What a Producer at a Major Media Company Wishes They Had Known Before Entering the Media Industry
Danielle, a Producer at a Major Media Company, learned that success in the role hinges less on "doing everything perfectly" and more on "getting it done," a crucial shift in perspective. Further, the job unexpectedly demanded significant "people management," requiring skillful navigation of multiple stakeholders' needs and opinions to maintain project momentum and overall team satisfaction.
Project Management, Communication, People Management, Leadership, Problem-Solving
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Danielle Witz
Producer
Major Media Company
Occidental College
History, Art History
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Operations and Project Management
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. It's more important to get things done than to do them perfectly.
2. Success in this role depends heavily on people management and communication skills.
3. Navigating multiple opinions and perspectives is crucial for maintaining objectivity and project success.
Transcript
What have you learned about this role that you wish someone had told you before you entered the industry?
Something I wish I knew about this role was how much of it is not about doing everything perfectly, but more about just doing it. Sometimes you won't do something perfectly or will make mistakes, but the bar for success is whether or not it got done, not whether it was done 100% perfectly. I think that's a crazy standard to hold yourself to.
It's not about how perfectly the project was finished, it's about whether the project was finished. I wish I had known how much of my job would be about people and less about the work. You can get your head stuck in the details, but in this position, the details become less important than the bigger picture.
The bigger picture always involves people management. How do you keep your creatives happy? How do you keep your director happy? How do you keep the studio happy? That is sometimes more important than the work itself.
It's a lot of people management and learning how to communicate and hold your own with different groups of people. You need to ensure everyone feels like their concerns and opinions are being addressed. There are a lot of cooks in the kitchen on these shows.
You have to figure out your role with all those voices in the room and navigate them while keeping an objective perspective on the work. Those are some of the most important things I've learned about this job over the years, things I wouldn't have known or expected going into it.