We were lucky to catch up with Micah Versemann recently and have shared our conversation below.
Micah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
My path to being a film producer hasn’t been a traditional one. I’ve never attended any type of formal film school or even a college that had a film program. My knowledge came from just getting out in the world and making projects, forcing me to learn as well as investing in relationships with people that were willing to take the time and answer questions when I had them. A big part of those relationships has been my podcast, The Producer Podcast, which has allowed me to bring on amazing people to answer my questions but also provide a resource for others. There are always things you look back on and wish you could have done differently. I’m a big reader but sometimes that means reading some or all of a book that you think will be great and helpful but isn’t. I think for me a big area was I was usually so focused getting started in getting on projects in the specific department I wanted that I missed out being able to get on projects that would have taken me if I would have been willing to just serve wherever they needed me. And as a producer that all would have furthered my knowledge of what makes for a good film set and how things work.
Currently I think one of my biggest obstacles to learning is knowing how much is too much. I’m firmly believe the only way you learn, and grow is by stepping outside of your comfort zone. But at the same time if you step too far outside what you know you’ll drown because it’s just too much so it’s been a balancing act of taking on projects that give me experience in certain aspects while maybe waiting to learn more in other areas until the next project.
As a film producer, I would say people skills are the most important skill to have. Your job involves you constantly working with different people and if you don’t have the skills to listen and communicate you won’t be able to get the job done. I’d also say knowing your way around spreadsheets and how to use them in unique and helpful ways will make your job way easier. Finally, talking on the phone. In this digital age everyone is so use to texting, instant messaging or email but sometimes you can’t wait for that person to see the message or because of the nature of the topic it needs to be done as an actual back and forth conversation. So those would be three skills I’d recommend investing in.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I got into being a film producer unintentionally. I always wanted to work in film but thought I’d be doing something more noticeable on set like camera or lighting. The film producing actually came about because I was helping a friend turn a script into a short film called Wheelchair back in 2019. I decided to wear the producer hat for the project and took on all those roles and responsibilities. However, I did such a good job that everyone that worked on that project began encouraging me to keep pursuing being a producer. Later that year I had a couple of opportunities pop up that put me back into the more producer realm of things and by the next year I decided to actively pursue the role. Since then it has just been one step at a time as I’ve worked to learn what I can on my own, brand myself as a producer online and make connections with other filmmakers that were willing to give me a shot at producing. It’s a journey that started with short films, led to doing commercials and has continued to grow to include features and docu-dramas. The easiest way I can describe what I do is that I take the pain out of production. So often I meet filmmakers, creatives like the director, DP, writer, etc., who has vision for what they want but have no idea how to logistically bring the pieces together. And when they try to bring it all together it becomes a drag to them because they don’t find it fun leading to the project suffering or dying all together. For me, the logistics of building a team, travel arrangements, gear rental, schedules and budgets are fun. They a puzzle that is similar on each project but never quite the same making each project fresh and exciting.
Overall what sets me apart is really two things. 1) being able to have a firm grasp on the budget and easily, estimate, track and adjust things as needed. 2) That overall, I care more about the people making the project than the project itself. That might seem like a bad thing but really it’s the best thing you can find in a producer. Creatives (DP, Director, Gaffer, etc.) are always going to care deeply about the project and be trying to make it the best it can be. So when my goal is to treat the people on my crew the best I can it’s ultimately going to lead to better results coming from the crew because they’re well fed, rested and feel loved. Now this doesn’t mean you make poor business decisions so you can care for the crew. If you truly care more about the people than the project, that includes everyone that’s a part of this including the investors or client that is funding the project. And to them the way you care for them is keeping them in the loop and doing everything you can so they can get their ROI in a timely manner.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
While I’ve read many books that ended up not being great I do have a list short list of ones that are my go to recommendations for people.
The first is a must-read called “The Go-Giver”. It’s a fun quick read for a business book told in a narrative way that will change the way you think about how you build relationships and network.
The second would be “Me, Myself & Bob”. This is a great book by Phil Vischer about the rise and fall of Big Idea. It touches on many of the topics that us creatives can struggle with but comes from the vantage point of someone whose been through the trenches and made the mistakes and how things came out.
The third great one is “Real Artist Don’t Starve”
Finally, “Show Your Work” is a great quick read for anyone that’s wanting a fresh take on how to market themselves, especially is our digital world.
Video wise: I did enjoy a YouTube series by StudioBinder called “Making It: From Script to Screen” that takes you through producing a project.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The film industry is just hard. A friend on mine says that “the job isn’t doing the job, it’s finding the job”. Once you’ve booked worked and are on set things are easy. It’s finding the work that can be hard. Especially in a world where projects get cancelled shelved, or fall flat all the times. The first feature film that I applied for a got on was a project set to shoot at the beginning of 2017 in the New England area of the U.S. I was going to be working on it as a grip and the project had a great crew of people that I was excited to work with. However; like so often happens, the funding for the project fell through and to date nothing has ever come of the project. What I thought was going to be my big break didn’t happen and it took me over a year to get onto what would become my first feature film. In fact 2017 ended up being a super slow year for me except for a short film that I made that summer called Crave. But it was that short film that ultimately lead to me producing Wheelchair and finding the producer path.
So who knows what might have happened if that feature had happened. I might not have made that short film. I think so often as creatives it’s easy to view something just as a closed door when maybe God is using it so you invest your time and attention into something else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.movingvisualfilms.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/micah.versemann/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/filmmaker-micah-versemann/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwc0agEOMfag1j6FnhY28Kw
- Other: Podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kvClrljxd1PlnMuOSVX7h?si=6070f5fd611e4f18 Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.producer.podcast/ Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheProducerPod Podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProducerPodcast Wheelchair: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08DKP1QJY/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r Crave: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B07HYNP7KY/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
Image Credits
Still Image Credit: Bartlett Idea Co. and Defender Headshot Credit: Stacy Armbrecht One of the BTS images is also a Bartlett Idea Co. credit but the rest are personal pictures.