Producers Vow to Sue to Curb Credits

Vowing to alter Hollywood’s “culture of counterfeit credits,” the Producers Guild of America on Wednesday warned studios, TV networks and independent film distributors that they could face lawsuits if they persist in approving undeserving “produced by” credits.

The warning comes as the guild is launching a publicity campaign to educate the public on what a producer actually does.

The effort includes advertisements in Hollywood’s two major trade publications -- Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter -- depicting some of today’s top producers, including Jerry Bruckheimer (“Pirates of the Caribbean”) and George Lucas (“Star Wars”), juxtaposed with legendary producers of years gone by, including David O. Selznick (“Gone With the Wind”) and Rod Serling (“The Twilight Zone”).

“You’ve witnessed the increasingly common spectacle of having a number of named producers, executive producers, co-producers and associate producers flashing across the screen -- many of whom had nothing to do with the creative aspect of the film,” guild President Kathleen Kennedy said during a press conference to announce the “Truth in Credits” campaign.

The guild maintains that a producer initiates, coordinates, supervises and controls all aspects of a motion picture from inception to completion.

Yet it is not uncommon to find actors or their managers listed as producers. Pierce Brosnan, for example, who starred in last year’s romantic comedy “Laws of Attraction,” was one of 16 producers listed in the credits. In recent years there has been no shortage of films with multiple producer credits: “Agent Cody Banks 2” came with 14 producer credits, and “Alien vs. Predator” had 12.

Critics of the practice say that sometimes a person with clout, or someone who obtained rights to a book, can negotiate his or her way into a screen credit as some type of producer -- without ever setting foot on a set.

To the studios, it’s simply the price of doing business, critics said. But “it devalues that credit, and it’s bad for the industry,” said George Hedges, the guild’s outside counsel.

As full-fledged labor unions, Hollywood’s three major guilds representing actors, directors and screenwriters have negotiated collective agreements that protect their credits.

By contrast, the 2,000-member producers guild has no such collective bargaining agreement and thus has no ability to force studios to curtail or regulate the use of producer credits.

Kennedy concedes that the guild’s attempt to crack down on false credits is limited in scope. The campaign seeks only to regulate the “produced by” credit. The number of executive producers, co-producers and associate producers that appear on screen will not be affected.

Guild officials say that any “false advertising” lawsuits they file will attempt to remove undeserving credits.