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Pro'·duc·er.
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What does a producer do?A successful film producer must be a creative visionary, an astute businessperson, a prudent cost accountant, a flexible diplomat, and a skilled troubleshooter. Gerald R. Molen began his film career in 1957 in the transportation department of Republic Studios. He subsequently moved to Universal Pictures and was quickly named head of transportation there as well. He left the motion picture business, but only for a few years, returning as a transportation coordinator on such critically acclaimed films as Being There, Coming Home, and the Academy Award™ -winning Ordinary People. The film community was quick to acknowledge Jerry's astute problem-solving skills and vast production knowledge. His career continued its upward path as a Unit Production Manager, or UPM, comparable to a producer's executive officer. His unit production credits are quite impressive, including The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), Tootsie (1982), and A Soldier's Story (1984). 1985's The Color Purple was a hallmark for Jerry as it was his first teaming with director Steven Spielberg. |
 Here is the infamous Jerry "Molden" actor listing in Videolog.™ courtesy Blockbuster Entertainment
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The Jerry Molen Filmography by Internet Movie Database Ltd.His first producing role came just one year later on another Spielberg film, 1987's Batteries Not Included. In 1988, he executive-produced Bright Lights, Big City, and co-produced the Academy Award™ -winner Rainman. In addition to his multitude of daily production responsibilities, Rainman would bring Jerry yet another challenge: that of actor. Highly respected as a doctor of troubleshooting within the film industry, it was only natural for director Barry Levinson to cast him as Raymond Babbit's guardian, Dr. Bruner. Jerry was at first uneasy about the request, but he honored the director's needs in his usual manner--with professionalism and dedication. In the end, his portrayal was enthusiastically received and credited as being both sound and realistic. Since 1988 brought Rainman, his next film project would bring thunder--Days of Thunder. Coined as "Top Gun on wheels," Jerry executive produced this tale about stock-car racing. Here again, he found himself in front of the camera, typecast as neurosurgeon Dr. Bill Wilhare. In 1991, Jerry teamed with Spielberg film entity Amblin Entertainment on the production of Hook. During production, the elaborate sets often drew more media attention than the stars. Knowing his extensive film-making experience, Steven Spielberg asked Jerry to join Amblin in 1992. His new role would be as a film producer, and to oversee production of all of the company's numerous feature film projects. His list of accomplishments has grown extensively at Amblin, but a pinnacle moment in Jerry's career came during the 66th Academy Awards, where Schindler's List won the Oscar™ for best motion picture of 1993. He graciously received the coveted gold statuette, honoring his wife for her influence. |
Why do kids know so much about dinosaurs? I don't know, but you can put 'em back in their place with this: There are two orders of dinosaurs: ornithischians -- with hips similar to birds -- were all herbivores, and saurischians -- with hips similar to lizards. Here are some examples: Order Suborder Name Ornithischians Thyreophorans Saurischians Sauropodomorphs |
The Official Universal Pictures Jurassic Park Site.
In the annals of film history, 1993 would prove to be a banner year for both Amblin Entertainment and Jerry Molen. He shared a producer's credit on the most successful box-office hit of all time, Jurassic Park. For the picture, Spielberg needed ground-breaking technologies that would more realistically capture his ultimate vision. Jerry and the production staff spent months reviewing and analyzing all possibilities. Using a combination of mechanized sculptures and some of the most sophisticated digital creations ever produced, the creatures of Jurassic Park were convincingly brought to life. Appearing as a doctor for the third time in film, Jerry can be seen standing behind a sick triceratops as Dr. Gerry Harding, veterinarian of Jurassic Park. Principal photography wrapped on budget, and an impressive 12 days ahead of schedule. As a result, through Jerry's efforts, the motion picture industry attained new heights in special-effects film-making. |
 Gerald R. Molen film biography at Site B. What exactly does "Jurassic" mean, anyway? Named for the Jura mountains in Switzerland, the Jurassic period was the second of three time divisions of the Mesozoic, the era of dinosaur dominance. It was characterized by mid-sized ornithischians such as Stegosaurus and saurischians such as Allosaurus. Eras Periods Epochs m.y.a. Paleozoic Era Cambrian
(C) 590-505 Mesozoic Era Triassic
(TR) 248-213 Cenozoic Era Tertiary
(T) The periods can be memorized with this acronym: Come
Over Some Day The periods represent specific sequences of rock as well as time. Geologists use the symbols shown above to classify rocks on a map according to their ages. The most impressive dinosaur fossils are found in Cretaceous-age rocks. |
The Official Universal Pictures / Amblin Entertainment Lost World: Site B.
Production on The Lost World: Jurassic Park started in the spring of 1995. Jerry, now a longtime Spielberg collaborator and veteran of the first movie, focused his substantial production skills on the project. He roughed out a schedule and budget as Michael Crichton was concluding his novel and Spielberg and screenwriter David Koepp were developing ideas for the screenplay. As the project became increasingly defined, Jerry spent several months lining up the crew and a multitude of production elements. "My job is to provide the director with the tools necessary to do what he wants to do. The most important thing is to find the right people."
Principal photography began in September, 1996 and lasted 2 weeks, on a combination of state parks and private land in Northern California. The film was already ahead of schedule within the first week, and by the time the shoot was over, key live action scenes had been captured, dinosaurs were on film, and all of the plates for Industrial Light and Magic's (ILM) three major computer-generated (CG) sequences and nearly half the CG plates for the entire show had been filmed. Throughout the fall, the filmmakers shot on stages at Universal Studios and a select group of surrounding locations. Main production was completed in December.
The biggest challenge for Jerry was to keep the production on track and on budget. "The budget was a little bit higher for this movie than it was for the first - which was about $58 million - but we were actually able to get more for our money this time," he notes. "We got more from Stan Winston and his people because a lot of the research and development had already been dealt with for Jurassic Park. We also got more from ILM, in part because the cost of CG had decreased. Also, Steven had decided to get as much as he could from the mechanical dinosaurs, without resorting to CG more than was necessary. So even though this movie would have a few more CG shots than Jurassic Park, it wouldn't have a great deal more." Jerry is quick to credit Spielberg for Lost World's efficient production. "Steven was able to do that, to plan for it and budget for it, because he is such a visionary. He is able to see the entire movie in this mind long before he starts to shoot so he knows exactly what he needs. He isn't the kind of director who ends up with a lot of film literally on the cutting room floor. There is no waste. Because of that, we were able to budget this movie very carefully and responsibly." |
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biographical material adapted from "The Jerry
Molen Story" by Mills-James Productions and Stepping
Stone Entertainment. This site is NOT an official source of information and the author claims no responsibility for inaccuracies. Mr. Molen cannot be contacted through and is not affiliated with this site.
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Jurassic Park 3 opened Wednesday 18 July 2001, capping one of the most successful production chapters in film history. |
Here you'll find an unofficial history about Jurassic
Park's producer and geologic facts that nice people find interesting.
