producer diary <250527>

a bit like the captain's log in Star Trek...answering the question what does a producer do?

Let’s see how we do here.

I get the question “what do you do as a producer?” often.

One of my favorite quotes about this is from Larry Turman who was in ways a mentor. He said “a producer is a person who causes a film to be made, and a good producer is a person who causes a film to be made well”.

I could (and will) write a more holistic answer to that basic question — something I can forward to the people who ask me 😅 — but here, I’m trying out a diary-like entry that lists what I did on a specific day. Maybe something as simple as a daily log will shed a light on what a producer does. I’ll give this a few tries and let’s see if this feels interesting to you all.

🚀 Tuesday May 27th, 2025 🚀

It’s the day after Memorial Day, so maybe a little odd compared to a “regular” day — but what really is a regular day?

Woke up around 7 a.m.

Took my kid to school. Listened to The Town podcast on the way home, finishing an episode about the Seth Rogen series The Studio. I tend to do this 2–3 times a week. It’s a good sponge to soak up and stay current. Side note, it genuinely feels like The Studio is a fun show to be a part of.

Checked email from my phone — only at red traffic lights.

A 30-minute dog walk.

Answered some more emails. Finished uploading an interview (exported from dailies for a project that’s in development) to the online transcription site, Temi, which is our preferred platform fyi.

Drove out to Beverly Hills for a 9:30 breakfast meeting with a potential grant funder on a doc. It went well. After breakfast, sat in the person’s cyber trunk while he called the decision-maker and pitched us as good people. Left with a funding commitment. It’s small, but really — every dollar counts. Is this typical to how funding works, in a way yes. I’ve had funders where it’s taken 20+ conversations & meetings to get it done and others where in under a 10 minute phone call it’s done. There’s no standard and you have to go after every single one. I focus on listening to why someone is interested in our film and storytelling, what do they want to get out of this. With those learnings I can then share how our project connects to what they want to do. It’s ultimately a trade even when it’s a grant and there’s no financial recoupment. The person looking to put funding in your project is looking for something so understanding what that is is essential. If there isn’t alignment, don’t push, there’ll be another project in the future and a happy funder is the only funder you want.

On drive home I spoke to the editor on a project that’s nearly picture-locked — mostly working out June scheduling of the edit calendar.

Next call is to check in with our AE, who’s babysitting a branded doc project that’s nearly in the delivery phase. We’re waiting for the client to give a final yes on the GFX, sound, and color work we’ve completed. This one started in January, and it’s been a journey to the finish line! It’s great to have some well-paying branded work to balance everything else.

Back to the home office — catching up on emails, WhatsApps, texts, and the odd call. Too many communication platforms.

Knocked out a quick style guide for a doc in production, using notes from our lead DP and screen grabs from our first major filming block in March. We’re moving into a stage of sporadic filming using other guest DPs, so the style guide lays out the cinematic approach, reference images, best practices, gear list, and camera specs. I have a filming day coming up in a week — checked in with the crew and messaged the DP about lens rental. It’s a project we’re shooting on anamorphic lenses as much as possible — looks fantastic, btw.

Watered the indoor plants.

We’re pitching a branded short doc, so I spent time reviewing the final deck and budget that’s going out. Fingers crossed. Did a call to finalize it. With the same team, we’ve also got a doc series in development. We spent 15 minutes talking about the latest sizzle from the editor and what might be a good next step.

Lunch: a leftover taco from HomeState. Can’t say enough about how fab they are. I like the “Don’t Mess with Texas” taco — refried beans, bacon, and potato. Also, the relatively new “Ground Beef” taco always hits the spot. I had the latter. Flour tortilla.

Knocked out one load of laundry.

BTW — I listen to music constantly while working, as long as I’m not on a call or Zoom. Which reminds me — I’ve made it to 2:30 p.m. and haven’t been on a Zoom yet. Wow! Odd day in that respect.

OK — 2:30 means it’s time to pick up my kid from school. Short drive to Pasadena. Set a second load of laundry before I left (oh wait — just realized I didn’t actually start it 🤦‍♂️ — a tomorrow thing now). Listened to some Gilles Peterson on BBC Radio 6 Music.

Drove my kid to a doctor’s appointment in Pasadena.

Walked the dog again — 30 minutes. Picked up a boba from Urth Café in Pasadena. Did an “office hours” mentorship call for 30 minutes. I teach at USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program for two months and had a call with a just-graduated student about a project he’s working on. Gave some feedback and talked about the best next steps — or whether to shelve the project for now. Picking when to move or pause on a project is a really key thing to learn. I can’t say I get it right every time, but I do try.

Today is a good day. I haven’t felt tired or overwhelmed yet, and I’ve made it to 4 p.m.

Back at the home office. Oh — I drink English, Chinese, and Japanese tea pretty constantly throughout the day, so I start the kettle.

On Zoom — which we kind of use like a virtual/remote office, where we’re online discussing projects, working separately, answering questions. Did this for about 3 hours until 7 p.m. We’re working on a project in a funded development phase — reviewing footage and ideating on the best way to present the vision and treatment to financiers. This has been a regular rhythm to the last few weeks.

Ordered Din Tai Fung delivery while on Zoom. Just before dinner, I knocked out a quick sketch in my notebook, scanned it — it’s a graphic I want to include in a Substack post going out Thursday.

7:30 p.m. — break for dinner, about 45 minutes.

8:30 p.m. — jumped back in to finish up some emails, and now here I am typing out this Substack post. I’m going to sign off writing this now, but still on deck for tonight: I need to update a budget I’m finalizing for a feature doc. Interestingly, it’s a project that’s been on pause for about five years — and we’re looking to restart it after some recent story developments gave it a new lease on life. I guess this circles back to my call with my USC student about when to keep going on a project and when to take a pause and one to

Before I wrap for the night, I’ll also look at the schedule for tomorrow and check off a couple personal to-dos.

If there’s time, I’ll noodle on the NYT Connections or try to “solve in seconds” on the mini crossword. Or I might finish the episode of The Last of Us my girlfriend and I started last night. I like the show — not a die-hard fan. Oh, and I just remembered: my neighbor put out some plants for me to grab after he cut them back. Gotta go grab those! I plant a lot of other people’s trimmings in the garden.

That’s a wrap.

Let me know in the comments...of interest...useful?