We all know producers can be a bunch of real, ah, prickly people. They kind of have to be, since their job, so long as it’s their actual job and not just a title given to them because they invested a couple of mil into the production, is to make sure everything goes smoothly, the film stays within budget, and the money isn’t wasted on limos when it could be wasted instead on expensive CG effects that look completely dated within 3 years*. As a result, these guys tend to be blunt as hell and not afraid to hurt some mothaf*ckin’ feelings when they rolling deep through the movie hood , as it were. Take Joel Silver , the famously take-no-prisoners producer of the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard films.** Screenwriter Doug Richardson, the guy who Wrote Die Hard 2: Die Harder , and Bad Boys , has shared a story from the making of Die Hard over on his official site , and it’s a most triumphant example of producer due diligence at the expense of expensive furniture you’ll ever hear. Remember the scene in Die Hard when the roof of Nakatomi Plaza explodes, and the penthouse lobby and fountain area is completely trashed? You might have noticed there’s an expensive looking couch in that scene; You might have also noticed that it appears to survive the initial explosion, only to show up seconds later completely aflame. There’s a reason for that — the couch wasn’t just expensive looking , it actually cost $5,000 back in 1988 which in today’s money is about 5 trillion dollars.*** Apparently, the scene drew cheers and high fives from everyone on the crew after they pulled it off during the shoot; except for Silver that is, whose eagle-eyed penny-pinching powers detected something odd, or as Richardson puts it, “possible sabotage.” To set the scene for what happens next, you might want to find a copy of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and check out Silver’s blustery cameo as the director of the Baby Herman cartoon. Joel called for the entire crew to assemble on the nearly-demolished set, gathering the mob around a gorgeous, leather Roche-Bobois sofa. Estimated value, five thousand dollars. The couch, despite the conflagration that they’d all just witnessed, was in showroom condition. Untouched by destructive fire, explosives, or water. “I wanna know,” Joel shouted, “Who just ruined my shot!” You see, Joel had been around more than a few movie sets. He knew how things worked. He understood how the occasional underhanded crew member operated. In this case, he suspected that one crew member had paid off another crew member on the special effects crew to make certain that the five-thousand-dollar sofa survived the wreckage. “Somebody on this crew,” announced Joel, “Decided to furnish their home at the expense of the movie.” Can you blame them though? I mean, this was the ’80s, and we didn’t have Ikea to make giant couches affordable yet. With that, Joel produced a bottle of lighter fluid, doused the expensive sofa in accelerant, and tossed a match to it. The lesson ended as the couch erupted in flame. The set was cleared again. And camera operators were ordered to “roll film.” Five grand must seem a trivial sum for a movie with a $28-million budget, but damned if you can’t respect someone for making sure every dollar spent on the movie ended up onscreen. I just wonder if he hummed “Ode To Joy” while torching some lowly grip’s living-room dreams. No word from Richardson if similar hijinks happened during the making of Die Hard 2. Probably not, I mean, how many times can the same thing happen to the same guy? * I kid, I kid! ** And a jillion others of course. He helped Walter Hill get The Warriors and Streets of Fire made! *** I’m guessing this is the case based on the way people are freaking out about raising the minimum wage. [ Source: Movies.com ] Ross Lincoln is a LA-based freelance writer from Oklahoma with an unhealthy obsession with comics, movies, video games, ancient history, Gore Vidal, and wine. Follow Ross Lincoln Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter .
