Producer Ceán Chaffin and David Fincher: 30 Years of Professional Partnership

Born in Los Angeles, California, on June 26, 1957, Ceán Chaffin is a film producer who has mostly collaborated with her husband, director David Fincher.

I started out in commercials, at the bottom. PA-ing, 2nd AD-ing, the whole route into line producing. (1)

She joined Propaganda Films in 1992 and worked as a producer for several commercial directors, handling a diverse group of accounts that took her to 13 countries before accepting a job on a Japanese Coca-Cola commercial that was directed by David Fincher: Coca-Cola: Blade Roller (1993, filmed in December 1992). (2) (3) (4) (5)

I started working with difficult directors at Pytka and Propaganda Films.

It wasn’t a conscious choice but with those guys, I just learned more. Someone dared me to work for Fincher and partly because he was younger than me, I thought, “That little punk?” But I figured I’d give it a shot, and I learned more than I’d ever learned before. (1)

That project led to an association with Fincher on other commercials and such notable music videos as the Rolling StonesGrammy Award-winning Love is Strong (1994).

She also produced the music videos directed by Mark Romanek, Madonna’s Bedtime Story (1995), and Michael Jackson’s Scream (1995), for which she earned a second Grammy. (4)

Propaganda offered me a movie; they had moved other commercial producers into films, but I believe I was their first female producer. So I was offered this film with David, but he signed up first to make Seven, which I wasn’t hired to do. I prepped it but they wouldn’t hire me because I had never line-produced a feature before. Which drove me crazy and still does, that Catch-22. It was a film for Polygram, which owned Propaganda; the budget was $69 million, and it was called The Game. (1) (2) (4)

Chaffin and Fincher became a couple in 1995 and they married in 2013. (6) (7) (8) (9)

Producer Arnold Kopelson (Seven, 1995):

Ceán is very supportive of David. She makes it possible for him to be totally enmeshed in his life of making movies. (8)

Their upcoming project, the neo-noir action thriller film The Killer is scheduled to be released on November 10, 2023, on Netflix.

(1) “Case Study. Walking the Line” (Produced By, October 2009)
(2) “Entrevista de El curioso caso de Benjamin Button” (Ceán Chaffin) (Cine PREMIERE, YouTube, January 19, 2009)
(3) Nev Pierce – “Interview” (Mank, The Unmaking, 2021)
(4) “Cean Chaffin” (Panic Room, Production Notes. Sony Pictures, 2002)
(5) Benoît Marchisio – Génération Propaganda (Playlist Society, 2017)
(6) Nev Pierce – “The Devil Is in the Detail” (Total Film, March 26, 2007)
(7) Nev Pierce – “In Conversation with David Fincher” (Empire, January 2009)
(8) Stephen Galloway – “David Fincher. Punk. Prophet. Genius” (The Hollywood Reporter, February 9, 2011)
(9) Nev Pierce – “Essay” (Mank, The Unmaking, 2021)

Interview with David Fincher’s Producer Ceán Chaffin on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

January 19, 2009
Cine Premiere (Mexico)

Case Study. Walking the Line

September 2009
Produced By

Quotes from Ceán Chaffin:

“I feel that being a line producer is an honor. I’m really proud of that. When you talk to somebody in the business and you say you’re a line producer, I think you get more respect then when you say, ‘Oh, I’m a producer.’ I think that I watch a director’s back better than anyone else, and that’s why David forces me into a Produced By credit. At first I was really hesitant because there’s a part of Hollywood that I kind of hide from. I really love directors, and I love what they do. But I also think that we all walk that line of supporting these filmmakers, while at the same time doing that job for the studio, because they’re financing it. We walk that line, and I don’t see anybody else willing to do that. How else are you going to deliver on all these different levels?”

“I think there’s too much hung on the creative idea; people’s egos are too attached to it or something. Because what we in this room all do couldn’t support the creative process more. Fincher is a very smart director; he gets that. I didn’t survive those early years with him because I had a different philosophy than he does. He feels the same way, so much so that one of the things he says to his fellow directors is “you gotta have your producer skills.” You need to understand what these people are doing for you because if they’re not doing it for you, you’re screwed.”

