ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the reference groups associated with the craft aspects, rather than the profit aspects, of production. It describes the relationship of the television producer to the writer, director, and actor to show that the producer, although he has final decision-making authority, is not always in the position to use that authority to carry out his will. The chapter states that the relationships between the producers and other production people are qualitatively different from those between the producers and business people. The dependency of the producer on the writer and the problems that have developed because the producer did not have a guild or organization to represent him have caused the greatest conflicts. Even though most of the editing was done by the producers or by film editors selected by the producers, there seems to be no institutionalized conflict between directors and producers as between free-lance writers and producers.
