What Does a Line Producer Do? An Emmy Winner Explains

How do you save $20,000 on a thermometer commercial without putting a baby on camera?

A line producer is the person who turns a script into a budget, a schedule and a plan, and on a small film that person often decides whether the money lasts. In this episode, Emmy Award-winning producer Sandy Gordon explains what a line producer does on a feature, an indie film, a commercial or a documentary, and why the job starts long before the cameras roll.

In Episode 98 of Documentary First, host Josh Lindsay, Christian Taylor and Jason Rugg welcome back Sandy Gordon, a consulting producer on The Girl Who Wore Freedom, for the second of three back-to-back conversations (Part 1 is Episode 97 and Part 3 is Episode 99; links below). Sandy's career includes Rudy, The Hudsucker Proxy, where she worked in the locations department on the Chicago night shoots, and Return to Me, where she was a production assistant and production coordinator. She opens with a story from the Hudsucker shoot: an elevator ride with Paul Newman, about five minutes before that elevator broke down.

Then Sandy gets to the job itself. The "line" in line producer means the line items of the budget: crew, equipment, locations, props, wardrobe, anything that costs money. She explains why nobody can ballpark a budget (two people on a park bench and a yacht with a helicopter overhead are very different three-minute films), how she rethought a thermometer commercial so most shots needed no real baby, and why scenes get grouped by location instead of shot in script order. Christian admits this has been a really tough area on her first film: The Girl Who Wore Freedom never had a line producer, and she tells first-time filmmakers not to skip this hire.

Sandy also covers what to look for in a line producer, why she always plans for the editor, how she feeds a crew (no turkey at lunch, fewer candy bars, matzah at Passover), her reusable water bottles on set, and how COVID and streaming are changing the business.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What a line producer does on a blockbuster, an indie film, a commercial and a documentary
• Why "line" refers to the line items in a film budget
• Why you can't ballpark a film budget, and what one missing detail can do to it
• How one rethink of a thermometer commercial saved about $20,000
• How grouping scenes and choosing nearby locations saves time and money
• When to bring a line producer onto your film, and why the work shouldn't be a favor
• How to afford a line producer when money is tight
• The qualities that make a good line producer, from organization to the nerve to say no
• Why planning for the edit early saves a production later
• How food, rest and craft services keep a crew going through a long day
• How COVID and streaming are changing production and audiences

CHAPTERS

0:00 Meet Producer Sandy Gordon and The Hudsucker Proxy

4:08 What Does a Line Producer Do?

7:40 Why You Can't Ballpark a Budget

10:53 Scheduling Tricks That Save Money

14:02 What to Look for in a Line Producer

17:44 Feeding and Caring for Your Crew

23:12 How COVID and Streaming Change Production

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What does a line producer do?

A line producer manages a production's budget line by line: crew, equipment, locations, props, wardrobe and anything else that costs money. According to producer Sandy Gordon, that also means managing time and the shooting plan, because every hour behind schedule costs money. On big films, each department manages its own piece of the budget; on smaller shoots, she often manages all of it herself.

When should you hire a line producer?

At the very beginning. Sandy Gordon says a line producer should map the plan from pre-production through post, because you can't price a film until you know exactly what you're shooting. Don't expect the work as a favor. If money is tight, she suggests paying a line producer to build the budget and plan up front, then bringing them back once the money is raised.

How can a line producer save money on a shoot?

By finding a cheaper way to show the same thing. On a thermometer commercial, Sandy Gordon suggested filming a bathtub filling while a baby is heard off camera, and a doll under a blanket for the bedtime shot, which she estimates saved about $20,000. Line producers also group scenes by location and choose locations close together, so trucks and lights don't have to move.

Why can't you ballpark a film budget?

Producer Sandy Gordon says one missing detail can make a budget go "completely haywire." A three-minute film of two people on a park bench needs a couple of actors and some crowd control. A three-minute film on a yacht in the middle of the ocean, with a helicopter dropping money over the boat, needs a yacht rental, a helicopter and permits. Until you know exactly what you're shooting, any number is a guess.

What should you look for in a line producer?

Sandy Gordon looks for someone very organized, detail-minded and able to see the bigger picture, with the confidence to tell people no, even a star who won't put on a mask. For a documentary, she suggests someone who has worked on interview-style shoots and knows the area and its equipment rentals. She also wants someone who thinks about the editor from day one, because "you can't fix everything in post."

LISTEN AND FOLLOW

Listen and subscribe wherever you get podcasts: https://pod.fo/e/6a8c92

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@documentaryfirst

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Rate us, share an episode, or get our free guides: https://documentaryfirst.com/pages/support

CONNECT WITH DOCUMENTARY FIRST

All platforms: https://linktr.ee/doc1st

Christian Taylor on LinkedIn

ABOUT THE GUEST

Sandy Gordon

Producer, and consulting producer on The Girl Who Wore Freedom

Sandy Gordon is an Emmy Award-winning producer. Her feature film work, mostly in locations departments, includes Rudy and The Hudsucker Proxy, where she also swept up the confetti used as snow on the street, and she was a production assistant and production coordinator on Return to Me. Her television work includes Party of Five. She spent several years at a post-production facility and has worked with animators and graphic designers, and she has seen what editors are left without, which is why she plans every shoot with the edit in mind. As Sandra Gordon, she wrote Action! Establishing Your Career in Film and Television Production (Applause Books), full of behind-the-scenes stories from crew members, and Great Jobs for Film Majors, now out of print. At the time of this 2021 recording, she was in the Chicago area, working at DePaul University.

MORE WITH SANDY GORDON

• Episode 97: her start on Rudy, how she came to The Girl Who Wore Freedom, and Chicago's film tax incentive
• Episode 99: Rudy, call sheets and scripts
• Episode 148: COVID safety protocols on film sets

ABOUT DOCUMENTARY FIRST

Documentary First is a weekly podcast about the people behind documentaries and how the work changed them. Host Christian Taylor, director of the award-winning The Girl Who Wore Freedom, talks with filmmakers, distributors, entertainment lawyers, actors and more, from Ken Burns and PBS American Masters creator Susan Lacy to first-timers, across nearly 300 conversations. Each week brings one of two formats: a long-form conversation with the people behind films for HBO, Netflix, PBS and independent film, or The Deep Dive, where Christian takes one insight from a recent conversation and follows it wherever it leads. Listen Notes ranks the show in the top 5% of all podcasts worldwide. New episodes every week.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Action! Establishing Your Career in Film and Television Production by Sandra Gordon
• The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
• Rudy (1993)
• Return to Me (2000)