In Hollywood, directors are often god-like beings.
They hold the "power of life and death" of the film in their hands and are the soul of the crew.
But at the beginning of the film, the directors were far from where they are today.
In other words, the director at the time was more like a dramatist.
Until, the arrival of Kim Wido.
Shadowman: Kim Wido
Gender: Male
Born and died: 1894-02-08 to 1982-11-01
Place of Birth: Galveston, Texas, USA
Occupation: Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Actor
Reason to commemorate: Became president of the DGA (Directors Guild of America).
Director = Drama
Before the establishment of the DGA, Hollywood directors lived in a disaster.
In Hollywood at that time, the studio was king, and the set owners were in charge.
From preparation to shooting, the director's work is more like a drama.
With the exception of a very small number of directors, an ordinary director has neither the right to participate in the script nor the right to shoot left and right.
△ In the 1920s, a director who was making a movie
It was not until after the Great Depression that the state of the film industry changed slightly.
The establishment of corresponding trade unions such as actors and producers has gradually become standardized in the industry.
In 1936, the predecessor of the Directors Guild, the Screen Directors Guild, was founded.
The first president of the union was Kim Wido.
Kim Wido
In silent-film Hollywood, Victor's status was equivalent to that of Spielberg today.
△ Kim Wido
His "War Flower" grossed $22 million, the highest-grossing silent film to date.
△ "Battlefield Flower" poster
As one of the few directors who have the right to speak, Victor's works have a distinct personality.
"War Flower" portrays the cruelty of war into three points through the love of soldier Jim and village girl Melisander.
In the film, Victor uses a lot of subjective shots.
Such details were extremely rare in Hollywood at the time.
△ Stills from "War Flower"
It is also this distinct shooting feature that allows the filmmaker to see the role of the director in the film.
Therefore, the first thing Vindo did after taking office was to equalize the rights for the directors.
Screen Directors Guild
It wasn't until 1938, after much effort, that the directors' guild finally made substantial progress.
The union stipulates that the director's weekly salary should be between $61-150, and the work week cannot exceed 44 hours.
Directors can not only participate in the creation of the script, but also participate in the selection of actors.
More importantly, the director finally has the right to participate in the editing.
△ In the 1930s, he worked in the editing room as a director
The directors are finally no longer dispensable characters, but have become the core of the film.
And this kind of work specification has also been used to this day.
But when artistic creation meets box office blockbusters, directors in today's Hollywood are facing new dilemmas.
This time, the opponent is not the studio, but the producer.
Final cut right
Last July, Disney Pictures abruptly fired two directors of Star Wars: Solo.
Phil Rhode and Christopher Miller.
△ Two directors
There is only one reason, the 'creative concept' is not harmonious.
As we all know, in today's Hollywood, movies take a "producer system".
The producers have an extremely accurate positioning of the film from preparation to market.
Therefore, when the shooting concept of the director could not be agreed, the conflict emerged.
Occasionally, big studios will release the "final editing rights" to a small number of famous directors.
But even so, some films still can't escape the fate of being "blindly cut".
In 1984, "Once Upon a Time in America" was released in Cannes and caused a sensation.
The 3-hour version screened during the period is enough to become a classic in film history.
△ Stills from "Once Upon a Time in America"
Because the time was too long, the producer who held the final cutting power cut the North American version of the film for 1 hour.
When this masterpiece of film history was released in North America, it was only 159 minutes long. (The original film is 229 minutes long)
The storylines in the AMERICAN version of the film are arranged in the correct order, and the flashback paragraphs are completely deleted.
It is rumored that director Sergio Leone suffered internal injuries as a result and has since stopped making films.
Compared with the mistakes caused by the producer, the "disaster" caused by the director himself is not small.
In 2008, Wachowski's "Speed Racer" was released.
△ Stills from the film
In order to compress the time, the producers suggested that the film be reduced from 135 minutes to 95 minutes.
But the director Wachowski siblings (who were still siblings at the time) disagreed.
The two who hold the final editing rights decided to keep the original length unchanged.
The result of the film is well known, the investment of 120 million US dollars, in the end, only to exchange for the global box office of 93 million US dollars.
The directors give life to the film, and they are the real soul of the film.
For producers and Hollywood studios, movies are more like money-making machines.
Only by integrating and connecting the two sides can we give the film real charm.
And if it is just a single quest for satisfaction, then the director's guild, there is no such thing.