Continuing on from my previous post about credits and job titles on TV productions, let’s review the rest of the opening credits from the iconic “White Tulip” episode of Fringe.
Co-Producer
Tanya Swerling
Producers
Zack Stentz
Ashley Edward Miller
These are most probably senior writers for Fringe.
Producer
Kathy Lingg
In this case we do know that Kathy Lingg is the Head of Television Programming for Bad Robot Productions, so in this case she is representing J.J. Abram’s company in the planning and filming of White Tulip.
Supervising Producer
Josh Singer
Supervising Producer
Jeff Vlaming
Supervising Producer
Reid Shane
Reid Shane is listed as a production manager on IMDB, so he might be one of the so-called “odd-even” producers for this episode. In TV production sometimes two people will fill a high-level job, such as 1st Assistant Director or Key 2nd Assistant Director. One will supervise the shooting schedule for an episode while the other will stay in an office and coordinate all the scheduling and planning of the next episode. These people are listed as “odd-even” on the call sheet. Not all production works in this manner, it just depends on how the production company wants to structure the crew.
And on a completely unrelated note, as a one-hour TV drama Fringe ran for 42 minutes an episode from Season 2 on (48 minutes in Season 1). It takes a cast and crew eight days to shoot a one-hour drama for television.
Consulting Producer
Akiva Goldsman
Consulting Producers
Alex Kurtzman
Roberto Orci
The Consulting Producer credit is given to someone who has provided some feedback on the production. Without knowing how the script was developed for White Tulip we don’t know if these people had actually provided some input on the final product, or whether this is a courtesy title given to three writers who were important in the development of Fringe.
Co-Executive Producer
David Wilcox
Co-Executive Producer
Joe Chappelle
Executive Producer
Bryan Burk
Executive Producer
J.H. Wyman
Executive Producer
Jeff Pinker
These people, basically, are all writers. We know that Josh and Jeff were the so-called “show runners,” (also sometimes called “hyphenates” as in “writer-producer”) meaning the head writers. In television writers have a great deal of control over the production of the show, whereas in film that authority is usually exercised by the Director.
Executive Producer
J.J. Abrams
From previous interviews I know that before a season of Fringe began J.J. liked to sit down with the writers and work out the full 22 episode season as one long play broken into three acts with different trajectories within those acts. Writers were then invited to provide a treatment for certain episodes, which is a detailed narrative description of the story. Only when it had been accepted did the writers actually begin to work on the script for the episodes.
Written By
J.H. Wyman &
Jeff Vlaming
Even though in television there are many writers working on the script, the Writer’s Guild of America and its Canadian counterpart have specific rules governing who gets credit based on how much that writer has contributed to the final product.
Directed By
Thomas Yatsko
The Director has all creative authority over the episode, but doesn’t manage or coordinate the crew as they set-up for a shot. Generally after a rehearsal the Director will “fine-tune” a performance with the actors away from the set as cameras are moved and the lighting is changed.
That concludes the opening credits. Now let’s start with those many names you see listed at the end of a TV episode, the so-called “closing credits.”
Music By
Michael Giacchino
&
Chris Tilton
Of course the composers of the music should be listed as having contributed to the episode. Michael Giacchino was continued to be given a credit in future seasons even though he ceased to compose music for Fringe sometime in Season 2.
Production Manager
Vladimir Stefoff
First Assistant Director
Greg Zenon
Second Assistant Director
David Baron
These are important people who manage and supervise the crew while on set. The “Unit Production Manager” is someone who has served as a 1st Assistant Director for many years. In this case Vladimir Stefoff coordinated the scheduling and funding of the episode with the Line Producer (see previous post). For instance, the call sheet for the next day of filming can only be confirmed once the Unit Production Manager (also called the “UPM”) signs off on it.
The 1st Assistant Director is the individual who directly oversees the crew while on set. In this case Greg Zenon created the shooting schedule for this episode and gave the command to the camera and sound departments to begin rolling once the Director was ready to start filming. The “1st” as he/she is often called, is a very powerful position on set, and it takes years to have accrued the necessary days in the lower ranks of Key 2nd Assistant Director and 2nd2nd Assistant Director (called the 3rd Assistant Director in the UK system.)
David Baron is the “Key 2nd Assistant Director” who implements the wishes of the 1st Assistant Director on set. He most probably directed all the background actors (i.e., “extras”) while on set. The “2nd” also creates the call sheet for the next day of filming and supervises all the contract paperwork for the guest starring actors. In general, the 2nd2nd AD (or 3rd in the UK) isn’t given a credit in most television productions.
Next time I’ll conclude the closing credits of White Tulip and describe some of those strange job titles you might have wondered about.
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