Step One: Find a Story

As a producer you are essentially the general in the war that is the filmmaking process. With so many tasks that need to be accomplished where does one begin? Well let’s be honest, you don’t have a movie if you don’t have a story to tell. There are many ways a producer can acquire a story for a film.

The most obvious answer, of course, is to write it yourself. There is no rule that says a producer cant write the script. If you write the story you may, in fact, be better equipped to produce (though not always) as you know the story inside and out. Just be careful you don’t fall into a trap by taking too much control. You don’t want to squander the creative visions of those you bring on to shoot your film.

Another technique, if you don’t want to write the script yourself, is to hire a screenwriter. A screenwriter can take a story and turn it into a finished script ready for shooting. Often all that is needed is a rough story concept. One good place to look for screenwriters is the Writers Guild of America East and the Writers Guild of America West. Just remember to make sure you give the written enough creative freedom to allow for his or her own interpretation of the story at hand.

A third option oddly enough is optioning. A producer options a story by obtaining exclusive rights to that screenplay for a set amount of time in the hopes of getting it produced. However when a story is optioned the writer still retains the rights to the work. Remember just because you option a story doesn’t make it yours.

It doesn’t matter how you acquire your story just remember you have nothing to produce if you have no story to tell.