Friday, 12 April 2013

The Roles Played by Executives in Making Films

By William Bridendolph


In the process of making a major film project, there is an amazing number of people carrying out various tasks that are crucial to its completion. Besides directors, cinematographers, grips, and set designers, without the work of the film executives, most movies will never get made. Since filmmaking is still an very lucrative business, despite being a creative endeavor, there must always be highly capable executives for any film project to reap any measure of success. Therefore, every successful studio or production company must have a strong corps of executives to oversee the many business tasks that are so crucial to filmmaking.

In the majority of cases, the executive setup of a film studio or production company will basically be the same as those of other types of companies. Like other companies, there is the chief executive officer, the chief financial officer, and chief operating officer, and other important positions, like various vice presidents, beneath them. Though one would not expect it, a film executive does not necessarily need to know anything at all about the filmmaking process. The reason for this is that, whether it is the studio's CEO or a specific film's producer, an executive's main priority is a film's financing, along with all that goes into making profits.

By far, one of the more important executive roles is that of a film's executive producer. Whenever a film is approved and given financial backing, there will have to be an executive producer, who could also be a financier, to oversee the daily business aspects of the film's production. By making sure a film gets completed on schedule and within its allowed budget, the executive producer functions as the main protector of the studio's investment. Similarly, it is the job of the executive producer to work closely along with the director to keep the process moving smoothly, most notably when unexpected problems arise to derail the project. An executive producer must likewise ensure that any creative changes or developments remain within the scope of the project as originally approved.

Oftentimes, a given film might have multiple executive producers listed among the other executive positions. More and more there have been a number of movie directors simultaneously take on various executive roles for their film projects. Basically, in addition to having a savvy mind for business, all someone needs to be a film executive is financial and other resources, as well as solid and varied connections. Still, those that have an inside understanding of what directors, actors, and various crew members must go through should therefore have a better understanding of how to manage the film's various executive matters.

There is somewhat of a wide variety of reasons as to why people seek to become film executives. Film executives obviously get paid large sums of money, however, a good number of them just enjoy being an essential aspect of some creative process--and especially when they are not great creators themselves. There are countless numbers of resources available on the internet that will provide more information about the filmmaking process and the essential role that executives play in it.




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