Hollywood's producer-itis

Ever wonder what all those people credited as "producers" on recent movies actually do?

The Wall Street Journal explains:

In Hollywood, it doesn't take much to get a producer credit. Stars regularly push to have their managers or even relatives listed as producers on their films. Studios and networks often use producer credits as bargaining chips; an actor may get one for agreeing to a lower fee, a financier may get one for bankrolling a film.

The Producers Guild of America is fed up with what a spokesman calls "the Milli Vanilli syndrome of producer credits," and is now waging a campaign to rein in rampant producer-itis with more precise guidelines defining who qualifies.