What, exactly, does a producer do?

In the movies, the producer doesn’t act, sing, write, put up the money, build the sets or direct the feature.

And yet, no producer, no movie.

I think the producer asks questions. "What next?" "What now?" The producer is always focused on more, whether more is quality, revenue, customer satisfaction or market share.

The job you do, apparently, has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not you have the mindset of a producer. I’ve been called by talented salespeople who are clearly producers… and by failures who were just following a script. I’ve worked with people who always manage to make something happen… and with those who manage to have an excuse ready when it doesn’t.

Producing is not about making something. It’s about making something other people thought couldn’t be done–or were too distracted to do themselves.