Hollywood's design credit dilemma

Hollywood's design credit dilemma
ADG's 'Tintin' nom highlights production designer/art director issue
By PETER CARANICAS

"The Adventures of Tintin" was released without a credited production designer.

A heated dispute within the Art Directors Guild over a credit on "The Adventures of Tintin" has exposed a long-simmering debate over the title of production designer vs. art director while also raising questions about the changing role such artists play in a filmmaking process making ever greater use of digital tools.
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On Jan. 3, when ADG released its nominees for excellence in production design in 2011, it recognized an individual for each film, TV show and commercial on the list -- except for "Tintin," one of the five nominees for fantasy film and now a Golden Globe winner. For the Steven Spielberg movie the potential honoree was designated as TBA because no production designer was on the film's credits. "We were looking for who was responsible but couldn't get that info," said ADG prexy Tom Walsh.

Following inquiries, the producers -- who include Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy -- picked Kim Sinclair, referred to in the production notes as visual effects art director, as the person most responsible for the look of the film. As a result, Sinclair is the only art director on this year's ADG's noms list; the other 44 nominees are production designers.

At issue here is that a guild that in name is formed of art directors presents awards to its members for "production design," while the Academy often gives awards for "best achievement in art direction" to those same individuals.

"It's confusing to the industry and the audience that the Academy still chooses to award best art direction to the production designer, and it undermines the director and the producer when the production itself is not clear on the roles," said Alex McDowell, production designer on the upcoming "Man of Steel."

The quandary has historical roots. In film's early years, art directors designed a pic's overall look. Then, on "Gone with the Wind," David O. Selznick agreed to give his art director, William Cameron Menzies, the more all-encompassing title of production designer. Today, production designers are the acknowledged department heads to whom art directors, set decorators and others report.

The producers' designation of Sinclair rankled some guild members because "ADG takes the view that every film should have a production designer," said a person close to the guild.

McDowell added that animated films and those created via performance capture ("Tintin" falls in both categories) should also have a production designer. "The production designer's primary role does not change because of the methodology of the film," he said. "Animation and vfx films have all the same conditions as in-camera films; they're based on real physics, every surface needs to be designed and defined… and they require environments and characters that need to be defined and designed."

McDowell is not alone. "I can't imagine making an animated film without somebody in a production designer role," said Yarrow Cheyney, who had the credit of production designer on the animated "Despicable Me." "If they're fulfilling the role, their credit should reflect that."

Some production designers think their guild should do more to clarify the roles of its members. "Perhaps if ADG were completely clear in its categorization of the art department and its hierarchy, our union would be called the Production Designers Guild," said Scott Chambliss, production designer on "Cowboys and Aliens," who also got an ADG nom in the fantasy film category. "Then the guild would be much less likely to find itself in the baldly embarrassing position of its membership nominating a film for excellence in production design that had no officially designated production designer."

Such a move, added Chambliss, could spur the Academy to end the practice of "giving an award for best art direction to a production designer and a set decorator, but not to an art director."

As for "Tintin," the trio that worked on its design -- vfx art director Sinclair and art directors Andrew Jones and Jeff Wisniewski -- previously collaborated on "Avatar" and imported many of the digital tools from Jim Cameron's opus to Spielberg's work. Many production designers think that in addition to updating its terminology, ADG needs to continue to educate its members on new technology because production design is now often part of a complicated process that includes previsualization and vfx, and the disciplines can't be separated from each other.

"The moral of this story is that these hybrid films reinvent the roles," Walsh said. "This year we put out a film for first ballot with TBD as designer. I assure you we won't go down that path again."

Elevation Talent Agency signed editor Matt Garner ("Butter"), line producer Susan Leber ("Margin Call") and makeup artist Emily Ansel ("Keep the Lights On").

Thank you Variety.

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Israel Offers Incentives to Lure Filmmaking to Jerusalem...

Officials are promising tax breaks, terror attack insurance and $400,000 credits to entice more productions to shoot in the Holy Land.

Israel is pushing for more authenticity in Hollywood films.

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Because of the country's volatile political environment, movies which feature Jesus' crucifixion are often filmed in Italy while Morocco takes place for the Holy Land.
But now, Israeli officials are dangling better tax breaks, terror attack insurance and credits of up to $400,000 to try and coax international movie producers to film in Jerusalem, reports the Associated Press.

"It's absurd. Movies set in Jerusalem are filmed in Malta, Morocco and Greece," said Yoram Honig, an Israeli film director who heads the Jerusalem Film Fund, which was set up three years ago to encourage more moviemaking in the city.

STORY: Glenn Beck Announces 'Restoring Courage' Rally in Jerusalem
In the 1980, the country was a popular filming spot, with movies like Rambo 3 and The Delta Force being shot there. But, because it is currently common for international insurance companies to refuse to provide terrorism risk coverage, or offer it at an extremely high price, producers have moved on to other --less risky -- overseas locations.

Israeli's own filmmakers have also gone outside of the holy city to make movies. Out of 600 Israeli movies that have been made since the country's founding, only 30 have been shot in Jerusalem says the AP.

