Who is Alan Smithee: The Imaginary Director Who Made Many Movies?

In the post-production process of a film, the editor usually first makes a rough cut of the film, and then together with the director, they finalize the film. In commercial cinema - especially in Hollywood - the process works like this: Again, the editor makes the rough cut of the film and then continues to work with the director.

This is the 'director's cut'

In commercial cinema, the producer steps in after the editing stage. At this point, the producer intervenes in the film according to his own wishes. This intervention is actually an intervention in the director's style and dream. Because the producer, unlike the director, is concerned about the box office, that is money. This is why Alan Smithee attracts the attention of many people.

Alan Smithee (also Allen Smithee) is an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project. Coined in 1968 and used until it was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) when directors, dissatisfied with the final product, proved to the satisfaction of a guild panel that they had not been able to exercise creative control over a film. The director was also required by guild rules not to discuss the circumstances leading to the movie or even to acknowledge being the project's director.

The most important factor that separates the director and producer in this conflict is the duration of the film. While the director tries to convey the message he wants to convey to the audience accurately, the producer wants the film to be understood and easily understood by everyone, to be as short as possible, and to be able to be shown in many sessions during the day.

Alan Smithee, on the other hand, opposes this 'brutal cutting' as an intervention in the film he envisioned.

This intervention of the producer in the film caused some directors to reject their own films in the final stage of the film.

Director's Cut

This producer intervention in the history of cinema has led directors to edit their films twice. These versions, called 'Director's Cut' or 'Extended Edition', are presented to the audience after the film is released in the cinema. The biggest difference between these versions and the movie released in movie theaters is that they are longer.

There are some whose duration is the same as the first version of the movie, but here too, the way the movie tells the story changes. The locations of the scenes are different from each other.

And a director is born… Alan Smithee…

Directors who were exposed to producer intervention used the name 'Alan Smithee' between 1968 and 2000 to explain that the films were not as they wanted and to say 'I did not imagine this film this way'.

Thus, in the history of cinema, many films are born with the name 'Alan Smithee' as the director.