Producers

""A producer is the guy that tells the artist what to do and later makes all the changes, and then, when the cartoon's done, he takes all the credit!""

- Stimpy, The Ren and Stimpy Show

The producer is the 'commander in chief' of a given project. What does that mean? Well...

Quite simply, the producer is/are the person/persons that makes the project "happen". "No producer" equals "no film". They are the financial and creative backbone of a given project -- they secure funding (or fund the work themselves), hire key personnel, arrange for distributors, and manage the day-to-day operations of the production (such as writing up shooting schedules, booking off-set filming locations, and keeping the project as a whole within budget and on-schedule).

There are many different varieties of "producer", and each has its own responsibility in the film industry. A consulting producer will usually be a specialist in a particular field of study, and will assist the writers with technical accuracy. An executive producer is usually a studio representative, providing the majority of the funding that keeps the project going (and reporting any cost overruns to the studio heads). An assistant producer is exactly that. An associate producer is a title used to cover a variety of duties, such as being liaison when two production companies are involved in a fliming. .

Not to be confused with The Producers.

What follows is an incomplete list of production houses and individual producers that have had an impact on modern filmmaking:

People

 * JJ Abrams
 * Irwin Allen
 * Judd Apatow
 * Chuck Barris
 * Jack Barry
 * Drew Barrymore
 * Warren Beatty
 * Donald P Bellisario
 * Steven Bochco
 * Uwe Boll
 * Linwood Boomer
 * Albert R Broccoli
 * James L Brooks
 * Mel Brooks
 * Jerry Bruckheimer
 * Mark Burnett
 * Stephen J Cannell
 * Chris Carter
 * Joan Chen
 * Chris Chibnall
 * Roger Corman
 * Joan Ganz Cooney
 * Wes Craven
 * Larry David
 * Russell T Davies
 * Cecil B De Mille
 * Michael Dante Di Martino
 * Walt Disney
 * Tina Fey
 * Bryan Fuller
 * Mark Goodson
 * Michael Grade
 * Merv Griffin
 * Jam Handy
 * Jack H Harris
 * Merrill Heatter
 * Jim Henson
 * Jessica Hynes
 * Armando Iannucci
 * David E Kelley
 * Bryan Konietzko
 * Verity Lambert
 * John Lasseter
 * Norman Lear
 * Val Lewton
 * George Lucas
 * Jon McClenahan
 * Seth MacFarlane
 * Lorne Michaels
 * Shinji Mikami
 * Tim Minear
 * Steven Moffat
 * Michael Moore
 * Perry Moore
 * Chris Morris
 * Terry Nation
 * Brad Neely
 * Sydney Newman
 * Park Chan Wook
 * Gene Roddenberry
 * Dan Schneider
 * Sherwood Schwartz
 * Rod Serling
 * Allan Sherman
 * Jonathan M Shiff
 * David Simon
 * Bryan Singer
 * Aaron Sorkin
 * Aaron Spelling
 * Steven Spielberg
 * Bob Stewart
 * Oliver Stone
 * J Michael Straczynski
 * Jay Ward
 * Joss Whedon
 * Billy Wilder
 * Bruce Willis (Creator)
 * Dick Wolf
 * Robert Zemeckis

Record Producer Music Producers

 * Steve Albini
 * Dr Dre
 * The Dust Brothers
 * Brian Eno
 * Ahmet Ertegün
 * Quincy Jones
 * Mutt Lange
 * John Leckie
 * Jeff Lynne
 * George Martin
 * Jimmy Miller
 * Sam Phillips
 * LA Reid and Babyface
 * Rick Rubin
 * The RZA
 * Phil Spector
 * Jim Steinman
 * Uffie
 * Tony Visconti

"Big Six" Major Film Studios

 * Twentieth Century Fox
 * Columbia Pictures
 * Tri Star Pictures
 * Screen Gems
 * Disney
 * Touchstone Pictures
 * Paramount
 * Universal
 * Warner Bros

Minor Studios

 * Dream Works
 * Dreamworks Animation
 * Film Cow
 * Legendary Pictures
 * Lions Gate
 * After Dark Horrorfest
 * Summit Entertainment
 * Metro Goldwyn Mayer
 * United Artists
 * Miramax Films
 * The Weinstein Company
 * Dimension Films
 * Village Roadshow
 * Vivid Entertainment Group

