Year book of motion pictures (1951)

A GUILD FOR MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS By WILLIAM PERLBERG President, Screen Producers' Guild P Jbi ARLY IN 1950, a group of us who produce motion pictures for the major Hollywood studios were concerned about the status and standing of the producer in our industry and about the future of producing as an art and a profession. A series of discussions led us to the decision to form the Screen Producers' Guild. There were three main purposes behind this action. PERLBERG First, although the producers who made pictures for the principal studios were directly responsible for the great majority of the films turned out in Hollywood, they had no voice in the councils of the industry. They were not members of the Motion Pict u r e .Association noi of the independent producers' organizations; they had no representation comparable to that provided by the major talent guilds. Seconcl, there was a need to restore a proper understanding of the role and function of the producer in film-making. Historically, the idea of the producer was born in the early days of the industry when the pioneer heads of our major motion picture corporations brought a number of independent showmen together to produce films under the banner of a single company. This device not only made possible production economies and a planned schedule; it also provided technical equipment and production facilities far beyond the reach of any producer who operated independently. As these producers became part of the larger companies, they found themselves in the unique position of being both representatives of the management and employees as well. Yet the heads of the film companies understood then, as they do today, tliat if film making was not to become an assembly-line operation, it was essential that each producer retain his full individual initiative, his creative vitality and his showmanship. In recent years, however, this concept of the studio-employed producer has not been understood by the various branches of the industry. Third, as producers we realized that we needed a professional organization through which we could meet to discuss common business, technical and artistic problems. It was out of this background that there developed the Screen Producers' Guild, the first professional association of film producers in the history of the motion picture industry, an organization designed to advance the art and profession of producing, to preserve and further its standards, and to promote the professional interests of its members. The new Producers' Guild found immediate acceptance not only among producers themselves, but among the other organizations of the industry. Within a short time it was welcomed as a constituent member of the Motion Picture Industry Council. It took its place on the Permanent Charities Committee of the industry. At the Guild's suggestion, the Academy of Motion Picture .\rts and Sciences established for the first time a separate branch for producers and revised its rules to provide that hereafter the Best Picture .\ward should l)e made to the individual producer as well as to the studio responsible for the picture. This kind of recognition from the Academy represented an achievement that producers had sought for many years. During 1950, the Guild grew rapidly and by the close of the year its membership numbered over 120 producers, including virtually every leading contract producer, a substantial number of independent producers as well as the majority of the younger men coming up in the industry. Together the Guild's members are responsible for nearly 90 per cent of the total Hollywood product. 860