Producer most generally means someone or something that produces something—creates it or causes it.

In some situations, the words creator and generator can be used as synonyms, as in The new subscription service has been a great revenue generator for the company.

Producer is usually used in more specific ways.

In the context of entertainment, a producer is someone who manages the production of a show or movie—its financial and administrative aspects. (See the next section for more information on this and how it’s different from other roles.)

In economics, the term producer specifically refers to a person who creates economic value or produces goods and services. Such a person may more specifically be a maker, manufacturer, artisan, or inventor.

In ecology, a producer is a plant that can make its own food from inorganic substances. Another word for a producer in this sense is autotroph.

The producer of a film, show, or play is the person (or one of the people) who manages the financial and administrative aspects of making it. This includes , raising money to finance it, hiring the people involved in the production, and supervising the production to make sure it stays on budget.

The director is the person in charge of the artistic aspects of the production: they’re responsible for making decisions about and guiding the acting, staging, and aspects like lighting.

Directors are sometimes called filmmakers, which is a broader term that refers not to their specific role in an individual production but to the fact that they’re known for making films and especially working on multiple aspects of a production. A director who also takes on the role of a producer is more likely to be called a filmmaker.

An executive producer is basically the head producer, the person that the producer (or producers) reports to and who has final say about many aspects of the production, especially its financing. However, an executive producer doesn’t typically supervise a production on a day-to-day basis like a producer does.