More than 140 of the industry’s top film producers have already endorsed this new program that is aimed at “increasing the integrity and credibility of the Produced By credit”. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous along with the “p.g.a” mark. It’s going to be meaningless to Hollywood and moviegoers because this is strictly an internal Producers Guild Of America matter. Yes it’s aimed at making sure a do-nothing producer doesn’t get credit on a film. But even that is a subjective process considering all the managers, childhood friends, wives, and sons masquerading as producers these days and discerning who’s real and who’s not is a sliperry slope. I’m told the new “certification program” will follow the guidelines established by the Producers Code of Credits (PCOC) that was initiated in 2004 consisting of a consistent set of job definitions and arbitration process for evaluating the fulfillment of those job functions, which will now comprise the key criteria for the use of the p.g.a. mark in motion pictures. The Producers Guild’s new initiative stipulates that a producer’s name, when credited as “Produced By” in movies, will be followed by the p.g.a. “This mark will only be given to those producers who request it and who have been certified through the Guild’s arbitration process; PGA membership is not a requirement,” a PGA source tells me. “Producers will receive on-screen verification of their work, while companies will be free to recognize other individuals with the ‘Produced By’ credit as they deem appropriate.” The first p.g.a. marks are expected to be on films next year if studios decide to implement them. I say, Don’t. Nevertheless, the PGA are now demanding that the studios/companies provide it wth a Notice of Producing Credits — “just as they do during the awards process” — but now no later than the commencement of post-production. There are no immediate plans for the Producers’ Mark program to be expanded to television and New Media productions.

“Six years after the Producers Guild first codified what a producer does, our Producers Code of Credits has become the standard to define the job. The code not only helps define who should be honored with a Producers Guild Award, an Oscar or Golden Globe, but also gives everyone in the industry a way to determine what qualifies someone to hold the title of producer on a movie,” PGA Co-Presidents Hawk Koch and Mark Gordon said in a statement. “We were determined to work to further protect the producing credits. We’re proud to be a part of the collaborative effort within the Guild’s leadership ranks and the broader entertainment community to implement the groundbreaking Producers’ Mark program, which serves to recognize deserving storytellers for the work they have done. We look forward to working with our industry friends and colleagues to implement this process swiftly across all films, as well as an honorable and important distinction for producers.”

“For years, the role of the producer has been devalued because nearly anyone could negotiate a credit. This is something Producers Guild members have fought passionately to change,” said PGA Executive Director Vance Van Petten. “The new p.g.a. mark is an innovative solution to a longstanding industry dilemma of awarding credits. The PGA leadership and the industry are embracing the Producers Mark as a way to ensure the protection of the Produced By credit and the credibility and integrity of the producer’s work.”

Read the PGA’s full letter about the Producers Mark program here.

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.