Field Guide #4: Executives
10 tips for surviving petrified suits and high turnover to get something made
This is fourth in my Field Guide series this week. I earlier wrote about Actors, Writers and Agents.
Executives — in theory — sit at the top of the pyramid, but these days, they’re as insecure as anyone, if not more so. As much as anyone, excepting the very, very few at the very, very top, they are pawns in the great game just like anyone else.
But execs hold the key to everything. Nothing in this industry happens unless an exec opens the spigot. Some use that power for good, while others merely make themselves feel powerful. Which is why a huge percentage of industry horror stories — development hell, etc. — involve an exec high on their own power and with no idea how to use it.
Every project can become a political quagmire, with everyone afraid to assert a vision and looking at all the other execs for mistakes that can be used against them.
If you’re going to do anything in this business, you’re going to deal with executives. Here are 10 tips to navigating their world:
1. Know Which Kind of Exec Are You Dealing With
Ask yourself: Did I get one of the good execs? Or am I stuck with one of the bad ones? Ultimately you need to face up to that question and act accordingly.
“Are they an exec who is trying to get things done or one who is just trying to keep their position?” one producer explains. “If they are trying to get things done, they are on the side of goodness and light. Celebrate them and do anything you can to make their burden easier, because they are going to make your life a lot better. But if they are just trying to keep their job, then they are useless, so it doesn’t matter what you do or how you deal with them.”
This really is the most important thing you need to figure out, because the executive ranks at studios is Hollywood’s one safe hideout for mediocrity. While climbing to the top of the totem pole requires some level of genuine talent, the bureaucracy of modern studios is big enough for people with little creativity to hide among the clutter.
One agent explains, “It’s the arena where I encountered the most mediocrity. You have to be — at some level — excellent to become an agent at a top-tier agency, whereas it often seemed like you didn’t have to be exceptional to be a creative exec at a studio or production company. Very often if you were an assistant who was hanging around long enough and did a good job as an assistant you were promoted to CE. Being great at organizing a calendar doesn’t mean you’ll have taste or a point of view. So many execs have their moment and then leave the biz for other waters. I met a lot of studio execs who I would describe as just suits and pencil pushers. They were sorting widgets and punching the clock. They must have been good at politics and yessing the upper tier.”
2. Determine: Are They Hands on or Off
Once you’ve figured out whether you’ve got a gem or a dud. . .