Posted by QuickReadAbout.com Staff in In the early days of the movie industry, the producer of a film had full control of the entire production process, including the creative process. Today, movie producers are still responsible for fund-raising, hiring key personnel, and arranging for distributors; but in the early days of film, the producer also had total creative control.
Creative control shifted to the director about the mid-1950s, when the Hollywood studio system was essentially dismantled by the Supreme Court. The Court ruled against the practice of movie studios having total control of the making of the film AND the distribution of the film AND the movie theaters that showed the film. Manipulative booking techniques were rampant. The court made the initial ruling in 1948, and it had been totally implemented by 1954.
The organization structure of film making today is much like that of any major corporation. The producer is the CEO and has the power to terminate the employment of the director. But the director has full control of the creative process of the making of the film.
The term “producer” is, of course, a rather general term. There are different kinds of producers.
The executive producer of a film is sometimes the CEO of the film studio, but the title “executive producer” is also sometimes given to a major investor in the film. The executive producer isn’t usually found on the movie set.
The term “producer” is the one that most people know of. The producer is has a great deal of “hands-on” involvement in the actual making of the film – not, however, in the creative decision-making.
You’ll see other types of producers listed in the credits: co-producer, associate producer, assistant producer, line producer, production supervisor, production manager, and administrative producer.
Sometimes after an actor has retired from acting, he or she will opt to become a producer. Some notable actors-turned-producers are Drew Barrymore, Mel Brooks, and Tom Cruise.