Kathleen Kennedy – The Women Producing the Tintin Movie Trilogy

In a quiet period on the Tintin movie news front I have decided to look behind some of the people that we know are connected to the Tintin movie trilogy. An important place to start is Kathleen Kennedy who is going to produce on the Tintin trilogy.

Lets start with what does a producers actually do. Well they do pretty much everything. Have you ever noticed when it is time to collect the Academy Award for Best Film it is always the producers. The producer is the person on set that makes sure everyone shows up, knows what to do when and knows beforehand what is going to be served for lunch. To quote one producers “The producer is the person who shows up on set only when there’s trouble, and then causes more trouble, cell phone in one hand, bullwhip in the other. The producer does all the hard work on a film and gets none of the glory. The producer sits at the right hand of God, and even then sends up notes.” which is pretty funny but also close to the mark.

On a more serous note a producer is the person whose role includes many hats which they have to wear all at the same time. A producers responsibilities can include arranging a films finances, commissioning the shape of the screen play, hiring the director, actors and crew, approving the shooting schedule, making product placement deals, helping with the marketing and publicity and fielding the endless day to day problems that will happen everyday. The producers depending on their style can be either hands-on or off, deferential or doctorial, friendly or fearsome. It doesn’t matter on the style only that they are a success.

All I can say is the Kathleen Kennedy who went to Shasta High School, Redding, CA and onto San Diego State University is a very successful producer. A Co-founder of Amblin Entertainment along with Steven Speilberg she has worked on huge successful blockbusters such as The Back to the Future Trilogy and Schindlers List.

In her final year at San Diego State University Kathleen got a job at KCST a local San Diego TV station where she worked as a camera operator, video editor, floor director and eventually as KCST news production coordinator.

After her employment with KCST she then went on to produce a local talk show for the station entitled You're On for four years before moving to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Kennedy secured her first film production job working with John Milius who at the time was making Spielberg's 1941(1979). The credits list her as a production assistant.

It was while working on 1941 that Kennedy came to the attention of Spielberg who hired her as his secretary. However they have both said she was a terrible typist and the only reason she was kept on was for her great production ideas. This led to her being a co-producer on Spielberg’s project of Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist (1982) and onto receiving her first her first full producer's credit on the famous E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). She has now become acknowledged as one of Hollywood’s leading producers with works like the Indiana Jones films behind her. Kennedy has collaborated with some of Hollywood’s leading directors such a Martin Scorsese, Robert Zemeckis, Barry Levinson and Clint Eastwood.

In 1982 she helped co-found and run the hugely successful production company, Amblin Entertainment, with Steven Spielberg and her husband Frank Marshall. Kennedy took over a large portion of the running of Amblin and served as president of the Amblin Company until 1992 when she decided to form her own film company with her husband. She became and still is a partner with Frank Marshall in The Kennedy/Marshall Company, a Santa Monica based film production company with a deal at Universal Pictures. She is also a Governor on the Board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2005 she was executive producer on two of Spielberg's latest films – War of the Worlds and Munich.

Kennedy is a very well respected producer who knows the business inside out and has great working relationship with Steven Spielberg. together with Peter Jackson and the inclusion of Steven Moffat to help write the script the first Tintin Movie is in good hands. The story telling background of these four people through the medium of movie-making fills me with hope that together this foursome will allow the look and feel of the books to be carried over into the Tintin Movie.

Tags: tintin film, tintin movie, kathleen kennedy, steven moffat, tintin, steven spielberg