“Very rarely does anyone get upset when we say, ‘the money goes on the screen.’ That is our mantra. We don’t lie, and the money goes on the screen. When there are a lot of producers on a show, you sometimes have everyone in trailers … there are drivers, assistants, the whole entourage. And so, very gently, I hope, we ask: let’s put that on the screen instead. There aren’t a lot of bells and whistles and bling for everybody; when we have a Fincher project, it goes on the screen. We’re very serious about it. It’s not an easy question to ask some people, but you do.

You can look at dailies now online and on demand, so having some place to do that work is important, but it can be anywhere. It can be the AD’s trailer, wherever…”

“They will suss it out in a nanosecond if you’re not being honest. It’s so important. That’s probably number one.

I take ‘no’ from the director. And I understand the firm ‘no’ from the maybe-I-canchange-his-mind-later ‘no.’ That’s another skill.

We have our own opinions too. We’re not always going to agree with either the director or the studio. And that can get in the way.”

“We feel very strongly, both of us, that we have to make things work within the envelope that we promised… partly because that’s an expectation with the kind of movies that he makes. It’s a different beast that way. When you’ve got a Transformers, they’re willing to spend a little differently. So we give the bad news up front. We know that David asks for more days than most people do, but that’s the way he works. The studio once actually asked me, ‘How are you shooting 80 days on Panic Room when we’re at 80 days on Spider-Man?’ I said, ‘Well, who do you think is lying?’ [laughs]

“It’s a wonderful little thing you get from commercials and music videos, which we still do, though not as much these days. But they’re a great opportunity to try out new DPs, new equipment… It’s a chance to push the edge, a little bit. It’s like a date. You get to date your crew, and then when you make a feature, you get to run a marathon with them.

You have to have visual effects knowledge as a producer or line producer. I haven’t had a job, including commercials, in probably 18 years that hasn’t used VFX. You have to know this stuff.

You just have to show up; that’s how we all learn. I didn’t know what a telecine was when I first started, 25 or 30 years ago. So I showed up. You go and you learn, and you go to all the meetings with the visual effects groups. And it’s a big time commitment, but I don’t see any other way of doing it. I actually get tired of chasing David, sometimes, because he is so curious. But you go, and you visit RED, and you meet with Viper, S.two, engineers… It’s all part of the job.”

“The audience has changed, our economy has changed, clearly technology has changed, and the delivery system is still changing. So between all those things, it does have an impact on everybody in the film business. And that’s why it is important, I think, that we embrace the change. Change ultimately can be a good thing. It almost always is, if you look at it historically. People always prefer their past to their present, but I think once you embrace the change, there’s another curve out here that can be a positive one.”

Conference Spotlight: Ceán Chaffin and David Fincher

July 2014
Produced By

One of the most anticipated sessions of the 2014 Produced By Conference was its “Conversation with Ceán Chaffin and David Fincher” — a rare look into the process of the producing and directing team behind some of the most provocative films of the last 20 years, including Fight Club, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the upcoming Gone Girl.

In order to keep the discussion candid and open, members of the press were not allowed into the session, but Ms. Chaffin and Mr. Fincher graciously agreed to sit down with Producedby for a brief interview just before taking the stage.

Many of your films feel more like independent or even art films, given their challenge and complexity, and yet you’ve been able to make them within the major studio system. What’s your secret?

David Fincher: We’ve been pretty lucky. You have to have people within those bureaucracies who are fervent believers. We could not have made Fight Club without Laura [Ziskin] and Bill [Mechanic]. They bought the material. They had it before I had it. So I think you have to look for like-minded perverts within those bureaucracies to convert. And you have to do what you say you’re going to do.

Ceán Chaffin: And do it time and time again, so they start believing. It takes a while for that trust to be built up so you have a reputation that you can do what you say you’re going to do.

Wasn’t Seven famously a script that everyone said couldn’t be made?

Fincher: No, they just didn’t want to make it as written. They wanted to take out all the things that were disturbing. When it came down to whether there was going to be a head in the box at the end, my argument was: This movie is known around town as the ‘head in the box’ movie — so taking it out makes no sense. It’s like taking the wizard out of The Wizard of Oz. I don’t think it’s a question of unmakeability as much as it’s just people saying, “this could be too offensive.”

Chaffin: But they’re happy to make “too offensive” if it’s the right price.

