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TC what exactly is the difference between Executive Producer and Producer. I'm told the former is basic financial backing and % or cut of the profits. The latter is creative control, big picture ideas, etc.
Nolan is listed as an EP, but I'm told he wants nothing to do with this.
Almost the opposite. A producer basically oversees the financial backing / hiring of crew / helps develop the property / etc. In extremely simple terms, a producer oversees almost all aspects of the filmmaking process, from day one. An executive producer - or "E.P." - is more often than not in-name-only. They may have a tiny, tiny bit of creative input here and there, or may kind of help out if need be financially, but mostly an executive producer is either lending their name for clout (in Nolan's case), or it's a credential thing because their company was involved somewhere along the way. Basically, that company's contract may say they get two E.P. credits or something like that. So two people from that company will get their name on the movie, just for being involved tangentially.
For instance, my company is currently purchasing the rights to a book, but we're basically buying it for someone else to produce, someone who asked us to help out, but will be developing the project creatively on their own. In exchange for providing the cash to purchase the rights, along with receiving a percentage of the eventual purchase price (if/when a studio buys the project from us), we negotiated for two E.P. fees/credits. We won't have anything to do with the project creatively, but our names will be in the credits if it ultimately gets made.
