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Record producer (music producer)

A Danish recording session
Occupation
Names	Record Producer
Activity sectors	Music Industry Music
Description
Competencies	Instrumental Skills, Keyboard Knowledge

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording (i.e. "production") of an artist's music. A producer has many roles that may include, but are not limited to, gathering ideas for the project, selecting songs and/or musicians, coaching the artist and musicians in the studio, controlling the recording sessions, and supervising the entire process through mixing and mastering. Producers also often take on a wider entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, and negotiations.

Today, the recording industry has two kinds of producers: executive producer and music producer; they have different roles. While an executive producer oversees a project's finances, a music producer oversees the creation of the music.

A music producer can, in some cases, be compared to a film director, with noted practitioner Phil Ek himself describing his role as "the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, like a director would a movie. The engineer would be more the cameraman of the movie."^[1] The music producer's job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music. The scope of responsibility may be one or two songs or an artist's entire album – in which case the producer will typically develop an overall vision for the album and how the various songs may interrelate.

In the US, before the rise of the record producer, someone from A&R would oversee the recording session(s), assuming responsibility for creative decisions relating to the recording.

With today's relatively easy access to technology, an alternative to the record producer just mentioned, is the so called 'bedroom producer'. With today's technological advances, it is very easy for a producer to achieve high quality tracks without the use of a single instrument; that happens in urban music (like hip hop, rap, etc). Many established artists take this approach.

In most cases the music producer is also a competent arranger, composer, musician or songwriter who can bring fresh ideas to a project. As well as making any songwriting and arrangement adjustments, the producer is also in charge of the creative mix. He or she will liaise with the sound engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording, whereas the music producer keeps an eye on the overall project's marketability.

History[link]

Early record producers[link]

During the 1890s, Fred Gaisberg ran the first recording studio and provided the closest approximation of production by guiding an opera singer closer or further away from a gramophone's horn to match the dynamics in the score. (Citation: Gronow and Saunio 1998, p. 8; Moorefield 2005, p. 1).

However in the first part of the 20th century the record producer's role was similar to the role of a film producer in that the record producer organized and supervised recording sessions, paid technicians, musicians and arrangers, and sometimes chose material for the artist. In the mid-1950s a new category emerged, that of the independent record producer. Among the most famous early independent producers are the famed songwriting-production duo Leiber & Stoller, "Wall of Sound" creator Phil Spector and British studio pioneer Joe Meek.

Magnetic tape enabled the establishment of independent recording studios in major recording centres such as London, Los Angeles and New York. Unlike the old record company studios, which were effectively a "closed shop", these new studios could be hired by the hour by anyone who could afford to do so.

The biggest and best commercial studios were typically established and operated by leading recording engineers. They were carefully constructed to create optimum recording conditions, and were equipped with the latest and best recording equipment and top-quality microphones, as well as electronic amplification gear and musical instruments.

Top-line studios such as Olympic Studios in London, Fine Recording in New York City, United Western Recorders, and Musart in Los Angeles quickly became among the most sought-after recording facilities in the world, and both these studios became veritable "hit factories" that produced many of the most successful pop recordings of the latter 20th century.

Evolution of the role of the producer[link]

Prior to the 1950s, the various stages of the recording and marketing process had been carried out by different professionals within the industry – A&R managers found potential new artists and signed them to their labels; professional songwriters created new material; publishing agents sold these songs to the A&R people; staff engineers carried out the task of making the recordings in company-owned studios.

Freed from this traditional system by the advent of independent commercial studios, the new generation of entrepreneurial producers – many of whom were former record company employees themselves – were able to create and occupy a new stratum in the industry, taking on a more direct and complex role in the musical process. This development in music was mirrored in the TV industry by the concurrent development of videotape recording and the consequent emergence of independent TV production companies like Desilu.

The new generation of independent producers began forming their own record production companies, and in many cases they also established their own recording labels, signing deals that enabled the recordings they produced to be manufactured and distributed by a major record company. This usually took the form of a lease deal, in which the production company leased the usage rights to the original recording to a major label, who would press, distribute and promote the recording as their own, in return for a percentage of any profit; the ownership of the master recordings typically reverted to the producer after the deal expired.

