re: .

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Producer can mean literally anything, including, "we don't want to pay you, so we'll give you a producer credit."

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And the director's guild was notoriously picky about allowing "co-director" credits until very recently - recognizing things like the Coen Brothers traditional partnership.

So, the Speilberg/Lucas team - that would be another example.

Now, having said that - "Executive Producer" does, sort of, imply the money - either putting it up, watching the big ticket budget items, managing the money for the money folks, etc. Not always, but most commonly.

Plain "producer" credit, as you suggest can mean literally anything they want it to mean. Somewhat commonly, it is the detail guy/gal who handles a lot of the day-to-day coordination so the director can focus on shooting the film.

And, for example, another picky guild, the writer's guild - if you don't write enough of the script to get a writing credit, but you didn't draft the original story, either, they drop you down to a "producer" credit, as well.