I am a Producer!

That's right, I got the job of producer! Not that it was exactly difficult, there was no one else pitching to produce the story that I was going for... so I was pretty much a shoe in. The reason I say pretty much a shoe in, is because some of the other people pitching to produce the other 3 stories also had no competition, but they weren't guaranteed the job because they didn't do very well. Fortunately, I learned my lesson after not doing so well when I pitched last time. I was prepared this time, had researched the script, talked about it with the writer, thought about some ideas and visions I had for the script, thought about the budget, and where I want to take this story. I had to pitch in front of the whole class and was asked some tough questions, but this time I was ready for them. Edward, who kind of had the role of Simon from American Idol (being that he is tough and hard to please, but he does it to make you better) asked me questions like, "Why do you want to produce?", "What will you bring this film?", "Why is this film different, why should I see it?" You've got to know your story and have thought ahead to answer questions like that. The first part of my pitch was a little shaky, but once he started asking the specific questions, I was on a roll. My professor, Daniele, was satisfied and said, "Allright well I think you've got yourself the job" at the end. All the other producers have to pitch again with their writers to make sure that they are on the same page and know their stories better. Now I get to work with my writer, Tony, and begin our first re-write on the script and get ready for the Director pitches next week. The only small regret I might have from this whole experience is that I won't get to direct at warner bros. which would be amazing. However, Producer has a lot of responsibility and control, and I'm going to gain a lot of good experience from this. I'll get plenty of chances to Direct, but not to many to get to actually produce. Daniele has said that she is trying to replicate the actual industry through the process of making these WB films as close the real thing as possible. As producer, I'm in charge of organizing things, making a schedule and getting the cast and crew to follow it, staying within our budget, and generally making the lives of everyone easier. The producer isn't quite as "creative" as the Director is, but has a ton of important responsibilities to get done, and though I would rather be Director, I feel like my personality and traits naturally will make me a good producer. I'm good with plans, organizing, schedules and leading people to achieve a goal. All in all, I'm looking forward to this process. And hey, I'll get to Direct our "individual projects" once we are done with this one, so it'll be a little taste of everything.

This weekend we are shooting our 30 second commercials, and we finally get to edit and use cuts! I think I have my idea for what I'm doing, but this time I'm not going to post what it is until it is done and finished! You'll just have to wait and see... Time to get to sleep, we have a full day of class tomorrow since we didn't have class on the 4th! Hope everyone has a great weekend!