Production Houses

 * ACTF
 * Amblin Entertainment
 * Amblimation
 * Bang Zoom! Entertainment
 * Big Finish
 * BKN
 * Carolco Pictures
 * Carsey Werner
 * Catalyst Game Labs
 * Cookie Jar Entertainment
 * DiC Entertainment
 * The Criterion Collection
 * Crown International Pictures
 * Dark Maze Studios
 * Desilu Studios
 * Echo Chamber
 * Film District
 * Fremantle Media
 * Fresh TV
 * Gracie Films
 * Kudos
 * Lorimar
 * Marathon Media
 * Mutant Enemy
 * National Film Board of Canada
 * Polygram Filmed Entertainment
 * Relativity Media
 * Revolution Studios
 * Saban Entertainment
 * Seraphim Digital Studios
 * Sesame Workshop
 * Shout Factory
 * Sid and Marty Krofft Productions
 * Sunbow Entertainment
 * Talent Associates
 * Terry Toons
 * Troma
 * Walden Media
 * World Events Productions
 * WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)

Indie Production Companies

 * Rooster Teeth
 * ST Pictures

Major:

 * Aardman Animations
 * Blue Sky
 * BUF
 * Cinesite
 * Digital Domain
 * Double Negative VFX
 * Film Roman
 * Framestore
 * Hydraulx
 * Industrial Light and Magic - Has a Singaporean studio.
 * Klasky Csupo
 * Lacewood Productions
 * Mainframe Entertainment
 * Rainmaker Entertainment
 * Moving Picture Company
 * Nelvana
 * Pixar
 * Rhythm & Hues - Has an Indian studio.
 * Sony Pictures Imageworks
 * Tippett Studio
 * WETA - located in New Zealand

Minor

 * Animal Logic
 * Bardel Entertainment
 * Blur Studio
 * Cartoon Saloon
 * Composite Image Systems (CIS)
 * Cosgrove Hall
 * Ghost VFX
 * Global Mechanic
 * Hammerhead Production
 * House of Cool
 * Red Rover Studios
 * Hybride Technologies - Bought by game company Ubisoft.
 * Lapiz Azul - aka Blue Pencil, a studio in Spain that is mostly known for doing two episodes of Batman the Animated Series; When many people were thinking that the studio went out of business during the making of Day Of The Samurai, well..., they're still in business; The studio also did 6 episodes of Tale Spin under contract for Walt Disney Animation France as well.
 * Matte World Digital
 * Metrolight Studios
 * Mr. X
 * Nitrogen
 * Perpetual Motion Pictures
 * Phoenix Animation Studios
 * Pi P Animation Services
 * Pixomondo - Despite the Latin sounding name, they're a series of studios originating from Germany.
 * Powerhouse Animation Studios
 * Rainbow Animation Group
 * Renegade Animation
 * Rising Sun Pictures
 * Rubicon Group Holding
 * Spark Plug Entertainment
 * Studio B Productions
 * Telescreen - A studio in The Netherlands (They did have a unit in Japan, but the unit went out of business) that is mostly knowed for working with Disney on Lizzie Mcguire (However, all the animated parts of that show are done in South Korea by Rough Draft).
 * Titmouse
 * Wild Brain
 * Yowza Animation
 * Zoic Studios

Major:

 * Crest Animation Studios: Headed in America but has a Unit in India.
 * DQ Entertainment: A studio in India.
 * Hong Ying: A Studio in China.
 * Philippine Animation Studio Inc: Self-explanitory.
 * Prime Focus: An Indian-based effects studio. Also has divisions in the UK and North America.
 * Toon City: A studio in The Philippines.
 * Wang Film Productions: A studio in Taiwan, as well as one the biggest overseas animation studios in the world.

Minor:

 * Animation Service HK: Based in Hong Kong, which the abbreviated HK will tell you.
 * Far Eastern: A studio in Taiwan.
 * Flying Dragon: A studio In China.
 * Jade Animation: A studio in China.
 * Morning Sun: A studio in china.
 * Pacific Rim Animation: A studio in China.
 * Shanghai Animation Film Studio: A studio in China.
 * Studio SEK: A studio in North Korea that mostly does contract work for South Korean studios, which said studios get their contracts from the United States, the studio has also done stuff for Europe as well.
 * Synergy Animation: A studio in China.
 * Top Draw: A studio in the Philippines.

