How To Become A Producer For TV Shows and Dominate The Industry

Introduction

What exactly is a TV producer, and how to become a producer for TV? You’ve often seen them in the credits of your favorite TV show, but you don’t really know what they do. Basically, a producer can be classified into different categories, such as an executive producer and a line producer.

For instance, a line producer is tasked to keep track of the schedule of the staff and workers of production while the executive producer is kind of like the director of the TV show (but not technically), where they plan the casting, budget and how everything goes in the show.

Are you interested in this career path? This article will show you important things to know about becoming a producer for TV:

What Qualifications Do You Need To Be A TV Producer?

To qualify as a TV producer, you need the following:

Educational Attainment

For educational attainment, you need at least a Bachelor’s Degree in film and TV production, mass communication, directing and the like. You need to have finished a course that is related to mass media and communication at the very least. There are plenty of schools out there that give you a chance to study TV production. In addition, you can also go for an HND (Higher National Diploma) when applicable to increase your chances of getting employed, especially in bigger companies.

Important Skills

The following skills are important for someone who wants to be a TV producer:

Creativity	You need to be creative and come up with fresh new ideas in order to keep your show running with good ratings. A TV producer is also an entertainer; they need to be able to sustain their audiences with decent content that will keep them hooked.
Leadership	A TV producer should have great leadership skills. They need to set a good example for their employees and should have a balanced sense of authority while maintaining a good working relationship with their staff.
Time Management and organization	They need to organize schedules promptly and neatly, as this is part of their job – to organize the staff, the casting, the budget and much more.
Business skills	They also need to have some business skills and must know a bit about financing, management and the like, since they will involve themselves in a big industry involving lots of budget/money.
Networking and communication	Producers also need to be able to communicate effectively to their staff, potential advertisers and sponsors and much more, so that the whole show can go smoothly.
Social skills and teamwork	A TV producer is more than just a leader, but also a team player and a sociable person. They shouldn’t be too unapproachable but they shouldn’t be too soft either. They need to bring out the best in every staff and get the whole production team together as one, resolving conflicts quickly.
Technical knowledge	This is usually gained from your degree or course; you need some technical knowledge in terms of TV production in order to have professionalism in your job.

Relevant Experience

As a relevant experience, you need to have gone through some small-scale job in the movie or TV industry, such as being a production assistant for different films, studios and the like. This can give you more insight into how the whole production of a TV show works.

How Hard Is It To Become A TV Producer?

It can be quite stressful because being a TV producer means you need to be creative in the quickest amount of time. You need to have frequent meetings and conferences, hold castings, manage scripts, negotiate with sponsors and TV broadcasters, manage the budget and most importantly, take care of the production staff.

You may also find yourself traveling often to look for appropriate locations for shooting, and you may also have to work with less sleep because of meeting certain deadlines and schedules.

What are the Duties and Responsibilities of a TV Producer?

A TV producer’s duties and responsibilities mainly include:

• Constant research for new program segments
• Organizing location shoots
• Recruitment and casting
• Management of sponsors, health and safety, copyright laws and TV broadcasters
• Story conferences/meetings with staff and cast
• Management of scripts
• Assessing the overall budget

What are the Working Conditions of a TV Producer?

The working conditions can vary – you can be either in the office or in a tough location, especially if your shooting location is far away from the city. For instance, TV shows that document wildlife requires you to shoot in the wilderness so expect bad weather conditions, windy location sets, and other possible disturbances.

Like actors, actresses and production staff, you need to have a good immune system and a sharp mind in order to overcome physical, mental and emotional stress while managing a shoot for the TV show.

How To Become A TV Producer

Here are the steps in order for you to become a TV producer:

1. Get a Bachelor’s Degree related to film, mass communication, media, TV production and the like. You can also go for an HNA or anything related. Some schools also offer vocational courses that are related to mass communication, so if you are still a senior high school graduate, that works, too.
2. Obtain experience as a production assistant to observe the workflow of the TV production and media industry. Whether or not you’ve graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree or vocational course, starting small is important so that you know how things work. This allows you to have better judgment when you become a TV producer.
3. Keep working in the industry and build connections in order to get a higher position. Don’t give up – keep networking with different companies and production staff and who knows, they might just offer you a good deal!

Conclusion

To wrap it up, being a producer for TV can be tough work, as it is quite a high position and a pretty daunting job to take. However, if you think you’ve got what it takes to work in the TV show of your dreams and you have the creativity to keep the audiences entertained and hooked, and if you also have good teamwork and leadership skills to manage the entire production staff and specifics, then you might be a step closer to this dream career!