Executive Producer?

I could be wrong but I thought that I read in the credits that the executive producer of Jeremiah was Luke Perry. If this is correct what does it mean? Does it mean that Perry foots the bill for producing the show? Does it mean that he has some creative control over the show?
Thanks
Car

Yes, Luke Perry is one of seven Executive Producers. The others include: J. Michael Straczynski, Scott Rosenberg, Sam Egan, Joe Dante, Michael Finnell, and Ervin Rustemagic.

I am no expert but my feeling is that the title of EP is a fairly broad in terms of responsibility. I don't think it necessarily means they "foot the bill" since the studios do that (in this case that would be MGM, Lion's Gate Television, and Platinum Studios). However, I am sure those studios want to have some control and say how their money is spent so that probably explains why Rosenberg (who is the head of Platinum Studios) is an EP. /ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif

Luke most certainly has some amount of control in how the show is run but only to a certain extent. JMS has the most control since he is the designated showrunner and all. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif I don't know what everyone's role is exactly but it seems to me that each EP brings a certain quality to their role in the show that works quite well together. In fact, here is what Ervin Rustemagic said in an interview with Comics2Film:

<font color=yellow>I am one of seven Executive Producers who get credits on the show, but the only ones who are on the set all the time are J. Michael Straczynski and Sam Egan, as well as George Horie, the producer. The first two are also writing most of the episodes.

I met with everyone on the set. Both Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamal Warner are great guys. It was an instant friendship and I like them very much indeed. I almost forgot -- Luke is also one of Executive Producers. And everybody else on the set seems to be co-operating very well with each other. They all look like a big, happy family.</font color=yellow>

Hope that helps and I also hope that someone with more knowledge about these things chimes in here. /ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif

Executive Producer can be the guy who has final say on everything, someone involved in selling the show (Doug Netter on B5), or an actor who wanted his name in the credits twice. And everything in between.

Unlike in theater, where the "producer" usually refers to the guy with the money, or in community theater, where "producer" is the person responsible for overseeing the carpenters, painters, lighting people, etc., so that the director and stage managers can have their way with them, I think that "executive producers" in a TV series serve much in a stage director capacity (overseeing the entire production, instead of just one episode.)

I'm in no way an expert on this sort of thing, but I think Lyta's got it right. JMS and Sam Egan are the collective "big cheese" on Jeremiah, with, I think, a bigger portion to JMS, simply because he also has the title of "showrunner" and, as he said somewhere, "all bucks stop at his desk."

I'd imagine that the other executive producers are overseeing their own portions of the production of the show, because too many cooks *can* spoil the stew.

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by channe:
<font color=yellow>Unlike in theater, where the "producer" usually refers to the guy with the money, or in community theater, where "producer" is the person responsible for overseeing the carpenters, painters, lighting people, etc., so that the director and stage managers can have their way with them, I think that "executive producers" in a TV series serve much in a stage director capacity (overseeing the entire production, instead of just one episode.)</font color=yellow><hr></blockquote>TV producers come in many different flavours... Associate Producer, Consulting Producer, Co-Producer, Producer, Line Producer, Supervising Producer, Co-Executive Producer, Executive Producer.

The person responsible for "overseeing the carpenters, painters, lighting people, etc." on TV is called Producer or Line Producer depending on the show. That's George Horie on Jeremiah.<font color=yellow><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr>I'm in no way an expert on this sort of thing, but I think Lyta's got it right. JMS and Sam Egan are the collective "big cheese" on Jeremiah, with, I think, a bigger portion to JMS, simply because he also has the title of "showrunner" and, as he said somewhere, "all bucks stop at his desk."</font color=yellow><hr></blockquote>They're the big writer/producers. Given that Jeremiah is a writer driven show, they're in charge. On less prestigious shows, a lot more creative desicions are made by the suits, and the writers have to carry them out.<font color=yellow><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr>I'd imagine that the other executive producers are overseeing their own portions of the production of the show, because too many cooks *can* spoil the stew.</font color=yellow><hr></blockquote>Or just like to have their names in the credits. As I said, being involved in selling the show to the network is a common reason for an Executive Producer credit.

drakh has it down. i thought that i'd elaborate on some of jeremiah's ep's in particular: Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and Ervin Rustemagic.

they, essentially, have nothing to do with the production anymore. they were the middle man, more or less. ervin runs SAF, the company that produces Hermann Huppen's comic books. so, he had those rights which he sold to SMR's Platinum Studios. SMR and Ervin took the project to MGM and Showtime and once JMS was attached, they were essentially cut out of the creative loop when JMS signed on because JMS demands sole creative control. as the rights holders, they are guaranteed credit, but they are now just names attached due to earlier responsibilities involving the creation of the show.
-di doctor-

Looks like JMS recently answered a similar question on the moderated newsgroup yesterday:

<font color=orange>What do the other producers do?

Sam Egan as EP is my second in command on the show, and has written half the scripts for this season (including The Bag, last week's ep, and City of Roses, this week's episode). Luke, as you point out, is also our lead.

The other listed EPs have nothing to do with the day to day operations of the show. They are contractual titles acquired during the period the project was in development.

jms</font color=orange>

I wish I were an executive producer. /ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by channe:
<font color=yellow>I wish I were an executive producer. /ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif</font color=yellow><hr></blockquote>
I wish I was the kind of EP that the 'Other' ones mentioned were. Nothing of note but a "Contractual position." Yep, that sounds like a good job for me. Get paid a lot, and your real job only exists on paper.

Naw. I wanna get all stressed out and get my hands dirty and tell other people what to do and get Martian Flu. You know, all the perks that come with being the executive producer.

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by channe:
<font color=yellow>Naw. I wanna get all stressed out and get my hands dirty and tell other people what to do and get Martian Flu. You know, all the perks that come with being the executive producer.</font color=yellow><hr></blockquote>
So we are agreed then. You get the hard job, Ill take the easy one. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif