2. The Movie Initiator
Section 1: Statement of the Argument or Thesis
The film industry constitutes of many different variables to create a good film. Even
though actors, actresses and directors are usually the ones getting all the attention and fame,
there are many other important people involved in the process of filmmaking. Executive
producers play a significant role in the film industry because they are in charge of financing a
film, following through with the creative process and handling all the aspects of development
and production. In essence, the executive producer is the soul of the film and the person
responsible for the film existing in the first place. Even though the role for most executive
producers across different projects appears to be consistent, it is not always the same. The role of
an executive producer is difficult to describe because it varies with every project, but inarguably
the role of executive producers is imperative to every movie project.
Section 1: Literature Review
Several studies (e.g., Meir, 2009; Broderick, 2005; Maltby, 1996) agree that the role of
executive producers is difficult to define because what they do varies with each project that they
are involved. According to Meir, most of what is written about executive producers is focused
around the conflicts between producers and directors (467). Meir believes that there is not much
3. information written about the producer’s role because of the narrow views of the role of the
producer. In his article, Meir focuses primarily on the career of Jeremy Thomas who has been a
very successful independent producer for the past three decades. Meir believes that Jeremy
Thomas has been extremely neglected within film studies because of his role as producer,
regardless of his great success. Meir appears to be bitter about how little importance has been
given to Jeremy regardless of his success and believes that the little that has been written about
him in film studies is biased and an inaccurate description of the role he has played in the
projects he has been involved. Meir does not believe that it would be accurate to describe
Jeremy’s work as a balance between his financial backers and his creative personnel nor a
producer with full creative control over the films that carry his name. Meir believes that
describing Jeremy Thomas as an auteur producer is not adequate, because he was not heavily
involved in the creative process of his projects and therefore trying to analyze a producer’s
career based on this would be extremely difficult. Meir believes that a more accurate way of
examining the career of a producer is based on their marketing, promotion and reception because
this constitutes to a more consistent pattern across films. Meir mentions that there is a big
difference between producers working in big production studios and independent producers like
Thomas who depend more in their ability to get their product ready to sell to financial backers
then subsequently to distributors in order to be able to keep working in the film industry.
According to Meir in order to become a successful independent movie producer a producer really
has to know how to sell his/her products because as a result that is how the distributors will
market the product. Overall, Meir wanted to demonstrate that the role of producers is very
versatile but there are many important roles that are very consistent across different projects like
that of their commercial strategy, their marketing practices and the way they may be involved in
4. the creative process. Meir solely focused on the work of one person and wanted to generalize the
work of most executive producers based on the work ethic of Jeremy Thomas. Even though it
was helpful to learn about the role of an executive producer that has been successful with movies
like The Last Emperor (1987), Sexy Beast (2000) and Naked Lunch (1990), it is impossible to say
that based on Jeremy’s work, a methodology for analyzing a producer’s body of work can be
created.
Furthermore, Broderick’s (2005) article also demonstrates that different executive
producers do different things. In her article, Broderick writes about what she discovered after
interviewing sixteen different film producers. The interviews were conducted to determine what
an executive movie producer does. Every executive movie producer had a different answer but
what most of them agreed on, is that they do not receive the credit they deserve. They all believe
that the executive producer is the soul of the movie and that “They are the unsung heroes of the
movie business” (98). Every executive producer had a favorite aspect of production, for example
Dino De Laurentiis mentioned that his favorite part is the creative aspect of movie production.
He enjoyed selecting the script, the screenwriter, the director and the cast. He also enjoyed
making the movie as well as being involved in the release of the film, creating trailers and even
promoting it and helping make the movie posters. Other executive producers like Lauren Schuler
Doner believe their job is to find the right material, work with the script then find a director that
is interested in the project and then a studio to finance the project. Broderick clearly
demonstrates that the job of an executive movie producer is different depending on the project.
