Let’s be more specific: if you look closely at a movie’s credits or movie poster, you’ll notice more than one producer credit. From a major studio in Los Angeles to a television sitcom in New York, there are different roles for a producer.
Executive producer
You might call an executive producer a head producer or producer of producers because his or her role involves high-level oversight of the other producers on a project, from a TV show to an indie film or a major studio production. The executive producer’s job is to ensure completion is on time, on budget, and to agreed specifications or standards.
Line producer
An imaginary line separates high-level production control management from the physical process. The scope of the line producer is everything below the line: it is a management position that oversees the physical aspects, often creates the budget, and then tracks and records the costs.
In a smaller production, these tasks may be included in the general responsibility of the manufacturer, while a larger production probably adds a production manager who is also responsible for all physical aspects of the process. The difference between a line producer and a unit production is that the UPM is not involved in creative decisions, but rather performs logistics that are handed off from the line producer.
Supervising producer
Also referred to as a title development producer, this type of producer specifically oversees the creative development of a project. The supervising producer is actively involved in turning the first idea into a script specification and then in writing and rewriting the script into a shooting script that everyone can work with.
These responsibilities may fall to the executive producer, or the supervising producer may assist the EP and take over the creative process of script development, or take on the role of supervising other producers.
Producer
Producer is a general term for the person who controls the production process in film, television or other commercial productions. This includes organizing, managing, and overseeing every single stage and aspect, including talent, creative team, timelines, executives, and finances.
For television, the job of a producer changes slightly. A television producer can also be a screenwriter or a head writer in the case of an executive producer. Another term for a television producer is showrunner, which includes the duties of a director, producer, and also a screenwriter.
Co-producer
A co-producer fulfills the same role as another producer or production team, usually to reduce the workload of the executive producer. The title of producer or co-producer can also refer to someone involved in the project who has contributed to the financing or implementation of the project.
Co-producers work with another producer or a team of producers to oversee all stages from development to production. They are usually “above the line” and therefore not involved in the physical production process (see Line Producer), while the production crew is “below the line”.
Producer coordinator
If you know what a manager of managers does, you basically know the role of a coordinating producer: they keep two or more individual producers working separately on a project aligned. They keep their eyes on the end goal and control the situation so that everyone is moving in the same direction.