Fincher: [With Seven], it was 11 drafts in development, and by the time I got it from Mike De Luca, I said, “Let’s go back to draft one.” So it’s finding the…

Chaffin: The champion.

Fincher: …the fellow pervert!

Chaffin: The like-minded people.

Working on projects with successful, popular source material often means that there are other producers attached. How do you stay true to your vision while collaborating with other producers?

Chaffin: It depends on the competence level and ego of each person. People know that David and I come together as a team, and I fill a space that they don’t [always] want to fill. [Other producers] have so much respect for David, and by this point they appreciate how we work, and they just want to be there when we need support. But a lot of people don’t want to do the things that we do and work how we work.

Let’s talk about that. What are those things?

Chaffin: We come from working on short-format together, and in that world you do everything from start to finish — and we just moved that over to films. I also line produce. You just wear more hats when you come from commercials and music video. So there’s more of an immersion in the whole process.

Fincher: I also think that the assembly-line nature of our industry encourages specialization, but I really have an aversion to that. So the people I am naturally going to turn to are people who can think about it from multiple facets. So for me, what Ceán brings to it is… for my job, I have to be out there, not trying to fail, but certainly exposed to failure. And I need someone behind me saying, “You need to keep in mind that if this goes horribly awry, that’s three days of shooting.” You need that balance. Or when it comes to music, like the Pixies song at the end of Fight Club — that’s Ceán saying “Listen to this.”

Chaffin: That’s not true. I just listen to a lot of music…

Fincher: Well, it is true. Or when we were casting Dragon Tattoo, Ceán was there right at the beginning saying, “I think Rooney [Mara] might be able to do it.” She has a legacy of experience, and I have that with 10 or 12 people that I continue to go back to because I know that they’re not going to try to talk me out of things that discomfort the audience.

Chaffin: But creative input — that’s not something I focus on with David. To me it’s all about watching the director’s back. And you’re in the position that you’re also working for the studio, and it’s very important that there’s somebody out there trying to work with both sides. It’s not just “us against them.”

Speaking of conflict, how often do you fight, what are the fights about, and who generally wins?

Chaffin: [Long pause] I don’t know.

Fincher: We don’t fight, we disagree. We disagree about a lot of things. Usually it’s because we’re looking at it from diametrically opposed [places]. I’m looking at it in terms of mortality, and she’s looking at it more in terms of feasibility. What can we guarantee? What can we expect from someone hanging from wires for nine hours?

Chaffin: We’ve worked together longer than we’ve been a couple, and we found early on that we have the same philosophy. That’s so much better, because if you don’t have that same care, it’s really tough, and can be dangerous, and can be dishonest, and that’s not comfortable for me. And with David, I have that. Then it was about…

Fincher: Not making you cry.

Chaffin: [Laughs] He made me cry on the first job; that’s true. But he makes everybody cry. I didn’t take it personally. His old person said, “Don’t worry, everyone cries.” [Fincher nods in agreement.] I’m kidding. But it’s not just with David, it’s all the people [we work with] who are so talented. You have to learn what their process is. Because when you don’t understand that, it can create conflict. It’s not about being right, it’s about making the whole work, and if you don’t understand each individual’s process, you can’t really be that person that moves [things] along, makes deadlines, makes budgets. I think that’s the part that keeps us from knocking heads — as a producer, sitting back and asking, “How does this person work? Let’s observe how they behave.” And then you support them.

Coca-Cola – “Blade Roller” (1993)

In 2021 AD, the futuristic megalopolis of ZERO-CITY is under martial law. When the authorities try to enforce a curfew, a gang of renegade “Blade Rollers” defy it rollerblading daredevil-style through the deserted rain-slicked streets.

For this stylistic homage to Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982), director David Fincher recruited the cinematographer of the classic film, Jordan CronenwethASC, one of his all-time heroes.

It was also the first collaboration between Fincher and Producer Ceán Chaffin.

Watch all the versions of the commercial and read The Fincher Analyst dossier:

1993. Coca-Cola – Blade Roller

Mostly Horror Podcast: David Prior. The Empty Man, The Autopsy

Sean Parker & Steve Goldberg
February 6, 2023
Mostly Horror

Sean Parker (Illustrator) and Steve Goldberg (NY Nets Content Manager) discuss the horror genre; interviewing the amazing people who contribute to it and discussing our love for horror films, television and more!

