The golden age of filmmaking in Hollywood set up an image of a producer being the person who calls the shots and says what goes and what doesn't – outsiders often or not have this image of a white, male, most likely middle-aged big shot, totally comfortable with demanding what he wants and getting it too. He is assertive, which is a kind way to say mean or bossy (when talking about men anyway), and everyone drops to their knees, scampering all over the studio to please him and meet his requests.
In the modern world, we still have these important producers, but the image of them has changed slightly, along with the way producers operate, and importantly what has also changed is how the people working below the producer respond to their demands.
Our generation is accepting of producers of any gender, religion, race and colour, but we are also aware of the power imbalance that comes ingrained in the hierarchy of the film industry. This was demonstrated by the much needed Me Too movement, and what followed for industries outside entertainment with the Time's Up movement. Both proved that you can't be simultaneously worshipped and an insensitive asshole that abuses the power that comes from your role.
Read More“I want it all and I want it now.”
Freddy Mercury first sang the iconic line in 1989 and to this day when I hear it I feel inspired to pursue all my goals. All at once.
The greatest hindrance to this is we all have a finite amount of time and most people cannot work on their creative dreams all the time. You have rent or a mortgage to pay. You have to put food on the table. You have to save because who wants to live cheque to cheque. Maybe you even have children or a family to support.
So you work a day job. It eats up your peak creative hours when your brain is the most proactive (and for most people that is mornings according to studies) so you are already drained when it is time to work on your own stuff. Or you run a production company, you serve clients, you work in the field you enjoy, but adjacent to what you really want to be doing – creating your own work instead of videos for others. You freelance, you write, you edit, you shoot, you crew on productions. The work is inconsistent, you hassle, you network, and then it all gets shut down anyway because 2020. What a year.
But even in better years there have always been those jobs you know in your heart you shouldn’t take but your mind says I need the money or it may lead to future work. The time wasters. The lowballers. The clients who demand strawberry sundaes but don’t have any strawberries for the recipe.
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