Sr. Producer

Distant Moon • Leesburg, VA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

Distant Moon is seeking a Senior Producer to lead documentary, commercial, educational, and narrative filmmaking projects and develop the people who bring them to life. The role leads projects from pre-production through filming, wrap, and handoff to post-production, partnering closely with directors and clients. The Senior Producer will help the growing studio plan, staff, and execute larger and more complex productions while remaining closely involved in filmmaking.

The position manages production budgets and margins, crew and resource planning, on-set execution, client communication, and production-team development. It also works with production leadership to balance assignments and workloads, track project and financial risks, improve workflows and documentation, and coordinate financial and contractual wrap requirements with finance, legal, and post-production.

The role is based at Distant Moon’s purpose-built creative studio in Leesburg, Virginia, and combines production planning, team management, and hands-on work on location. Travel is required and is estimated at approximately 40% of the role, varying significantly by project and season.

Requirements

• Substantial professional producing experience, typically gained over 10+ years, with extensive on-set responsibility; candidates with fewer years may qualify through comparable production leadership, project complexity, and team management experience.
• Strong documentary, narrative, or high-end commercial background; experience across multiple production formats; and demonstrated success handling larger or more complex productions.
• Ability to create and manage production budgets, forecast costs, track and reconcile expenses, and protect project profitability across multiple concurrent productions.
• Working knowledge of professional production logistics, including crew roles and rates, locations, equipment, scheduling, production insurance, and project wrap requirements.
• Confident on-set judgment and problem-solving skills, including anticipating needs, coordinating departments, and making timely decisions as conditions change.
• Strong client-facing communication and professional discretion when working with directors, crew, clients, and high-profile talent.
• Self-directed, collaborative approach with strong follow-through.
• Proficiency in production budgeting and project management tools such as Wrapbook, Teamwork, or comparable platforms.

Nice To Haves

• Narrative production experience, especially feature films, or high-end commercial production experience.
• Experience working with union rates, SAG-AFTRA requirements, and related negotiations.
• Creative producing experience, including pitch decks, concept development, and collaboration with directors on scripts.
• Current relationships with freelance crew, established directors, production companies, agencies, and post houses.

Responsibilities

• Partner with directors and clients to translate project goals into practical plans and guide productions through pre-production, filming, wrap, and handoff to post-production.
• Build and own budgets for assigned productions, review budgets managed by other producers, oversee spending forecasts and expense reconciliation, and work with production leadership on cost changes, financial risks, and scope adjustments.
• Oversee crew hiring, location scouting, equipment sourcing, travel, and scheduling.
• Coordinate with directors and department leads, anticipate production needs, delegate, and resolve problems in real time while maintaining a calm, safe, and professional production environment.
• Manage and mentor producers, the gear specialist, and future production support staff through check-ins, reviews, clear expectations, feedback, and performance accountability.
• Set client expectations, communicate tradeoffs, and navigate changes professionally and carefully with clients, collaborators, and talent.
• Partner with production leadership to assign projects, balance workloads, and maintain weekly scorecards tracking budgets, margins, producer capacity, and emerging risks.
• Improve workflows, documentation, and production tracking.
• Coordinate with finance, legal, and post-production to complete financial and contractual obligations and ensure thorough handoffs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed