Producers can be an individual or a group of individuals. It could be a production house. It could be a big corporate entity with varied business interests.As they produce a film, they have to meet the production expenses. This is called financing a film. They bring the finance from either overseas or domestic market.Finance so sourced from the organised market is economical as it is available at competitive rates, say 3 to 4 per cent.Even a bank is approached to part finance or full finance a project.The borrowed finance is supplemented by own internal resources.The project can be co-financed by several presenters.There are private individuals who also come forward to finance a project. An individual producer can approach a coroporate.The distributors also can pay advances to the reputed producers. A few scenes shot are shown to them as preview screening.They can advance 50-60 per cent finance to keep the production going.

The project starts as a script which is translated into a screenplay detailing shooting schedules, casting and dates.All this is a part of pre-production work.After the film is shot by employing a director who directs the cast, the film is ready for post production work of dubbing and editing.From the negatives, a print is made.

In previous years, films were produced by studios such as Bombay Talkies, Prabhat, Minerva Moivitone, RK, Navketan and Filmistan. These days there is prolific production of feature films. Along with these, we have production of TV serials, reality shows, music, videos and ad films. There are corporates who have entered into film production. However, many become produccers on individual basis, earning the nickname ‘simple producers ‘. They are responsible for more than 50 per cent production of films. Many of these producers do not go beyond one film. There are no training facilities for producers. They learn on the job. The starting point is the ability to invest. The venture could be a partnership. It may so happen that the cost overruns leaves behind a few partners whereas others sever the partnership relationship.Producers introduce their own finance plus the borrowed finance either from financiers or the institutions like banks. The firm that produces the film must register itself with the producers association IMPaa. there are regional associations where a regional film producer registers himself.

The producer has to appoint an Executive Producer and sets up a Unit manned by full-time and part time members. A producer must be aware of the different aspects of the film making process and the challenges in the changing environment. There should be understanding of the medium. The first consideration is the choice of the story or plot. Then comes the screenplay. Later comes the casting. The shooting involves cinematography and art director. There are choreographers, lyricists and music directors. Even before the story is selected, we have to appoint a director, and assess his competence. A producer takes interest from the concepts to commissioning of the whole project. A movie is a business as well as a medium. Both these components must be balanced.