Executive producers have to put on many hats, some believe that producers have to be involved
in the project every minute of the day; others believe executive producers have to have sense of
what is important and what is not as well as play the role of a trouble-shooter. Broderick does an
5. excellent job at demonstrating the different aspects that an executive movie producer may play
depending on the project they are involved in. Her article is also more reliable because it does
not focus solely on one person, the various different opinions of people that have first hand
experience as executive movie producers makes it a more reliable source of information. This
article does not contain a bias opinion because the author is simply asking different people what
their definition of executive producer is. This article does a great job at describing what an
executive movie producer may be involved in during a film project by providing excellent
detailed examples of real life events.
Another role that may vary depending on the executive producer is described by Barbara
Maltby (1996), who focused on the development and production of the film and how this can be
a very stressful time for the executive producer because things do not always go as smooth or as
planned. According to Maltby, “The story behind the production…is the almost daily
rollercoaster ride of good news followed by bad news followed by a ray of hope followed by a
sinking feeling followed by relief followed by unreturned phone calls” (40). Maltby had first
hand experience and uses the story of the production of the movie “The President Elopes” which
became the movie “The American President” to explain exactly what a movie producer does.
She talks about how money is the driving force of the narcissistic and insulated Hollywood
culture. In her article she mentions all the obstacles she had to go through to keep the project
running and how the movie business can drive a person to two complete opposites of an
emotional spectrum. Barbara mentions how in the movie business everything is constantly
changing and how things can be going great one day and completely awful the next. She recalls
how as an executive producer she was constantly bombarded with good and bad news such as
knowing the money for the film had finally been obtained and how easily the studio would pull
6. out and not have a financed film. Other news consisted of finally getting the right actors
committed to the film and then finding out they do not want to be a part of the project, as well as
having meetings confirmed to be later cancelled. Another important part of the movie business
that Barbara considers to be very difficult is to find good screenwriters because writing a good
script is very difficult to do. She mentions how an actor can easily decline a movie offer based
on a poor written script. Another main concern of the executive producer is to make sure the
movie they are producing is a marketable blockbuster hit that appeals to a mass audience. The
movie industry is particularly concerned with making a profit because ultimately a movie that
fails to find an audience can nearly wreck a studio. Barbara believes that independent filmmakers
have a greater leeway and luxury of freely exercising artistic intentions without worrying too
much about making an enormous profit. A great example of the difference between Hollywood
movies and Indie movies is written in the article by Gentile (2012) who interviewed executive
movie producer Nina Parikh, who was in charge of producing the indie movie “Ballast” and talks
about the creation of untraditional film in comparison to Hollywood film. Nina mentions the
importance of communication and teamwork particularly in the making of a film. Nina talks
about how her role as an executive producer for a small film differs from a major Hollywood
film, “So for me it began with finding and hiring the crew, working with an assistant director and
the director on scheduling, helping out with location scouting. You usually have a location
manager, but I worked with the director to finalize our locations, worked with the owners of
those properties to get contracts signed—all the things a location manager would do” (84). In
comparison to a major Hollywood film, executive producers play different roles. Nina mentions
how in Hollywood executive producers usually have other people do the job that executive
producers in indie films have to do themselves. However, Nina agrees that most executive
7. producers that are involved in the project have a common goal, which is “…to work with the
director to realize his vision, and then to coordinate all those hundreds of people to make that
vision happen” (85). Nina also mentions that sometimes the producer already has a vision of
what the movie will look like and other times it is the director that already has everything
planned and they both need to work collaboratively or be supportive of each other’s opinion.
Overall, both authors describe their own personal experience working with a big studio
production versus working in an independent film. Both Maltby and Nina had different
experiences but they were both however, very involved in the movie project. The experiences
they had are based on their personal experience, which does not necessarily apply to all
executive producers working in big studio productions or independent films, however they do
demonstrate how their role varies even in the development and production of a film. Contrary to
Jeremy Thomas who was more involved in the marketing of the film, Nina and Maltby can be
described as auteur movie producers. This further demonstrates that the role of an executive
movie producer is very versatile and it is no surprise that there is no definite definition for an
executive movie producer.
