer, you must fulfill basic requirements. They are grouped in terms of academic, personality and technical skills. A job as a producer is not ranked among the entry level positions. This means that you must have worked in the industry for sometime before taking up such a role. Experience in the media industry will give you necessary skills to produce any program.

A bachelors degree in diverse fields qualifies you to become a successful producer. The common and recommended courses for this role include communication, acting, directing, TV production and film, among others. Even without these specialized courses, you still qualify if you have been in the production system and understand what it takes.

Beyond academic qualifications, the producer must be creative, exhibit leadership skills and be a good manager. It is by being creative that your program will appear unique. Leadership is required since the producer is in-charge of the entire team. The team depends on you for directions.

Management skills are vital for any producer. With such roles as overseeing the story line, auditioning the crew and managing the budget, poor managers cannot make it in this field. The duties of a line manager include managing the schedule and ensuring that the venue is fit the intended program.

A student who aims to become a producer must understand screen writing, sound, lighting, editing and cinematography among other production skills. These skills are obtained from alongside camera work in journalism schools. Working as a production assistant is an excellent way of acquiring necessary practical skills.

A producer has to be on location during shooting and thus is required to travel extensively. The resources required to actualize a program are immense. It is the producer who mobilizes these resources through his networks. The biggest headache you have to deal with is broadcasting deadline. Time management is likely to mess poor managers. Space and lighting will affect the quality of your work to a great extent.

As the producer, you may be tasked with supervising distribution, marketing and ensuring that your content becomes financially rewarding. This calls for market-oriented thinking whereby during production you have a target audience in mind and identify the best approach. The content must therefore make marketing and distribution easier.

A TV producer is well paid with the role being very satisfying. The fact that you take charge of the entire production process allows you to produce the results you desire. The team involved in production relies on your insights and direction. You must have the foresight required to meet the expectations of your audience.

Shooting of programs happens at weird hours and in different locations. This complicates personal schedules and could derail your personal life if you are not careful. You must conceptualize the entire program before commencing production. A producer must be knowledgeable in the area he is producing a program about.




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