Most of my posts focus on me and my experience in making this movie. If you don’t know about the movie business, you probably read this blog and think that everything on the movie revolves around me. That was definitely the case during the writing and dealmaking stages, and that is still true to some extent, but now that we are on location and heavy into pre-production, it’s not really the case anymore.
At this point, I am just one cog in the machine that is producing this movie, and not even the most important cog. Not even close, actually. I am in the strange position of watching the pros go about their business, and oftentimes not having a lot to contribute. There are many other people doing a bunch of other work, most of it more important that what I am doing (at least right now). I want to highlight some of them so that if you have no experience with the movie business, you can get a vision of what’s going on.
I’ve already gone over the director and the casting director, so now let’s focus on some lesser-known jobs on a movie:
Line Producer: The LP on this movie is Darren Demetre, and when I think about not having him, or someone as good as him on the movie, I panic. There is SO MUCH specific knowledge you have to know about the actual mechanics and logistics of making a movie, and it is the line producer who is responsible for knowing all of it and making sure it works on the movie. If a movie were a rifle company, the producers would be the officers, and the line producer would be the first sergeant. He knows everything and makes everything run correctly, and it is the single hardest and most important below-the-line job on the movie.
Now, I knew all of this intellectually before we started making a movie, but watching it in action is something different entirely. Darren really does know fucking everything. He knows just about as much about film and cameras as the director and DP. He knows just about as much finance as the accountant and the producers. He knows just about as much production design as the production designer. He knows just as much about SAG and actor rules and whatever as the casting director. But not only does he know everything, he has to keep about 50+ different things going in his mind at once. He has to know everything that is going on with the movie at all times because he is responsible for it all working and being in the right place at the right time.
And most importantly, he is in charge of the budget. You don’t understand how all-encompassing the budget is on a movie until you work on one and realize that EVERY decision is ultimately a budgetary one. This is because you can spend an unlimited amount of money on a creative endeavor–and even a huge budget has a limit on it–so someone has to be in charge of saying no and being the bad guy and keeping shit on track. That is also the line producer’s job. Every idea or change or anything me or Nils or Bob or Sean have, the first thing we say is, “Let’s run this by Darren, see if we can make it work.”
There is nothing that can sink a movie faster than having a line producer who isn’t capable. It’s crazy how hard–and thankless–that job is. [More on line producers. And another thing to remember: Darren is doubling as the UPM on this movie, so it's like he is his own assistant.]
Production Designer: This person is responsible for everything you see on the movie that is not an actor. From Wikipedia, “Production designer is a term used in the movie and television industries to refer to the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production Designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the director and producer, they must select the settings and style to visually tell the story. From early in pre-production, the production designer collaborates with the director and director of photography to establish the visual feel and specific aesthetic needs of the project. The production designer guides key personnel in other departments such as the costume designer, the key hair and make-up stylists, the special effects director and the locations manager (among others) to establish a unified visual appearance to the film.”
Now go watch your favorite movie again. Everything in it–EVERYTHING–the production designer either selected themselves or had a hand in selecting, designing or making. The production designer on our movie is Eve Cauley and already Nils and I have spent hours with her, meticulously going over not just the general colors and themes of each character, but everything all the way down to the designs of the tablecloths in various scenes and what shoes the female characters are wearing.
At first you might think, “Why? Does it really matter that much?” In short, yes. Something has to go into every scene, and things don’t just appear magically on their own. Then, when you consider that movies are a VISUAL medium, then it starts to make more sense. Everything you see on film–every color, every object, every shape, everything–has to be part of the specific aesthetic of that scene, and it all has to fit together into the whole tapestry of the film. Well, it doesn’t have to be like that, but if you just leave it to chance or whatever, it will probably be fucked up. The mark of a great production designer, especially on a movie like this, is that you hardly notice the production design, It just seamlessly blends with the actors and dialogue and directing to create the appropriate emotional response from the audience. Many times, the difference between a great film and a good film is the production design.
Location Manager: Some movies are shot entirely on sound stages or closed environments, and so a location manager’s job is either non-existent or marginal. That is not the case on this movie. We are shooting everything on location, and not only that, we are shooting in a town that is still not used to having movies around, so this is a key position.
A location manager’s job is not just to make sure they find the right location for a scene, or they’d be called a “location finder.” Once the location is accepted, they have to negotiate the cost to rent it from the owner, then make ALL the arrangements for the location. They have to find parking for everyone, they have to find places to put all the trailers and equipment, they have to find places for us to eat, they have to make sure the crew follows all the rules for the location and don’t trash it, they have to run interference with any complaining neighbors, they have to make sure the air conditioning doesn’t come on during a shoot, they have to be friends with the cops and city officials to make sure all the permits and shit are cool–they have to do, know, and be responsible for EVERYTHING about the location. You never really notice the location manager unless they screw up, and if they screw up, it can completely fuck the entire production.
Our location manager is this Cajun guy named Russell, who I think might actually know everyone in Shreveport. You ever meet someone who just always seems to be able to get shit done, no matter what the occasion or situation or dilemma? Russell is one of those dudes. I get the impression he would be a disaster as an office worker, but is a dynamo in a non-traditional job like this one.
Producer: I know what you are thinking, “Aren’t you a producer, Tucker?” Yeah, sort of, but not in a traditional sense, so I am not including myself in this job description. I may be the person most responsible for this movie coming into existence, and I think I bring things to this film that almost no other person in Hollywood can bring to a film, but I am not a producer in the traditional sense.
A “real” producer is someone who understands the politics and social aspects of Hollywood, who understands the monetary and fiscal aspects of filmmaking, who understands how to balance the creative demands of the director and actors and production designer with the budgetary concerns of the line producer, someone who is emotionally intelligent enough to lead a large group of people and still understands the meta issues of distribution, financing, marketing, and other issues involved in the movie business.
This person isn’t really me (at least not yet). On this movie, it’s Sean McKittrick. Sean is a “real” producer–he started in Hollywood as an assistant, made his bones at New Line and then made his name by busting his ass to produce Donnie Darko (with Richard Kelly). I have only had a few opportunities to sit down with Sean and pick his brain, but even in that limited time I have learned a ton. There are just so many meta-issues to think of when making a movie, and so much of that knowledge you can’t read about or find on Google. Sean knows all that because he has not only worked inside the system for years, he’s succeeded both inside (at a major studio) and outside of it (as an independent producer). He has the experience that Nils and I don’t have, and is able to guide us in a way that is just so crucial. Nils and I may have all the creative ability on earth, but without a skilled guide, it is useless. Sean is that guide.
These are just a few of the jobs that I will take the time to try to explain; later on, I’ll go over other key roles, like the 1st AD, Gaffer, etc, once I work with them and actually see how hard their jobs are in person. It’s one thing to hear about it or read about it. It’s another to see them do their job and think to yourself, “Thank god this person is here. I could never do this. We’d be fucked without them.”
I have had that exact thought about ten times since I got to Shreveport.
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