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Filmmaking is, occasionally, a labor of love. Mostly, though, it’s a labor of endurance, patience, and compromise—a lot of compromises—between directors and pretty much everyone else. When the system works, it’s nothing short of a miracle. When miracles won’t come, Alan Smithee steps in.

Alan Smithee is, arguably, the worst director of all time. He directed the television cuts of the 1984 Dune film, Catchfire, Woman Wanted, and even a Hellraiser movie. Pretty impressive...for a nonexistent human being.

Alan (or Allen) Smithee isn’t real. The name is actually a pseudonym created by the Directors Guild of America to help real directors distance themselves from particularly terrible projects. Before you start trying to sort out why Cats wasn’t credited to Alan Smithee, hold tight: the name can only be used if a director can prove to the DGA that the studio or producers didn’t allow a director their contractually-obligated days with the editor of the film, or if the final product is drastically different from the director’s intent. Basically, Alan Smithee can’t come to the rescue of a director who screwed up a project on their own accord.

-Eleanor Fye

Read more:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-story-of-dune-david-lynch-and-hollywoods-most-not-1843885321

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