In studying the creative process, sociology has pointed out the importance of individuals whose skills do not qualify them artistically. However, only a few empirical studies try to describe their role, even though some of them seem to influence the content and the form of works of art. This paper deals with French film and television producers, and will demonstrate that their involvement at the directors’ side cannot be analyzed in terms of an opposition between artistic desire and economic pragmatism. Using a lexical analysis based on a corpus of interviews with producers, we will describe the various options the producer has for intervening in the film project. Far from confronting the economic and symbolic dimensions or financial and artistic issues, the producer participates in the coordination of these various aspects that go into the making of the film. The case study presented in this paper constitutes a favorable vantage point for observing the issues surrounding the permanent naming of the activities and individuals who contribute to creative work.
Keywords
- producer
- movie
- television
- work
- profession