HomeEntertainmentWhat Do Movie Producers...

What Do Movie Producers Do, Anyway?

 

And why do they get the trophy for best picture at the Oscars?

Do you have a question for our culture writers and editors? Ask us here.

Q: Why do the Oscars honor producers when a movie wins best film? What did they do exactly?

You’re confused for good reason: Producers themselves have a hard time describing their job.

“I do the impossible for the ungrateful,” one cracked when I asked. “You can learn it, but you can’t teach it,” another told me, referencing something the pro wrestler Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon used to say about his profession. One longtime producer advised me to abandon this assignment entirely. “Forget it, Jake — it’s Chinatown,” he said, using the classic movie line to sum up how difficult it is to demystify the work.

Such drama queens! Fine, conceded: Producing is a complicated, underappreciated job. But there are a few ways to think about the gig that help explain why producers — and not, say, directors — receive the best picture Oscar.

What a producer is, and isn’t

For the purpose of this discussion, toss out anyone credited on a film as an “executive producer” (someone who plays a big role early on, usually by securing funding and crucial rights). Only people credited as “producer” ultimately have the chance to win little gold statuettes.

Producers shepherd films from inception to screen. They identify film ideas, sometimes by reading books or news articles, and work with writers to develop scripts. They woo directors. Some secure funding and help find the right leaders for various departments — casting, production design, wardrobe. Producers also oversee budgets, location scouting and scheduling. They consult on marketing campaigns once a film is complete.

“Everyone produces differently,” said the producer David Hinojosa, a best picture nominee last year for “Past Lives” whose recent films include “Babygirl,” an erotic thriller, and “The Brutalist,” an epic immigrant drama.

“Fundamentally, though, the job is the same,” Hinojosa continued. “You are downloading into your DNA every aspect of the project — financial, logistical, emotional.”

Many producers (but not all) spend a lot of time on sets.

“I show up with my hose and my oxygen and my ax and am ready to fight any fire, to do whatever I have to do to protect a project,” said Peter Jaysen, a founder of Veritas Entertainment, one of the production companies behind “A Complete Unknown,” about Bob Dylan’s ascendance.

It can be a long haul. Jaysen said Veritas started work on “A Complete Unknown” in 2018, when HBO decided not to move forward with a different version of Dylan’s origin story.

How many producers does it take…

Individual producers haven’t always received the best picture prize. In the early decades of the Academy Awards, the honor (then called outstanding production) went to a company. Studio bosses — Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner and the like — were usually the ones who accepted and gave a speech.

Individual producers were first designated as nominees at the 1951 Oscars. Records at the academy’s Margaret Herrick Library indicate that there was “a lengthy discussion” among Oscar organizers about the adjustment but they do not offer a precise reason for the move. It probably had to do with the postwar breakdown of the studio system; three of the previous four winners for best picture had come from independent production companies or an overseas moviemaker.

Another rule change — how many producers can be awarded the top Oscar — was prompted by Harvey Weinstein. In 1999, five producers, the most ever, trotted to the stage to collect best picture trophies for “Shakespeare in Love.” Weinstein, the since-imprisoned Miramax co-founder, was among them, and he elbowed a colleague out of the way in a race for the microphone. Afterward, an embarrassed academy limited the number of producer nominees to three.

To winnow it down, the academy first relies on the Producers Guild of America: Which producers were the most involved? The guild has an elaborate vetting system that includes an appeals process. You can see which producers were chosen by looking at the on-screen credits; they get a “producer’s mark” next to their names that consists of the lowercase letters p.g.a.

The academy’s producers’ branch then makes a final ruling, including bending the three-nominee rule. In 2024, one best picture nominee, “Maestro,” had five producers authorized to receive hardware. (It lost to “Oppenheimer.”)

And the Oscar goes to …

Producing gets a bad rap because the duties are so vaguely defined and because so many people on the fringes of moviedom call themselves producers when they’re really just charlatans.

But since producers — genuine producers — have such all-encompassing responsibilities on films, maintaining faith even as doors slam in their faces (and working without much remuneration until relatively late in the process), their claim on the Oscar for best picture is a strong one.

