Producer vs. Project Manager.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 02:41PM The difference between a producer and a project manager.
The terms project manager and producer get thrown around a lot in our industry. They share similar job descriptions, but in truth, these positions are unique from each other. A project manager is typically someone that has a general knowledge of the overall process within the agency and is tasked with following through on projects from start to finish. Typically they follow the project along by checking in with the key players, while creating and following a general project schedule. A project manager is someone that coordinates, but is not actual part of the process. In general a project manager has an educational background in general project management, business management or a general advertising program.
A producer is someone that typically has a specialized background in one or more areas such as interactive, broadcast or print production. While a producer can manage an entire project from start to finish like a project manager, they typically concentrate on crafting the production part of the process. Intimate knowledge of the production process allows them to have a higher level of foresight than a project manager when it comes to managing schedules and handling project issues. Project managers get told what stage the project is at, producers change the state of the project to get it completed.
