OMPA, DGA
Can you briefly define your job to me?
As a line producer I oversee the film from financing on. I help to come up with the overall game plan for the film, round up the crew, find production areas, arrange schedule, budget everything, etc. I usually don't go into post, occasionally I do, but most of the time I just go up until post and help setup everything for post.
How did you get started in the business?
When I was in my second year of college I switched my major from Engineering to Radio, Tv, Video, and Film. I grew up in, and still lived in the Bay area at the time. I got an internship with Francis Ford Coppola's production company American Zoetrope and was later brought in by Roman Coppola to be a production assistant on Francis' Dracula.
How do you tell someone over you that you couldn't accomplish an assigned task?
When I find that there is something we can't do I usually try to propose an alternative for it. For instance, I'll say something like "We can't use a helicopter for this shot, but maybe we can go up onto that building and shoot it from there." It's all about presenting another option. People respond negatively when you simply say "no," but respond much more positively when you propose an alternative and show some flexibility.
Do you have any advice for a media student who is just starting out?
The more work you do the better. Intern. Work on your friend's videos or your own videos. Try to get some work as a production assistant on larger films. It's one thing to work on a 15 person crew for a student video, but it's another to get into the middle of everything and actually see how the studio system works.
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