In this episode, they talk about The Last Of Us, Infinity Pool, The Boogeyman, and the super secret stuff they have coming up.

Then, they’re joined by director David Prior. They discuss horrifying formative childhood memories, his Fincher featurettes, the video clerk to director pipeline, and more!

Listen to the podcast:

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Wondery

Follow Mostly Horror: Twitter, Instagram

It Still Stings: Mindhunter’s Sidelining Robbed Us of a Killer Conclusion

Jim Vorel
December 28, 2022
Paste

It’s safe to say that in recent years, Netflix has struggled to generate the kind of “prestige” dramas that still routinely draw viewers and critical buzz to premium cable networks or streamers such as HBO. Few among us could hope to understand the demographics being sought by such a massive entertainment juggernaut, or decrypt the desires of the unknowable algorithm as it tries to translate social media hype and bots sharing GIFs into subscriber predictions for three quarters from now. Trying to account for every variable would take supremely gifted intuition and insight into the human condition … the exact skillset of the fictional (but reality inspired) protagonists of Mindhunter. And Netflix let Mindhunter lay fallow, so who’s going to save us now?

The drama devised by creator-writer Joe Penhall and showrunner David Fincher was the rarest kind of Netflix project—a beautifully rendered, big budget, period piece drama with near universal critical praise and audience plaudits to match. And yet, as is so often the case with these diamonds in the rough, the show simply didn’t seem to have the groundswell of support and widespread hype to match the adoration it received from its rapt viewers. At the very least, it wasn’t as widely adopted as Netflix seemingly demands every show be in order to avoid the ever-looming axe, although Mindhunter was never truly canceled with finality—instead, it was sent into “indefinite hiatus” as Fincher’s attention drifted by necessity to an array of other projects. That “hiatus” has now stretched for more than three years, and although rumblings of a Mindhunter revival always seem to be percolating, each passing month only renders a third season less likely when all is said and done.

And that truly is a shame, because Mindhunter was one of the most gripping, unnerving, brilliantly designed and powerfully acted series that Netflix has ever brought to the world of streaming. It’s also a painfully incomplete narrative, as its second season concluded with numerous major storylines dangling in space, robbed of their dramatic possibilities. Watching the series again in retrospect, it’s clear that Mindhunter had a map for where it was headed over several more seasons, but it feels very unlikely we’ll ever see the satisfying payoff of its journey into the darkest parts of the human psyche.

Read the full article

Red Carpet Rookies: Lisa Beroud. VFX Producer

Eric Barba, VFX Supervisor, Lisa Beroud, VFX Producer, and Alex Wang, ILM VFX Supervisor, on the set of Terminator: Dark Fate.

Mike Battle
November 1, 2022
Red Carpet Rookies

Starting her career producing commercials Lisa Beroud transitioned to James Cameron‘s famous VFX house Digital Domain, where she worked on titles including TRON: Legacy, Oblivion, Her, 47 Ronin, and a multitude of David Fincher projects including Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl. Since leaving DD, she has been a VFX producer of hits such as Black Panther, Terminator: Dark Fate, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Listen to the podcast:

Red Carpet Rookies (with a transcript)
Apple Podcast
Spotify
Google Podcasts

Follow Red Carpet Rookies: InstagramFacebookTwitter

Follow Mike: Instagram, Twitter

CG Garage: Jerome Denjean, Supervising Creative Director for Love, Death & Robots

Christopher Nichols
September 6, 2022
CG Garage, ChaosTV (chaos)

Over the past five years, Love, Death & Robots has completely resculpted the landscape of animation, feeding Netflix viewers bite-size chunks of violence, sex, and gore. Supervising Creative Director Jerome Denjean is a key player behind-the-scenes, giving Love, Death & Robots’ talented directors the freedom to execute their visions (literally!) while ensuring that each episode fits in with the series’ overall vision and tone.

In his second podcast with Chris, Jerome breaks down some of the amazing episodes in series three: David Fincher’s “Bad Travelling,” Alberto Mielgo’s “Jibaro,” Patrick Osborne’s “Three Robots: Exit Strategies,” and Emily Dean and Polygon Pictures’ “The Very Pulse of the Machine.” Jerome also reveals how episodes are researched and produced, and how Japanese animation has influenced their direction.