Major:

 * AKOM
 * Digital E Mation
 * Dong Woo Animation: A studio presently owned by Studio Gallop, originally independent.
 * DR Movie: A studio owned by Madhouse, originally independent.
 * Hanho Heung Up
 * Koko Enterprises/Dong Yang: South Korean studios owned by TMS Entertainment, mostly known for working for Bruce Timm on the DCAU.
 * Moi Animation: Works with Madhouse, like DR Movie; But is mostly known for most of the DC Direct to Video (post DCAU) movies and most of the DC Animated showcases.
 * Plus One Animation: Mostly known for working for Mike Judge's shows.
 * Rough Draft Studios: Headed in Los Angeles but the studio has a unit in South Korea as well.
 * Saerom
 * Sunwoo Entertainment/Anivision/Grimsaem - Has also distributed many Transformers toys since 2007.

Minor:

 * Ani Village: A South Korean Studio owned by Kyoto Animation.
 * Big Star
 * Echo
 * GK Entertainment: A South Korean studio owned by GONZO as GK stands for "GONZO Korea".
 * Golden Bell
 * JM Animation: Was founded to outsource for Japanese studios, the studio is mostly known for Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender.
 * Lotto Animation
 * Mizo Planning: Another South Korean studio owned by TMS.
 * Seoul Movie: Like Koko Enterprises, Dong Yang and Mizo Planning, Seoul Movie is another Korean Studio owned by TMS.
 * Starburst Animation
 * Sunmin Animation
 * Toon Us In
 * Yearim Productions
 * Yeson Entertainment

Major Japanese Animation Anime Studios
The major animation studios in Japan.


 * AIC: Mostly known for Tenchi Muyo.
 * Studio BONES: Mostly known for Fullmetal Alchemist.
 * Studio Gainax: Mostly known for their Anime First shows (yet Neon Genesis Evangelion and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann did have manga prints that came out around the same time as their anime shows).
 * Studio Ghibli: Hayao Miyazaki's studio.
 * GONZO: Mostly known for Welcome to The NHK, G.I. Joe Sigma 6 and the first season of Strike Witches.
 * Kyoto Animation: Founded in 1981 as a outsourcing company, the studio is mostly known for Haruhi, Lucky Star and K-On!.
 * Madhouse: Mostly known for their works with CLAMP and their Anime First shows.
 * Mushi Productions: Mostly known for doing most of Osamu Tezuka's anime adaptations when Osamu Tezuka was still alive, the studio has also worked with Rankin Bass as well.
 * Nippon Animation: Mostly known for The World Masterpiece Theater, Future Boy Conan, Maya the Bee and Chibi Maruko Chan.
 * Studio Pierrot: Mostly known for Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto and Bleach.
 * Production IG: Founded by Ex-Tatsunoko staff, the studio is mostly known for Ghost in The Shell, Blood the Last Vampire and Eden of the East.
 * Production Reed: Formerly known as Ashi Productions, the studio is mostly known for Magical Princess Minky Momo and the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon.
 * Satelight: Mostly known for Fairy Tail and Macross Frontier.
 * Studio Shaft: Mostly known for Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
 * Sunrise: Mostly known for Gundam, Cowboy Bebop and Inuyasha.
 * Tatsunoko Production: One of the older Japanese studios.
 * TMS Entertainment/Telecom Animation Film: One of the most (if not the most) famous and well-respected studio(s) in Japan, the TMS unit is known for a number of anime productions like Lupin III, Anpanman and Detective Conan, while the Telecom unit is known for having some of the best animation since The Golden Age of Animation (like on Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman the Animated Series, Animaniacs and The Real Ghostbusters).
 * Toei Animation: Like Tatsunoko, Toei is one of the older studios in Japan.

Minor Japanese Animation Studios
When they are not as big as the major animation studios in Japan, the animation studios still mostly do their own productions, and tend not to rely on outsourcing from bigger studios.


