“Market the intent of the producer, not what the director wrought.”  -- Joe Roth

That aptly describes what they did for Maleficent.  And fortunately, the film's story and message and Angelina's performance were strong enough to withstand Stromberg's muddled direction.  

From his remarks (below), the quality of a film clearly doesn't rank high in Roth's priorities and Angelina no doubt had to push hard to get Maleficent closer to where she wanted it to be.

-- Fussy

Joe Roth on his hits ('Maleficent') and missteps ('Gigli'): 'I failed my way to the top' http://t.co/opQvw4JUiw
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 8, 2014

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

From failing his way up to out muscling directors, the veteran shared stories with an audience on the Warner Bros. lot.

Regaling a full house at the Produced By conference on the Warner Bros. lot Saturday, veteran producer and executive Joe Roth shared anecdotes that painted a picture of his trajectory from PA on a commercial shoot for Lipton Tea to studio head and successful producer.

 “I failed my way to the top,” Roth said, revealing that an early assignment ended in disaster. In a job as a location manager, “I got an entire commercial crew lost in Oakland for four hours and got fired.”

Other notable missteps included the 2003 flop Gigli – “when those things happen, there’s nothing left to do but cry,” he said – and spending many months working on a project in which the director, not Roth, controlled the rights. Eventually the project moved forward without Roth’s involvement. That film turned out to be a runaway success – it was Back to the Future – but Roth didn’t see a dime from it.

Of course, Roth himself is known more for his successes: Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Huntsman, and Black Hawk Down among them. Most recently, Maleficent opened last weekend at $70 million domestically ($171 million worldwide) and is expected to reach at least $126 million domestically by the end of this weekend. Nice numbers but, Roth said, in today’s world of media conglomerates, “Maleficent doesn’t move the needle.”

The secret of his success? Stay focused on the project and the audience. “Market the intent of the producer, not what the director wrought,” said Roth.

He later elaborated. “My feeling about directors is … if I hire a [director like] David Fincher, there’s nothing for me to do except get fat at craft services.” So instead, he prefers to work with directors who are “great at one thing, [rather than] good at many things. It’s a way for me to maintain control. It’s more fun for me.”

Email: jh@jhandel.com



A few other relevant Joe Roth quotes

starmometer

“When Disney came to me with this project, I’d already done several big visual types of movies and I’d learned that audiences make decisions about going to movies long before they know what the movie’s about,” continues Roth. “They get a vibe off some visual presentation that happens earlier than anything else. So, I thought, Angelina’s an experienced actress, Robert is going to be a great director and if he can provide the distinct visual style he brought to ‘Avatar,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Oz The Great and Powerful,’ I think it’s a good marriage.”






Bloomberg:  Let's start with Maleficent.  Obviously a lot of buzz around the film right now.  How does the finished product compare to what you first envisioned for this.
Roth:   The finished product is so far superior to what I envisioned because Robert Stromberg is the man who designed Avatar and Alice in Wonderland and Oz and so its a spectacular looking film in 3D.  Really lush and taking you to places you've never been.

B And you're talking about somebody who has never directed a film at all...
R  I've backed a lot of first time directors who I think are ready and have a particular expertise.  With him it was visual.  And I felt that Angie is such a force on her own that the best way to support her was to have a great visual background.

B  Speaking of Angelina Jolie this is somebody who if she was not onboard with this film you would not have made it.  What does she think of the final product?
She loves the film.  She absolutely loves the film.  And boy she is a tough critic both on herself and on the film.  And we've worked hard and she absolutely loves the film and will be out promoting it.



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