Producers would now typically carry out most or all of the various production tasks themselves, including selecting and arranging songs, overseeing sessions (and sometimes also engineering the recordings) and even writing the material^[2], although it became a common practice for producers to claim a writing credit even if they did not actually contribute to the song.

Independent music production companies rapidly gained a significant foothold in popular music and soon became the main intermediary between artist and record label, discovering and signing new artists to production contracts, producing the recordings and then licensing the finished product to record labels for pressing, promotion and sale. (This was a novel innovation in the popular music field, although a broadly similar system had long been in place in many countries for the production of content for broadcast radio.) The classic example of this transition is renowned British producer George Martin, who worked as a staff producer and A&R manager at EMI for many years, before branching out on his own and becoming a highly successful independent producer with his AIR (Associated Independent Recordings) production company and studios.

As a result of these changes, record producers began to exert a strong influence, not only on individual careers, but on the course of popular music. A key example of this is Phil Spector, who defined the gap between early rock and roll and the Beatles (1959–1964). Although many of Spector's s productions were credited to acts such as The Ronettes, The Crystals, the Righteous Brothers, the Paris Sisters and Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, in reality they were created using a crack team of top-rank Los Angeles session players (now known as "The Wrecking Crew") and often featured an interchangeable lineup of lead singers, including Ronnie Spector and Darlene Love. The prime example of Spector's modus operandi is the record widely regarded as his masterpiece, "River Deep, Mountain High". It is credited to "Ike & Tina Turner", but it is now well-known that Ike Turner was paid $20,000 to stay away from the sessions; the backing track was in fact performed by the Wrecking Crew, and the backing vocals were provided by a chorus of 21 singers, comprised of Ikettes Janice Singleton and Diane Rutherford and most of the female singers on Spector's roster, including Ronnie Spector, Darlene Love and Cher. Spector's Wall of Sound production technique also persisted after that time with his select recordings of the Beatles, the Ramones, Leonard Cohen, George Harrison, Dion and Ike and Tina Turner.

Some producers also became de facto recording artists, creating records themselves or with anonymous studio musicians and releasing them under a pseudonym. In the USA, some of the earliest examples in popular music were the novelty records released under the name Alvin & The Chipmunks, which became hits in many countries in the mid-1950s. These records, written, performed and produced by entertainer David Seville, relied on the simple gimmick of recording an instrumental track, then overdubbing the vocals while the the tape ran at half-speed. When played back at regular speed, the music would sound normal, and the voices would remain synchronised with the music, but the pitch and timbre of the voices would be dramatically shifted up, creating the instantly recognisable, chirpy "helium" effect. In the UK in the early 60s, Joe Meek was the first British pop producer to make records with studio-created groups, and he had major hits with singles like "Telstar" and Heinz's "Just Like Eddy".

Other examples of this phenomenon include the records by fictional groups the Archies and Josie & the Pussycats, produced by Don Kirshner and Danny Jansen respectively, who were contracted by TV production companies to produce these records to promote the animated children's TV series of the same name. Similarly, Jeff Barry and Andy Kim recorded as the Archies. The same producer-as-artist phenomenon can be found with many modern-day pop-oriented street- and electronic-music artists. In later years this became a prominent and often successful sideline for major producers, as evidenced by the string of albums by the studio group The Alan Parsons Project (created by former EMI/Abbey Road staff engineer Alan Parsons) and the successful musical adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, devised and produced by former David Essex producer Jeff Wayne.

Another change that occurred for the role of producers occurred progressively over the 50’s and 60’s. The development of multitrack recording and new technology such as electric guitars, amplifiers, and better microphones led to a fundamental change in the way recordings were made. The goal of recording no longer was simply accurately capturing and documenting live performance. Instead producers could manipulate sounds to an unprecedented degree and producers like Spector and Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio and were no longer reserved to the role of functional engineer. Examples of such engineers includes George Martin, Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, and Biddu. These producers became known as creative producers who turned the studio into a creative space.

