What does a movie producer actually do?!

What does a movie producer actually do?

You always hear who produced a movie, but what does a producer actually do?

Jobs such as directing, writing and acting are all well defined in the entertainment industry. Producing on the other hand is a different story, and adding titles such as associate, executive and supervising just make it even more confusing. Richard Zanuck once stated, "The producer is like the conductor of an orchestra. Maybe he can't play every instrument, but he knows what every instrument should sound like."
In general, the producer is responsible for turning creative ideas into practical or marketable concepts. They are also the person(s) who get studios to finance projects. Because producers are essentially supervisors at whatever level they produce, there is no union or guild that governs the jurisdiction of producing like what is seen in other professions such as writing, directing or acting. There is also no special school one can attend to learn the skills of being a successful and effective producer like there is for the other professions in the entertainment industry.

In most cases, the producer is in charge of bringing the production together, bringing in the creative elements and taking care of the numerous and frequent problems that may occur with film development and production. For those that actively produce, this can mean any number of activities including but not limited to: hiring the writer to write the original screenplay, selling the script to a studio, signing the major actors, doing the budget, hiring the crew, and making sure the set gets made on time. It is very clear that a single person cannot perform all these tasks. Likewise, different people prefer to do different tasks, but all perform some facet of a producer's overall responsibility; getting the motion picture developed, mounted and sold.