The producer is the "commander in chief" of a given project. What does that mean? Well...
Quite simply, the producer(s) is/are the person/people 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).
Basically, if the director is the heart of the project, and the writer is the brain, the producer is the blood vessels, ensuring things keep connected and moving.
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 filming.note .
Not to be confused with The Producers, which is a film, or the Record Producer.
List of individual media producers:
- Jon Abrahams
- J. J. Abrams
- Susie Abromeit
- Danneel Ackles
- Jensen Ackles
- Amy Adams
- Sybil Adelman
- Pamela Adlon
- Ben Affleck
- Casey Affleck
- Gbenga Akinnagbe
- Akon
- Steve Albini
- Robert Aldrich
- Erika Alexander
- Jace Alexander
- Andrew James Allen
- Debbie Allen
- Irwin Allen
- Woody Allen
- Paul Alter
- Brian Jordan Alvarez
- Gerry Anderson
- Jon Amiel
- Mini Andén
- Wes Anderson
- Eric Andre
- David Angell
- Jennifer Aniston
- Judd Apatow
- Renato Aragão
- Darren Aronofsky
- Rosanna Arquette
- Sean Astin
- Aristotle Athari
- Daniel Attias
- Roger Avary
- Dan Aykroyd
- Babyface
- Neal Baer
- Rob Bailey
- Nick Bakay
- Adrian Baker
- Justin Baldoni
- Alec Baldwin
- Alan Ball
- Antonio Banderas
- Elizabeth Banks
- Tyra Banks
- Ameer Baraka
- Norberto Barba
- Paris Barclay
- Ike Barinholtz
- Siddiq Barmak
- Chuck Barris
- Kenya Barris
- Jack Barry
- Drew Barrymore
- Craig Bartlett
- Lance Bass
- Angela Bassett
- Jason Bateman
- Justine Bateman
- Meredith Baxter
- Michael Bay
- Jennifer Beals
- Warren Beatty
- Brice Beckham
- John Behring
- Stephen Belber
- Catherine Bell
- Lake Bell
- Donald P. Bellisario
- Jack Bender
- David Benioff
- Jonathan Bennett
- Amber Benson
- Justin Berfield
- Elizabeth Berkley
- Greg Berlanti
- Fred Berner
- Luc Besson
- Angela Bettis
- Leslie Bibb
- Ian Biederman
- Eric Bischoff
- Andrew Black
- Jack Black
- Michael Ian Black
- Shane Black
- Stefanie Black
- Macon Blair
- Cate Blanchett
- Kieren Van Den Blink
- Rachel Bloom
- Jason Blum
- Raphael Bob-Waksberg
- Steven Bochco
- Hart Bochner
- Linwood Boomer
- Mark Boone Junior
- Kate Boutilier
- Charles Boyer
- Danny Boyle
- Will Bradley
- Zach Braff
- Brannon Braga
- Kenneth Branagh
- Joshua Brand
- Charles Braverman
- Kevin Bray
- Bradley Bredeweg
- Neil Breen
- Patrick Breen
- Jeff Bridges
- Connie Britton
- Albert R. Broccoli
- Barbara Broccoli
- Henry Bromell
- Henry Bronchtein
- James L. Brooks
- Max Brooks
- Mel Brooks
- Jerry Bruckheimer
- Quinta Brunson
- Peter Bryant
- Colin Bucksey
- Jordan Budde
- Sandra Bullock
- Mitchell Burgess
- David J Burke
- James Burrows
- LeVar Burton
- Mark Burnett
- Tara Butters
- Ryan Caldwell
- James Cameron
- Colleen Camp
- Robert F Campbell
- Jane Campion
- Stephen J. Cannell
- Kay Cannon
- Nick Cannon
- Jose Pablo Cantillo
- Erin Cardillo
- Steve Carell
- Joe Carnahan
- Kyle Carrozza
- Chris Carter
- Peter Casey
- Philip Casnoff
- Jon Cassar
- William Castle
