Expert: Phil Nemy - 2/6/2007

Question
Hello
I live in Vancouver, Canada and have been working in the film industry here
as an Office PA for the last couple of years. I have loved every minute of it and
learnt a lot of how movies get made. It has also allowed me to watch others at
work and see where I would like to be in the years to come.
I am interested in the business aspect of filmmaking. Everything from
contracts, financing and distribution I find it all very interesting.
Your title at Disney was VP of Production. What were your duties under that
role and how does one get to the studio executive level? Should I look into
doing a MBA?
I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Thanks a lot for your time.  

Answer
Ruchir,

Thanks for writing. My position at Disney as VP, Production was to supervise the physical making of the film. I didn't choose which films the studio greenlit. My job was to manage them once they WERE greenlit, aiding the filmmakers with whatever they needed to insure they could make the best possible film, all while insuring that the filmmakers stayed within the agreed upon budget and schedule for the film. I communicated daily with the filmmakers as well as every executive at Disney assigned to that film. This meant speaking regularly with business affairs, legal, creative, marketing, distribution, product placement, post-production, and music execs as well as a host of others.

Working in a studio is a very compartmentalized business. The Legal Affairs people ONLY handle legal, the creative execs ONLY handle creative, the music execs ONLY handle music etc. But filmmakers need ONE, sometimes TWO people within the huge corporation that they can turn to when they need help. These one or two people disseminate information to the rest of the execs at the company so that the filmmakers don't need to field phone calls from 30 people at the studio.

I don't have an MBA but I do have a business background. I also have a creative and physical production background. Because the business is compartmentalized, you need to decide in which department you wish to have a career and then obtain the proper education in that area. That would be my advice.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Phil