A half-aware movie fan who fails to read the fine print might very well bust on Jeopardy if they said “Guillermo Del Toro and Luc Besson” in response to “The directors of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and Colombiana.”
Not only did they neglect to answer in the form of a question, they fell right into the marketing man’s trap. Both of these films have credited directors (Troy Nixey and Olivier Megaton, respectively), they both may have really cool names, but neither have the recognition or the clout of their more “mediable” producers who've been trotted out for interviews. This is certainly not the first time this has happened, but the coincidence of it happening on two films opening the same day is all the excuse you need to ask the question you’ve always wanted to ask: what exactly does a film producer do?
Unlike, say, the dude who slaps the slate down right before the director calls action (although, I hate to break it to you, on big budget films it is usually the first AD who calls action), the producer role is the one that shifts most production to production.
Luckily, you are talking to a guy who has two producer credits under his belt (check the IMDB if you doubt me), so this is an area I know a little bit about.
The Lucky Bastard With Rights:
A sketchy dude who normally works in real estate or commodities, or maybe is just one of those guys who hangs around art galleries. Somewhere along the way he befriended a writer and connived him into giving him the rights to his book, play or article. Depending on how shrewd he is, the studio lets him come to the set and say hi during the last week of production.
The Micro-budget Producer:
Usually found in New York City, this is one of the few producers
totally subservient to the director (Writer/Director, excuse me). This is
the person who secures locations, delays crew members payments when the
budget goes over, drives the van, begs the leading actress to come back
on set when she discovers the Frescas have gone flat and smears cream cheese on the bagels. He was
pitched the job from the independently wealthy director
(Writer/Director, excuse me) but winds up putting in for 25% of the
budget anyway. Also, sleeping with the director.
The Name Brands:
Here’s where Besson and Del Toro fit in, but also superstars like Steven Spielberg, who pump out movies about as frequently as I change the tank in my seltzer maker (a few times a year). This is a wide tent category. On one side you have Guillermo Del Toro, who fell in love with Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark when he was a kid, nurtured the project for years and handed it to a director with whom he worked very closely. On the other side... do you think Spielberg’s actually seen all three Transformers movies?
The Best Friend:
Every actor above a certain pay grade is a producer on their own films, fair enough, but someone’s got to sit in the development office and answer the phone, right? Hence, the old college roommate whose name appears right under the star’s in the credits.
The Studio Suit:
Rarely does this guy get his name in the credits, but, for many mainstream films, he’s actually the guy running the show. He’s the guy who green lit an independent, a lot producer’s pitch or found a script and developed it himself. Oftentimes his decisions will clash with a director who thinks of himself as an artist, but will later feel vindicated when a 10th anniversary director’s cut comes out that just makes the movie longer and more boring.
The Lot Producers:
These are the guys who have a little golf cart and drive past people dressed as Roman Centurions and Spacemen while they yell at their assistants about where they are going to lunch. Has three films in production at once - the highest grossing of which will be Air Bud 3D, punched up by five writers. One of which was devoted exclusively to finding opportunities for a cat to cover her eyes in exasperation.
So there you have it - I hope you've learned something about the process of film making.
