What does a movie producer do?

When the best picture winner was announced at the Oscars on Sunday, (after press time, so see next week’s entertainment section to find out who won) the statues will go to the film’s producers. Fundamentally, it’s the producers who got the film made.

But what does that even mean? It’s not hard to suss out what a director does — or a costume designer, or a screenwriter or an editor. But a producer? What does a producer actually do?

“I get this question all the time and I can answer it differently every time because every project is different,” said Robert Teitel, a longtime producer and Chicago native whose credits include the movies “Soul Food,” the “Barbershop” franchise and most recently “The Hate U Give.”

“I use a sports analogy,” he said. “The studio or whoever finances the movie is the team owner. The director is the coach. The star is your star athlete. And the producer is the general manager. If you use the Cubs as an example, I’m Theo Epstein. I put it all together, while staying in the background.”

According to the Producers Guild of America, “produced by” is the highest producing credit on a movie and it goes to the person (sometimes multiple people) most responsible for a film’s production, from soup to nuts. Here’s what that entails: Conceiving the movie’s premise, or securing the rights to a movie’s source material (a script or book to be adapted or someone’s life rights).

Lining up initial financing.

If there’s no script, hiring a screenwriter to bring the story to life and then working with that writer though a development process, which might mean bringing more writers on to the project.

When the script is ready, hiring the creative team — which includes the director, cast and crew department heads.

Once filming begins, supervising the day-to-day operations on set.

And when the film is in post-production, working with the creative team on that end (editor, composer, visual effects supervisor), as well as people on the business side who are focused on marketing and distributing the movie. That’s a lot to juggle.

“Either way, if I’ve conceptually come up with the idea or I found the material, I’m handing over the reins to the director because the director has to take charge,” said Teitel. “Theo Epstein isn’t telling Joe Maddon what plays to call or who to have pitch in the 9th inning. It’s the same for a producer.”

But wait: Directors are sometimes producers as well. At Teitel’s production company, State Street Pictures, his longtime collaborator and business partner George Tillman Jr. often produces and directs their projects, as was the case with “The Hate U Give.”

“If a director has a producer credit, it means they were more involved than just being a director — they were part of the whole process,” said Teitel.

“You can be a director-for-hire; some directors just come in when the movie is already cast and moving along. And some directors just want to stick to being a director — it’s hard enough to do what they do. But sometimes they contribute more than just being a director, they contribute as a producer. What you have to look at is, conceptually how did the project come in? Did that director write the script? Did that director put it together? Did that director find the material? Did that director find the studio? Or was that director hired later on in the process? Every movie’s different. And a lot of times directors are partners with a producer, like me and George — not on every movie, but a lot of movies.”

Let’s look at this year’s Oscar nominees that were up for Sunday’s award. Of the eight films up for best picture, six include the film’s director as a producer: Spike Lee for “BlacKkKlansman,” Yorgos Lanthimos for “The Favourite,” Peter Farrelly for “Green Book,” Alfonso Cuarón for “Roma,” Bradley Cooper for “A Star Is Born” and Adam McKay for “Vice.”

The exceptions are “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Black Panther.”

The majority of “Bohemian Rhapsody” was directed by Bryan Singer, who was fired from the film for not showing up to set for days, in addition to the clashes he had with star Rami Malek and the crew. Singer has also been accused of multiple incidents of sexual assault, allegations of which are detailed in a recent story in the Atlantic.

In the case of “Black Panther,” director Ryan Coogler not having a producer credit is consistent with all of Marvel’s films — no director has a “produced by” credit. Kevin Feige, president of production for Marvel Studios, is the nominated producer for “Black Panther.”

So: “Produced by” (aka producer) is the key title to look for when it comes to determining who did the bulk of the work to get a movie made.