Another notable related phenomenon in the 1960s was the emergence of the performer-producer. As pop acts like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and The Kinks rapidly gained expertise in studio recording techniques, the leaders of many of these groups eventually took over as producers of their own work. In some cases this was not credited at the time - many recordings by acts such as The Rolling Stones, The Small Faces, Donovan, The Kinks and The Who are credited to their various producers of the time, Andrew Loog Oldham. Mickie Most or Shel Talmy, but many of these performers have since asserted that many of their recordings in this period were (in practial terms) either self-produced - e.g. The Rolling Stones' Decca recordings - or were collaborations between the group and their recording engineer - e.g. The Small Faces' Immediate recordings, which were made with Olympic Studios engineer Glyn Johns.

Similarly, although The Beatles' productions were credited to George Martin throughout their recording career, many sources now attest that Lennon and McCartney in particular had an increasing influence on the production process as the group's career progressed,and especially after the band retired from touring in 1966. The Beach Boys are probably the best example of this trend - within two years of the band's commercial breakthrough, group leader Brian Wilson had taken over from his father Murry, and he was sole producer of all their recordings between 1963 and 1967. Alongside The Beatles and Martin, Wilson also pioneereed many production innovations - by 1964 he had developed Spector's techniques to a new level of sophistication, using multiple studios and multiple "takes" of instrumental and vocal components to capture the best possible combinations of sound and performance, and then using tape editing extensively to assemble a perfect composite performance from these elements.

Equipment and technology[link]

Mixing Console

There are numerous different technologies utilized by the producer. In modern day recordings, recording and mixing tasks are centralized within computers. However, there is also the main mixer, outboard effects gear, MIDI controllers, and the recording device itself.

See also[link]

• Music executive
• Musician
• Audio engineering

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Gibson, David and Maestro Curtis. "The Art of Producing". 1st. Ed. USA. ArtistPro Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-931140-44-8
• Burgess, Richard James. The Art of Music Production. 3rd Ed. UK. Music Sales, 2005. ISBN 1-84449-432-4
• Hewitt, Michael. Music Theory for Computer Musicians. 1st Ed. USA. Cengage Learning, 2008. ISBN 139781598635034
• Gronow, Pekka and Ilpo Saunio (1998). An International History of the Recording Industry. ISBN-X. Cited in Moorefield (2005).
• Moorefield, Virgil (2005). The Producer as Composer: Shaping the Sounds of Popular Music. ISBN. 123
• Olsen, Eric et al. (1999). The Encyclopedia of Record Producers. ISBN 0-8230-7607-5, ISBN 978-0-8230-7607-9
• Zak, Albin. The Poetics of Rock: Cutting Tracks, Making Records. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
• List of the Producers of the Current Top 100 Songs, Top 100 – Album Credits

External links[link]

• Record Producer Video Interviews
• Music Producers Directory

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Rob Cavallo at the Yahoo! Yodel Studio on October 13, 2009

Rob Cavallo is a record producer and A&R, most famous for signing and producing Green Day^[1]. He is currently Chairman of Warner Bros. Records.^[2]

History[link]

Cavallo, born in Washington, D.C., moved to Los Angeles, California when he was about ten years old. As a teenager, he played in local bands, and after graduating from high school he began working as a recording engineer.^[3] Cavallo eventually graduated from the University of Southern California where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Composition, Communications and Sociology in 1985.^[4] In the mid– to late 1980s, Cavallo worked with the so–called "hair metal" bands around Hollywood as a record producer. This continued into the 1990s, but when the "hair metal" scene died out, he began seeking out alternative rock bands to work with.

Cavallo currently lives in Hidden Hills, California with his wife Kim and children.

Projects[link]

Cavallo was an in–house producer with the band Green Day. He has co–produced every album from their multi–platinum success Dookie to American Idiot. Cavallo has also produced four studio albums for the Goo Goo Dolls, 1998's Dizzy Up the Girl, 2002's Gutterflower, 2006's Let Love In, and 2010's, Something for the Rest of Us.

Cavallo has also produced records for Jawbreaker, Alanis Morissette, Sixpence None the Richer, Less Than Jake, Fleetwood Mac, Jewel, My Chemical Romance, Kid Rock, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, David Cook, Shinedown, Dave Matthews Band, Adam Lambert, Switchfoot, and Meat Loaf, among others.

