Speaking with Matt G. a producer in today’s film industry I learned that, as a producer negotiating is something that applies to almost every task of the producer. There are so many things that go into a completing a production that many of these things require some sort of negotiation. Whether it be negotiating the deals for the talent and crews, vendor costs, or negotiating the budget with the investors. All these things are so important to the production and without having good negotiating skills can result in a production falling before it is completed.
As a producer you may be juggling more than one project like Matt is. If this is the case you will end up negotiating several times a day for each particular project, depending on what the project calls for. In order to be successful from project to project Matt shared that building relationships and having appreciation for the people you are negotiating with is so important. The reason for this is because the industry is not as big as you think it is and you will need to call out to these people again for future projects. Creating these positive relationships with crew, vendors, and investors will help your future negotiations in many ways. One good thing about having these relationships is that these are people you have worked with before and they know how you work, so when negotiating you can often cut to point and get down to work.
With all the work that goes into a production Matt shared that production assistants are crucial to the overall success of the production. Having appreciation for these individuals and respecting their role in the production helps for an overall smooth shoot. Matt shared that although these PA’s are working for free usually there is great mutual benefit from this situation. Not only are they helping get production work done but they are also learning a great deal about how a production operates. “It’s a win win situation as the PA’s learn we are getting tasks completed as well as building a base for future employees ourselves.” The situation provides mutual benefit for the production company because production.
Matt stated to “always remember that filmmaking is a business and negotiating can be compared to a form of art.” Hearing this from a professional in the industry has inspired me to really perfect my negotiating skills as clearly it will be something I will be doing more than once on a daily basis. By mastering the skill of negotiating hopefully it will help me climb the ladder and reach my goal of becoming a producer.
