4.4.13

The Role Movie Executives Have in the Making of Movies

By Kenneth Shingles


One of the largest segments of the entertainment industry is the movie business. There are thousands of films made each year, and they are all competing for the big box office dollars. To actually see a movie through from conception to completion is a truly Herculean task, and the amount of work and organization involved is impossible to understand unless you have made one. You must establish a filming crew consisting of hundreds of various jobs; every one of these unique jobs must be done well for a movie to turn out well. However, the job of movie executive is one position that must be done competently for any movie to even begin to be made. In this piece, we'll take a look at the jobs a movie executive does in order to get a film made.

A movie executive's biggest role in the filmmaking process is to locate the money necessary for making the film. It's incredible how quickly a film can spend money; there are huge crews to pay and feed, large blocks of equipment to purchase or rent, and editing costs start adding up very quickly. Movie executives acquire the money for a film in one of two ways: she may either have a production company for which she works that can be sold on a movie idea, or she can try contacting her vast network of rich financiers who may decide to fund a film they are particularly interested in. These are the people who "wine and dine" in order to get things done.

Since the movie executive holds the metaphorical purse strings, she is often responsible for some of the resulting look of the film and how it comes about. The movie's director will be in charge of most of the day-to-day decisions, of course; this is her main job.

When the director makes a certain decision or tries to create a scene that will overtly affect the finances or box office take of a film in a negative way, the movie executive will usually step in and offer suggestions for correcting the mistake. A movie executive will have a wide range of experience in all kinds of films, and this experience will come to bear on the overall aesthetic look of each film. With years of experience behind her, a movie executive will understand how to optimize movies in all kinds of genres; this can be used to streamline the direction of a film.

Movie executives must also handle the promotion of a film when it's finished. This involves utilizing all promotional avenues: posters, commercials, visits from the actors, and other related strategies.




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