- Challen Cates
- Marissa Jo Cerar
- Lacey Chabert
- Skip Chaisson
- Marcus Chait
- Jackie Chan
- Damian Chapa
- Alex Chapple
- Glen Charles
- Les Charles
- David Chase
- Pete Chatmon
- Gabriel Chavarria
- Lee Shallat Chemel
- Joan Chen
- Shinichi Chiba
- Chris Chibnall
- Ronny Chieng
- Irene Choi
- Joyce Chopra
- Erika Christensen
- Art Chudabala
- Michael Cimino
- Duane Clark
- George Clooney
- Charlie Clouser
- Ching Siu-tung
- Andy Cohen
- Larry Cohen
- Matt Cohen
- Steve Cohen
- Cheo Hodari Coker
- Sonia Nassery Cole
- John David Coles
- Misha Collins
- Holly Marie Combs
- Sean Combs
- Mike Connors
- Brady Corbet
- Samantha Corbin Miller
- Roger Corman
- Steve Coogan
- Martha Coolidge
- Joan Ganz Cooney
- Bradley Cooper
- Jackie Cooper
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Sofia Coppola
- Ellie Cornell
- Jim Cornette
- Antoni Corone
- Simon Cowell
- Veanne Cox
- Barbara Crampton
- Bryan Cranston
- Wes Craven
- Leanna Creel
- Richard Crenna
- Greg Cromer
- Sean Crouch
- Russell Crowe
- Tom Cruise
- Jackie Cruz
- Joseph Culp
- Richard Cummings Jr
- Rusty Cundieff
- Kaley Cuoco
- Cliff Curtis
- John Cusack
- Brian Cutler
- Andy Daly
- Joe D'Amato
- Matt Damon
- Lee Daniels
- Matt Danner
- Paul Dano
- Ted Danson
- Larry David
- Jeremy Davidson
- Russell T Davies
- Roxann Dawson
- Charlie Day
- Felicia Day
- Mikey Day
- Dana Delany
- Bill D Elia
- Donna D'Errico
- Cara DeLizia
- Guillermo del Toro
- Cecil B. DeMille
- Rebecca De Mornay
- Dawn De Noon
- David DeSantos
- Danny DeVito
- Benicio del Toro
- Robert De Niro
- Kim Delgado
- Jamie Denbo
- Catherine Deneuve
- Rob Des Hotel
- Andrew Dettmann
- Cameron Diaz
- Jason Dibler
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Michael Dante DiMartino
- Paul Dini
- Walt Disney
- Richard Dobbs
- Peter Dobson
- Pete Docter
- Alice Dodd
- Shannen Doherty
- Tom Donaghy
- Ann Donahue
- Phil Donahue
- Roger Donaldson
- Richard Donner
- Vincent D'Onofrio
- Kirk Douglas
- Michael Douglas
- Fiona Dourif
- Kevin Dowling
- Roma Downey
- Polly Draper
- Dr. Dre
- DROELOE
- Nicole Dubuc
- John Ducey
- Christian Duguay
- Lena Dunham
- Erica Durance
- The Dust Brothers
- Ava DuVernay
- Ivan Dixon
- Nicolas Falacci
- John Falsey
- Anna Faris
- Diane Farr
- Mike Farrell
- Lauren Faust
- Michele Fazekas
- Tina Fey
- Paul Feig
- Kevin Feige
- Lou Ferrigno Jr
- Larry Fessenden
- Mark Feuerstein
- Ralph Fiennes
- The Fine Brothers
- Travis Fine
- Kenneth Fink
- Gary Fleder
- Ruben Fleischer
- Victor Fleming
- Ruth Fletcher
- D. C. Fontana
- Tom Fontana
- Faith Ford
- Harrison Ford
- Arthur W Forney
- John Fortenberry
- Jodie Foster
- Kirk Fox
- Vivica A. Fox
- Jonathan Frakes
- Lindsay Frame
- James Franco
- Lynne Frederick
- Heath Freeman
- Morgan Freeman
- Michael Fresco
- Liz Friedman
- Diane Frolov
- Kevin Fry
- Soleil Moon Frye
- Cary Fukunaga
- Amanda Fuller
- Bryan Fuller
- Dan Futterman
- Gal Gadot
- Kevin Gage
- James Gandolfini
- Alex Gansa
- Ronald Victor Garcia
- Roger Garrett
- Spencer Garrett
