A Film By... How does it sit with you?

Barry_Green said:
He was sued for not putting the director's name in front of the credits. Apparently they considered the "Lucasfilm Ltd" title card to count as having the director's name up front, but in Empire Lucas wasn't the director, so they SUED HIM $250,000 for that! So he paid Kershner's fine and quit the guild. And he's made the rest of his Star Wars films as "independent films", financing them himself so he isn't beholden to any studio system.
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Jeeez! That´s what we call a Kindergarten in Germany.
Looks like the guild and the unions behave like 6 year old girls.

And I thought we have excessive restrictions over here...
plemplem1.gif


Frank
 
Kubrick71 said:
I've always thought of the producer as the businessman aspect of filmmaking.
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That's correct -- the producer is the businessman in the filmmaking process.

That if he wanted to get into the creatives he'd write or direct.
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Not necessarily. I've got a fair set of skill in writing, and it's one of my favorite things to do, and I've done reasonably well in screenwriting contests at it, but I much prefer producing. And I have pretty much zero interest in directing. But making deals, packaging things, and making it all happen -- that can be a *very* creative process and is very rewarding when it all comes together. If I had more time, yes I'd love to be writing the screenplays that I would then produce, but ... not really practical right now.

Do you think these producers predominantly hire people to give creative ideas or hire them to execute his own creative ideas?
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Could be either, or it could be that the producer is inspired already by something like, oh, his favorite novel maybe, and wants to turn that into a film. Or maybe he just really enjoys tossing ideas around and developing them, and then hires a screenwriter to flesh it out and bring it to life.

Of course, there are also producers like Roger Corman out there, who want to make a film, and so he goes through his rolodex and finds a writer and says "I need a screenplay in 48 hours, it pays $2500. You in?" Doesn't necessarily even have a subject or a genre in mind, but he's got the equipment and he wants a film made. Doesn't really sound to me like Corman is all that interested in delving into the creative aspects of film, but he's made a LOOOOOT of movies.
 
Barry_Green said:
Yes, we're describing the US film industry here.

Europe is different, in large part because Europe has had (or may still have) large film commissions granting money directly to directors, so an active producer is not nearly so integral to the process of getting something made.
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Yeah, but Filmförderung (commissions) is a REAL " Shallow money trench where the wicked run rampant and good men die like dogs for no readily apparent reason - and then there is also the dark side of it"

Contrary to the name (film advancement) it is actually a Mafia who tries to keep ambitious and aspiring filmmakers out of the business instead of helping them.

You have to be part (director or producer) of three founded/granted productions, before you can ask them for a grant.

But if you did three halfway decent productions in one of those positions already, you probably don´t need that grant anymore - but get it almost automatically because you are a "member of the family" now.

Bottom line: If you need it, you don´t get it - if you get it you don´t really need it anymore.

The only way for an aspiring filmmaker over here is to prostitute himself to a producer or director who is part of the family - which almost always means, you loose most of your rights of the film (don´t get me into taking about money).

That really sucks. I´m preparing two feature film projects in the moment and I´m not a member of the family yet.

And yeah I feel dirty...

Frank
 
Shallow money trench where the wicked run rampant and good men die like dogs for no readily apparent reason - and then there is also the dark side of it

I am positively dying to know how this phrase looks in German.
 
Barry_Green said:
That's correct -- the producer is the businessman in the filmmaking process.


Not necessarily. I've got a fair set of skill in writing, and it's one of my favorite things to do, and I've done reasonably well in screenwriting contests at it, but I much prefer producing. And I have pretty much zero interest in directing. But making deals, packaging things, and making it all happen -- that can be a *very* creative process and is very rewarding when it all comes together. If I had more time, yes I'd love to be writing the screenplays that I would then produce, but ... not really practical right now.


Could be either, or it could be that the producer is inspired already by something like, oh, his favorite novel maybe, and wants to turn that into a film. Or maybe he just really enjoys tossing ideas around and developing them, and then hires a screenwriter to flesh it out and bring it to life.

Of course, there are also producers like Roger Corman out there, who want to make a film, and so he goes through his rolodex and finds a writer and says "I need a screenplay in 48 hours, it pays $2500. You in?" Doesn't necessarily even have a subject or a genre in mind, but he's got the equipment and he wants a film made. Doesn't really sound to me like Corman is all that interested in delving into the creative aspects of film, but he's made a LOOOOOT of movies.
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That was very enlightening. I could almost write a book on why so I'll just say - thank you.
 
IMHO, I say eliminate... film festival laurels, "a film by", and film makers that wear scarfs on the red carpet. :)
 
Sad Max said:
Shallow money trench where the wicked run rampant and good men die like dogs for no readily apparent reason - and then there is also the dark side of it

I am positively dying to know how this phrase looks in German.
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Ein seichter Graben voller Geld, wo die Niedertracht wild wuchert und gute Männer sinnlos sterben wie Hunde- und dann gibt es davon noch die dunkle Seite.

Frank
 
mrmoe said:
IMHO, I say eliminate... film festival laurels, "a film by", and film makers that wear scarfs on the red carpet. :)
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Went to a screening at the Starz FF last year for a film I worked on. It was part of a program of shorts. One of the directors was actually wearing a scarf with his elbow-patched corduroy jacket.

I had to crane my neck to make sure he wasn't wearing jodhpurs.

The laurels have lost all value for me, the "a film by" credit has typically become a place to assign blame for a bad movie, but the scarf makes me want to hang somebody.
 
Hmm. Laurels. That's another great topic. Who cares anymore unless it's a major festival?

Do they look pretentious plastered all over a poster?
 
If the throwback get-up somehow channels throwback directors like Wilder, Curtiz, Hawks and Wyler, I'll buy everybody jodhpurs. :beer:
 
Kholi said:
Hmm. Laurels. That's another great topic. Who cares anymore unless it's a major festival?

Do they look pretentious plastered all over a poster?
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Laurels are meaningless for 99.9% of movies goers and Film festivals have become step & repeat marketing events for advertisers that only a couple of thousand people will see. I would only consider a "film market" at this point.

Cheers
 
Barry_Green said:
But making deals, packaging things, and making it all happen -- that can be a *very* creative process and is very rewarding when it all comes together. If I had more time, yes I'd love to be writing the screenplays that I would then produce, but ... not really practical right now.


Could be either, or it could be that the producer is inspired already by something like, oh, his favorite novel maybe, and wants to turn that into a film. Or maybe he just really enjoys tossing ideas around and developing them, and then hires a screenwriter to flesh it out and bring it to life.
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To anyone interested in learning about the creative challenges of producing, I recommend Creative Producing from A to Z and Dov Simens' 2-Day Film School.

These together will at least give you a basic understanding of what a producer does. Maybe also throw in Getting The Money, on financing and writing business plans.

The producer is the film company's CEO. The producer, like the director, must be intimately involved in all creative decisions... but unlike the director, the producer is the one financially responsible for everything that happens.

If you've spent all of your time studying the creative side of filmmaking, like me, then learning about producing will be extremely beneficial. A few months ago I thought a business plan was something like, "We'll shoot it cheap and aim for Sundance." I never would have thought a business plan was a formal document.

I'm against the "A Film by..." credit, except in Horrigan's situation or in the way Sabi uses it. With that said, I'm pretty sure my first few short films said "A Film by Drew Ott." I just didn't even consider anybody else, I guess.

(To be clear, I'm just continuing on what Barry said, not talking to him. He's a kickass producer who knows infinitely more than me about the art.)
 
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