William Goldman wrote a great book called "Adventures in the Screen Trade"
which is a must read for anyone venturing into the film industry.  In a
nutshell, the producer can be anyone from someone who put up money and in
exchange for the risk is billed, typically as the Executive Producer to the
guy who hires the director, actors, writers for final drafts.  One thing Mr.
Goldman points out is that one of the reasons there is a lack of
understanding about the producer's function is that they have no effective
governing body like the Directors Guild or the Screen Actors Guild.  You
cannot make your film star's best friend an "assistant director" if h/she is
not already an assistant director which requires a whole program of training.
 Anyway - go to your local bookstore and have them do an out of print book
search for you - or go to your library and check out the book.  ISBN
0-446-51273-7.
 
I know many people on this list will concur with me.  And if any of you know
Mr. Goldman, thank him for me.
 
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