Working: What an Executive Producer for Film and TV Actually Does

Slate Culture

Slate Podcasts

Arts, Tv & Film, Music

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2023

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

NOTE: This interview was recorded before the SAG-AFTRA strike. This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Marian Macgowan, a long-time film and TV producer who recently oversaw production on the Hulu series The Great. In the interview, Marian describes the many varieties of executive producer, from the ones who do a lot of creative work to the ones who “just sit there in the credits.” She also talks about her experience working on The Great, which Isaac calls “the best show on television.” After the interview, Isaac and co-host June Thomas discuss the best ways to provide feedback to collaborators. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Marian talks about The Great’s elaborate set designs. Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to [email protected] or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey listeners, Isaac Butler here, just one quick piece of business.
0:03.7	Wanted to let you know that the interview for this episode was actually recorded a few
0:07.4	months ago, prior to the strike.
0:10.4	We didn't want you to think we were crossing picket lines here on working.
0:13.1	All right, enjoy the episode.
0:16.9	One of the most bitter lessons I've learned is when you sit between the writer and the
0:30.2	director, and the writer is telling you that the director doesn't understand them and
0:34.3	the director is telling you that the writer doesn't know what they're doing.
0:37.1	At a certain point, the best management of that particular conflict is to let them
0:42.3	go at each other.
0:45.8	Welcome back to working.
0:46.8	I'm your host, June Thomas, and I'm your other host, Isaac Butler.
0:51.0	Isaac, it is so nice to see you again, but tell me, who's voice did we hear at the top
0:55.9	of the show?
0:56.9	Well, I spoke with producer Marion McGowan, who is probably best known stateside for
1:02.6	executive producing Hulu's The Great.
1:05.9	Oh, and this may be a bit of a silly question, but why did you want to speak with her?
1:11.2	Well, honestly, because the great, you know, for the three seasons that it was on, which
1:16.0	just finished up recently, I kind of think the great was the best show on television.
1:19.9	Wow.
1:20.9	I mean, it combined the political comedy of George Bernard Shaw with really delightful
1:26.6	perversity.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.