SPECTRE: Wilson, Broccoli take the ‘producer’s mark’

Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, co-bosses of Eon Productions

The Spy Commander saw SPECTRE, the 24th James Bond film, on Thursday night. There’s something in the main titles of note: Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli use the “producer’s mark” with their on-screen credit.

Back in 2013, the Producer’s Guild of America reached an agreement with major movie studios for a “producer’s mark” to be attached to the names of the principal people responsible for producing a movie. This blog IN A DECEMBER 2013 POST asked if Wilson and Broccoli would accept the credit.

With a “producer’s mark,” the letters “p.g.a.” (for Producers Guild of America and to avoid confusion with the Professional Golfers Association, which is abbreviated PGA) appear after the names of the main producers.

The Producers Guild sought this because of “producer inflation,” where many people could get some kind of producer’s credit because, for example, they were an actor’s agent, or provided some financing even if they weren’t involved creatively or various other reasons.

The “producer’s mark” is voluntary. It has been pretty common on movies since mid-2013.

When SPECTRE’s poster came out, it appeared Wilson and Broccoli had decided against taking the “producer’s mark.” The poster credit just says, “Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.”

However, at least with U.S. copies of SPECTRE, the “p.g.a.” mark appears after the names of Wilson and Broccoli during the main titles of the film itself.

Bond 24: Will Wilson and Broccoli take the `p.g.a.’ credit?

Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson

Alert movie goers (i.e. the ones who read the credits) may have noticed a new credit in films: the letters “p.g.a.” after the names of some, but certainly not all producers.

The letters are short for the Producers Guild of America. It’s intended to show which of many producers actually did most of the producing workload on a movie.

Over the past 35 years, various people — such as agents of stars — have gotten some kind of producing credit, whether it be producer, executive producer, co-producer, et. al. For example, the 2013 film Lee Daniels’ The Butler lists more than 30 producers of one title or another. By comparison, some movies, such as Gone With the Wind, listed one (David O. Selznick).

The Producers Guild this year reached a deal with some studios for a “producer’s mark” to be attached to the real producers on a movie. Since that deal, movies as disparate as The Lone Ranger, Thor: The Lost World and Last Vegas have included the “p.g.a.” label after the producers the guild judges to be the real producers of the movie.

Why “p.g.a.”? Well, according to a story on THE WRAP ENTERTAINMENT WEBSITE, the use of PGA, all capital letters, was staked out by the Professional Golfers Association decades earlier.

Flash forward to 2015, when the as-yet untitled Bond 24 reaches movie theaters. Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, the co-bosses of Eon Productions, are clearly the primary producers of James Bond movies. But they don’t have to take a “p.g.a.” credit after their names. According to THIS PAGE on the Producers Guild website:

Please note that receiving the Producers Mark is entirely optional. If for whatever reason a producer wishes not to have the Mark appended to her or his credit, that producer need not submit an eligibility form.

For the 23 007 movies through 2012’s Skyfall, Eon has avoided things such as a director’s “vanity’s credit,” a.k.a. “A Sam Mendes Film” or “A Film by Sam Mendes.” It remains to be seen whether “p.g.a.” is so firmly established by the fall of 2015 that by that time it’d be natural to be seen in a Bond film.