"A producer is the guy that tells the artist what to do and later makes all the changes, and then, when the cartoon's done, he takes all the credit!"
The producer is the 'commander in chief' of a given project. What does that mean? Well...
Quite simply, the producer is/are the person/persons that makes the project "happen". "No producer" equals "no film". They are the financial and creative backbone of a given project — they secure funding (or fund the work themselves), hire key personnel, arrange for distributors, and manage the day-to-day operations of the production (such as writing up shooting schedules, booking off-set filming locations, and keeping the project as a whole within budget and on-schedule).
There are many different varieties of "producer", and each has its own responsibility in the film industry. A
consulting producer will usually be a specialist in a particular field of study, and will assist the writers with technical accuracy. An
executive producer is usually a studio representative, providing the majority of the funding that keeps the project going (and reporting any cost overruns to the studio heads). An
assistant producer is
exactly that. An
associate producer is a title used to cover a variety of duties, such as being liaison when two production companies are involved in a fliming.
* "Someone has to associate with the producer! Hyuk hyuk hyuk!"
.
Not to be confused with
The Producers.
What follows is an incomplete list of production houses and individual producers that have had an impact on modern filmmaking:
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People
Record Producer Music Producers
"Big Six" Major Film Studios
Minor Studios
Production Houses
Indie Production Companies
Non-Asian Animation and Visual Effects Studios
Asian studios outside of Japan and South Korea
South Korean Animation Studios
Major Japanese Animation Anime Studios
The major animation studios in Japan.
- AIC: Mostly known for Tenchi Muyo!.
- Studio BONES: Mostly known for Fullmetal Alchemist.
- Studio Gainax: Mostly known for their Anime First shows (yet Neon Genesis Evangelion and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann did have manga prints that came out around the same time as their anime shows).
- Studio Ghibli: Hayao Miyazaki's studio.
- GONZO: Mostly known for Welcome to the NHK, G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 and the first season of Strike Witches.
- Kyoto Animation: Founded in 1981 as a outsourcing company, the studio is mostly known for Haruhi, Lucky Star and K-On!.
- Madhouse: Mostly known for their works with CLAMP and their Anime First shows.
- Mushi Productions: Mostly known for doing most of Osamu Tezuka's anime adaptations when Osamu Tezuka was still alive, the studio has also worked with Rankin/Bass as well.
- Nippon Animation: Mostly known for The World Masterpiece Theater, Future Boy Conan, Maya the Bee and Chibi Maruko Chan.
- Studio Pierrot: Mostly known for Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto and Bleach.
- Production I.G: Founded by Ex-Tatsunoko staff, the studio is mostly known for Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire and Eden of the East.
- Production Reed: Formerly known as Ashi Productions, the studio is mostly known for Magical Princess Minky Momo and the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon.
- Satelight: Mostly known for Fairy Tail and Macross Frontier.
- Studio Shaft: Mostly known for Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei.
- Sunrise: Mostly known for Gundam, Cowboy Bebop and InuYasha.
- Tatsunoko Production: One of the older Japanese studios.
- TMS Entertainment/Telecom Animation Film: One of the most (if not the most) famous and well-respected studio(s) in Japan, the TMS unit is known for a number of anime productions like Lupin III, Anpanman and Detective Conan, while the Telecom unit is known for having some of the best animation since The Golden Age of Animation (like on Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs and The Real Ghostbusters).
- Toei Animation: Like Tatsunoko, Toei is one of the older studios in Japan.
Minor Japanese Animation Studios
When they are not as big as the major animation studios in Japan, the animation studios still mostly do their own productions, and tend not to rely on outsourcing from bigger studios.
- A-1 Pictures
- A.C.G.T.: Also known as OB Planning, best known for Duel Masters.
- Animal Ya/Studio Comet: For Studio Comet, the studio is mostly known for Onegai My Melody and Jewelpet, for Animal-Ya, it's Freakazoid, Miami Guns and several shows in The Disney Afternoon.
- The Answer Studio: Founded by Motoyoshi Tokunaga after Walt Disney Animation Japan went out of business, the studio is known for Transformers Animated, Batman: Under the Red Hood and the Golgo13 series.
- APPP: AKA Another Push Pin Planning.
- Bee Train: Was once a unit of Production I.G but has split off.
- Brains Base: Mostly known for Princess Jellyfish and Mawaru-Penguindrum.
- Studio DEEN
- Studio Gallop: Mostly known for Yu-Gi-Oh!.
- Studio Hibari: Mostly known for Mirumo De Pon.
- Manglobe
- JC Staff: Mostly known for Slayers and Azumanga Daioh.
- OLM Incorporated: Mostly known for the Pokémon anime.
- Polygon Pictures: Mostly known for Transformers Prime and The Sky Crawlers' CG.
- Seven Arcs: Best known for the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise and White Album
- Shin-Ei Doga: Became what it is after A Productions split off from TMS, the studio is mostly known for Doraemon and Shin Chan.
- Studio 4°C: Was once an art house (Mind Game and Genius Party), but now does nothing but adaptations (Green Lantern: Emerald Knights ThunderCats (2011)) (Also known for Transformers Animated).
- Studio Fantasia
- Synergy SP
- Ufotable
- Xebec: A unit of Production I.G, the studio is mostly known for Love Hina and Zoids.
Supporting Japanese Animation Studios
Animation studios that tend to do mostly do outsourcing for bigger animation studios in Japan, with only a hand full of productions if that.
Defunct/Dormant Animation Studios
Animation studios that are either out of business or out of work.
American:
Asian - Non-South Korean or Japanese:
South Korean:
Japanese:
Other:
Anime Distributors
Active
Defunct or no longer distributing anime
Manga and Comic Book publishing houses
Knockoff Makers
Related to Showbiz
See also
Vanity Plate.
