# Why does it seem there are dozens of executive producers for a show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061 "2017-03-13T04:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/1 "2017-03-13T04:22:35Z")
First, I’m not entirely sure what the difference is between a producer, director, casting agent, etc. Any movie I can recall off the top of my head has something along the lines of “from director x, in association with x studios, produced by x” etc, etc. Who the hell is in charge? But what confuses me most is when I see about 20 people listed as executive or co-executive producers for the same show. I get that it’s about money and resume-building. But other than getting your name on a project, what is the point or meaning? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/2 "2017-03-13T04:44:22Z")
**Moderator Action** Since this concerns how artistic works (TV shows) are made, let’s move it to Cafe Society (from GQ). ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/3 "2017-03-13T04:48:39Z")
This wikipedia article on television producers may help: > **[Television producer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_producer)** > > A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acceptance they focus on business matters, such as budgets and contracts. Other producers are more involved with the day-to-day workings, participating in activities such as screenwriting, set design, casting, and directing. > There are a variety of differ... ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/4 "2017-03-13T05:09:24Z")
This article on directors may also be helpful. > **[Television director](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_director)** > > A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the producer's vision is delivered. Their duties may include originating program ideas, finding contributors, writing scripts, planning 'shoots', ensuring safety, leading the crew on location, directing contributors and presenters, and working with an editor to as... From what I have seen in interviews, TV directors don’t have as much creative control over the final product as movie directors do. For example, the TV show House had a set of producers that decided the overall path that the show took. The producers didn’t write the shows, but they would often tell the writers to change things based on where the producers wanted the stories to go overall. Different directors would then film each episode. While the producers had overall creative control, the directors actually set up the shots and were responsible for each scene’s composition. Hugh Laurie stared out as just the show’s star, but as the show progressed, he began to have more and more creative control over his character, coming up with ideas for the show and having some control over changing things in the scripts. Because of this, he also became one of the show’s producers, since he was no longer just acting but was actively shaping the show. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/5 "2017-03-13T05:53:44Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Action** > > Since this concerns how artistic works (TV shows) are made, let’s move it to Cafe Society (from GQ). I wondered about that. Thanks for the transfer. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/6 "2017-03-13T06:13:08Z")
I work in TV (on the reality/doc side) so I can offer some information. “Executive Producer” is one of the vaguest titles there is. Network executives get EP titles–some of them had nothing to do with the show. Others are network executives who DID have something to do with the show in the form of giving notes and overall direction, but didn’t “produce” the show. Production company executives also get show titles. This varies by company–sometimes all the partners will get an EP credit, sometimes only the ones who actually took an active hand in the show. Typically a production company executive will be involved in getting the show sold (though sometimes a production company is handed a show by a network), and that person will then oversee creative, budget, and network relations, though not usually on an everyday basis. (Other production company employees may get lesser credits, for example co-producer for the head of development.) Sometimes EP credits go to someone who essentially got the deal done–they connected an interesting person/persons with the production company. Sometimes a star gets an EP credit–Heidi Klum does for Project Runway, and she does great work as a host, but from what I know I don’t think she has much input into the making of the show. Same for Padma Lakshmi on Top Chef. Specifically on Project Runway, I know there are still listed EPs who haven’t had anything to do with the show in years. Then there are the people who actually make the shows day in and day out. The title “executive producer” sometimes means the “showrunner”–the person at the apex of the team assembled to make a TV series, reporting to the production company as well as directly to network. But there can be more than one EP on the production team–maybe one in charge of shooting, one in charge of editing, and and even the budget/management person, who would more usually and accurately be called a “line producer.” And also, showrunners don’t always get EP titles, at least in reality TV. Co-executive producer is still a common title for a showrunner, and I know of one production company that won’t give any showrunner a title higher than supervising producer, which is two rungs down from EP. My knowledge of comedy and drama is more limited, but I do know of one case where a person who was only directly involved for two episodes of a popular drama series is still getting an EP credit (and getting paid for it) five seasons in. And James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, and Sam Simon have pretty clearly zero involvement with the Simpsons at this point, though they are still credited as EPs. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/7 "2017-03-14T04:24:24Z")
Sam Simon, of course, is dead, and I didn’t mean to be disrespectful in that last post. But he had long moved on from the Simpsons at the time of his death and was primarily an animal-rights campaigner and philanthropist. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/8 "2017-03-14T05:40:12Z")
