How does being a film producer tap into the creative or artistic aspects of the medium?
My relationship to film as an artistic medium has everything to do with the fact that it’s a collaborative art form. My role is to identify the creative potential of a project and then marshal the intelligence, team, and resources to make the best possible film. Sometimes that means I provide in-depth story notes to the writer. Other times, it means I hire the right cast member. Or, it can mean I find the money to rent cranes. One of my favorite scenes in Factotum is when Hank Chinaski takes a forbidden break from his job sorting brake pads to smoke a cigarette. The shot starts on him leaning outside a window then pulls back to reveal his increasingly insignificant form, surrounded by an overwhelming wall of brick. Prior to shooting the scene, our budget was so tight we did not have the money to rent a crane. Yet, when director Bent Hamer described the shot, he helped me understand that the film would be lesser without it. Ultimately, I found a way to get the crane, and it remains one
