Screenwriting: January 2010 Archives

At the upcoming Super Bowl in Miami, 22 players are absolutely necessary to play the game.  Apparently, 22 producers are absolutely necessary to make "Hesher" - an independent film premiering at the Sundance Film Festival (and just picked up for distribution by Newmarket) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman.

There's a fixed joke in Hollywood that you can't throw a rock without hitting a screenwriter.  It seems, for those of us inclined to throw rocks, you can't throw a rock at Sundance without hitting an independent film producer. 

What happens if, by some chance, "Hesher" gets nominated for an Academy Award next year.  Only three producers are allowed on the ballot and actually receive the award.  What happens to the other 19 and what is the process for weeding it down to three?  Wouldn't that be a great reality show?

And "Hesher" is not an isolated case.  It appears to be a trend. 

Here are three films that were at the Sundance Film Festival and the number of Producers that were necessary to produce them.

Hesher (22 Producers - including "Executive" and "Co"-Producers)

• Lucy Cooper
• Matthew Weaver
• Scott Prisand
• Natalie Portman
• Spencer Susser
• Johnny Lin
• Win Sheridan
• Jonathan Weisgal
• Wayne Chang
• Aleen Keshishian
• Annette Savitch
• Scot Armstrong
• Ravi Nandan
• Aaron Dowing
• Rob Ortiz
• Scott Kluge
• Jeff Davis
• Jay Rifkin
• Ari Ackerman
• Jay Franks
• Happy Walters
• Gina Kirkpatrick

The Kids Are All Right (starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo - 13 Producers)

• Gary Gilbert
• Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
• Celine Rattray
• Jordan Horowitz
• Daniela Taplin Lundberg
• Steven Saxton
• Ron Stein
• Christy Cashman
• Anne O'Shea
• Riva Marker
• Andrew Sawyer
• Neil Katz
• J. Todd Harris

The Romantics (starring Katie Holmes and Josh Duhamel - 11 Producers)

• Daniela Taplin Lundberg
• Jennifer Todd
• Suzanne Todd
• Michael Benaroya
• Taylor Kephart
• Galt Niederhoffer
• Katie Holmes
• Riva Marker
• Celine Rattray
• Pamela Hirsch
• Ron Stein

Look, I'm sure all these people played a vital role in their respective films' journey to the screen... or not (only those on the production really know what's going on here).  But a Producer credit used to be highly-coveted and very difficult to get - in most cases after years of paying dues and working up the cinematic ladder. 

Today, it seems, the credit is handed out like film festival swag.  Now, when I meet someone who says they are a producer on an independent film, I am inclined to say "Oh, really, what, did you deliver the food?"

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea