Producers

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Last updated on February 16th, 2022 at 02:00 pm

The following titles exist within the group (not technically a department) Producers.

  • Executive Producer
  • Producer
  • Co-Producer
  • Associate Producer
  • Producers’ Assistant

In Australian A-Z Budget – Feature Films these roles are in section B.1 Producers.

Producers are Above-The-Line. The-Line is said to differentiate the team responsible for the creative control of a motion picture from the technicians and crafts-people who make the film. More accurately Above-The-Line crew are attached during the Development phase of a production while Below-The-Line crew are hired once the financing is in place and Preproduction phase begins. Costume, Art and Makeup departments are creative, but they still fall Below-The-Line.

Producers, but not the Producer’s Assistant, are considered Management by unions such as MEAA so their rates of pay are not defined in the standard industrial agreements. This is somewhat tricky for independent producers who are often caught between the funding bodies (studios, government funders, investors) and the unions.

Historically, anyone could get a producer credit even if they don’t actually produce the movie. The Producer’s Guild in the USA has long fought for the rights of working producers. Recently the Producer’s Mark of the post nominals “p.g.a.” is used for producers who undertook a major portion of the producing duties on a motion picture.

The Producers’ fees on Australian feature films is often equal with the Director and Screenwriter, due to most favoured nation clauses supported by funding bodies and unions. However Producers typically can own equity in the film and participate in profits of the film while (again typically) Director, Screenwriter and Actors may receive a share of the Producer’s profits. Any Above-The-Line people with sufficient clout or investment can own a share of the equity.

The Producer’s Offset scheme limits Qualifying Australian Production Expenditure (QAPE) on Above-The-Line to 20% of Total Film Expenditure. Before the Producer’s Offset, Australian funding bodies have historically limited Producers’ fees to 3% of the production budget for feature films with government investment or grants.

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