What is a Digital Producer Anyway?

A digital producer combines technology, storytelling and project management skills.

The digital outlet you choose to tell your story has huge implications for its success. Each has its own challenges and opportunities.

As the technology to create content becomes more affordable and easy to use, it is tempting to think that storytelling has become easier as well. But just as access to a typewriter won't make someone a writer, access to professional quality video tools won't make you a digital star.

The key is to look at every project differently. A three minute YouTube video might be far too long, and a 30-minute TV show far too short. Graphics that work well on a website might not scale down to an iPhone screen. Is it more important to be first to the market with a new app, or to have a plan to corner an existing market? Should your new video be seeded by a third-party network, or promoted through a digital PR campaign?

I specialise in multi-platform content creation, with the ability to conceptualise, manage and execute compelling stories for the web, TV or mobile platforms. But I also make it a priority that every project I work on has clear measures of success and a clear plan to reach its intended audience. There's no point in telling a story, or creating content that no one will see or engage with. And that's another one of the keys: people no longer consume content passively, they need to be able to engage with it. It's essential that, as a digital producer, you recognise that audiences are no longer passive "recipients" for content, but active "participants."

Social media has changed the whole game, and video is at the forefront of it. Audiences expect not only to watch videos, but to rate, slate, recommend or comment on everything they see.

The trick is to stay on top of the changing technology landscape without being consumed by the minutiae of it. I've tried to make it my focus to be a digital generalist, with a speciality in video and web video. I've been busy trying to prepare for the next big change in how people consume media: the migration towards mobile computing and mobile video and the new opportunities that will exist when you can carry your "computer" in the palm of your hand.

While almost all of the stories now are being told digitally with the help of computers, they are still human stories. A digital producer's job is, at the end of the day, to connect people to other people, using technology as a tool, not as an end in and of itself.

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