Partial discography[link]

Goo Goo Dolls[link]

• Dizzy Up the Girl (1998)
• Gutterflower (2002)
• Let Love In (2006)
• Something for the Rest of Us (2010)

Green Day[link]

• Dookie (1994)
• Insomniac (1995)
• Nimrod (1997)
• Warning (executive producer) (2000)
• Shenanigans (2002)
• Cigarettes and Valentines (unreleased) (2003)
• American Idiot (2004)
• ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! (2012/2013)

My Chemical Romance[link]

• The Black Parade (2006)
• Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (2010)

Avril Lavigne[link]

• The Best Damn Thing (2007)

Other projects[link]

• 1995 – Dear You – Jawbreaker
• 1997 – The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum – L7
• 2000 – Sooner or Later – BBMak
• 2001 – Weird Revolution – Butthole Surfers
• 2001 – Blowback – Tricky
• 2002 – Divine Discontent – Sixpence None the Richer
• 2003 – Anthem – Less Than Jake
• 2003 – Say You Will – Fleetwood Mac
• 2003 – My Degeneration – Flashlight Brown
• 2004 – B is for B–sides – Less Than Jake
• 2004 – Trouble – Bonnie McKee
• 2005 – Room Noises – Eisley
• 2006 – Under The Skin – Lindsey Buckingham
• 2006 – Goodbye Alice in Wonderland – Jewel
• 2006 – Paris – Paris Hilton
• 2007 – Happiness Ltd. – Hot Hot Heat
• 2007 – Rock N Roll Jesus – Kid Rock
• 2008 – All Sides – O.A.R.
• 2008 – Gift Of Screws – Lindsey Buckingham
• 2008 – David Cook – David Cook
• 2008 – Coming To Terms – Carolina Liar
• 2008 – The Sound of Madness – Shinedown
• 2009 – Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King – Dave Matthews Band
• 2009 – Happy Hour – Uncle Kracker
• 2009 – Brand New Eyes – Paramore
• 2009 – Hello Hurricane – Switchfoot
• 2009 – For Your Entertainment – Adam Lambert
• 2010 – Foxy Shazam – Foxy Shazam
• 2010 – Hang Cool, Teddy Bear – Meat Loaf
• 2011 – People and Things – Jack's Mannequin
• 2012 – Amaryllis – Shinedown
• 2011 - 2012 Untitled - The Indecent

Other work[link]

• RENT: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2005)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rob Cavallo's legendary Taylor Guitar used on 10 number one songs

• Video Interview with Rob Cavallo

Robin Millar is a record producer and musician, known variously as ‘The Original Smooth Operator’, ‘The man behind Sade’, and ‘Golden Ears’ [Boy George]. Born in London to an irish father and West Indian mother he has conquered blindness to become one of the world’s most successful ever record producers with over 150 gold, silver and platinum discs and 55 million record sales to his credit. His 1984 production of ‘Diamond Life’ the debut album by Sade was named one of the best ten albums of the last 30 years at the 2011 Brit Awards.

He has worked as a fundraiser for vulnerable people for 30 years and in March 2012 Millar underwent a 12 hour operation to install a bionic retina in his right eye to help research into future treatment for blindness.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.^[1]

Early life[link]

Millar was born with retinitis pigmentosa at St George’s Hospital, which is now The Lanesborough Hotel, Hyde Park Corner.^[2] Despite poor vision he attended attended mainstream state school Enfield Grammar School from 1963–70 and then read law at Cambridge University from 1970-73.^[2]

Musical career[link]

After gaining his law degree,^[3] Millar moved into the music industry initially as a guitarist and artist, putting out records with Atlantic and WEA and working with ex-Velvet Underground singer Nico. He found his niche as a record producer in the early 1980s when he started Power Plant Studios. Power Plant became the most fashionable haunt of the London 1980s music scene. After working with post punk band Weekend in 1982, his breakthrough came in 1984 with seven consecutive Top 10 albums; including Eden by Everything but the Girl, Working Nights by Working Week, and especially the multi-platinum selling Diamond Life by Sade.

