Who holds the power in Features and TV

After posting the last blog about the differences between features and TV I realized that there's still more to say -- 

Who controls their medium, how they control it and why. 

Features, as I mentioned before, are the big guys on the block. They get more money and more serious attention and go back over a hundred years. While TV was working in the mid 30's it didn't really catch on until the early 1950's. Color came in the mid 1960's.

Features are primarily a director's medium. The director is king and believe me, you get taken with that power quite easily. Anything you want or need is there in seconds, a coffee, a new chair, anything. You get driven around and your every wish, albeit realistic (although sometimes...) is taken care of.


I experienced this the first time I directed a feature, the oft-mentioned Ghostkeeper. Once when I sat by a crewmember at the bar (we were on location in the Rocky Mtns) and talked to him he said he'd never had a director who actually spoke to him in a casual situation. Since I had directed and produced hundreds of commercials, I had no illusions as to my status, I was and am an ordinary guy who lucked into extraordinary jobs.

But there was someone on the crew who wasn't a big fan. He was the 1st Assistant Director, a position that is second only to the director and his job is primarily to keep the show moving. He deals with handling the crew according to the director's wishes and pacing and schedule is everything to him.

This 1st felt he should be directing the movie as he had far more experience than me. And each day he would put down little caustic remarks in his log; "lost 15 minutes due to director indecision" etc. What he forgot is that my company was producing the movie so at the end of the day, his remarks went directly to me. This situation is rarely worked out, as egos figure into the equation and we had a few good arguments in front of the crew. Ultimately, he backed off, as I had the power to fire him.

Features also have big budgets and schedules, a big movie can shoot for 6 months while one episode of a series is done in 5-8 days.


The director has the power on a movie as he is the train engineer, he's driving, the rest of us follow. That is until he screws up. Most important is making the day, staying on schedule, followed by shooting good scenes although a good DP can cover for them. And the budget is most important, you take too long or spend too much money, you can be out and replaced faster than you know. It's not uncommon to replace the director but rarely happens.

The writer is sometimes dismissed when the studio hires another writer to replace them. Sometimes a handful of writers will take a shot at a screenplay for a feature before it's made. And more than often, a battle for credits ensues resulting in a panel of peers who have to read each draft and decide who should get the credit. It's not unusual for the original writer to just have a "story by" credit. Credits are important to writers as they determine residuals as well as provide a credit to their resume.  Often these panel decisions are met with heated arguments.


Good directors will often have the writer on set or nearby should a change be required. Insecure directors often don't want the writer around and the joke is that some directors don't like the writer on set because he/she is the only one who knows the director is faking it.


WGA rules state that a director cannot change anything in a screenplay (or script, the words are interchangeable for both TV and features) without permission from the writer. This happened to me only once, on Gentle Ben, when the company was filming in Lake Tahoe and I was 300 miles away in Los Angeles.

In some cases, the Producer is the power on the set and everywhere. These are usually huge egos and since they find the money, they are on set and watching as the director directs. I've been lucky to not have that situation in the 3 films I directed although dealt with it directing commercials.

The basic difference between features and TV is summed up like this; features are what you saw and TV is what you heard. Putting it clearer, you watch feature movies (Lawrence of Arabia, Avatar) and you listen to TV (Grey's Anatomy, CSI, etc). One medium is visual and one is talking.


Television is where the the writers rule TV. This could be dramas like Law&Order, comedies like Two and a Half Men, action shows like the CSI franchise and others.

The director is usually a paid employee who comes in, has a week of prep, does the show and then goes home. Since consistency is the heart of episodic, all directors pretty much film the episodes the same way and they are really nothing more than a traffic cop.

Having worked for months on the show, The DP and crew know how to shoot it and the director occasionally has a few ideas... pending writer approval. I always wondered how TV directors get nominated for one specific episode as compared to the others, which all look the same. I think it's more about the script for that particular episode than the way it was directed.

How did the writers get this power?

One simple thing. 