Also, Ceplair (2009) further describes how an executive producer’s role may be
influenced by the time, location and the country’s situation. Ceplair talks about Julian Blaustein
and what he did to succeed in Cold War Hollywood. It focuses on different aspects that lead this
movie producer to succeed against all odds like knowing what genre to select, reversing genre’s
traditions, having well-written scripts based on well-written printed sources, having great
directors and having an important theme. Ceplair describes the approach that Blaustein decided
to take after becoming an independent producer, or better said a unique independent producer in
1948. Blaustein, unlike many other executive producers decided that he did not want to establish
8. an independent production company. Blaustein decided to take a leap of faith by picking up a
couple of properties, working with writers to get some scripts and see where that would take him.
The main advantage that he did have was his agent Lew Wasserman, who was considered the
prince of packaging in Hollywood. Blaustein considered finding a good story the most difficult
part of filmmaking. He believed that a good story would be one that would make money but also
one that would give him a certain degree of artistic satisfaction. Ceplair describes that part of
Blautein’s success is also contributed to never being forced to use a story or an actor against his
wishes. He was also searching for movie projects that had not been made before or that had not
gained much popularity. Picking a good genre was also imperative to his success, and Blaustein
knew that very few science-fiction movies were produced therefore he saw this as an opportunity
for a new project. Blaustein would find stories or themes, and subsequently screenwriters that
would captivate the direction he wanted the script to take. Blaustein believed that this was very
important because he considered producers to be the “creator or co-creator of the concept and the
custodian of it all the way through the process” (263). Blaustein believed that a message of peace
in his movies would be very uplifting and important considering the time period that he was in.
After being heavily involved in the creation of the script and the message that he wanted to
convey, with the help of studio head Zanuck and screenwriter friend Edmund H. North, the
movie The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) was produced and released. Blaustein knew the type
of stories that would be successful, he was highly aware of the time period he was in and what
would work considering that he was in a time period that was difficult for the movie business.
Blaustein succeeded during the Cold War because he paid attention to what people wanted and
knew what he needed to give them in order to make his movies a hit. This is a reliable source
that although the information is not from a current time it gives an insight into what to do during
9. rough times in the economy. This article highlights how the making of a great movie has not
greatly changed over time. Ceplair’s article provides great information about what a movie
producer needs to focus on when he/she not only has to worry about the movie he/she is making
but also about the time, location and the country’s situation.
Section 3: Methodology/Critical Approach
For the purposes of this collaborative study of significant RTVF industry positions in
each field, the authors engaged in a collective investigation of what a single group of college
students in 2014 identified as the top professional positions in the relevant industries today. The
purpose of the project was three-fold: 1) to identify a body of professional positions on which
there was some consensus regarding importance; 2) to articulate what the nature of the duties of
each position are; 3) to analyze which position individual students found particularly valuable
and interesting, and to include information on professionals in those positions.
This project was undertaken by San José State University’s RTVF 183 course Critical
Study and Research in Spring 2014 led by Dr. Alison McKee. Initially, each member of the
class was instructed to compile a list of 10 positions that he or she would be willing to defend as
representing key positions in RTVF fields. The lists included summaries of the relevant duties
and cited examples of people who hold or have held such positions. Approximately 74 positions
were reflected in the lists of 31 registered class members. Their reasons for selecting these
positions included (but were not limited to) issues of writing, directing, producing,
cinematography, production design/mise-en-scène, editing, sound and music, technology, visual
effects, acting, context, significance, impact and influence, and marketing and promotion. To
determine additional parameters of the research project, Dr. McKee and the class held an online
discussion to explore opinions and options. Students were also asked to select one position from
10. their own top ten lists and engage in a literature search around that title. Approximately two
thirds of the way through the semester, using the master list of 74 positions, students voted on
the positions that were of most interest to them, each student casting five votes . The voting and
tallying were conducted in person by Dr. McKee and student Sarah Ragent. The top positions
broke down as follows: Director (15 votes); Cinematographer (12 votes); Editor (8 votes);
Screenwriter, Assistant Director, Casting Director (tied with seven votes); Executive Producer,
Camera Operator (tied with 6 votes).
Students were then asked to write about a single specific RTVF position (exceptions were
made for one non-RTVF major who preferred to focus in a position in a different field). Students
were free to focus on a position from the master list of positions that was of most interest to
them, using relevant secondary literature and other reliable sources to guide their analysis of that
position and specific examples of one or more people who hold or have held those positions.
