BEN AFFLECK, COPRODUCER -- WINNER
WHO IS HE? He's Ben Affleck, that's who.
WHY HE'S A WINNER For as much as he goofed off (including plenty of horseplay with buddy Moore), he got things done. He convinced Miramax that Pete Jones was their man when no one else seemed to want Jones, and he unveiled ''Ben Affleck the impressionist'' with hilariously bad send-ups of Moore (''This is a memo''), Damon, and Jay Leno.
ONE SHINING MOMENT Affleck goes over the head of Miramax exec Jon Gordon and calls the otherwise unreachable Harvey Weinstein for an answer. In seconds they have dinner plans. ''You guys suck,'' Gordon fumes, but Affleck's call gets the job done.
CANDID CAMERA Throughout the first two episodes, the ever-sipping Affleck appears to have engaged in a solo game of 99 bottles of beer on the wall.
QUOTABLE QUOTE Likening Miramax co-president of productions Meryl Poster to a sexy schoolteacher with a ruler, he taunts: ''You give it to me. I'm bad. I'm a bad boy.'' Take one down, pass it around...
PETE BIAGI, DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY -- LOSER
WHO IS HE? Having worked on more than 40 low-low-budget films (''Vengeance of the Dead''?), this was supposed to be Biagi's breakthrough to the big time. Oh, well.
WHY HE'S A LOSER Instead of speeding up the process, he slowed it down. He showed up every day without a shot list and took seemingly forever to do lighting setups. He was so concerned with putting his stamp on ''Stolen Summer'' that he tried to wrestle control away from Jones by ''editing'' the film as he shot it. And then there was the day her tried to take Bonnie Hunt's makeup away. If there's one thing a man should know...
DARKEST HOUR Biagi wants to time the Lake Michigan shoot precisely around the ''magic hour'' and when he doesn't get his way, he storms out of a late-night production meeting.
CANDID CAMERA He gushes to the camera about his tricky, manipulative ways -- something he probably should have kept to himself.
QUOTABLE QUOTE The man's motto is ''Shot lists are for wimps.'' This should have raised a few red flags from the start.
PAT PEACH, LINE PRODUCER -- LOSER
WHO IS HE? Peach has produced such middle-of-the-road fare as ''Highlander: Endgame,'' ''P.U.N.K.S.,'' and ''Suicide Kings.'' After nearly 15 years in the business, this relatively low-budget shoot is not where he wants to be -- and it shows.
WHY HE'S A LOSER Partnered with coproducer Jeff Balis, who's a rookie barely half his age, Peach made every attempt to get Balis sent home but reluctantly played nice when he got called out on it. He should have focused, instead, on controlling and guiding Jones. Peach's poor budgeting lead to the disastrous attempt to shoot under the El train, and he was largely responsible for the incessant bickering between Balis, Chris Moore, and himself on the first half of the shoot.
DARKEST HOUR Peach is caught on camera while plotting the demise of Jeff Balis. ''The main guy at the studio hates Jeff,'' he whispers. ''The studio isn't looking to him for a f--king thing.''
CANDID CAMERA We see Peach repeatedly scowl and roll his eyes at the child actors when they can't get their lines down.
QUOTABLE QUOTE ''Do pennies f--king matter?'' Yes, Pat. On a $1.5 million budget film, pennies DO, in fact, matter.
JEFF BALIS, COPRODUCER -- WINNER
WHO IS HE? He's the fresh, young face (and buoyant red hair) to Pat Peach's Willy Loman. The two have different titles but serve dangerously similar roles.
WHY HE'S A WINNER Early on, Balis described his role as ''keeping Chris Moore updated and satisfied,'' but like Peach, his time might have been better spent focused on Jones. Still, he showed great resolve after Moore threatened to send him back to LA. Balis provided insightful script help (we get to see Danny's shiva because of him), was key in averting problems at the beach and on the baseball field, and resembled a real producer in the end -- even more so than Peach. As his red Afro grew, so did his confidence.
ONE SHINING MOMENT At the close of an unproductive and exhausting beach shoot, Balis suggests one last spur-of-the-moment shot. As it turns out, this ends up being the only film used from the entire day.
CANDID CAMERA Balis is such a stand-up guy that he volunteers to be an extra for the film's final shot. Did he know he'd have to wear a leisure suit and pick out his hair to maximum fro-age?
QUOTABLE QUOTE In reference to Peach's back-stabbing and his own near firing, Balis sarcastically remarks: ''Thanks for your part, Pat. Either driving it in or pulling it out.''
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