Later he produced albums by Fine Young Cannibals (Fine Young Cannibals), Colin Hay (Looking for Jack), Big Country (The Seer), Patricia Kaas (Je te dis vous), Kane Gang, Bhundu Boys and Randy Crawford amongst others. Millar arranged the music for the film, And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen...^[4] Millar's song "Rich and Poor", co-composed with Colin Vearncombe, was recorded by Randy Crawford on her 1989 album, Rich and Poor.^[5] His 2003 solo album, Kiss and Tell was released by the Nujaz record label.^[6]

Millar has worked as producer, arranger, musician, songwriter and mixer, with Sting, Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Chrissie Hynde, Alison Moyet, Brand New Heavies, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Willard White, Mick Hucknell, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Françoise Hardy, Catherine Deneuve and Malcolm McLaren. His productions have sold over 55 million copies worldwide and have been awarded 150 platinum, gold and silver awards.^{[citation needed]} They have won every major music award including Grammy and Brit Awards.^{[citation needed]}

He is also a champion for vulnerable people and was awarded the 2002 Windrush Award for this work. He has made campaigning records and produced fund-raising concerts as Patron for UNICEF, UNHCR, Oxfam, Nimibian Freedom Fighters, Chilean Solidarity and Oxfam. He is a long-time trustee of The Vietnamese Boat Peoples' Appeal.^{[citation needed]}

Millar trained as a recording engineer, classical and jazz musician and arranger, and has trained dozens of top engineers and producers, including Jim Abbiss the producer of Arctic Monkeys & Adele. He also works as a mentor and inspirational guide to FTSE business leaders and people in the public eye, with famous clients from the world of business, music and politics.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, he produced MP4's version of The Beatles', "Can't Buy Me Love".^[7]

Millar is a patron of The Music Producers Guild, which he helped found in 1987.

Millar is currently executive producer of a major worldwide series of concerts to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Edith Piaf, with shows planned for Carnegie Hall, New York, The Royal Albert Hall London and major venues in France, Germany, Russia, Europe and the Far East. He has been collaborating with Australian singer/songwriter Eran James whom he met through Elton John in 2010

Production credits[link]

In addition to those listed above, Millar's work as a record producer includes credits on the following:-

• Hope and Glory - Tom Robinson Band
• Wonderful Life - Black
• Nouveau Monde - Pierre Schott
• Paris - Malcolm McLaren
• Mickey Hart's Mystery Box - Mickey Hart
• Urban World Music - Hiroshima
• Singles Collection - The Bluebells
• In T.R.O.U.B.L.E. Again - Vic Godard
• Ive Mendes - Ive Mendes
• Sound of the Style Council - The Style Council
• Sungrooves - Mark Riva
• In The House - Dimitri from Paris
• Shev and the Brakes - Shev and the Brakes
• To Touch You - Tyrone Berkeley^[8]
• "My Favourite Town" - POLA ^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

This article may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (November 2010)

Bryan-Michael Cox (born December 1, 1977) is an American songwriter and record producer. In 2009, Cox was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

History[link]

Bryan-Michael Cox was born in Miami and grew up in Houston, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. While in the eleventh grade he met and was mentored by Greg Curtis (who produced and co-wrote Keyshia Cole's 2006 hit, "Love"). Under Curtis, Cox learned the basic foundation of creating songs, including production, using audio equipment, recording, as well as structuring and writing songs. During his senior year, he was joined at the school by singer Beyoncé Knowles and her former Destiny's Child group member LeToya Luckett. He was part of a recording session, which consisted of three demo songs, for the group then known only as "Destiny".

In 1997, he moved to Atlanta to attend Clark Atlanta University (CAU), where he majored in music. He obtained an unpaid internship with the Noontime production company.^[1] He worked with Jagged Edge, which resulted in him meeting Jermaine Dupri, which lead to Cox producing and writing for Usher Raymond, Mariah Carey, Nivea, Monica, Da Brat and Lil' Bow Wow. Cox has co-written and co-produced hits such as Carey's "Don't Forget About Us", Usher's "Burn" and U Got It Bad's "Confessions, Pt. 2". He has won two Grammy awards his for work on albums by Carey and Usher. Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You" marked his first Hot 100 Top 5 hit without Dupri.

