Researching Who's Responsible For Making Decisions

[VulcanMindBlown]

Okay, so I didn't mean to have a headline that was so vague and broad, but the gist of what I am aiming for is how to do research what decisions are made in making science fictions media... I'll give you some examples.

In Star Trek, a lot of people thought that Paramount dropped the ball. Rick Berman and Brandon Braga were the most responsible. I saw a thread where Christopher Bennett said something about Brandon Braga not being completely responsible for Trek's demise....

... What do I know? I do know that they were on the credits for doing at least the least sucessful Voyager and Enterprise shows. Also, we had all but First Contact came as what fans at a broad glance reviewed more positively.

For Star Wars, George Lucas got a lot of criticism. Most of it, I didn't agree with, but some things I did. I know that he had more control of the prequel movie trilogy from the credits. Compared to "A New Hope," he had more control of that movie (at least George was directing it) than in the sequels within the original trilogy.

How do I do more homework? It looks like I have to search for interviews and articles on who said what and what happen as a final decision. Of course, there are videos and special features of the movies and shows made, but I am very limited on time... I barely have enough time for my other hobbies, because I am a full time student in college... So my two base questions are... where are quick ways to find information out and are there other mediums I can get information... maybe more straightforward?

People here seem pretty smart and knowledgeable abou what goes behind the scenes. Can someone enlighten me?

 

[JD]

Like you said, interviews and maybe some behind the scenes stuff from the DVD and Blu-Ray releases are probably the best places to go. The only thing to keep in mind with the official releases is that they are probably not going to be as honest about things like studio interference as in a more candid interview. Skimming Wiki articles can also be a good source for some of the bigger shows and movies since they tend to summarize a lot of the information that comes out of the interviews and stuff like that.
There might also be some tell all books for some of the really popular stuff like Star Trek and Star Wars.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Yeah, plus there are a lot of "faceless executives" at the studios and networks who influence decisions.

 

[Greg Cox]

Movies and TV shows are collaborative exercises so there tend to be a lot of cooks involved. And the more money at stake, the more people are going to have opinions. And, yes, sometime the producer, the director, the studio, and even the stars may not be on the same page, which is how the infamous "creative differences" arise.