ME as the Producer. I'm usually (in most cases) the first person on the picture. I come up with the idea, give the writer my notes, and look for a director. And casting and so on! If I didn't come up with the idea, and it's a picture I'm deeply interested in, I literally fight to be a part of it. I've optioned screenplays, short stories, etc, with the hopes of making something amazing out of them. In most cases, the option lapse, and I lose a bit financially.
But that's OK! I love doing this! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world right now!
Zanuck says "a producer, if he's doing his job, is the creative force. He doesn't tell the director how to direct but he hires the director, hires the writer and has picked the story. He's kind of the grand master of it all."
BOOKS THAT I'VE READ THAT HELPED ME AS A PRODUCER
- CLOSELY WATCHED FILMS; AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ART OF NARRATIVE FILM TECHNIQUE (Marilyn Fabe)
- FROM REEL TO DEAL (Dov S.-S. Simens)
- HIT & RUN (Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters)
- INDEPENDENT FEATURE FILM PRODUCTION (Gregory Goodell)
- SO YOU WANT TO BE A PRODUCER (Lawrence Turman)
- THE FILM PRODUCER (Paul N. Lazarus)
- AN EMPIRE OF THEIR OWN (Neal Gabler)
A FEW OF MY FAVORITE PRODUCERS (FOUNDERS OF THE BIG SIX ASIDE)
- Irving Thalberg (A Night at the Opera, Greed, The Divorcee)
- Richard D. Zanuck (Jaws, The Verdict, Deep Impact)
- David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind, Spellbound, Rebecca)
- Jerry Bruckheimer (Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, Bad Boys)
- Lawrence Turman (Larry) (The Graduate, The Great White Hope, The Thing)