Cox founded the Blackbaby, Inc. production company in 1998.^[2] He signed R&B newcomers Bertell and Dirty Rose. He is recording his own solo project titled "The Love: Exposed".^[3] Cox appeared on MTV's Making The Band television series and helped form the R&B Quintet Day 26. He also appeared in and co-produced Monica: The Single, a pilot reality TV show for Monica that appeared on the local Atlanta station Peachtree TV. The show was picked up by BET and the title was changed to Monica: Still Standing. He is developing his own show called The Studio Exposed with executive producer James DuBose & creator/producer Breht Gardner. He featured on Jermaine Dupri's online series "Living The Life" and is part of the group Ocean's 7, which includes Trey Songz, Usher Raymond, Johnta Austin, Nelly, Tyrone Davis, and JD.

Cox founded December First Publishing Group which is a joint venture with Warner/Chappell Music. His publishing company publishes songwriter Kendrick "Wyldcard" Dean and new comers Aion David Clarke, Kage Holmes, The Kid^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Torica Cornelius, and Fatin Horton.

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bryan's Journey. The official blogsite
• Bryan-Michael Cox at the Internet Movie Database

Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director and producer, who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He has also directed a few films in Hindi and Telugu languages which are remakes of his own Tamil films. Many of his films have been critically acclaimed, most notably his semi-autobiographical Vaaranam Aayiram (2008), romantic classic Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010), his action-thrillers Kaakha Kaakha (2003) and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu (2006). Vaaranam Aayiram won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.

Early life and education[link]

Gautham was born to a Malayali father and Tamil mother on 25 February 1973 in Ottapalam, a town in Palakkad district of Kerala. Although, born in Kerala he grew up in Trichy.^[1][2] He did his schooling in Vailankanni Raj Mat. Hr., Sec School at K.K Nagar, Trichy and did his Mechanical Engineering in Mookambigai College of Engineering, Trichy, Tamil Nadu.^[3][4]

Career[link]

Early work, 2001[link]

Gautham Menon was a student of mechanical engineering at Mookambigai College of Engineering in the batch of 1993, and his time there inspired him to make his lead characters of Minnale, Vaaranam Aayiram and Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, students of the same course. ^[5] He claims to have been inspired by films such as Dead Poet's Society and Nayagan and expressed his desire to his parents to change career path and become a filmmaker and consequently wrote his first film at his college hostel. His mother insisted he became an ad film maker by shooting various commercials and took an apprenticeship under filmmaker Rajiv Menon. He went on to work as an assistant director for Minsaara Kanavu in 1997, in which he also appeared in a cameo role.^[6]

Gautham Menon launched a Tamil romantic film O Lala in 2000 with the project eventually changing producers and title into Minnale with Madhavan, who was at the beginning of his career, being signed on to portray the lead role.^[7] About the making of the film, Menon revealed that he found it difficult as the team was new to the industry with only the editor of the film, Suresh Urs, being a prominent technician in the industry.^[8] Menon had come under further pressure when Madhavan had insisted that Menon narrated the story to his mentor, Mani Ratnam, to identify if the film was a positive career move after the success of his Alaipayuthey. Despite initial reservations, Menon did so and Ratnam was unimpressed; however Menon has cited that he thought that Madhavan "felt sorry" and later agreed to continue with the project.^[8] The film also featured Abbas and newcomer Reemma Sen in significant roles, whilst Menon introduced Harris Jayaraj as music composer with the film.^[7] The film was advertised as a Valentine's Day release in 2001 and told the tale of a young man who falls in love with the girl engaged to his ex-college rival and how he manages to get married to her. Upon release it went on to become a large success commercially and won positive reviews from critics with claims that the film had a lot of " lot of verve and vigour" and that it was "technically excellent".^[9]

The success of the film led to producer Vashu Bhagnani signing him on to direct the Hindi language remake of the film, Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein, which also featured Madhavan with Diya Mirza and Saif Ali Khan added to the film. Menon was initially apprehensive but said it took "half an hour" to agree and against his intentions, the producer opted against retaining the technical crew of the original.^[6] He changed a few elements, deleted certain scenes and added some more for the version. However in comparison, the film gained poor reviews with a critic citing that "the presentation is not absorbing" though stating that he " handled certain sequences with aplomb"; the film subsequently went on to become a below average grosser at the box office.^[10] The failure of the film left him disappointed, with Menon claiming in hindsight that the film lacked the simplicity of the original with the producer's intervention affecting proceedings.^[11] In 2011, the producer of the film approached him to remake the film with the producer's son Jackky Bhagnani in the lead role, but Menon was uninterested with the offer.^[12]

