Every Successful Film Producer Needs These 5 Traits

Do you have what it takes to make it in Hollywood?

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need stunning good looks and a voice that melts steel. There are plenty of ways to achieve professional prominence in the film business. Only a relative handful require on-camera work.

Film production is a viable career path in Hollywood — always has been, always will be. If you see yourself in these five traits, there’s a good chance you have what it takes (in theory) to make it as a producer.

1. Excellent Communication Skills

Successful film producers are usually above-average communicators, at minimum. To aspirants who know their communication skills need work, Deep Patel recommends practicing nonverbal communication skills and ditching reliance on visual aids in presentations. Nonverbal cues, in particular, have incredible potential: simple tweaks to one’s posture and hand movements can dramatically increase assumed credibility.

2. Self-motivation (Internal Motivation)

High-achieving producers are internally motivated. They’re able to manage complex projects, like this blockbuster film co-financed by David Mimran’s Mimran Schur Pictures, because they’re driven to succeed — not because a boss or board demands it (though good executives are mindful of board dynamics as well).

3. Formidable Organization

Great leaders, including top film producers, are almost invariably well organized. If you lack a formal system of personal organization, now’s the time to implement one. Efficiency expert Erica Murphy runs down a host of organizing tips from top executives, noting such gems as “make lists all day long” and “take physical notes.” Most producers have plenty of organizational help from executive assistants and other support staffers, but truly effective organization starts (and stops) at the top.

4. Ability to Work Well With Others

Successful executives are nothing if not collegial. Even if the buck stops with you, you need to get along well with your underlings, or you’re quickly going to find yourself struggling to retain talent. Executives also need to work well with their bosses — the investors and studio executives who hold their projects’ future in hand.

5. Ability to Take Criticism

A corollary to working well with others: the ability to take criticism. Some producers have hard-earned reputations for taking no guff, but legitimate criticism is sometimes warranted. What separates merely good producers from the greats is to recognize situations that do require adjustment, and to make those adjustments with minimal fuss.

Your Star Turn Awaits

Most film producers aren’t as widely known as the actors with whom they share title billing. Those who do achieve household name status often do so for the wrong reasons.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t pursue the sort of prominence you have every reason to expect you can earn as a successful, well-regarded film producer. For internally motivated personalities willing to tough out criticism and see the glass half full, being known for putting together a hit film is far preferable to merely appearing on camera in it.

Your star turn awaits — even if it’s not quite what you expected when you first set out to make it in this business.