They can write.

Unlike a movie where one script is needed TV requires a new show every week, or at least 13 episodes, usually 26 in a year. And so that means 26 scripts for the same actors for the entire season. Again, consistency is needed; writers learn the strengths and weaknesses of individual actors and tune them as the show goes on.

It wasn't long  until writers realized they were the most important thing in the entire production. Nobody else could deliver a new script every week. And without a script you have a crew and director unemployed.

How many times do TV actors thank writers in speeches? Always.

How many times do they thank TV directors? Not nearly as much but often in features. Cher thanked her hair dresser for her award to which director Norman Jewison was rumoured to have said "at least she didn't do it all by herself".

Today there can be around 10 to 15 writers on some shows and they almost all use the deceiving titles of "executive producer, creative consultant, co-producer, producer, co-executive producer" and finally" written by". Ironically, there were only one or two writers in the "golden days" from the 1950's to 1970's and more freelance writers were used. 

When shooting TV series on studio lots, the writers are there on set everyday or when required and the director quietly goes about his job. It's also becoming common for a handful of directors who also share in the production and also have producer credits. Watch an episode of CSI and count the number of producers sometime.

And somewhere in the group credits is the real producer, the one who actually handles the money and makes sure each show is brought in on time and on budget. Sometimes it's one person, sometimes two or more.

Making movies and TV is an inexact science at best. The only rule is that rules change.

Maybe that's why I like it so much.

Coming soon:  F.U. money

Why me?

We've reached the point where those of you who know the business are saying, "ok, this is not very exciting at all, we though producer's lives are filled with parties at the Ivy and movie stars and expense accounts and cocaine".  And those of you who are not in the business are saying the same thing. 

This is the reality of producing a movie, if you've followed me since the beginning, you know what it really is like.  Boring as hell, phone calls unanswered, email forgotten, and cheap lunches at Chili John's or Carney's. Well, Chili John's is worth any lunch at the Ivy. Welcome to the life of a producer. Granted I'm not one of the big guys but you know what?

It's the same thing for him or her. 

You're trying to sell a dream to someone who doesn't want to dream, or to finance a dream. Unless it's a brand or a sequel or something based on toys.

One of my favorite stories is told by Paul Lynch, my director friend. He recounts going onto the set of the remake version of the classic film The Lost Horizon, the one where a lost explorer happens on Shangri-la, the perfect mountain paradise where nobody gets old. Ross Hunter was the producer of the remake in the 60's. He was known for the Doris Day/Rock Hudson romcoms (romantic comedies) and I'm sure I've lost at least half of you who don't know who I'm talking about. 

Regardless, Hunter was producing Lost Horizon.  Lynch had an invitation to come on set at the studio so he did and met the director and some actors.  As he stood around, someone suddenly appeared in front of him, Hunter.  This is something that happens on any film that you might drop into, the director or producer will suddenly appear in front of you.  I had this happen on a Robert Altman film once, a somewhat relaxed set with Cissy Spacek, and having directed, I know the feeling. You know immediately when someone new is on set and you feel obliged to find out who they are.  Altman liked me and I hung around drinking beer all day.

But Lynch was surprised to see the legendary Hollywood producer introduce himself. Lynch introduced himself, they exchanged "pleasantries" and Hunter learned Lynch was from Canada and said wonderful things about the country and then snapped his fingers and said "camera!" And immediately, a photographer appeared from out of nowhere and took 2 photos of Lynch and Hunter. Then Hunter was gone. Two weeks later Lynch received an 8x10 of him and Hunter with a signed autograph. 

So what's the  big deal? Those were the big producers, bigger than life. Everything was an event, it was magic, it was Hollywood. 

Those days are gone. Now it's just business. About as exciting as watching two bankers having lunch. There's no more romaticism, no excitement. Why? Because corporations have taken over the industry. Beancounters. The biggest excitement I get is taking Shirley to lunch.  Everything else happens from my little home office with phone calls and email. Mostly email. And besides the fact that I am making no money, rather spending it, there's one thing that travels through my mind every day.