Police duology, 2003–06[link]

Menon returned in 2003 by directing the realistic police thriller Kaakha Kaakha featuring Suriya, Jyothika and Jeevan in the lead roles. The film portrayed the personal life of a police officer and how his life is affected by gangsters, showing a different perspective of police in comparison to other Tamil films of the time.^[11] Menon revealed that he was inspired to make the film after reading of articles on how encounter specialists shoot gangsters and how their families get threatening calls in return, and initially approached Madhavan, Ajith Kumar and then Vikram for the role without success, with all three actors citing that they did not want to play a police officer. The lead actress Jyothika asked Menon to consider Suriya for the role, and he was subsequently selected after Menon saw his portrayal in Nandha.^[13] He did a rehearsal of the script with the actors, a costume trial with Jyothika and then enrolled Suriya in a commando training school before beginning production, which he described as a "very planned shoot".^[13] The film consequently opened to very positive reviews from critics on the way to becoming another success for Menon, with critics labeling it as a "career high film".^[14] Furthermore, the film was described as for "action lovers who believe in logical storylines and deft treatment" with Menon being praised for his linear narrative screenplay.^[15]

Gautham Menon subsequently remade the film in the Telugu language for producer Venkata Raju and went on to claim that the new version was better than the previous version and that his new lead actor Venkatesh was more convincing that Surya in the role.^[16] The film also featured actress Asin and Saleem Baig in prominent roles and went on to earn commercial and critical acclaim with reviewers citing that "film redeems itself due to the technical excellence and masterful craft of Gautham", drawing comparisons of Menon with noted film makers Mani Ratnam and Ram Gopal Varma.^[17] In July 2004, Menon also agreed terms to direct and produce another version of Kaakha Kaakha in Hindi with Sunny Deol in the lead role and revealed that the script was written five years ago with Deol in mind, but the film eventually failed to take off.^[18] Producer Vipul Shah approached him to direct the Hindi version of the film in 2010 as Force with John Abraham and Genelia D'Souza, and Menon initially agreed before pulling out again.^[19] Menon and the original producer, Dhanu, also floated an idea of an English version with a Chechnyan backdrop, though talks with a potential collaboration with Ashok Amritraj collapsed.^[13]

Gautham Menon was then signed on to direct a venture starring Kamal Haasan and produced by Kaja Mohideen, and initially suggested a one-line story which went on to become Pachaikili Muthucharam for the collaboration.^[13] Kamal Haasan wanted a different story and thus the investigative thriller film, Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu, was written with Jyothika, Kamalinee Mukerji, Prakash Raj, Daniel Balaji and Saleem Baig added to the cast. The film told another episode from a police officer's life, with an Indian cop moved to America to investigate the case of psychotic serial killers before returning to pursue the chase in India. During the shooting, the unit ran into problems after the producer had attempted suicide and as a result, Kamal Haasan wanted to quit the project.^[13] Menon subsequently convinced him to stay on as they had taken advance payments. He has since revealed that unlike Kamal Haasan's other films, he did not take particular control of the script or production of the film. The film however had gone through change from the original script with less emphasis on the antagonists than Menon had hoped and he also revealed that scenes for songs were forced in and shot without him.^[13] The film released in August 2006 and went on to become his third successive hit film in Tamil and once again, he won rave reviews for his direction.^[20][21] Menon later expressed interest in remaking the film in Hindi with Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role without the love angle, though the project fell through after discussions. In 2012, he re-began negotiations with producers to make a Hindi version of the film with Shahrukh Khan in the lead role.^[22] He has stated his intent on making a trilogy of police episode films, with a possible third featuring Vikram in the lead role.^[13]

Experimentation and success, 2007–08[link]