“Producers ARE filmmakers,” the producer Mynette Louie (“Land Ho!”) wrote in November on Bluesky. “We are not financiers, executives, managers, agents, etc. We are creatives who also happen to be good at leading, organizing, logistics, business and math.”

“Please get it straight,” she concluded. “We’ve been doing this for well over 100 years.”

- A word from our sponsors -

spot_img

Most Popular

More from Author

Solo but not alone. Connecting through travel on Valentine’s Day, beyond.

Shakeemah Smith isn't staying at home on Valentine’s Day just because she’s single. "I'm...

Scientists find that things really do seem better in the morning

UCL study into mental health and wellbeing finds that people generally...

I got an ebike – and discovered a secret side of France

Free to explore my hilly corner of the countryside, I found...

- A word from our sponsors -

spot_img

Read Now

They met on vacation and became best friends. Then they recreated their favorite photo 30 years later

Friends Scott Behringer, George Gilbert and Tim Korber always refer to the 1994 beach picture of the three of them in Cabo San Lucas as their “iconic photo.” In the shot, the trio are standing side-by-side, arms crossed and baseball hats facing backward, their colorful swim shorts and...

Solo but not alone. Connecting through travel on Valentine’s Day, beyond.

Shakeemah Smith isn't staying at home on Valentine’s Day just because she’s single. "I'm going to treat myself to a weekend in Dubai,” said the solo travel expert known as The Passport Abuser on social media. “I'm going to be living my best life.” In a survey of 2,000 Americans last year, travel search...

Scientists find that things really do seem better in the morning

UCL study into mental health and wellbeing finds that people generally feel worse at night and on Sundays Nightmare day at work? Date stand you up? Don’t worry, things really will seem better in the morning. In the most comprehensive study of its kind, scientists have found that generally,...

I got an ebike – and discovered a secret side of France

Free to explore my hilly corner of the countryside, I found hidden paths to sacred springs, prehistoric monoliths, empty swimming holes … When I moved from London to a hilly area of rural France in 2017, I brought my bike with me. A faithful secondhand racer, it had served me...

The one change that worked: I took up ballet – and learned to live in the moment

Working long days as a corporate lawyer, I needed an exercise regime to get me out of my head. Reviving a childhood passion helped me reconnect with my body My earliest memories of ballet will be familiar to many childhood dancers: ribbons, shoe fittings, hairspray (lots of it)....

A Complete Unknown: how charity shop and Etsy finds completed iconic Dylan look

Film’s costume designer explains how a scarf made from a blanket and some custom-made Levi’s formed key part of Timothée Chalamet’s wardrobe It’s as central to Bob Dylan as a harmonica – it is, of course, a scarf, Dylan’s preferred accessory, and one that has become a go-to...

New Jeans เดินหน้าต่อ ประกาศเปลี่ยนชื่อวงเป็น NJZ เตรียมเปิดโชว์แรกที่ฮ่องกง

ก่อนหน้านี้ได้เป็นมหากาพย์ดราม่าสั่นสะเทือนวงการ K-POP ระหว่างค่าย HYBE กับ "มินฮีจิน (Min Hee Jin)" อดีต CEO ของ "ADOR" ซึ่งเป็นบริษัทในเครือของ HYBE ที่เป็นผู้สร้างวงเกิร์ลกรุ๊ปคลื่นลูกใหม่ "NewJeans (นิวจีนส์)" ที่ได้มีปัญหาดราม่าต่างๆ เกิดขึ้นมากมาย ซึ่ง 5 สาว NewJeans ได้ออกมาตั้งโต๊ะแถลงข่าวว่า NewJeans จะทำการยุติสัญญากับ ADOR ภายในเที่ยงคืนของวันที่ 29 พ.ย. 2024 พร้อมกับบอกว่า แม้ว่าอาจจะไม่สามารถใช้ชื่อ NewJeans ได้อีก แต่พวกเธอจะพยายามต่อสู้เพื่อรักษาสิทธิในชื่อวงต่อไป อีกทั้งบอกอีกว่า NewJeans มีแผนที่จะปล่อยเพลงใหม่และออกทัวร์รอบโลกในปีหน้า และถ้าเป็นไปได้ อยากร่วมงานกับ มินฮีจิน อดีต CEO ต่อไป และหลังจากที่แฟนๆ รอคอยกันมายาวนาน ล่าสุด (7 ก.พ....