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) weighed in with their nominations for the best of 2012 for both motion pictures and television. Oscar heavy-weights including Lincoln , Django Unchained , Zero Dark Thirty , Les Misérables , Argo and Silver Linings Playbook made the cut along with other awards contenders including Beasts of the Southern Wild , Moonrise Kingdom and Life of Pi made the list for the organization’s Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. [ Related: Get more on this Awards Season on Movieline ] Animated pics including box office heavy-weights Wreick-It Ralph and ParaNorman were among the animated pics to make the list. The PGA also gave its television choices, which are included below. The 2013 Producers Guild of America awards will take place January 26th at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: Argo (Warner Bros.) Producers: Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Grant Heslov Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight Pictures) Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn Django Unchained (The Weinstein Company) Producers: Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone, Stacey Sher Les Misérables (Universal Pictures) Producers: Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh Life of Pi (Fox 2000 Pictures) Producers: Ang Lee, Gil Netter, David Womark Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures) Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg Moonrise Kingdom (Focus Features) Producers: Wes Anderson & Scott Rudin, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company) Producers: Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon Skyfall (MGM/Columbia Pictures) Producers: Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson Zero Dark Thirty (Columbia Pictures) Producers: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Megan Ellison The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures: Brave (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) Producer: Katherine Sarafian Frankenweenie (Walt Disney Pictures) Producers: Allison Abbate, Tim Burton ParaNorman (Focus Features) Producers: Travis Knight, Arianne Sutner Rise of the Guardians (Paramount Pictures) Producers: Nancy Bernstein, Christina Steinberg Wreck-It Ralph (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) Producer: Clark Spencer The Television nominee follow. The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television: American Horror Story (FX) Producers: Brad Buecker, Dante Di Loreto, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy, Chip Vucelich, Alexis Martin Woodall The Dust Bowl (PBS) Producers: Producer Eligibility Pending Game Change (HBO) Producers: Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, Jay Roach, Amy Sayres, Steven Shareshian, Danny Strong Hatfields & McCoys (History) Producers: Barry Berg, Kevin Costner, Darrell Fetty, Leslie Greif, Herb Nanas Sherlock (PBS) Producers: Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, Beryl Vertue, Sue Vertue The Long-Form Television category encompasses both movies of the week and mini-series. In November 2012, the Producers Guild of America announced the Documentary Theatrical Motion Picture, Television Series and Non-Fiction Television Nominations; the following list includes complete producer credits. The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures: A People Uncounted (Urbinder Films) Producers: Marc Swenker, Aaron Yeger The Gatekeepers (Sony Pictures Classics) Producers: Estelle Fialon, Philippa Kowarsky, Dror Moreh The Island President (Samuel Goldwyn Films) Producers: Richard Berg, Bonni Cohen The Other Dream Team (The Film Arcade) Producers: Marius Markevicius, Jon Weinbach Searching For Sugar Man (Sony Pictures Classics) Producers: Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama: Breaking Bad (AMC) Producers: Melissa Bernstein, Sam Catlin, Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Mark Johnson, Stewart Lyons, Michelle MacLaren, George Mastras, Diane Mercer, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett Downton Abbey (PBS) Producers: Julian Fellowes, Gareth Neame, Liz Trubridge Game of Thrones (HBO) Producers: David Benioff, Bernadette Caulfield, Frank Doelger, Carolyn Strauss, D.B. Weiss Homeland (Showtime) Producers: Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Michael Cuesta, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Michael Klick, Meredith Stiehm Mad Men (AMC) Producers: Jon Hamm, Scott Hornbacher, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Victor Levin, Blake McCormick, Matthew Weiner The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy: 30 Rock (NBC) Producers: Irene Burns, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Vali Chandrasekaran, Luke Del Tredici, Tina Fey, Matt Hubbard, Marci Klein, Jerry Kupfer, Lorne Michaels, David Miner, Dylan Morgan, Jeff Richmond, John Riggi, Josh Siegal, Ron Weiner The Big Bang Theory (CBS) Producers: