In order to keep costs down, projects with lower budgets (such as a television series) use freelance artists. When negotiating and hiring talent, the producer needs to be clear as to whether they are "attaching" the talent to the project or simply bringing them on as "work for hires." If someone is integral to the project's success and is instrumental to selling it -- such as an "A-list" writer or top director -- the producer will probably attach them to the project. This ensures that the talent is available should the show go forward. If the talent is not crucial to the project, they would most likely be hired only for their specific services. The producer needs to be cautious in terms of who gets attached and who is guaranteed to play a role on the production should it go forward. If the buyer is not impressed with an artist's work, yet they are attached to the property, it could hinder the project getting picked up for production. Another item for the producer to consider before hiring an artist for the duration of the project is how easy or difficult it is to work with him or her. Getting a project produced is challenging enough without having to deal with personality conflicts.

Features, on the other hand, are generally created by staff producers, directors and visual development artists. Writers may or may not be on staff. Studios that are dedicated to feature filmmaking frequently have a number of artists on staff who focus solely on conceptual artwork. As the primary storyteller, the director guides the artist(s) toward his or her vision. If no talent is initially attached to the project, the producer will select visual development artists, and possibly a director, to develop the look of the show. (Chapter 4, "The Core Team," in our book Producing Animation, includes more information on this process and a detailed description of the role and responsibilities of a director.) In those cases where the director is already on board, he or she works with the producer to review portfolios and find the appropriate talent for the project.

In television, unlike features, the overall creative visionary on a project is the executive producer, who is often referred to as a "show runner." It is their responsibility to oversee the storytelling process and manage the directors or production designers. In both cases, the producer typically negotiates deals with the artists and creates a schedule for visual development. Working closely with the executive producer, the director, the seller and the creative executive, the producer makes sure that everybody's notes are addressed.

When a writer is attached to a television series from its inception, he or she creates a "bible" prior to writing a script. The bible sets up the concept, characters, their world and some potential story lines. Using the submitted written material, a pilot is created for the show. Note that if the property is the writer's concept, depending on their background, the writer typically plays the role of the executive producer.

In both television and features, the producer, in cooperation with the writer, generates a schedule based on the key milestones of the script as it evolves from premise to final draft. The writer is given creative notes by the producer, the director (if on board), the seller and the creative executives at every stage of the scripting process. The purpose of this input is to make sure that the script is meeting the project's creative objectives from a narrative perspective as well as in terms of character development.

It falls on the producer's shoulders to pace development appropriately, allow creativity to thrive and meet long-term schedules. Although it is essential to adhere to schedules in production, applying strict deadlines to development can at times hinder the creative process. The producer has the balancing act of ensuring that the creative team has enough time and money to achieve their artistic goals and that the quality of artwork created is suitable for production. As a result, the producer has to use his or her intuition to know when to push and when not to push. An artist's worst fear is working with a producer who has an assembly line approach toward artistic endeavors. And yet, how can network delivery deadlines be met if there is no schedule? Can a studio afford to lay off hundreds of talented and trained artists because the next project is not ready for production?