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| | | | | | | | | | | | | The Delicate Balance of Power in Producing a Movie
Football is a complicated sport. First, there's the coaching staff. A coaching staff will consist of the head coach, offensive and defensive coordinators, position coaches (like a coach dedicated specifically to working with running backs), and assistant coaches.
There are the players. These athletes on the field are the ultimate athletic specimens, a combination of size, strength, speed, and athletic skill. Essentially, it is up to these gifted athletes to execute plays and assignments designed on chalkboards by the great football minds who comprise a coaching staff.
Best-case scenario, highly experienced coaches craft a well-balanced attack on offense, a stifling defensive scheme, and the right mix of talent and chemistry on the field can execute the plan flawlessly. The key to success, however, lies in every individual's ability to know his or her role, their responsibilities, and the context of their role as it relates to a full team effort. The entire team shares the ultimate goal, just win baby.
A film production is no different. The producers are the coaches, the cast and crew their players. It is a producer's job to draft the game plan, and to hire the proper personnel to deliver. To extend the analogy, your director is your quarterback, the leader of the team, the driving force on the field, and the one who ultimately dictates the success or failure of the team's mission.
One of the biggest problems facing the producing crew on the "Stolen Summer" set was the ambiguity of the responsibility of the key players. Between Line Producer Pat Peach, Co-Producer Jeff Balis, and Unit Production Manager Christina, things fell through the cracks, and there was no shortage of finger pointing when it came to assigning blame. There were simply too many cooks in the kitchen, and no one was cooking the food.
Add to that, our quarterback had never played in a real game, and was hearing different things from all the coaches. Who do you believe? Where is your loyalty? Do all the coaches have the best interests of the quarterback in mind?
When a football team flounders, it is usually the head coach who shoulders the blame. If Chris Moore is considered the head coach, it makes more sense why he was so incensed with his support staff in the few days he was on set. If this was going to be a set in disarray for the next 25 days, Chris would ultimately shoulder the bulk of the blame. If Chris is considered to be the front office man or the General Manager, however, then who exactly is the head coach?
It seemed that toes were constantly being stepped on throughout this shoot. Clearly, Pat and Jeff butted heads constantly, to the extent that Pat would not tolerate Jeff engaging crewmembers in one-on-one conversation. Everything was someone else's fault in those difficult and harried days, and accountability was virtually nil.
Chris has oft discussed his producing style: no detail is too small for a producer, and while he believes in empowering his staff to make their own decisions, the adulation and the blame begins and ends with the Producer of the movie. Hence, every problem is his problem, no matter the size.
Some of Hollywood's most prolific and successful producers take a "don't sweat the small stuff" attitude, leaving the minutiae to those on the front lines each and every day. Was this Balis and Pat Peach's approach? Perhaps, but it simply did not jibe with Chris Moore. Could they have delivered a movie without the man watching over their shoulder? Probably. Could Pete have directed his movie without these three guys watching over him? Probably not.
At the root of the problem was that each man felt he was the day-to-day producer on the film, ostensibly the head coach. As Co-Producer, Jeff was entrusted by Chris Moore to run the everyday set. He was Chris's eyes and ears, and was to act as an extension of Chris when Chris was in Los Angeles. Jeff also acted as a strong creative sounding board for Pete Jones, and Pete came to rely heavily on Jeff's input concerning the narrative of the film.
Line Producer Pat Peach was the moneyman. His job was to make sure that the dollars and cents matched up with the rigid budget devised weeks earlier by him, Chris Moore, and Miramax.
Problem was that this was Jeff's first time working in this capacity on set, and Pat never fully got his head around Jeff's exact role. Pat probably felt as though he was in charge, certainly over a neophyte nearly 20 years his junior. To Pat, Jeff was the owner's son who was allowed to roam the set and feel as though he were in charge, but for no good reason.
Another presenting problem was that Chris made it clear to Jeff that Jeff was there because Chris trusted him. This allowed Jeff to feel as though he was the one truly representing the Producer, and not Pat. Of course, Chris was most likely a little less effusive with Pat, not necessarily divulging to Pat that Jeff was, in fact, the one he trusted.
In essence, the production had two head coaches trying to call the plays. Add to that, their quarterback did not always know who to listen to, nor did he always call the correct audibles when he was entrusted to do so. Both Jeff and Pat wanted to succeed, but both wanted to infuse their own style into the game plan. To be fair, the owner did little to dispel each coach's belief, and this ultimately presented a problem.
The harmony on any set is as much about managing personalities as it is about managing decisions. When a large number of people spend multiple hours together, tempers are expected to flair.
Chris was not in the daily grind to properly put out fires, and neither of the other two men had the objectivity to properly rectify the situation. But like is the case with a struggling team, owners will mix things up with the hope of producing a better result, and that is exactly what Chris had to do.
In an effort to balance the power and the egos on-set, one of the head coaches got yanked. Time will tell if this is what was needed to turn this team around. | | | |
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