Most odds are against me.

A large portion of the Writer's Guild are against me. My own people.  Of 8000 members I have around 28 who drop by now and then to read. 

Why? 

Maybe they don't like me. But 95% don't even know me. 

The one thing I know is that many writers just hate it when someone else gets a job. Hell, I even hate it. And now I'm even trying to PRODUCE a movie. That's usually left for fast-talking carpet salesmen, not writers. After all we are pure and honorable. And everyone knows producers are conmen and thieves. We are an odd lot, miscreants no doubt, dreamers and hopefuls. I only have a handful of friends who are writers, and we are very supportive of each other. And I'm sure that's the case for many others.

But producing is not a stretch for writers. If you watch series TV like the CSI franchise and the NCIS franchise and Law and Order, and sitcoms like Two and a half Men, you will notice anywhere from 5 to 15 credits for producers at the beginning of the shows. These are not producers in the larger sense, they are writers.

Why writers?

Because in TV, writers learned early that in episodic, you need a new episode every week. And while a movie script can take years to develop to filming, TV episodes gotta be there every week. So in the 70's, writers figured out to ask for producer credit. It's not like what I'm doing, trying to find money for one movie, in fact most writer-producers know very little about producing. They just write and rewrite the episodes.  

There's usually one or two real producers but all the rest of those 10 or so producer credits are basically gifts to writers. And  it comes with having a say in most matters.

But movies are different, and I will be the producer as well as the writer, but will be joined by other producers mainly due to the fact that it's not my money that I'll be using, and other producers or agents who bring in money will be getting producer credit. Or Executive Producer, or maybe co-producer. 

But the only real producers who do budgets, hire crew and actors and work constantly on the film, will be myself and most likely the Manitoba producer who is the gateway to the tax credit and a sizeable part of the financing.

So as the week-end begins, I am only too glad to see a boring week go by and I focus on next week and the emails I know are lurking, waiting to send me good things.


At least the weather is nice.

Blog 13: Financing the movie, where do you start?

You're looking at the cover of our proposal for Travel Day. It's also called a business plan as well as an investment circular, or a private offering. Some of these names require legal work, some don't but they're all the same thing...

A plea for money. 

Now that Shirley and I survived through the script notes and changes we now have to figure out how someone will give us nearly a million dollars to make Travel Day.  But first, a recommendation to anyone who tries this. 

Find someone to help you. 

It can be a lawyer or a friend, anyone who will be committed to the cause,  someone you trust and have faith in because they're gonna need it. In my case it was Shirley. Between us we had a writer, a producer,  a director, a graphic artist,  web techie, savvy movie software techie and many more incarnations.

And that's just between the two of us. Multiple talents come in handy when you have little money and big ambitions.

From the very beginning, Shirley and I decided we would be partners on this project. Whatever we do, it has to be approved by both of us, at least to the extent that we are still working alone. Once financing partners come in, it'll be a little harder, but we will remain partners on every decision we have to make.  It will be tested in the days and months to come, we both know that.

I have tried several times to get a film going with producers, but most of them fell out for one reason or another. Some producers make 5 or 6 calls and get rejected and drop the project, other producers make 20 calls and get nowhere.  And then there's the producer who doesn't quit until they get a positive call, or even a possibly positive call. 

That's the one you need to be, or need to find. If a producer has a day job, forget it, he or she doesn't need to find money, they get a paycheck every week.  And stay away from the big talkers with their 5-picture deals and promises to have the money in a month. Usually they've had a revolving table of scripts over a period of 20 years.

You need someone who's hungry, either for money or because they  want to make a movie they think will change the world. This isn't for  part-timers or slackers.

As you can imagine, it's a lonely job, as lonely as writing the screenplay.  As my friend, director Paul Lynch says, "what you want is a guy with a pocket full of quarters and a rolodex". Translation for the digital agers: Someone who has  names and phone numbers. I have been around long enough to know some of those guys with quarters in their pockets and who lament the loss of payphones. They were characters, some still exist, some of them still try to raise money for my other scripts.  But I'm not holding my breath. 