- Tucker Gates
- Karen Gaviola
- Craig Gerber
- Ricky Gervais
- Dean Geyer
- Lewis Gilbert
- Vince Gilligan
- Paul Michael Glaser
- Phillip Glasser
- Tamara Glynn
- Dale Godboldo
- Adam Goldberg
- Steve Gomer
- Selena Gomez
- Mark Goodson
- Alfred Gough
- Brea Grant
- David Marshall Grant
- Hugh Grant
- Richard E. Grant
- F. Gary Gray
- John Gray
- Brian Grazer
- Amanda Green
- Misha Green
- Robin Green
- Seth Green
- Bryan Greenberg
- Jonathan Greene
- Greggo
- Jon Gries
- Merv Griffin
- Matt Groening
- David Grossman
- Michael Grossman
- Val Guest
- David Guetta
- Davis Guggenheim
- Tania Gunadi
- Jorge Gutiérrez
- Ronald Guttman
- Adam Hagenbuch
- Arsenio Hall
- Barbara Hall
- Jason Hall
- Karen Hall
- Monty Hall
- Jon Hamm
- Chelsea Handler
- Daniel Handler
- Tom Hanks
- Patrick Harbinson
- J David Harden
- Nick Harding
- Cory Hardrict
- Chris Hardwick
- Mariska Hargitay
- Mark Harmon
- Damian Harris
- Ed Harris
- Jack H Harris
- Butch Hartman
- Joshua Harto
- Wings Hauser
- Noah Hawley
- Salma Hayek
- James Hayman
- Robert Hays
- Merrill Heatter
- Julie Hebert
- Sian Heder
- Katherine Heigl
- Eric Heisserer
- Ralph Hemecker
- Jim Henson
- Ellen Herman
- Cheryl Heuton
- Christopher Hewett
- Paul Heyman
- Tom Hiddleston
- Martha Higareda
- Freddie Highmore
- Dulé Hill
- Philip Hinchcliffe
- Alex Hirsch
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Michael Hitchcock
- Paul Holahan
- Rod Holcomb
- Larry Holden
- Laurie Holden
- Neil Hollander
- Scott Holroyd
- Nathan Hope
- Trevor Horn
- David Hornsby
- Mark Horowitz
- Peter Horton
- Haruomi Hosono
- Rance Howard
- Ron Howard
- Glenn Howerton
- Hsu Feng
- Reginald Hudlin
- Howard Hughes
- John Hughes
- Tom Hulce
- David Hunt
- Helen Hunt
- Jeffrey G Hunt
- Toby Huss
- Jessica Hynes
- Kevin J Hynes
- Jeremy Jackson
- Kate Jackson
- Mel Jackson
- Mick Jackson
- Peter Jackson
- Carlos Jacott
- Jordana Lewis Jaffe
- Thomas Jane
- Jay-Z
- Norman Jewison
- Steve Jobs
- Scarlett Johansson
- Geoff Johns
- Don Johnson
- Dwayne Johnson
- Joanna Johnson
- Mark Steven Johnson
- Rian Johnson
- Taneka Johnson
- Jill Marie Jones
- Ian Jones-Quartey
- Quincy Jones
- Spike Jonze
- William Joyce
- John Kapelos
- Jonathan Kaplan
- Emily Kapnek
- Lawrence Kasdan
- Simon Kassianides
- Michael Katleman
- Jeff Kay Director
- Elia Kazan
- Tim Kazurinsky
- James Keach
- Andrew Keegan
- Frederick King Keller
- David E. Kelley
- Chance Kelly
- Elodie Keene
- Nick Kendrick
- Brooke Kennedy
- Kathleen Kennedy
- Keegan-Michael Key
- DJ Khaled
- Humayoon Shams Khan
- Jonathan I Kidd
- Matt Kiene
- Nicole Kidman
- Qorianka Kilcher
- Diarra Kilpatrick
- Patrick Kilpatrick
- Perry King
- Jessica Klein
- Linda Klein
- Dennis Koenig
- Derek Kolstad
- Bryan Konietzko
- Brian Koppelman
- Ted Kotcheff
- Martin Kove
- Erin Krakow
- Stanley Kramer
- John Krasinski
- Peter Krause
- Dan Krauss
- Lenny Kravitz
- Tim Kring
- Eric Kripke
- Stanley Kubrick
- Lisa Kudrow
- Adam Kulbersh
- Alex Kurtzman
- Ashton Kutcher
- Verity Lambert
