A line producer is the key manager during the daily operations of a motion picture production. The title is associated with the idea that they are the person who is "on the line" on a day-to-day basis.
The line producer supports the vision of the director but does not usually have direct influence on the creative expression or narrative of the film.
From the beginning of principal photography, the line producer oversees the budgetary and physical production needs of the shoot. By the first day of production, several versions of the budget have usually been drafted. A finalized or "locked" budget is the one used as the basis for the production to move forward. A key objective of a line producer will be to respect this "locked" budget and to deliver in time.
While in production, the line producer oversees the execution of many decisions that must be made to deliver each day's shoot. The administrative aspects, especially those that have any financial impact, are all crucial areas of the line producer's work. These areas include but are not limited to negotiating compensation (usually during pre-production) of crew members (both for union and non-union productions), keeping oversight of the locked budget and resolving daily production issues (in conjunction with the first assistant director and possibly the unit production manager).
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“It is a great many years since at the outset of my career I had to think seriously what life had to offer that was worth having. I came to the conclusion that the chief good for me was freedom to learn, think, and say what I pleased, when I pleased. I have acted on that conviction... and though strongly, and perhaps wisely, warned that I should probably come to grief, I am entirely satisfied with the results of the line of action I have adopted.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)