And that's why Shirley and I are partners, because from the beginning we both believed we could do what we said we could. Well, on the best days - don't approach me on a bad day. Seriously, if you want to get money for a movie from strangers, you have to dedicate yourself to the job, take the rejections, take the hang-ups and unreturned emails and just keep at it. We help each other and we push each other. Shirley can ask 5 questions in a minute and it keeps me on my feet, an answer to her is an answer to an investor. 

You need someone to believe in you because if you don't, it isn't going to be fun. And it has to be honest, you don't partner with someone who does what you do, you partner with someone who does things you can't or won't do. Besides screenwriting, directing, producing and camera work, I can do budgets and schedules on standard movie industry software like MM Budgeting and MM Scheduling. And I can come pretty damn close to a final budget. Even up to the muffins.

Hey, Mick Jagger counts the jelly beans backstage! 

Through the years I managed to learn how to write a proposal as good as anyone.  This includes business plans, proposals and even private offering prospectuses that passed the Securities Commission.  

Shirley brings an strong artistic quality to our work as well as computer expertise beyond mine.  She brought this blog into being instantly and then added elements I suggested.  We both laid out the pages of the proposal, incorporating the images with my text and her images in two versions, one hard copy for handout and one pdf  for email. And they were updated 7 times to date.  And she also has created, directed, filmed and edited short films that are festival quality. 

That's why I stress having someone who complements you (not compliments), someone who fills in for the things you can't do as well as you can fill in for them for the things they can't do. 

Belief in yourself is one thing, but others believing in you makes a commitment practically signed in blood.

And we haven't even started the proposal. Stay with us.


(next: Proposal Part 2: What's in the proposal?)

Blog 10: The Producer Pt 2

A few more short notes on producing.  As mentioned I am producer on Travel Day. While not common for a writer to produce, it has been done many times, especially in Television. If you look at movies pre-1980, most of them had one producer. An interesting phenomenon began to happen in the late 1980's up to now. 

First, when a big actor came on a movie, he/she often brought her agent or manager or dog handler and insisted on giving them an "Executive Producer" credit. Up to then, it was usually a studio or network executive who got the credit and it was more or less to keep an eye on the money. They rarely showed up on the set as they were busy on other productions.  

Then another event took place that changed credits once again, in a very different way. 

It was mostly due to less money being available to producers as studios began to cut their risks on smaller movies and focused more on big blockbusters. So many independent producers found they had to get "partners", primarily lawyers and money-raisers. Say your budget was $10 million, and you had only $5 million, well then you would have to find that other $5 million and you did this by looking for one or more hustlers or lawyers who could cough up that much. 

And these hustlers and lawyers  began to ask for credits -- title credits -- the names at the beginning of the movie. They brought in the money you needed, they want their names up on the big screen just like you.  

What happened after also changed movie credits. 

Since most or none of these "producers" knew much about making movies, they had to hire someone who did. This fell to the Production Manager, someone usually hired to run the day-to-day operation for the producer on a crew level. But then the PM as they are called, decided to ask for his/her credit.  And thus born was the "Line Producer". And they also get title credit. 

And since the other producers who weren't really producers opted for "Executive Producer", so that title once given to one studio exec was now handed out to anyone who could bring in a substantial amount of money to the movie cost or who the big star wanted to be one, like his workout coach (believe me this happened). Now it's not uncommon to see several Exec producers on a movie. In fact there were 20 producers, executive producers and co-producers on The Wicker Man, a remake of a movie that had one producer. 

And the original movie made more money.

I have allowed for one Executive Producer who would get a credit and facetime with the actors, the obligatory crew photo, maybe a car that's not being used and a whole muffin.  All this and a commission if they bring a portion of the budget. 

Like half.

(Coming Monday: The Director)