Producer vs. Executive Producer

[Gino Terribilini]

Who is more important? I'm trying to memorize film's Director, D.P., Screenwriter, and Producer, but i'm not sure if i should learn the names of Producers or Executive Producers. What do you think?

I'm just doing this for me. First off, i'm horrible with names, so i need to practice with them and I think this is a good exercise and second, i want to be able to talk to people about films and be able to compare styles.

Thanks!

[Keith Loh]

The Executive Producer is usually responsible for financing, acquiring rights or doing something responsible for securing the studio backing or other funding mechanism early on. They are the money bags. They can also be someone who was rewarded for brokering a deal necessary for getting the film made.

Certain Executive Producers may be more hands on with the project. George Lucas, for example, funds all the Star Wars films through Lucasfilm and is attentive in almost all respects of the project.

The Producer(s) comes on at the beginning of development to guide it from script to design through the entire production process. Both Producer and Executive producer may hire or fire everyone else involved in the development and production of the film. The Producer is the manager and creative director of the entire project. The creative output of the film is a negotiation between the Producer and the Director.

[Gino Terribilini]

I'm just confused because the first film i'm trying to learn about is Adaptation. Its screenwriter is Charlie Kaufman and he is one of the Executive Producers as well. The regular producers were three guys i had never heard of, so i'm not sure who i should pay more attention to.

[Rob Belics]

It can work the other way around, too, where you know the producer but not the executive producer.

Look at it this way, you give me a script and I think it's worth doing. So I option it from you and shop it around. Kevin Spacey and Nicole Kidmann see the script and sign on. I go to Spielberg who likes the package I present and bankrolls the picture.

Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Rob Belics

So my movie is a hit and I make a ton of money off it. Someone else gives me a script and I like it. I'm going to bankroll it myself but I got burned out producing the last film so I hire someone else to get the director, cast and crew together. I hire my cousin Joe Blow.

Executive Producer: Rob Belics
Producer: Joe Blow

[K. Forman]

I always knew that Joe Blow had a relative on the inside... It's Rob Belic! That explains how he always gets the killer jobs!

[Keith Loh]

<<<-- Originally posted by Gino Terribilini : I'm just confused because the first film i'm trying to learn about is Adaptation. Its screenwriter is Charlie Kaufman and he is one of the Executive Producers as well. The regular producers were three guys i had never heard of, so i'm not sure who i should pay more attention to. -->>>

You should have heard of at least Jonathan Demme who is an Academy Award-winnign director. (Silence of the Lambs).

[Rob Belics]

Joe Blow had a relative on the inside
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Yeah. Him, Thomas Lee and Alan Smithee.

[K. Forman]

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Belics : Joe Blow had a relative on the inside
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Yeah. Him, Thomas Lee and Alan Smithee. -->>>

Who?

[Rob Belics]

That's right.

[Gino Terribilini]

You should have heard of at least Jonathan Demme who is an Academy Award-winnign director. (Silence of the Lambs). -->>>

That's the whole point of this project... i'm horrible with names. :( Working on it, though. Slowly, but surely.

[Keith Loh]

I don't quite understand your project. Is this for school or just for yourself? What do you hope to get out of it? I think simply memorizing names will only help you win a trivia contest.

[Rob Belics]

Then he already lost. My son knows everybody. He'd even beat Kevin Bacon.

[Keith Loh]

This is how long I've been on boards. I remember when that whole Kevin Bacon game got started on rec.arts.movies on the Usenet.