 * A-1 Pictures
 * A.C.G.T.: Also known as OB Planning, best known for Duel Masters.
 * Animal Ya/Studio Comet: For Studio Comet, the studio is mostly known for Onegai My Melody and Jewelpet, for Animal-Ya, it's Freakazoid, Miami Guns and several shows in The Disney Afternoon.
 * The Answer Studio: Founded by Motoyoshi Tokunaga after Walt Disney Animation Japan went out of business, the studio is known for Transformers Animated, Batman Under the Red Hood and the Golgo 13 series.
 * APPP: AKA Another Push Pin Planning.
 * Bee Train: Was once a unit of Production IG but has split off.
 * Brains Base: Mostly known for Princess Jellyfish and Mawaru Penguindrum.
 * Studio DEEN
 * Studio Gallop: Mostly known for Yu-Gi-Oh.
 * Studio Hibari: Mostly known for Mirumo De Pon.
 * Manglobe
 * JC Staff: Mostly known for Slayers and Azumanga Daioh.
 * OLM Incorporated: Mostly known for the Pokémon anime.
 * Polygon Pictures: Mostly known for Transformers Prime and The Sky Crawlers' CG.
 * Seven Arcs: Best known for the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise and White Album
 * Shin-Ei Doga: Became what it is after A Productions split off from TMS, the studio is mostly known for Doraemon and Shin Chan.
 * Studio 4°C: Was once an art house (Mind Game and Genius Party), but now does nothing but adaptations (Green Lantern Emerald Knights ThunderCats (2011)) (Also known for Transformers Animated).
 * Studio Fantasia
 * Synergy SP
 * Ufotable
 * Xebec: A unit of Production IG, the studio is mostly known for Love Hina and Zoids.

Supporting Japanese Animation Studios
Animation studios that tend to do mostly do outsourcing for bigger animation studios in Japan, with only a hand full of productions if that.


 * A-Line
 * Actas
 * Ajia-Do: Sometimes knowed as Asia-Do.
 * Anime Spot
 * Asahi Production
 * Dangun Pictures
 * FAI International
 * Japan Vistec
 * Magic Bus: A studio founded by Satoshi Dezaki (Osamu Dezaki's brother).
 * Mook DLE
 * Nakamura Productions
 * Oh! Production
 * P.A. Works
 * Sanko Production
 * Shogakukan Music And Digital Entertainment: Shogakukan's music publishing arm and CGI unit; The studio has dose some outsourcing for TMS Entertainment on Hamtaro (namely the Movies, Hai and new content of Dechu), Green Lantern First Flight and Lil Pri.
 * Studio Cockpit
 * Studio Cosmos
 * Studio Jungle Gym
 * Studio Peacock: Also just known as Peacock.
 * Studio Sakimakura: Owned by TMS; The studio has worked on Bakugan (Mechtanium Surge series), Cardfight Vanguard and Brave 10.
 * Studio Wanpack
 * Studio WHO: A studio that solely provides backgrounds for Anime.
 * Sunshine Corporation
 * T. Nishimura: A studio used for Photography purposes.
 * Tokyo Kids
 * Triple A: And not the Triple A (AAA) your thinking of ether.
 * Wao World

Defunct/Dormant Animation Studios
Animation studios that are either out of business or out of work.

American:

 * Animation Collective
 * Asylum Visual Effects
 * Atkinson Film-Arts
 * Available Light Productions
 * Cafe FX
 * Carbunkle Cartoons
 * Cinesite's American branch.
 * Columbia Cartoons
 * De Patie Freleng Enterprises
 * Encore Cartoons - Worked on 3 episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures and nothing more.
 * Famous Studios
 * Filmation
 * Fleischer Studios
 * Hanna-Barbera - Technically defunct, living on through Cartoon Network Studios.
 * Illusion Arts - Best known for their contributions in the Star Trek Franchise.
 * Imagi Animation Studios
 * Pacific Title
 * Rankin/Bass Productions
 * Ruby Spears Productions
 * Santa Barbera Studios - Famous for Star Trek, infamous for An American Werewolf in Paris
 * Spumco
 * Star Toons
 * Van Beuren Studios

Asian - Non-South Korean or Japanese:

 * Fil-Cartoons - A studio in The Philippines that's best known for working with Hanna-Barbera during The Nineties, and working on the first season of Ren and Stimpy.
 * Kennedy Cartoons - Headed in Canada, but the studio has a unit in the The Philippines as well.
 * Rainbow Animation

