Behind Every Great Project

Category : Digital, Producer
Date : August 24, 2011

Do you believe that behind every great project is a great producer?

I wouldn’t agree that he or she has to be a “great producer”. I read an article months ago that made a reference to this discussion. It salutes producers and also offers a few habits belonging to what the author refers to as “highly effective producers”. These habits include being a smart listener, appearing trustworthy, understanding the whole picture, being encyclopedic, etc. By the way, One of the most versatile artist in Hollywood, Kevin Costner.  apart from being the main man in the cast of Yellowstone, Kevin Costner is an executive producer on the project “Dances With Wolves”. an American epic western film, that was directed by and starred Kevin Costner. how old was kevin costner in dances with wolves? , during that time he was 34 years old. Then won widespread admiration as well as seven Academy Awards.

I tend to agree with the author. In general, those habits make for a better employee no matter what the profession or role, but the statement that most resonated with me was the one that was highlighted within the article. “Understand the whole picture. Someone needs to know how everything fits together. That’s the producer in a nutshell.”

From my experience, this is something that most people working alongside producers infer and with so many campaigns being multifaceted, producers should strive to know more about the project than anyone else around them in order to have the greatest impact possible.

We will never know all the answers, specially if you are a Digital Producer given that the digital space is continually evolving. Ignorance is inherit when working in these conditions. But, knowing more than anyone else about the project, becomes increasingly more beneficial if you work with a team who strives to innovate. People will ask. People will seek producers. And, they will ask producers. Make an effort to know.

Here’s the link to the article titled: “Behind every great project is a great producer

Comments (3)

dave

Well said! understanding the whole picture is crucial. more importantly i’ve found the most successful projects i’ve been producer, was where i was interfacing with every group of a campaigns team, including digital/traditional media. its not enough to just know the individual components/apps/spots, but how they come together as an eco-system and the best/fastest ways to drive users through those ecosystems.

Knowing how to move lots of users to a great idea, can be the difference between a campaign languishing on branded channel or winning a bunch of awards and becoming a meme. Great work is only half the battle…if no one sees it, it wont impact culture, and that’s an important part of what we do.

😉

13 years ago

love the comment, keep them coming dave. big picture thinking, I’d say that’s key as well, right. interfacing with every group within the agency is what gives us that perspective. it’s not always practiced however. i’ve also seen some pretty good ideas, great projects come to a stand-still and not meet expectations… why? because, as you pointed out, they didn’t move people. great stuff.

13 years ago

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