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Do you have a question for our culture writers and editors? <\/em>Ask us here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Q: Why do the Oscars honor producers when a movie wins best film? What did they do exactly?<\/strong><\/p>\n You\u2019re confused for good reason: Producers themselves have a hard time describing their job.<\/p>\n \u201cI do the impossible for the ungrateful,\u201d one cracked when I asked. \u201cYou can learn it, but you can\u2019t teach it,\u201d another told me, referencing something the pro wrestler Maurice \u201cMad Dog\u201d Vachon used to say about his profession. One longtime producer advised me to abandon this assignment entirely. \u201cForget it, Jake \u2014 it\u2019s Chinatown,\u201d he said, using the classic movie line to sum up how difficult it is to demystify the work.<\/p>\n Such drama queens! Fine, conceded: Producing is a complicated, underappreciated job. But there are<\/em> a few ways to think about the gig that help explain why producers \u2014 and not, say, directors \u2014 receive the best picture Oscar.<\/p>\n For the purpose of this discussion, toss out anyone credited on a film as an \u201cexecutive producer\u201d (someone who plays a big role early on, usually by securing funding and crucial rights). Only people credited as \u201cproducer\u201d ultimately have the chance to win little gold statuettes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Producers shepherd films from inception to screen. They identify film ideas, sometimes by reading books or news articles, and work with writers to develop scripts. They woo directors. Some secure funding and help find the right leaders for various departments \u2014 casting, production design, wardrobe. Producers also oversee budgets, location scouting and scheduling. They consult on marketing campaigns once a film is complete.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone produces differently,\u201d said the producer David Hinojosa, a best picture nominee last year for \u201cPast Lives\u201d whose recent films include \u201cBabygirl,\u201d an erotic thriller, and \u201cThe Brutalist<\/a>,\u201d an epic immigrant drama.<\/p>\n \u201cFundamentally, though, the job is the same,\u201d Hinojosa continued. \u201cYou are downloading into your DNA every aspect of the project \u2014 financial, logistical, emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n Many producers (but not all) spend a lot of time on sets.<\/p>\n \u201cI show up with my hose and my oxygen and my ax and am ready to fight any fire, to do whatever I have to do to protect a project,\u201d said Peter Jaysen, a founder of Veritas Entertainment, one of the production companies behind \u201cA Complete Unknown,\u201d about Bob Dylan\u2019s ascendance.<\/p>\n It can be a long haul. Jaysen said Veritas started work on \u201cA Complete Unknown\u201d in 2018, when HBO decided not to move forward with a different version of Dylan\u2019s origin story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Individual producers haven\u2019t always received the best picture prize. In the early decades of the Academy Awards, the honor (then called outstanding production) went to a company. Studio bosses \u2014 Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner and the like \u2014 were usually the ones who accepted and gave a speech.<\/p>\n Individual producers were first designated as nominees at the 1951 Oscars. Records at the academy\u2019s Margaret Herrick Library indicate that there was \u201ca lengthy discussion\u201d among Oscar organizers about the adjustment but they do not offer a precise reason for the move. It probably had to do with the postwar breakdown of the studio system; three of the previous four winners for best picture had come from independent production companies or an overseas moviemaker.<\/p>\n Another rule change \u2014 how many<\/em> producers can be awarded the top Oscar \u2014 was prompted by Harvey Weinstein<\/a>. In 1999, five producers, the most ever, trotted to the stage to collect best picture trophies for \u201cShakespeare in Love.\u201d Weinstein, the since-imprisoned Miramax co-founder, was among them, and he elbowed a colleague out of the way in a race for the microphone. Afterward, an embarrassed academy limited the number of producer nominees to three<\/a>.<\/p>\n To winnow it down, the academy first relies on the Producers Guild of America: Which producers were the most<\/em> involved? The guild has an elaborate vetting system that includes an appeals process. You can see which producers were chosen by looking at the on-screen credits<\/a>; they get a \u201cproducer\u2019s mark\u201d next to their names that consists of the lowercase letters p.g.a.<\/p>\n The academy\u2019s producers\u2019 branch then makes a final ruling, including bending the three-nominee rule. In 2024, one best picture nominee, \u201cMaestro,\u201d had five producers authorized to receive hardware. (It lost to \u201cOppenheimer.\u201d)<\/p>\n Producing gets a bad rap because the duties are so vaguely defined and because so many people on the fringes of moviedom call themselves producers when they\u2019re really just charlatans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But since producers \u2014 genuine<\/em> producers \u2014 have such all-encompassing responsibilities on films, maintaining faith even as doors slam in their faces (and working without much remuneration until relatively late in the process), their claim on the Oscar for best picture is a strong one.<\/p>\n \u201cProducers ARE filmmakers,\u201d the producer Mynette Louie (\u201cLand Ho!\u201d) wrote in November on Bluesky. \u201cWe are not financiers, executives, managers, agents, etc. We are creatives who also happen to be good at leading, organizing, logistics, business and math.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPlease get it straight,\u201d she concluded. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this for well over 100 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat a producer is, and isn\u2019t<\/h2>\n
How many producers does it take \u2026<\/h2>\n
And the Oscar goes to \u2026<\/h2>\n