A Citation

From "3D Game Programming All in One" by Kenneth C. Finney
p.12

Producer

A game producer is essentially the game project's leader. The producer will drow up and track the schedule, manage the people that do the hands-on development work, and manage the budget and expenditures. The producer may not know how to make any part of a game at all, but he is the one person on a game project who knows everything that is happening and why.

It's the producer who needs to poke the other developers in the ribs when they seem to be lagging. The producer needs to be aware when different members of the team are in need of some tool, knowledge, or resource and arrange to provide the team members with what they need.

Sometimes producers just need to spray a liberal dose of Ego-in-a-can to refresh a despondent developer who keeps smashing into the same brick wall over and over while the clock ticks down.

The producer will also be the interface for the team to the rest of the world, handling media queries, negotiating contracts and licences, and generally keeping the big noisy bothersome world off the backs of the development team.