Attention federal employees: It may be hard to get a private sector job right now

In an effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the Trump administration is prodding government employees to shift to the private sector for the next stage of their careers. But it may not be that simple. Eligible federal workers initially had until Thursday to accept the administration’s deferred...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants to bypass the Fed to lower interest rates

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has a new plan in the fight to bring down historically high interest rates, and it’s got nothing to do with the Federal Reserve. Bessent, in two interviews this week, said the Trump administration wants to focus on lowering long-term interest rates, which are...

Mr Nguyen Thang Long – The dream of elevating young designers at Global Student Fashion Week

In the Vietnamese fashion industry, Mr. Nguyen Thang Long is not only known as a passionate founder but also as a strong source of inspiration for the younger generation of designers. With firm belief in the talent and creative potential of young people, he has tirelessly worked...

Miss &Mister Celebrity Vietnam 2024 – Truong Thuy Trang & Doan Bao An – Image Representatives of GSFW

Truong Thuy Trang and Doan Bao An, winners of Miss & Mister Celebrity Vietnam 2024, have been appointed as Image Representatives for Global Student Fashion Week (GSFW) 2025. This marks a significant step in their careers while promoting Vietnamese fashion on the international stage. Truong Thuy Trang -...

นักวิจัยด้านความปลอดภัยพบช่องโหว่ในฐานข้อมูลของ DeepSeek

DeepSeek บริษัทสตาร์ทอัพด้านปัญญาประดิษฐ์ของจีน ถูกนักวิจัยด้านความปลอดภัยค้นพบช่องโหว่ ซึ่งเป็นข้อมูลการสนทนาและคีย์ลับ หรือ Secret Keys กว่า 1 ล้านรายการ สร้างความกังวลเกี่ยวกับความเป็นส่วนตัวและความปลอดภัยของข้อมูลผู้ใช้ นักวิจัยด้านความปลอดภัยจาก Wiz เปิดเผยว่าพวกเขาได้ค้นพบฐานข้อมูลสำคัญของ DeepSeek ที่เปิดเผยสู่สาธารณะโดยไม่มีการป้องกัน โดยข้อมูลที่พบประกอบไปด้วยประวัติการสนทนาของผู้ใช้งาน คีย์สำหรับยืนยันตัวตน API บันทึกระบบ และข้อมูลสำคัญอื่นๆ ซึ่งสามารถเข้าถึงได้โดยไม่มีข้อจำกัดใดๆ ทีมวิจัยของ Wiz ระบุว่าพวกเขาสามารถค้นพบฐานข้อมูลนี้ได้ภายในไม่กี่นาที โดยไม่ต้องผ่านกระบวนการยืนยันตัวตน ข้อมูลดังกล่าวถูกเก็บอยู่ในระบบจัดการข้อมูลโอเพ่นซอร์สที่เรียกว่า ClickHouse และมีบันทึกมากกว่า 1 ล้านรายการ Wiz ระบุว่าช่องโหว่นี้อาจทำให้แฮกเกอร์สามารถควบคุมฐานข้อมูลได้ทั้งหมด รวมถึงอาจเพิ่มสิทธิ์การเข้าถึงในระบบของ DeepSeek ได้ ซึ่งอาจนำไปสู่การโจมตีระบบภายในของบริษัท หลังจาก Wiz แจ้งเตือนเรื่องช่องโหว่ DeepSeek ได้ดำเนินการปิดฐานข้อมูลทันที อย่างไรก็ตาม ยังไม่มีข้อมูลแน่ชัดว่ามีใครเข้าถึงข้อมูลนี้ไปก่อนหน้าหรือไม่ นักวิจัยของ Wiz ให้สัมภาษณ์กับ Wired ว่าไม่แปลกใจเลยหากมีคนอื่นพบฐานข้อมูลนี้ก่อนพวกเขา เพราะมันถูกเปิดกว้างและค้นพบได้ง่ายมาก นอกจากนี้ พวกเขายังตั้งข้อสังเกตว่าระบบของ...