Recently, World War Z shot its Jerusalem scenes in Malta, which offers large financial rebates to foreign film productions. The production even flew in Israeli actors to shoot the scenes.
Which is why the country, which set up tax breaks for foreign films in 2008, has also created a municipal insurance fund which will provide protection to productions should they be disrupted by acts of terrorism.
Tel Aviv and Haifa are also developing similar movie funds to try and bring productions to their towns.

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L.A. Mayor Promises More Support for Film, TV Industries...

Antonio Villaraigosa said he would consider lowering film permit fees and speeding up the permitting process and called on the city legislature to pass a bill to extend California's production tax credits beyond 2012.

NEW YORK - Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he would consider additional steps to help the local movie and TV industry and make LA a competitive location for productions, including possibly reducing film permit fees and speeding up the permitting process, the LA Times reported.

He also called on the city legislature to pass a bill that would extend California's production tax credits beyond 2012. A state Senate committee is expected to take up the bill Thursday, according to the Times.

Speaking to a group of producers, location managers and industry executives on Wednesday, the mayor cited previous steps to support the entertainment industry, such as free parking on city lots.

"We're doing some things, and that's nice and good, but we can do a whole lot more," the Times cited Villaraigosa as saying. "This is one of the most important industries for us." But he also cautioned that the city is constrained by a tight budget, saying: "There are limitations to what we can do."

The entertainment industry in Los Angeles County directly employs about 140,000 people, according to the paper.

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Industry News: The Producers Guild of America Moves to Certify Films' Producing Credits...

January 23, 2011

On the eve of its annual awards, the PGA is fighting for a new designation that distinguishes working producers from those in name only.
The Producers Guild of America is determined to leave its mark on the movies its members produce. As the organization, which represents more than 4,500 producers nationwide, readies for its 22nd annual Producers Guild Awards — set for Saturday at the Beverly Hilton — its leadership has been meeting behind the scenes with studios to promote a new credit designation that would spotlight producers' contributions.
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Working producers have long bridled at the fact that when it comes to screen credits, they often share hard-earned titles with others who leverage clout — sometimes it's a movie's star or the star's manager or a passive investor who provides cash.
Among this year's PGA nominees, for example, the guild recogonized Scott Rudin's work on both The Social Network and True Grit but not that of financial powerhouses like Ryan Kavanaugh, one of the producers of The Fighter, or David Ellison, an exec producer on Grit.
"Until 2000 or 2001, nobody had ever really thought about the rights of producers, so I think we've come a long way," says Hawk Koch, the PGA's co-president with Mark Gordon. "We are part of the fabric of the industry now, where that wasn't always the case. But we still have to fight for respect. If you go to see a movie starring Natalie Portman, you don't expect to see someone else playing Natalie Portman. But everyone wants a producing credit whether or not they've done the job."
The PGA has proposed a solution, which it calls the Producers' Mark. Studios would still be free to grant whichever producing credits they contractually agree to. But once a movie begins postproduction, the PGA would review the various producers' contributions, then certify which were significant by adding the initials p.g.a. after their names.
The guild has already been using the process to decide which producers get credit when it comes to films nominated for its PGA Awards, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in its attempt to prevent armies of producers from taking to the stage to accept a best picture Oscar, has adopted the PGA's recommendations about which producers deserve ultimate credit.
In October, 144 producers signed a letter urging studios to adopt the proposed mark, which would be determined according to guidelines the PGA laid out in its Producers Code of Credits, set down in 2004 and revised regularly since. The code breaks down producing into 30 functions; to be certified, a producer must submit evidence he or she has been involved in at least half of them.
Signatories to the letter included some of the producing ranks' biggest names: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, last year's PGA winners for The Hurt Locker; veteran producers Robert Evans and Richard Zanuck; director-producers Clint Eastwood and Warren Beatty; and current contenders Rudin, David Hoberman and Mike Medavoy.
Currently, the PGA reviews credits on about 30 movies a year during awards season. PGA executive director Vance Van Petten estimates that adopting the mark would require his staff to collect information on more than 200 movies a year. But he insists, with the hiring of additional staff, that the job is manageable. "It works because we functionalized the job," he says. "The standard is whether a producer performs the majority of the functions in a personal decision-making capacity."
Inevitably, there have been disputes. Five years ago, the PGA didn't include financier Bob Yari on its approved list of Crash producers, a decision he appealed unsuccessfully. This year, Relativity's Kavanaugh, a credited producer on The Fighter, was denied PGA certification.
Kavanaugh, through a representative, declined comment. Koch, saying he can't address specific cases, says: "We have nothing against financiers. We appreciate every single one of them because without them a movie wouldn't get made." Securing financing is one of the stipulated 30 functions. But the PGA insists that if a financier — or for that matter, a writer, director or star — wants to earn the mark, they must offer evidence they've gone beyond their primary role and taken on a majority of the producing functions.
No studio has signed on to the designation, though several appear to be giving it serious consideration. PGA officials are hopeful the new mark will begin showing up on screens this year.
Says Koch, "Right now, I would say that at most of the studios, we are inside the 10-yard line."

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