Dr. McKee and RTVF 183 students who were present in class on April 2 and/or 7 to
participate in the collective writing and editing process jointly produced this methodology
section of students’ papers.
Section 4: Analysis of Individual RTVF Industry Position
One of the main responsibilities of Producers is to finance a movie. They are in charge of
building relationships with financiers, distributors, marketers, and promoters. According to
Barbara Maltby, “First, you need to find a good piece of material. It could be a book, a treatment,
or an already existing screenplay” (34) to sell to the studio. When the script has been finalized
the producer arranges to purchase the legal ownership rights. To provide funding for the
production cost the producer may contact financial investors and offer shares of the movies
profit. Since the Executive producers are in charge of the finances they have to clearly
11. communicate what the limitations are to anyone involved in the project. People in the business
care about the quality of their work, producers, directors, actors, writers want to create a break
for themselves and as a result sometimes they want to do more than they should. This is when an
executive producer steps in to reinstate the limitations of the project to deliver the project on time
and on budget.
Once the Producers have gotten the financing, they let the studio know who will be
involved in the project. Planning a budget starts when the producers finds out how much funding
the movie has. The budget is spread out by paying for advertising, location, cast crew, food and
any other additional cost. The producer uses his judgment on what is the best way to spend the
money. He/ She may decide to spend less on a location but spend more money on a famous
director or actor hoping that attracts more moviegoers and increases profit because of the big
names. According to Suzanne Broderick “She feels her job is to find the material, work with the
script, attract a director and a studio to finance. Once production starts, “I am there to solve
problems . . . come up with an idea to make the film funnier or go faster. At the end of the shoot,
I get involved in the cutting room and with the editing, music and video effects, marketing and
distribution. To be successful, you have to wear many hats. A producer’s job is to have a sense
of what is important and what is not” (99). After making sure the financing part has been taken
care of, the executive producer then focuses on the creative process as well as the development
and production of the film.
Another main role of an executive producer is to follow through with the creative process
of the movie. The executive producer is heavily involved in the process of making sure the right
people are involved in the project. Once the executive producer has gotten the film financed,
their main role is to have written agreements with the creative partners about what their roles will
12. be, how much they will be getting paid, the credits they will receive and if there will be any
profit participation. According to Gail Resnik the role of an executive producer can vary from
project to project but in general, “For those people who actively produce, this can mean any
number of activities, such a hiring the writer to write the original screenplay, selling the script to
the studio, courting and singing the major creative talent, doing the budget, making sure the sets
get made on time, hiring the crew, even making sure the cast and crew make it over the border
for a foreign shoot” (38). After the hiring process, the executive producer has already agreed on
what each person will do and their main role thereafter would be to be as supportive as possible
as well as bringing their talents’ abilities into insight. Executive producers have to also worry
about hiring the right talent for the film because according to Andrew J. Weaver movie
producers have to be careful with the type of cast they select because that has a great impact on
the number and type of people that decide to watch their movies. In his article "The Role Of
Actors' Race In White Audiences' Selective Exposure to Movies." Weaver conducted
experiments, which revealed that racial makeup of a cast does have an influence on White
audiences' selective exposure to movies. For nonromantic movies, race did not have an impact
on the number of moviegoers however for romantic movies, regardless of racial attitudes, White
participants demonstrated less interest in watching movies that included a mainly Black cast in
comparison to movies whose cast was primarily White. The producer has many variables to
focus on to make sure a movie is successful and even though the producer does not necessarily
have to know about the specifics of filmmaking, according to Lawrence Turman “The producer
is a generalist. He really has to know less about the specifics of filmmaking than any of the other
crafts, less than a director, less than a script supervisor, less than an art director, a grip. A
producer, if he can afford it, can just dream about a movie and go about those long months of
13. getting it on” (51). The executive producer has to know how to manage the people involved in
the project and learn how to keep them motivated and focused on keeping the vision of the film
without necessarily being hands on in the creative process. The executive producer has the
ability to decide exactly how he/she wants the movie to be made since it is thanks to them that
the movie is being produced in the first place. Turman describes how incredible it is to be an
executive producer “Boy, what fun to decide whether a picture should be made, to decide or
influence a decision that something should be done this way instead of that way, and to see if I
can get this artistic quality here within the framework of that kind of budget money there” (2).
