MacDonald/Parkes Productions and Amblin Entertainment

Men in Black sports five producers and three production companies in its credits, making for a lot of cooks in this cinematic kitchen. For our purposes here, we really only need to focus on three: Producers Laurie MacDonald and Walter F. Parkes from MacDonald/Parkes Productions, and Executive Producer Steven Spielberg from Amblin Entertainment.

MacDonald/Parkes Productions has produced more than 20 films, and its filmography mostly consists of either quirky comedies, like Dinner for Schmucks and The Tuxedo, and adventure films like The Island and Collateral. That's by no means exclusive, as a quick glance at the company's filmography includes some films that definitely belong to neither genre—looking your way, The Ring. Still the company's strengths are clearly action and comedy, an interesting note since Men in Black is both.

Amblin Entertainment was founded by Steven Spielberg with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. Obviously, the company produces Spielberg's films because what's better than being the boss? Being the boss's boss. But the company's produced films from other directors, notably Joe Dante's Gremlins, Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future, and Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers. That's a pretty eclectic lineup.

What can we say? Steven Spielberg loves movies.

Parkes, MacDonald, and Spielberg have had long-time business relations with each other. Parkes and MacDonald are married and have both worked as producers at Spielberg's DreamWorks Pictures, and both served as co-heads of Amblin Entertainment in 1994 (source).

For Men in Black, all three helped by doing what any decent producer would do: ensure the movie was up to the quality of the labels they represent and ensure Director Barry Sonnenfeld got the best people in the business to work with. The first is a matter of opinion, but if the film's $250 domestic box office is any indicator, they nailed it.

There's no contention about the second. They got Sonnenfeld the best of the best of the best. To design the aliens, MacDonald and Parkes brought on then four-time Academy Award winner Rick Baker (he's earned several more since). They also secured Industrial Light and Magic (George Lucas's baby) to do the special effects and bring Baker's creations to life on their computers. Oh, and they grabbed production and set designer Bo Welch, who'd been nominated for three Academy Awards and would add another nomination for his work on Men in Black.

Parkes and MacDonald also supported Sonnenfeld when he made some changes to the script. For example, originally the script ended with the Edgar Bug talking, ending the film on a note of long-winded exposition. As Sonnenfeld began to revise the film to be a fast-paced action comedy, everyone decided it would be better if Jay fought the Bug. That change required 45 additional computer graphic shots not originally in the budget. At a cost of $100,000 a pop, that's another $4.5 million entry into the ledger. But his producers supported him and got the money.

In the end, the film cost $90 million to make. At ninety minutes run time, that's…let's see…a million a minute. Totally worth it for what Rolling Stone magazine called "more fun than anything in the galaxy."