- Lisa Lampanelli
- Juliet Landau
- Max Landis
- Joe Lando
- Michael Lange
- Robert John "Mutt" Lange
- Sherry Lansing
- Christine Larson Nitzsche
- John Lasseter
- Scott Lautanen
- Jude Law
- Bill Lawrence
- Norman Lear
- Mimi Leder
- Danny Lee
- Malcolm D. Lee
- Spike Lee
- John Leguizamo
- Peter M. Lenkov
- Téa Leoni
- Dan Lerner
- Peter Leto
- Barry Letts
- Jonathan Levine
- Damian Lewis
- Dustin Lewis
- Victor Lewis-Smith
- Val Lewton
- Alan J Levi
- Marc Levin
- Samm Levine
- Barry Levinson
- Jefery Levy
- Jet Li
- Jeffrey Lieber
- Matthew Lillard
- Adele Lim
- David Lim
- Doug Liman
- Damon Lindelof
- Ray Liotta
- Aaron Lipstadt
- Zoe Lister-Jones
- Innes Lloyd
- Jeph Loeb
- John Logan
- Carole Lombard
- Louis Lombardi
- Jackie Long
- Eva Longoria
- Chuck Lorre
- George Lucas
- Zoë Lund
- Justine Lupe
- Ida Lupino
- Kellan Lutz
- Seth MacFarlane
- D. J. MacHale
- Elle MacPherson
- Amy Madigan
- Tobey Maguire
- Joe Manganiello
- James Madio
- Joe Mande
- Alec Mapa
- Nick Marck
- Richard Marcus
- Marshmello
- José Mojica Marins
- Hannah Marks
- Brit Marling
- Garry Marshall
- Judy Marte
- D'Urville Martin
- Marsai Martin
- Quinn Martin
- Melanie Mayron
- Jon McClenahan
- Joel McCrea
- Kelly McCormack
- Judith McCreary
- Michael McDonald
- Dwayne McDuffie
- Rob McElhenney
- Don Mc Gill
- Kelly McGillis
- Scott McGinnis
- Aaron McGruder
- Joel McHale
- Adam McKay
- Chris McKay
- Patrick Mc Kee
- Danica McKellar
- Ray McKinnon
- Vince McMahon
- Michael McManus (Actor)
- Scoot McNairy
- Robert Duncan McNeill
- John McTiernan
- Merchant Ivory
- Peter Medak
- Bill Meléndez
- Jeff Melvoin
- Marc Menchaca
- Carol Mendelsohn
- Burgess Meredith
- Russ Meyer
- Seth Meyers
- Lorne Michaels
- Dash Mihok
- Shinji Mikami
- Alyssa Milano
- Miles Millar
- Jimmy Miller
- Tangi Miller
- Tim Minear
- Jerry Minor
- Elyse Mirto
- Steven Moffat
- Jose Molina
- Jason Momoa
- Christine Moore
- Michael Moore
- Perry Moore
- Ron Moore
- Thomas R. Moore
- Doris Morgado
- Cindy Morgan
- D. David Morin
- Giorgio Moroder
- Chris Morris
- Howard Morris
- David Morrissey
- Jennifer Morrison
- Rob Morrow
- David Moscow
- William R. Moses
- Ryan Murphy
- Bill Murray
- Mike Myers
- Jared Padalecki
- Peter Paige
- Alan J. Pakula
- George Pal
- Robert Palm
- Chazz Palminteri
- Benjamin Papac
- Michael Pare
- Dean Parisot
- Park Chan Wook
- Gwendolyn M Parker
- Edi Patterson
- Aaron Paul
- Artemis Pebdani
- Jordan Peele
- Nicola Peltz
- Prentice Penny
- Ron Perlman
- Mark B Perry
- Michael R Perry
- Lisa Marie Petersen
- Sam Phillips
- Otto Preminger
- Jim Piddock
- Brad Pitt
- David Platt
- Jack Plotnick
- Amy Poehler
- Roman Polański
- Joel Polis
- Sydney Pollack
- Ellen Pompeo
- Robert David Port
- Alisan Porter
- Natalie Portman
- Chris Potter
- Dick Powell
- Keith Powell
- Deborah Pratt
- Edward R Pressman
- Carrie Preston
- Jason Priestley
- Gina Prince-Bythewood
- Freddie Prinze Jr.
- Mike Quackenbush. Founder, booker, and promoter of CHIKARA and various Podcasts.