Chuck Lorre, Steve Molaro, Faye Oshima Belyeu, Bill Prady Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) Producers: Alec Berg, Larry Charles, Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Tim Gibbons, David Mandel, Erin O’Malley, Jeff Schaffer, Laura Streicher Louie (FX) Producers: Dave Becky, M. Blair Breard, Louis C.K. Modern Family (ABC) Producers: Cindy Chupack, Paul Corrigan, Abraham Higginbotham, Ben Karlin, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Morton, Dan O’Shannon, Jeffrey Richman, Chris Smirnoff, Brad Walsh, Bill Wrubel,Danny Zuker The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television: American Masters (PBS) Producers: Prudence Glass, Susan Lacy,Julie Sacks Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (Travel Channel) Producers: Anthony Bourdain, Christopher Collins, Lydia Tenaglia, Sandy Zweig Deadliest Catch (Discovery Channel) Producers: Thom Beers, Jeff Conroy, Sean Dash, John Gray, Sheila McCormack, Bill Pruitt, Decker Watson Inside the Actors Studio (Bravo) Producers: James Lipton, Shawn Tesser, Jeff Wurtz Shark Tank (ABC) Producers: Rhett Bachner, Becky Blitz, Mark Burnett, Bill Gaudsmith, Yun Lingner, Brien Meagher, Clay Newbill, Jim Roush, Laura Skowlund, Paul Sutera, Patrick Wood The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television: The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) Producers: Meredith Bennett, Stephen Colbert, Richard Dahm, Paul Dinello, Barry Julien, Matt Lappin, Emily Lazar, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Tom Purcell,Jon Stewart Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC) Producers: David Craig, Ken Crosby, Doug DeLuca, Erin Irwin, Jimmy Kimmel, Jill Leiderman, Jason Schrift, Jennifer Sharron Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC) Producers: Hillary Hunn, Lorne Michaels, Gavin Purcell, Michael Shoemaker Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) Producers: Scott Carter, Sheila Griffiths, Marc Gurvitz, Dean Johnsen, Bill Maher, Billy Martin Saturday Night Live (NBC) Producers: Ken Aymong, Steve Higgins, Erik Kenward, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney The Award for Outstanding Producer of Competition Television: The Amazing Race (CBS) Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Elise Doganieri, Jonathan Littman, Bertram van Munster, Mark Vertullo Dancing with the Stars (ABC) Producers: Ashley Edens Shaffer, Conrad Green, Joe Sungkur Project Runway (Lifetime) Producers: Jane Cha Cutler, Desiree Gruber, Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, Jonathan Murray, Sara Rea, Colleen Sands Top Chef (Bravo) Producers: Daniel Cutforth, Casey Kriley, Jane Lipsitz, Dan Murphy, Nan Strait The Voice (NBC) Producers: Stijn Bakkers, Mark Burnett, John De Mol, Chad Hines, Lee Metzger, Audrey Morrissey, Jim Roush, Nicolle Yaron, Mike Yurchuk, Amanda Zucker The following programs were not vetted for producer eligibility this year, but winners in these categories will be announced at the official ceremony on January 26: The Award for Outstanding Sports Program: 24/7 (HBO) Catching Hell (ESPN) The Fight Game with Jim Lampley (HBO) On Freddie Roach (HBO) Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO) The Award for Outstanding Children’s Program: Good Luck Charlie (Disney Channel) iCarly (Nickelodeon) Phineas and Ferb (Disney Channel) Sesame Street (PBS) The Weight of the Nation for Kids: The Great Cafeteria Takeover (HBO) The Award for Outstanding Digital Series: 30 Rock: The Webisodes (www.nbc.com) Bravo’s Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen (www.bravotv.com) Dexter Early Cuts: All in the Family (www.sho.com) The Guild (www.watchtheguild.com) H+ The Digital Series (www.youtube.com/user/HplusDigitalSeries) Red vs. Blue (www.roosterteeth.com)
George Lucas apparently has much atoning to do for his decision to sell LucasFilm to Disney. The Star Wars creator and film mogul comes in for a heavy tweaking in the list of 10 Celebrity New Year’s Resolutions posted by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s Funny or Die website. The resolution, one of 10 posted by A General Nonchalance, does not exactly suggest that hopes are running high for Disney’s reboot of the Star Wars franchise. Not all of the resolutions are movie-related. But those that do have a connection to film, however tenuous, are: That doesn’t sound so much like a resolution as it does large-scale fantasy fulfillment for potential Baby Goose stalkers out there. Meanwhile, Katy Perry’s “credibility” and Meryl Streep’s “modesty” are also in the crosshairs. Funny stuff, but the post left me wanting more. So, I invite all you wicked wits out there who read Movieline to submit your own movie-related barbs in the comments section. For instance, I could see Russell Crowe resolving: “More time menacing public with phones. Less time assaulting them with my singing.” Your turn. [ Funny or Die ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
