The exact tasks vary of course depending on the nature of the film, its size, scope and of course budget, but the best description I’ve heard applies to all films: the producer gets the movie made.
On low-budget indie films like ours that meant that the producer does everything that needs to be done that isn’t already being done by someone else. On the set, this could be anything from holding a boom or operating a camera to running for lunch or providing first-aid.
But getting the movie made consists a of a lot more than what happens during production and in my role as producer that included loads of up-front work with scripts, locations, casting, cops, releases, and on the back-end promotion, marketing, editing, copywriting, communications and finance.
And talking to the press.
If I have any leadership skills at all they derive from this experience. When I’m responsible for a project, I treat it like I would a film and begin by imagining how I would do everything if I had to do it myself. If I have a team, I ask them to tell me what jobs they want and I simply do whatever remains. I would never ask someone to do something I wouldn’t do, because I’ve already imagined how I would get it done if I had to do it myself.
So far this has worked well enough to get a few successful films under my belt and to have a long list of people who would be willing to work with me again. I’m sure there are better ways to do things, but this is the best way I know how.