- Robert Rabinowitz
- Issa Rae
- Bob Rafelson
- Lynne Ramsay
- Franchesca Ramsey
- Peter Ramsey
- Sam Raimi
- T. J. Ramini
- Jim Rash
- Brett Ratner
- Eric Red
- Ed Redlich
- Carol Reed
- Keanu Reeves
- John C. Reilly
- Alysia Reiner
- Michael Reisz
- Catherine Reitman
- Joseph D. Reitman
- Ivan Reitman
- Leah Remini
- Cameron Richardson
- Chris Riggi
- Kelly Ripa
- Tim Robbins
- Burke Roberts
- Ian Roberts (comedian)
- Jordan Vogt Roberts
- Julia Roberts
- Michael M Robin
- Steven Robman
- Gene Roddenberry
- James Roday Rodriguez
- Robert Rodriguez
- Daniel Roebuck
- Seth Rogen
- David Clayton Rogers
- Fred Rogers
- Olan Rogers
- Wayne Rogers
- Justin Roiland
- Mark Ronson
- Sy Rosen
- Charles Rosin
- Tracee Ellis Ross
- Craig Ross Jr
- Bobby Roth
- Talbot Rothwell
- Rick Rubin
- Paul Rudd
- Scott Rudin
- Mark Ruffalo
- Todd Rundgren
- Alex Russell
- Dario Russo
- Vince Russo
- Meg Ryan
- Martin Sage
- Matt Salinger
- Angus Sampson
- Adam Sandler
- San Holo
- Ken Sanzel
- Deran Sarafian
- Will Sasso
- Andrea Savage
- Jonathan Scarfe
- Mary Scheer
- Barry Schindel
- Andrew Schneider
- Dan Schneider
- Martin Scorsese
- Dougray Scott
- Oz Scott
- Ridley Scott
- Thomas Schlamme
- Kevin G. Schmidt
- Liev Schreiber
- Amy Schumer
- Michael Schur
- Sherwood Schwartz
- Til Schweiger
- Matthias Schweighöfer
- Campbell Scott
- Kyra Sedgwick
- Jason Segel
- Santiago Segura
- Jed Seidel
- Rade Serbedzija
- Rod Serling
- Joan Severance
- Kiran Shah
- Hannah Shakespeare
- Garry Shandling
- Michael Shanks
- Helen Shaver
- Adrienne Shelly
- Taylor Sheridan
- Allan Sherman
- Derrick Sherwin
- Graham Shiels
- Jonathan M. Shiff
- Steve Shill
- David Shore
- Sia
- Joel Silver
- Jonathan Silverman
- Justin Simien
- David Simon
- Don Simpson
- Bryan Singer
- Kevin Sizemore
- Skrillex
- Michael Slovis
- Robert Smigel
- Charles Martin Smith
- Kevin Smith
- Will Smith
- Zack Snyder
- SOPHIE
- Aaron Sorkin
- Ruth de Sosa
- Kevin Spacey
- Douglas Spain
- Aaron Spelling
- Phil Spector
- J Robert Spencer
- Steven Spielberg
- The Spierig Brothers
- Emily Spivey
- Aaron Springer
- Jerry Stahl
- Hank Steinberg
- Jim Steinman
- Fisher Stevens
- Stuart Stevens
- ND Stevenson
- Bob Stewart
- Meredith Stiehm
- Oliver Stone
- Rob Stone
- Sharon Stone
- J. Michael Straczynski
- Barbra Streisand
- Danny Strong
- Rebecca Sugar
- Kurt Sutter
- Wanda Sykes
- Raven-Symoné
- Jeannot Szwarc
- Eli Talbert
- Rachel Talalay
- Janet Tamaro
- Alan Tang
- Bill Tangradi
- Genndy Tartakovsky
- Max Tash
- Channing Tatum
- Lew Temple
- Dana Terrace
- Joan Tewkesbury
- Cheryl Texiera
- Robin Thede
- Derek Theler
- Charlize Theron
- Robin Thicke
- Gerald Thomas
- Aaron Rahsaan Thomas
- Dave Thomas
- Rob Thompson
- Sven-Ole Thorsen
- Timbaland
- Bruce Timm
- Mark Tinker
- Ashley Tisdale
- J Miller Tobin
- Robert Townsend
- Phil Traill
- Colin Trevorrow
- Donald Trump
- Stanley Tucci
- Osamu Tezuka
- Brad Turner
- Tom Tykwer
- The Wachowskis
- Jill Wagner
- Lena Waithe
- Rhys Wakefield
- J. D. Walsh
- Jay Ward
- Denzel Washington
- Steve Wasserman
- Jon Watts
- Emma Watson
- Mark Wahlberg
- Randy Wayne
- Jimmy Wang Yu
- Jack Webb
- Zhao Wei
- Scott Weinger
- Jerry Weintraub
- D.B. Weiss
- Paul Weitz
- Orson Welles
- Tom Welling
- Stephen Wertimer
- Kanye West
- Wendy West
- Patricia Wettig
- Tony Wharmby
- Joss Whedon
- Mike White
- John Whitesell
- James Whitmore Jr.
- Billy Wilder
- John Wiles
- will.i.am
- Christian Williams
- Graham Williams
- Greg Williams
- Jesse Williams
- Pharrell Williams
- Kimberly Williams-Paisley
- Mo Willems
- Bruce Willis
- Brian Wilson
- Oprah Winfrey
- Gary Winick
- Matt Winston
- Sonya Winton
- Reese Witherspoon
- Bess Wohl
- David Wohl
- Dick Wolf
- Roger Wolfson
- Jay Wolpert
- Joe Wright
- Vivian Wu