Apr 8, 2020

Oscar-winning producer Nicholas Chmelkin talks about how to build relationships with directors.

Last December, I participated in a panel discussion on short animation production at Les Sommets du cinéma d'animation in Montreal. The focus of attention was on individual directors and the producers who have formed partnerships with them over the years. Nicolas Chmelkin was one of the panelists, and in discussing his career, he repeated the metaphor that the relationship between producer and director is like a marriage.

Intimacy is key to Shmelkin's work habits. He said that he and his directors would share drinks, work closely together in the creative process, and fight when things went wrong. His statement was very different from the term "professional distance" used by the other producers in the room. This is one of the reasons why it struck me.

Another is that his approach clearly works. Schmelkin, director of the Paris-based Hauteur de Minuit, is one of the most prominent producers and distributors on the European independent animation scene. Aside from a few children's series, he specializes in short films with edge and personality. His tastes have led to multi-film collaborations with such idiosyncratic directors as Chris Shepard, Alberto Vazquez, Donato Sansone, and the late Rosto (whose early work inspired Schmerkin to become a producer). 2010 saw the release of his scathing satire of consumerism, " Logorama, for which he won an Academy Award.

After the panel discussion, I wanted to hear more. We continued talking about what it takes for a producer to develop a good relationship with a director. The following seven insights are taken from our email correspondence, interspersed with his comments in Montreal. They are translated from the French.

To produce a director Shmelkin, you need to like them as well as their work. This is a necessary and sufficient condition to begin a conversation. I like to work with people who are talented and who also bring something human to the table. Usually, I become interested in a director when I fall in love with their work (at a film festival or, rarely, online). Since we are also a distribution company, another stepping stone to producing a director is to distribute their existing films.

Schmelkin Not only that, but every film that we feature one director on is different. So you have to know each one's personality and how to adapt to the project. Some directors do not want direct interference from the producer or anyone else, while others require collaboration. Some want regular feedback, while others prefer to work alone and show their work once it is completed. If there are several co-directors, they may first exchange questions, comments, and feedback among themselves and then present something already well-developed to the producer.

In either case, I continue to persuade them as long as I still have something to say and have not exhausted all avenues to convince them of my opinion. After that, it is up to them to decide what to do with my comments.

Shmelkin If I feel that I can bring something to the table using my instincts and experience (I wrote and edited films before going into production), I suggest it to the director. Whether the director accepts it or not is up to him. However, if I suggested it, it was because I felt some things needed to be changed. Therefore, I propose that an outside screenwriter, editor, or neutral party be involved. Filmmaking is a team sport, and animation even more so. You cannot work with a director who believes he is right about everything and will not listen to anyone's opinion.

Shumarkin: I see them as parents who give birth to a child, a film. You have to start with shared goals and a similar way of looking at things. There will be fights along the way. If the fights get too intense, they may split up during production, like a married couple, and either the producer or the director may have to leave the project. Either the producer or the director will leave the project and the other will assume ultimate responsibility for completing it.

If all goes well, the parents often give birth to a film of which they are equally proud and which they will bring into the world. If you enter into a paternal or maternal relationship with the director (because he or she wants it, consciously or not), things can become distorted and unnatural births can result. Filmmaking is a partnership, not a tutoring session.

Shmelkin: I don't think there is any harm done by being too frank. On the contrary, not being candid can be damaging. But you need to know how to say something constructive to the film and the director without hurting or upsetting them. Again, if we look at it from the perspective of being a couple, it is good to be candid for the greater good. [On the other hand,] in a parent-child relationship there is always lying, there is always rebellion, there is always Oedipal.

Shmelkin: It can take five or six years to make a short, and in the meantime, working relationships and potential conflicts can ruin a friendship. It doesn't always happen, but when conflicts arise during the production process, you run the risk of losing both the director and your friend. That said, most of the directors I worked with have since become friends, some of them very close friends, like Lost.

Schmelkin Even if you produce with a director and have a good human experience that leads to a good film, you may not be very convincing when you are approached for your next project. At this point you can either pass or interrogate the director as to why you want to do the project and why you need to make it. I do not like directors who repeat the same thing over and over again.

Very occasionally, I have worked with a filmmaker on a project that they are adamant about doing a certain way, even though I am not completely convinced. I've dealt with that director throughout my career, and I did it with an eye toward supporting them, given that they needed to produce this new film in order to make a living.

(Top image: "Logorama" by François Arrault, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Ouplant, produced by Hauteur de Minuit, H5, Addict, Mikros Images and Arcadi)