Producing in 30+ Aphorisms

Because we always need more in the collection

there really is only one way to get to where you are going and that’s the path you took

If producing movies is your profession, I know your pain and I am sorry for you. It is a tough job and no one really knows what you do. There are probably at least ten different job descriptions that accurately describe how the term is generally used. You get compared to others who do entirely different things than you. You might resent some whom seem to soil the profession despite knowing you have no resemblance and should never be mentioned in the same breath.

Yet, there are statements producers and other come up with that do a decent job capturing what is that we all do, in whole or in part. Billy Ray did it quite well on his Strike Talk podcast last week, in comparing indie producers to family farmers (don’t miss it, it is in the first 6 minutes). This is that collection of such statements, albeit much shorter versions than Ray’s. Taken together they do a decent job giving the layperson a better understanding of our noble art.

I have sought out Producing Aphorisms over the years and across the platforms, offering mine and collecting others. I can’t claim to have authored all of these, but some are fully mine. I haven’t done a good job and keeping track of the origin, so if you feel you have paid a part of somehow authoring this post, THANK YOU, and please forgive me for eating the plums that were in the icebox that you were probably saving for breakfast.

---

---

Producing in 30+ Aphorisms

1. Producing is a wonderful life but a lousy job.

2. Filmmaking is about things going wrong — not getting it right. The producer gets to fix the problems, ideally before they happen.

3. The Producer is the one who prepares the future and mines the past so the director can stay in the present.

4. Producers lift the good into great, the mediocre into magnificence, all  with a constant commitment to operational improvements, while always pushing for the experiment over the proof.

5. Many people have good ideas; producers are the few who get the good ideas done.

6. (Holistic) Producers are the ultimate generalists, shunning specialization by committing to perpetual responsibility for the entire process for ever and ever and across the entire ecosystem.

7. A Producer not only finds money you trust, enjoy, & respect, but also the sort that inspires all sides to keep partnering with (or at least aims for).

8. A Producer transforms the dark side (what could go wrong) of tomorrow to reveal the bright side shining (seizing what is possible) on the Now.

9. The art of the samurai is knowing how & when not to draw one’s sword.

10. “They are waiting to see you blink… Don’t blink.” — Christine Vachon (on A Dirty Shame)

11. Engineer serendipity. Build the architecture for serendipity to happen.

12. Manage complexity, and render it beautiful.

13. You won’t find a true collaboration until you fully understand what you, them and it all look like, feed on, and best thrive with.

14. Know the big vision, the practical vision, and how by meshing the two, we come to something greater than any one dreamed.

15. Know how to take time wisely, spend money to save money, and to develop the pattern recognition for where things are headed far before they arrive.

16. Prepare for good luck and bad luck both, and utilize each plan to clearly focus on actually having neither right here right now.

17. Don’t settle for the way things are; free us from the dark dominion of the status quo. Something somewhere needs you to make it better right now.

18. Don’t sacrifice nuance or beauty for getting things done — but make sure you get things done.

19. Unearth what you never imagined.

20. Don’t overpromise,  but overdeliver instead. It is a failure to not exceed expectations.

21. Build the road to the North Star.

22. Use the Serenity Prayer. It is the Producer’s Bible.

23. Love deeply, lead with kindness, and the chop the infection off at the foot.

24. You aren’t doing your job of producing until you fire someone for not doing their job well enough.

25. Repeating the same thing and expecting different results is not a sign of insanity if you have built yourself (and your team) to consistently change and evolve. The action/behavior may remain the same but the participants do not.

26. Produce a constant random access inspiration.

27. It is all one song or movie that slowly finds it way. We are building on the shoulders of our predecessors while paving the path for our followers.

28. Producers know when new paths should be built for people to walk on or instead when to reinforce where they’ve already walked.

29. Transform error into insight. Pondering & cultivating hunches & whimsy allows errors & accidents that free us from our ruts, routines, privilege & indoctrination.

30. Create positive contamination. Make useful & beautiful mistakes.  

31. Place yourself where you can access the adjacent possible.

32. Cultivate & maintain ties to other communities, as they allow ideas to migrate from one world to another and thus experiment with new tools, concepts, etc. outside of ones own discipline .

33. The Filmmakers’ Dilemma: whether you need an agent, media attention, a former-star actor, a teaching gig side-hustle, or $… 1. When you need them most, they have no want for you.  2. When they want you most, you have little need for them. 3. When you’ve worked with them repeatedly, they won’t treat you with respect, until you leave them. 4. If they’ve pursued you heavily, they’ll ignore you in a year or so if you are “still working on it”.

What did I miss? Please contribute to this list!