0:00:00: Intro
0:06:03: Five years of Love, Death & Robots
0:09:12: Jerome’s role and how he works with different directors and international teams
0:14:28: Working with David Fincher on “Bad Travelling
0:18:23: Fincher, mocap, virtual production, and gore
0:23:48: Old friends return: “Three Robots: Exit Strategies
0:30:19: The style of “The Very Pulse of the Machine
0:35:36: The influence of anime and working with Polygon
0:40:16: Alberto Mielgo’s “The Witness” and “Jibaro
0:52:39: Nurturing new talent
0:55:17: Producing “Love Death & Robots

Listen to the podcast:

CG Garage (chaos)
Apple Podcasts

Spotify
Facebook

Behind-the-scenes of “Bad Travelling”

Love Death & Robots’ “Bad Travelling” gave Blur Studio a chance to work alongside legendary director David Fincher. Find out what they learned in the process.

Henry Winchester
August 2, 2022
chaos

Cinema is often referred to as painting with light — but it could be said that David Fincher’s movies paint with darkness. Beginning with Alien 3, and moving on through Se7enFight ClubZodiacMank, and the TV series Mindhunter, the acclaimed director has made use of low-key lighting and anemic palettes to explore the darker recesses of the human mind.

Now, Fincher has taken his characteristic chiaroscuro to “Bad Travelling,” a grisly maritime adventure involving a dishonest, paranoid crew — and a giant crustacean lurking below decks. The Love, Death & Robots episode marks Fincher’s first completely computer-animated short film, as well as his first directorial contribution to the Netflix anthology series he executive produces alongside fellow director Tim Miller.

To create the nautical world of “Bad Travelling,” Fincher teamed up with Blur Studio, the animation and VFX production company founded by Miller. We spoke to Compositing Supervisor Nitant Ashok Karnik and Co-CG Supervisor Jean Baptiste Cambier about working with a living legend of modern cinema, and how V-Ray’s lighting tools helped Fincher embrace the darkness.

Read the full interview in two parts:

Behind-the-scenes of “Bad Travelling,” part 1: Collaborating with David Fincher

Behind-the-scenes of “Bad Travelling,” part 2: How to light like David Fincher

Love, Death + Robots. Inside the Animation: Bad Travelling

June 15, 2022
Netflix (YouTube)

David Fincher, director of Bad Travelling featured in Love, Death + Robots Vol. 3 discusses how he approached directing his first animated short.

Read the LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS. Volume 3 guide

Watch LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS on Netflix

Literally! With Rob Lowe: Steven Soderbergh

Rob Lowe
February 10, 2022
Literally! With Rob Lowe (Team Coco)

It’s Showtime! When Steven Soderbergh joins Rob, the two friends get to ask the questions they’ve never asked one another. In this episode find out about Steven’s new film Kimi, and how he thinks Sex, Lies, and Videotape now feels like a Jane Austen novel.

Listen to the podcast:

Apple Podcasts
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‘Zodiac’ Turns 15: Behind-the-Scenes Facts You Didn’t Know About the David Fincher Movie

David Fincher’s legendary attention to detail on the serial killer film inspired plenty of on-set drama.

Christian Zilko
March 03, 2022
IndieWire

This week marks 15 years since “Zodiac” was released in theaters, and save for the actors looking 15 years younger than they do now, the film still feels like it could be released today. If anything, “Zodiac” feels more like a product of 2022 than 2007. The country is more obsessed with serial killers than ever before, with true crime podcasts and documentaries continuing to draw massive ratings, Zodiac killer memes being used in presidential primaries, and the latest Batman movie taking the form of a serial killer drama.

That makes it a great time to revisit “Zodiac,” as well as a good opportunity to take a deep dive into the making of the film. “Zodiac” attracted as much attention for its painstaking production process as it did for the finished product, as the always detail-oriented David Fincher went above and beyond to make sure everything in his film was historically accurate. Sometimes his methodical process hurt his relationships with the cast, but one thing is for certain: They made a great movie.

Read the 15 facts about the making of “Zodiac” that you may not have known.