**TSBG** has almost got it. its an accounting term, agreed on by the unions involved in the production and marketing of movies and tv shows. it means they had some (sometimes very small and long ago) part in the raising of capital for the project and are thus entitled by contract to a share of the profits. its all very complicated and somewhat convoluted. [http://www.producersguild.org/blogpost/1292125/224031/DEALMAKING-DONE-RIGHT-A-Back-to-Basics-Approach-to-the-Byzantine-World-of-Waterfalls-Hurdle-Rates-and-Preferred-Returns](http://www.producersguild.org/blogpost/1292125/224031/DEALMAKING-DONE-RIGHT-A-Back-to-Basics-Approach-to-the-Byzantine-World-of-Waterfalls-Hurdle-Rates-and-Preferred-Returns) mc ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/9 "2017-03-14T06:15:26Z")
**mikecurtis** is correct in that Executive Producers sometimes (and maybe more so in the past) had something to do with financing a project, but that’s more the case in movies than TV. And movie EPs don’t necessarily raise money either. When you see Steven Spielberg as an EP–he didn’t go to a bunch of meetings with financiers, or invest his own money. He got attached to the project because he liked it, or as a favor, or because it was something his production company was doing, and his imprimatur _helped_ the film get financed. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/10 "2017-03-14T06:48:25Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > . . . When you see Steven Spielberg as an EP–he didn’t go to a bunch of meetings with financiers, or invest his own money. He got attached to the project because he liked it, or as a favor, or because it was something his production company was doing, and his imprimatur _helped_ the film get financed. i didnt say they did alot. if its enough to get any capital raised (and that capital can simply be influence at a prod comp) that can earn the right to negotiate an ep credit. like i said, its quite convoluted! mc ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/11 "2017-03-14T11:56:39Z")
In a nutshell: Producers are in charge of getting a movie made. Directors are in charge of telling the actors what to do. Producers source the money, organise the crew, help out with every part of production. Directors make sure everything is put on film, by directing actors, and everyone on set, or at least their heads of department (DP, Gaffer, etc). Executive producers are usually additional creative people who put their oar in. Sometimes they are also one of the lead actors, or were someone who came up with the original story, but otherwise have very little input in the day-to-day production. They get a credit, sometimes a lucrative financial stake, so it can be a sought after position of making loadsamoney without much effort. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/12 "2017-03-14T11:59:56Z")
In movies Producers are usually Money people or back office people (or vanity credits). In TV Producers are often writers and creators of the show. A producer credit is often a promotion of sorts for a writer on the staff. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/13 "2017-03-14T15:30:22Z")
[aside] We joke about this when there are many many animations at the beginning of a movie. It takes ten production companies to get this thing made! And of course the false starts. Family Guy - Animation of injured man running into a building - Peter thinks the movie is finally starting. Nope “Panting Man Hurt Shoulder Productions” 🙂 [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/14 "2017-03-14T16:32:52Z")
The one that mystified me was when you’d get a one-off TV movie and one of the actors would be credited as Guest Star. I’d always puzzle over how you could be a guest star on a movie which wasn’t part of a series. There’s no enlightenment on the [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guest_appearance) entry for this but I’ve definitely seen it and more than once. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/15 "2017-03-14T17:00:12Z")
Saw a movie once with Alan Smithee credited as Executive Producer\*. Really had to scratch my had on that one! \*No I didn’t. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/16 "2017-03-14T18:26:44Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > The one that mystified me was when you’d get a one-off TV movie and one of the actors would be credited as Guest Star. I’d always puzzle over how you could be a guest star on a movie which wasn’t part of a series. There’s no enlightenment on the [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guest_appearance) entry for this but I’ve definitely seen it and more than once. Or the inverse, when you see an actor is billed as a “Guest Star” in every episode of a show. I know it all boils down to contracts and agents but after a while it is silly. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/17 "2017-03-14T19:29:13Z")
There’s an Emmy category for guest actor/actress, so it might be about awards positioning, in the same way that an actor in what’s really a leading role will submit for supporting actor in the hope that they can dominate the competition who had by definition smaller roles. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/18 "2017-03-14T19:59:24Z")
Sometimes a picture can have an amazing assortment of different categories of producers. Here’s the credit list for “Fahrenheit 9-11”: Produced by Jim Czarnecki … producer Rita Dagher … associate producer Carl Deal … archival producer Carl Deal … field producer Joanne Doroshow … associate producer Kurt Engfehr … co-producer Jeff Gibbs … co-producer Kathleen Glynn … producer Monica Hampton … line producer Nicky Lazar … field producer Tia Lessin … supervising producer Jay Martel … consulting producer Agnès Mentre … executive producer (as Agnes Mentre) Anne Moore … associate producer Michael Moore … producer Rachelle Murway … online producer Meghan O’Hara … field producer Bob Weinstein … executive producer Harvey Weinstein … executive producer There is an hierarchy of nine different layers of producers. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/19 "2017-03-14T20:15:20Z")
Executive producer is a term that gets handed out as deserved, or as someone thinks it’s deserved. It could be someone who contributed money, someone who rounded up some vintage vehicles for a couple of scenes, or someone who talked one of the stars into participating but otherwise had nothing to do with the film. Or in one case I know of it was actually the writer (she did an Alan Smithee when it came to putting her name on the film, for reasons, but she was everywhere, in everything. And yet the only clue to her presence, unless you KNEW, was “executive producer.”) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061/20 "2017-03-14T21:41:09Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > There’s an Emmy category for guest actor/actress, so it might be about awards positioning, in the same way that an actor in what’s really a leading role will submit for supporting actor in the hope that they can dominate the competition who had by definition smaller roles. This abuse has been somewhat averted by a recent rule change. There’s a 50% cap on episodes/season to qualify. But that’s still a lot for a 24 episode seasons and too small for 8 episode seasons where it’s clear the guest star’s story arc is completely contained within that season. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-seem-there-are-dozens-of-executive-producers-for-a-show/782061.md?page=2)