What is a Consulting Producer?

What Does a Consulting Producer Do on a TV Show?

On a scripted series the job is senior writing work:

• Breaking story. Working through season arcs and episode outlines with the showrunner and the room. TV outlines are detailed, with scene headings, locations, times and paragraphs of story, so first drafts can be written fast.
• Pitching fixes. When a beat or draft is not working, offering an alternative instead of only flagging the problem. Writer Jason Hellerman, a consulting producer on Roku's The Holiday Shift, names this as one of the big lessons of the room.
• Writing and rewriting. Drafting assigned episodes and punching up other writers' scripts.
• Bringing the specialty they were hired for. A genre, a comedic voice, subject knowledge, or experience on a comparable series.
• Producing on set, when the deal includes it. Hellerman notes that without the 2023 WGA strike he would have spent significant time on set working with the director and actors.

What a Consulting Producer Usually Does Not Do

A consulting producer does not run the writers' room or hold final creative say; that belongs to the showrunner and the executive producers. The physical production, its budget and its crew, sits with the line producer and the unit production manager. On unscripted series the title follows one area of the show rather than the whole series.

Consulting Producer vs. Executive, Co-Executive and Supervising Producer

• Executive producer: runs or owns the show. On a scripted series, Snodgrass notes, "The writer/creator of the show always has that title."
• Co-executive producer: one step below the executive producers, with more authority and pay than the ranks below but still subordinate to them.
• Supervising producer: a senior rung on the writing staff below co-executive producer.
• Consulting producer: comparable seniority to these upper ranks, but off the ladder and often limited in time or scope.

For how producer titles differ across TV more broadly, see what does a TV producer do.

Skills a Consulting Producer Needs

• Fast, detailed outlining. The room's main output is the outline. A consulting producer is expected to turn a rough idea into scene-by-scene structure quickly and to write a usable first draft from it.
• Writing in the showrunner's voice. The job is to serve someone else's show. Hellerman describes the room as "fellow creative people all working to service the showrunner's vision."
• Room craft. Knowing when to pitch, when to build on a colleague's pitch, and how to bring a fix along with every note.
• A clear specialty. A part-time senior writer is worth the credit when they bring something the staff lacks: a genre, a voice, subject expertise or experience on a similar show.
• Producing judgment. When the deal covers producing their own episodes, the same casting, tone and editorial instincts any writer-producer needs on set and in post.

How Much Does a Consulting Producer Make?

There is no published rate for the title itself. Pay is negotiated by the writer's representatives and depends on the writer's past deals and the show. Two things shape the deal:

• WGA minimums for the writing. On a series produced under the Writers Guild of America's Minimum Basic Agreement, the writing a consulting producer does is covered work, so it cannot be paid below the WGA Schedule of Minimums. The producer title and anything above scale are negotiated on top.
• Per-episode fees. Snodgrass notes that from co-producer upward, TV writer-producers are paid on a per-episode basis and are paid separately for their scripts.

BLS Benchmark: Producers and Directors

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not track consulting producers separately. The closest occupation, Producers and Directors (SOC 27-2012), had a median annual wage of $90,360 across all industries in May 2025. In the motion picture and video industries the median was $105,300 and the mean $133,970. These figures cover every kind of producer and director, from local TV to features, so treat them as context rather than a rate for the credit.

Budgeting a Consulting Producer

A consulting producer is an above-the-line cost. Budget the deal as its own line in the producers or writers account: the per-episode fee multiplied by the episodes it covers, plus fringes if the writer is engaged as a WGA employee. In Saturation you can build that line once in a TV series budget, let the fringes calculate from it, and post actuals against the same line as episodes deliver.

What is a consulting producer on a TV show?

On a scripted TV series, a consulting producer is usually an experienced writer who works in the writers' room breaking story, pitching, and writing or rewriting episodes without running the show. Depending on the deal, the role can be full time or limited to certain days or episodes.

Is a consulting producer higher than a producer?

Often, but not by rule. The credit sits outside the standard writing-staff ladder, and writers who hold it are usually at producer level or above. TV writer Melinda Snodgrass describes receiving it in place of a co-executive producer title when that title was contractually unavailable on a show.

What is the difference between a consulting producer and an executive producer?

An executive producer runs or owns the show, and on a scripted series the creator and showrunner hold that title and have final creative say. A consulting producer contributes as a senior writer but does not run the room or make the final calls.

Does a consulting producer write episodes?

On scripted TV, usually yes. Writing is the core of the job: breaking story in the room, drafting assigned episodes and rewriting other drafts. How many scripts they write depends on whether they are on staff full time or brought in for part of a season.

How much does a consulting producer make?

There is no standard rate for the title. On a Writers Guild series, the writing work cannot be paid below the WGA Schedule of Minimums, and senior writer-producers are typically paid per episode plus script fees. For context, the BLS reports a May 2025 median annual wage of $105,300 for producers and directors in the motion picture and video industries.

What does a consulting producer do on a reality or documentary show?

In non-fiction TV, the Producers Guild of America lists Consulting Producer among the titles that can apply to a segment-level producer who oversees one specific component of a series. The duties follow that component rather than the whole show.

Is consulting producer a credit in film too?

Yes, but without a standard definition. On features the title is negotiated deal by deal and can describe anything from a hands-on creative advisor to a largely honorary credit, so the contract defines the job.

How Do You Become a Consulting Producer?

There is no degree requirement. The credit goes to writers with a track record, so the path is a writing career:

1. Build credits as a writer. Many reach the title by climbing a TV writing staff from staff writer and story editor; others arrive as established feature or comedy writers brought in at a senior level.
2. Write material showrunners can read. Jason Hellerman spent about a decade on spec scripts, optioned pilots and talk-show jokes after moving to Los Angeles in 2012, then was hired as consulting producer on The Holiday Shift by a creator he had worked alongside for years.
3. Develop a specialty. A genre, a voice or subject expertise is what makes a senior writer worth bringing in for part of a season.
4. Learn how a room works. Assistant jobs, talk and variety writing, and staff jobs are where writers learn to outline fast and pitch fixes.

Does a Film or Screenwriting Degree Help?

It can. Screenwriting BFA and MFA programs give writers time to build a portfolio and a network, and Hellerman holds an MFA in screenwriting. But showrunners hire from produced and read work, not from transcripts, so the degree is optional.