Evening star., 1948-01-25

lob Has Its

By Harold Heffernon
HOLLYWOOD.

HOLLYWOOD.
To the average fan, the star
featured player, director or ever
the set designer Of q motion picture
is a familiar person whose duties
are pretty well defined. But-what
about the highest sounding person
ality Of all? What about the pro-
ducer? What is . producer, any
way?
Producer Robert Fellows wa
chosen as interlocutor for this dis
cussion, not alone because he's, one
of the busiest and most successful
but because of his youth and pro-
gressiveness.
A native Of Los Angeles and
graduate of the University of Cali
fornia CLOS Angeles), the 44-year.
old Fellows is a self-made movie
maker. He worked around filn
studios as handyman, became q
unit manager and gradually I'D.
vanced into the front Offices, where
his keen sense of Showmanship at
tracted attention. After successful
stops at Warmers and RKO, Fellows
became Paramount producer three
years ago.
Story Comes First.
Lets start at the beginning and
imagine you were producing a pic
ture," Fellows said. "First thing to
do is find story that would make
a good movie. Hollywood has come
to realize that the story is the real
thing. A pretty good rule to follow
is that a picture is only as strong
as its story.
so you read galley proofs of new
books, original manuscripts and
look over plays in your search for
the right vehicle. Often you're
looking for something to At a cer-
tain star. Let's say you've found a
story, then you must get the writer
to do the screen play. Writers must
be cast, like actors. If you are doing
a musical comedy, for instance, you
wouldn't select a whodunit author
like Raymond Chandler to do the
script. You would work closely with
the writer during the several weeks
or months he was preparing the
script, discussing story lines, char
acterizations and the like with him.
Assuming the stars and directors
have been chosen, you now point
toward the first day of shooting.
This means preparing the budget,
mapping a schedule. which is aimed
at keeping actors working every day
they are on the payroll, and getting
every ounce of wear possible out Of
each set. Then you 60 into huddles
with all the departments involved
in the making of your movie to plan
their work in detail.
Problems Arise.
"After the camera starts, 1t is
your responsibility to see that the
blueprint so carefully prepared is
workable and that the actors per-
formances, tempo of action and
mood of the scenes all get into the
film. To do this you will have to
visit the set from one to half a
dozen times a day and study the
daily rushes after shooting is over
at 6 o'clock each night. You are
only as good producer as what
you see on the screen
"Of course. there will be new and
unforeseen problems arising con-
stantlv to which you must give your
attention. Maybe the dialogue will
have to be changed for censorship
reasons. Perhaps the leading lady's
lower lip photographs too full the
way it is made up. Or bit player
in a key scene has to be replaced.
"At the same time, you must not
lose sight of the forest for the trees.
You must be. turning out a show
which will attract the cash GUS
toners while you are involved in all
the tedious mechanics. You must
have a feeling for showmanship, a
sense for what will please or excite
the public.
after the last scene is shot, your
troubles really begin. You will be
on the job while thousands of feet
of film, which have been exposed,
are cut and edited into a feature
length picture of from 5000 to $4,000
feet. You will keep your hand in
while it is being scored with an
orchestrated musical background"
(Released by North American Newspaper
Alliance)