Inside the Mind of a Producer
by Clare Cassidy
Ten years ago Jeremy Pang and I sat in his kitchen talking about starting a production company. Jeremy had just started to appear on Sunday Brunch as a regular studio chef and I was a producer/director on unscripted TV. Both of us shared a passion for cooking, well in my case, eating what Jeremy cooked! Ten years later, and I am the proud producer at Curious Crab Productions, a video production agency with a strong focus on food brands, along with the tenacious Mr Pang. Many people have asked me what a producer does, and I usually rattle off some vague terms like ‘CTPs, call-sheets and budgets”. The problem is the word ‘producer’ is such a broad term. In scripted TV a producer focuses mainly on logistics and budgets, in unscripted TV a producer can take on a much more creative role. In our world I straddle both realms. So, mom, dad, here is a brief breakdown of what I do… so you never have to ask me again.
It all starts with a kick-off meeting. This is when we get to speak to the client about the campaign, listen to their key objectives and messaging and really get to grips with their brand. We also discuss timelines, and I will draw up a Critical Time Path of events leading up to and after the shoot. Then comes my favourite part, I sit down with the creative team and we brainstorm. No ideas are off the table, not even hurling tomato sauce at a camera (we have done that once). Once we know what we want to achieve, we get our client involved again for another brainstorm. I am a big believer in the idea that we were all born with creativity, some of us just lost it along the way. So, it’s always key to get everyone involved in these steps. I like to create a safe atmosphere where everyone can get creative. And what a joy it is when the account manager shows us a brilliant video they saw on YouTube, or a CEO dreams up a shot that makes the video.
After we have all agreed on the creative, it’s time to storyboard each second of the video. Coming from a directing background I like to plot the shots sometimes, but we also have an incredibly experienced team who know all about sequencing, camera angles and movements, and can also step in to create a shot list. These shots are then drawn, using a storyboard, so that the client have a ‘comic’ version of their video.
Once that is done it’s my job to go through every frame and figure out what we need: backgrounds, tabletops, props, styling, cameras, lights, recipes. While I am doing that our ops team are creating and testing recipes for the shoot day. Again, the client is with us every step of the way, approving each element.
Closer to the time, a schedule or call sheet is drawn up plotting every hour on the shoot. There are so many elements to a shoot: equipment, lighting, recipes, product, styling. And each one must be carefully plotted and timed. If not, the day will run away from us, and we will be shooting well into the night.
Then it’s show time. Depending on the situation clients can zoom in or come to the shoot. It’s usually creative chaos, with a lot of laughs along the way. Once the footage is in the can, we hit the edit. After a few days in the dark, we all gather around to view the first cut and share our feedback. Once it is at a good place, we send it off to the client for feedback. After some tweaks the video will be ready for final mix and an online grade, where we refine the sound and colours, and generally put the finishing touches on the project. I am with the project every step of the way, making sure each step occurs at the right time, and each element is executed according to our high standards.
And that’s a wrap! Producing 101 for beginners or confused moms and dads. Check out our offering here at Curious Crab for more information on how we do things.