South Korean:

 * A-1 Production
 * Anivision & Grimsaem - Both absorbed into Sunwoo.
 * Dai Won - Dropped out of animation, still distributes Manga and Manhawa.
 * Dong Seo - The Spiritual Predecessor to Hanho Hueng-Up.
 * Hyun Young
 * Kyung Kang
 * Luk Film - Infamous for making black and white cartoons into color back in the 60's; the studio also did the ink and pant for Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings and Star Toons's Henny Youngman Day.
 * Rainbow Group - Also has a unit in China (Rainbow Animation) and The Philippines.
 * Sei Young

Japanese:

 * Studio Korumi
 * Group TAC - Mostly known for Tama And Friends and Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.
 * KKC and D Asia - Founded by Tetsuo Katayama and Shigeru Akagawa after they left TMS, the studio is mostly known for The Real Ghostbusters.
 * Pacific Animation Corporation: Sometimes known as Pacific Animation Company, the studio is mostly known for Thundercats and Silverhawks. Later on the studio was bought out by Disney and became Walt Disney Animation Japan and was mostly ran by Ex-Sanrio and Ex-TMS staff members. There is also another studio with the same name in Japan as well.
 * Sanrio Animation - At one point, Sanrio had a animation studio that made art films, but went out of business in the mid 80's.
 * Studio Junio
 * Spectrum - A studio founded by Ex-TMS staff members that it's only big thing it ever did was some episodes of Batman the Animated Series.
 * Tama Productions
 * Teleimage
 * Telescreen Japan: Telescreen's (which is still in business) former Japanese unit.
 * Topcraft - Rankin Bass's unit in Japan, the studio also did Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of The Wind as well.
 * Trans Arts: A company known mainly by being a support studio and The Prince of Tennis.
 * Visual 80

Other:

 * Walt Disney Animation Units - The main unit is in Burbank (Still active), but there were units in Florida, Canada, Japan, Australia, France and The UK.
 * Freelance Animators New Zealand - A studio in New Zealand (obviously).
 * Mr Big Cartoons - A studio in Australia that worked on various Hanna-Barbera shows, as well as several Games Animation episodes of The Ren and Stimpy Show.
 * Varga Studio

Active

 * 4Kids! Entertainment (Largely shifted its focus away from anime)
 * Anim Eigo (Rarely distributes anime anymore)
 * Anime Network
 * Aniplex USA
 * A Esir Holdings (Owns library formerly held by ADV Films)
 * Bandai Entertainment (Will no longer produce DVDs and Blu-rays of anime and won't release their own manga translations, will license titles to other companies instead)
 * Discotek Media
 * FUNimation
 * Madman Entertainment (though anime is just one aspect of many genres that they distribute)
 * Manga Entertainment (Starz and Sci Fi Channel)
 * Media Blasters
 * MVM Entertainment
 * NIS America
 * Nozomi Entertainment
 * Section 23 Films (Distributor of former ADV Films properties and new stuff)
 * Sentai Filmworks (Licenses new anime for broadcast by the Anime Network and media sold by Section 23 Films).
 * Switchblade Pictures (Licenses new Asian live-action drama for broadcast by the Anime Network and media sold by Section 23 Films).
 * The Ocean Group (A Canadian dubbing company)
 * Viz Media

Defunct or no longer distributing anime

 * ADV Films (split into separate companies: Section 23 Films, AEsir Holdings, The Anime Network, and Seraphim Digital Studios)
 * Central Park Media
 * Geneon
 * Kiseki Films
 * Streamline Pictures
 * Tokyo Pop (Used to distribute anime, but only distributes manga toda- Gone completely.)
 * US Renditions

Manga and Comic Book publishing houses

 * Dark Horse Comics
 * Del Rey Manga
 * Seven Seas Entertainment
 * Viz Media

Knockoff Makers

 * The Asylum
 * Dingo Pictures
 * Spark Plug Entertainment
 * Video Brinquedo

Related to Showbiz

 * Actors Equity (union for actors and stage managers in the U.S.}
 * Bollywood (the film industry in India)
 * Equity (British actors' union)
 * Hollywood
 * Nollywood (the film industry in Nigeria)
 * SAG (Screen Actors Guild)

See also Vanity Plate.