To green-light a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to green-light something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to pre-production and principal photography.
The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead."
The power to green-light a project is generally reserved to those in a project or financial management role within an organization. The process of taking a project from pitch to green light formed the basis of a successful reality TV show titled Project Greenlight. The term has found its way into general business and military culture as a result of its use in the film industry.
In organized crime, gang and prison slang to green-light a person is to authorize the assassination of this person. An example of this use of the word can be found in the 2008 movie Felon spoken by Val Kilmer's character, John Smith.
The term also has specialized meaning in baseball.
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