Even though executive producers have the final say, they work collaboratively with the other
crewmembers to create a visually pleasant and entertaining movie by sharing visual ideas and
incorporating new creative elements to the film. Once the film has been financed and all the
responsibilities of the film have been assigned, the executive producer focuses on the
development and production of the film. This can be a very stressful time for the executive
producer because things do not always go as smooth or as planned.
Some of the most influential executive producers are Steven Spielberg, he is one of the
most well known and successful producers in Hollywood with countless big grossing and
critically acclaimed films as well as Jerry Bruckheimer who is very well known for his
explosive, machine-gun fire movies like Top Gun (1986), and Days of Thunder (1990). There are
many other executive producers like Harvey Weinstein (The Hateful Eight), Martin Scorsese
(Revenge of the Green Dragons), Donald Kushner (TRON: Legacy), Paul Deason (Pirate of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), Bruce Hendricks (Pirate of the Caribbean: Dead
Man’s Chest), Mike Stenson (Black Hawk Down).
Section 5: Conclusions and Directions for Future Research
14. Overall, it is difficult to come up with one definition to describe the role of executive
producers. Executive producers have a very complex role when it comes to being involved in a
movie project. They may be involved in only one aspect of the film, like finding a way to finance
the project, to being involved in the creative process, as well as the development and production
of a film. It is no surprise that finding information about the role of executive producers may be
difficult and confusing because every source of information may provide a different definition. It
is important to realize that an executive movie producer plays a very significant role in the movie
business because he/she is the driving force that turns an idea or a story into a film. Executive
movie producers are cross-functional team players; they work with the screenwriters, directors,
actors and many other people involved in the movie project. Executive movie producers take on
many hats to make sure the movie is finished on time and within budget. Although it was
interesting to find out what an executive movie producer does, it became very frustrating trying
to find articles that focused solely on executive producers because even the role of producer can
be divided into different types of producers. It was difficult to differentiate between an associate
producer versus an executive producer versus an assistant producer because sometimes an
executive producer takes on all those roles depending on the project. I was surprised to find out
there are so many different job titles for a producer because many times we do not hear about
them or they are not given the credit they deserve. For future research there should be more
articles describing the differences between them and why some people may take on that many
roles at a time and only get credit for one thing. There are many executive producers but only
few are well known to the public, they are sadly not as famous as actors or movie directors. Even
though it was difficult to find information solely on executive producers, I read many articles
that gave me a better understanding of a movie producer as a whole. Overall, I learned that
15. executive movie producers do more than just worry about the budget of the movie. Executive
producers may be involved in almost every aspect of the film and they are clearly a very
important part of the film industry.
16. Works Cited
Broderick, Suzanne. "Movie Moguls Speak: Interviews With Top Film Producers." Film &
History (03603695) 35.2 (2005): 98-99. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Apr.
2014.
Ceplair, Larry. "Julian Blaustein: An Unusual Movie Producer In Cold War Hollywood." Film
History 21.3 (2009): 257-275. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 10 Apr.
2014.
Gentile, Phillip. "An Interview With Mississippi Film Producer Nina Parikh." Southern
Quarterly 49.2/3 (2012): 82-101. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 10 Apr.
2014.
Maltby, Barbara. "What Do Movie Producers Do?." American Scholar 65.(1996): 31-43.
OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Meir, Christopher. "The Producer As Salesman: Jeremy Thomas, Film Promotion And
Contemporary Transnational Independent Cinema." Historical Journal Of Film, Radio &
Television 29.4 (2009): 467-481. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 7 May
2014.
Resnik, Gail, and Scott Trost. All You Need to Know About the Movie and TV Business. New
York: Touchstone, 1996. Print.
Turman, Lawrence. So You Want to Be a Producer. Ney York: Three Rivers Press, 2005.
Print.
17. Weaver, Andrew J. "The Role Of Actors' Race In White Audiences' Selective Exposure to
Movies." Journal of Communication 61.2 (2011): 369-385. Communication & Mass
Media Complete. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
