I’ve vaguely committed to trying to get these three articles out (part 1 and part 2 being here) about my first experience as a producer so rather than leaving it standing, here’s the last part which is really the bit where I actually talk about how it all went. I don’t know if there’s any benefit to anyone in what I’m writing here as there are probably far better insights from people with considerably more experience than I’ve got. Maybe there’s someone who’s thinking about being a producer or about to go into it for the first time and perhaps something here might be of use or maybe not. (If you’ve come across this article hoping to find some information and it’s not here, please feel free to leave a comment or get in touch and I’ll help if I can.)

I went on a course a couple of years ago thanks to my work. At the beginning of the course (which was called something like “How to win friends and influence people” or something – although everyone at work thought I was on an anger management course which was rather revealing about their perception of me but that’s a different post) we did an evaluation of our current job role and our sphere of influence or some such bollocks. All I remember thinking at the time was how my job back then left me unfulfilled and didn’t at all give me a sense of accomplishment or of actually doing something worthwhile. Someone asked me if there was anything I had done which would give me that feeling and after some reflection, I realised that my experience producing this short film unquestionably did. Someone else commented that perhaps that’s what I should be doing.

I mentioned in the last part that, being the only person in the production who had never worked professionally in the film industry meant that it was very much like taking part in the old Channel 4 series “Faking It”. At the beginning of the shoot, the director and I agreed that we wouldn’t mention to anybody who didn’t already know (namely the D.O.P.) that this was my first time. After it was all over, she revealed the fact and the one thing that came back was, apparently, “We thought he’d been doing it for years.” It was very encouraging.

However, all things considered, I thought I could have done a far better job of it all. There were so many things that I could have done better and a fair few things that I didn’t do that I probably should have done. Part of the problem with this particular project was the fact that I had a day job and, in all honesty, producing is also a full time day job too - at least in this case. As such, I couldn’t give 100% to it because I had to carry on with my usual day-to-day crap as well. (This ultimately led to the Director suggesting that rather than be credited as sole producer it would be accurate to say that she and I co-produced which is fair enough.)

Things that could have gone better:

1. I didn’t ring all of the people who came to the casting sessions to let them know they didn’t have the part. This is rude and discourteous and I still feel bad about it after all this time.
2. Getting funding and better deals on equipment hire and location use. To be honest, the money aspect is the side of production I don’t like. I’m not a salesman and don’t have much in the way of negotiating skills. Perhaps it’s something that you can learn but I’m just a touch to shy to basically try to haggle with someone or ask for money. If someone says no, I walk away rather than try to get them to change their mind. Which leads seamlessly into the next point:
3. Rather than negotiate with an equipment company about trying to get reduced rates for a low budget project, I, um, well, misled them about how long we wanted to use the equipment for. I got found out. There is a significant difference between blagging and lying and the latter will do more damage to your reputation than a steamroller going over a Fabergé egg. Fortunately for me, the D.O.P. smoothed things over and we were able to hire a camera again for the reshoot. I still feel bad about this too.
4. The day before the shoot, I was committed to a work event that I could not get out of. This was unfortunate timing but unnecessarily increased the stress of the director, the DOP and plenty of other people. There were problems (possibly to do with equipment but thinking about it, I have a feeling that the sound recordist who had agreed to help pulled out at the 11th hour and we needed to find someone pretty damn sharpish) and I couldn’t do what was needed to help. Things were very tense between the Director and myself that night. She was not amused. I hated work more than ever that day.

All that makes it sound like not a lot went well and I think that, for a long time afterwards, I believed that. I gave up any idea about trying to get into filmmaking because of the overwhelming feeling that I’d fucked it all up. Well, that and because of a string of events in my personal life which somewhat distracted me from everything apart from living day to day.

It didn’t help that we couldn’t get the film into any festivals either. To this day I’m still not sure why not because generally it was well receieved. It did get taken on the Shooting People MobileCinema Tour in 2005. Filmmaker and tour organiser Ben Blaine said about the film, which I shall now reveal as being called “Folie A Deux”, that it was “Witty, charming and at times superbly embarrassing - this was one of the very few films I saw this time round that made me laugh out loud.”

So what did go well? Something must have done because the film actually got made!

The parts of the job of producer that appeal to me is the organisational parts and the project management side of the role. Sorting out the schedule, the budget, the paperwork and bringing together all the elements in one place was something I not only can be good at but I also enjoy. That included sorting out a variety of swimming pool locations to go and view, somewhere to hold casting sessions, organising the casting, keeping track of what was happening and who it was happening to, producing all the production paperwork and so on. Granted that on a big budget feature, most of these jobs would be done by dedicated minions but even so, it’s up to the producer, on the whole, to ensure that he (or she) knows what’s going on and where everything is and if there’s a problem, it’s the producers job to sort it out. Perhaps it’s a control thing, but I thrive on that sort of challenge. If I can learn the sales and negotiation aspects of the films (and also get over my dislike of talking to strangers on the phone which is something that always suprises people who know me and meet me - my outgoing and confident demeanour is actually a well practiced facade that hides my introvert and reclusive - not to mention misanthropic - tendencies.)

Would I do it again? Yes, absolutely - as long as I felt that I could do the best job possible and give it my all. If I knew how to start making money from producing then I’d give up what I’m currently doing and resurrect my production company as soon as I could. I like writing and I like directing but I have to be honest and confess that don’t know if I can actually be any good at either of those roles but I’ve already faked it once as a producer and I’m pretty sure that I can do that again. I also reckon I could be quite good at it.

It’s just that having to earn a living thing which is holding me back from taking a risk of chucking in the day job and having another crack at it.