The studios’ baseline operating principle: Fear

This is why studio execs operate out of fear: “John Lesher, Brad Weston out at Paramount”:

An executive earthquake rocked Paramount Pictures’ Melrose lot Friday afternoon as chairman and CEO Brad Grey fired Paramount Film Group president John Lesher and production president Brad Weston.

Why fear? Because studio regimes typically go through some sort of executive upheaval or overhaul every 18–24 months. Witness Paramount:

The revolving door began when Grey first turned to former television executive Gail Berman, who lasted less than two years in the post, departing in early 2007. After a year in which the heads of Paramount’s production labels reported directly to Grey, the studio chairman then turned to Lesher, who had been heading the studio’s speciality division Paramount Vantage. But Lesher’s tenure, which began in January 2008, has now proven even more short-lived.

And why the axe?

While a studio release headlined the latest shake-up as an effort to “streamline (its) production executive structure,” Lesher and Weston appeared to be taking the fall for failing to move more projects thought the production pipeline.

So while other studios are cutting back their movie slates (like Disney), Paramount has been trying to increase the number of movies they produce.

More. Less. Push. Pull.

Corporate whims shift like the wind. And the people who get caught in the tornado, flung far away to the land of “First Look Deals” are studio execs.

Every time they greenlight a movie, they put their ass on the line. Much easier to say NO and not risk a B.O. bomb than to say YES and have everyone involved in the dud run for the hinterlands, leaving only you, red ink, and your corporate overlords glaring down at you.

Does this help you understand why Hwood movie studios choose to do some many freaking remakes? So many sequels? They represent safe choices. And when your baseline operating principle is fear, studio execs try at all costs to minimize their risk and exposure.

Cue screenwriting mantra:

“Write a great script.”

Make it impossible for a studio exec to not say YES.

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