Money, Talent and Film

It would seem from Charleton Heston’s Counterpunch (“All Artists Can’t Have Creative Control,” May 16) that the esteemed actor, producer, director and former president of the Screen Actors Guild is a company man. His thesis can be reduced to the principle that the person or entity that finances a film enjoys the right to creative control.

But creative power in Hollywood lies essentially in a vacuum. It is there to be seized by the person or element whose creative vision is the most dynamic. The process is a power struggle in the better sense of the phrase, with, ideally, the most cogent and creative force ultimately succeeding.

And it is often the synthesis of these two forces that produces the product. If one of these two forces must prevail, however, aren’t we all better off when it’s talent?

PETER LEFCOURT

Los Angeles