His next project, Pachaikili Muthucharam, based on the novel Derailed by James Siegel, featured Sarath Kumar and Jyothika in the lead roles and was released in February 2007. Initially the lead role was offered to Kamal Haasan who passed the opportunity, while actors Cheran and Madhavan declined citing date and image problems respectively.^[23] Menon met Sarath Kumar at an event where he cited he was looking to change his 'action' image and Menon subsequently cast him in the lead role.^[23] During production, the film ran into further casting trouble with Simran dropping out her assigned role and was replaced by Shobana after another actress, Tabu, also rejected the role.^[24] Shobana was also duly replaced by a newcomer, Andrea Jeremiah to portray the character of Kalyani in the film. The film was under production for over a year and coincided with the making of his previous film which was largely delayed. The film initially opened to positive reviews with a critic citing that Menon is "growing with each passing film. His style is distinctive, his vision clear, his team rallies around him and he manages to pull it off each time he attempts".^[25][26] However the film became a financial failure for the producer, Venu Ravichandran and in regard to the failure of the film, Menon went on to claim that Sarath Kumar was "wrong for the film" and that he tweaked the story to fit his image; he also claimed that his father's ailing health and consequent death a week before the release had left him mentally affected.^[23]

His next release, Vaaranam Aayiram, saw him re-collaborate with Suriya, who played dual roles in the film. The film illustrates the theme of how a father often came across in his son's life as a hero and inspiration, and Menon dedicated the film to his late father who had died in 2007.^[27] The pre-production of the film, then titled Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam began in 2003, with Menon planning his a romantic film with Suriya as a follow up to their successful previous collaboration, Kaakha Kaakha.^[28] Abhirami was signed and then dropped due to her height before a relatively new actress at the time Asin was selected to make her debut in Tamil films with the project. The first schedule of the film began in January 2004 in Visakhapatanam and consequently romantic scenes with Suriya and Asin were shot for ten days and then a photo shoot with the pair.^[28] The film was subsequently stalled and was eventually relaunched with a new cast including Divya Spandana, Simran and Sameera Reddy in 2006 with Oscar Ravichandran stepping in as producer, who opted for a change of title. Menon has described the film as "autobiographical and a very personal story and if people didn’t know, that 70% of this [the film] is from my life".^[23] The film's production process became noted for the strain and the hard work that Suriya had gone through to portray the different roles with production taking close to two years.^[27] The film released to a positive response, with critics heaping praise on Suriya's performance while claiming that the film was "just a feather in Gautam's hat" and that it was "hardly a classic".^[29] The film was made at a budget of 15 crore rupees and became a commercial success, bringing in almost 22 crore rupees worldwide.^[27] It went on to become Menon's most appreciated work till date winning five Filmfare Awards, nine Vijay Awards and the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil for 2008 amongst other accolades.

2010 onwards[link]

In 2010, Menon made a return to romantic genre after nine years with the Tamil romantic film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, starring Silambarasan and Trisha Krishnan.^[30] The film explored the complicated relationship between a Hindu Tamil assistant director, Karthik, and a Syrian Christian Malayali girl, Jessie and their resultant emotional conflicts. The film featured music by A. R. Rahman in his first collaboration with Menon whilst cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa was also selected to be a part of the technical crew. Menon cited that he was "a week away from starting the film with a newcomer" before his producer insisted they looked at Silambarasan, with Menon revealing that he was unimpressed with the actor's previous work.^[8] The film was in production for close to a year and throughout the opening week of filming, promotional posters from classic Indian romantic films were released featuring the lead pair.^[31] Prior to release, the film became the first Tamil project to have a music soundtrack premiere outside of India, with a successful launch at the BAFTA in London.^[32] Upon release, the film achieved positive reviews, with several critics giving the film "classic" status, whilst also become a commercially successful venture.^[33][34] Reviewers praised Menon citing that "credit for their perfect portrayal, of course, goes to Gautam Menon. This is one director who's got the pulse of today's urban youth perfectly" and that "crafted a movie that will stay in our hearts for a long, long time."^[34] The film was simultaneously released with a Telugu version, titled Ye Maaya Chesave featuring a fresh cast of Naga Chaitanya and debutante Samantha in the lead roles. Like the Tamil version, the film won critical acclaim and being given "classic" status from critics.^[34][34][35] Both films also went on to become large commercial successes, and the films have received awards from award committees.

Menon had also made progress over the previous two years directing the psychological thriller Nadunisi Naaygal featuring his assistant and debutant Veera Bahu and Sameera Reddy in the lead roles. Menon claimed that the film was inspired by a true event from the USA, while also claiming that a novel also helped form the story of the film.^[8] During the making, he explicitly revealed that the film was for "the multiplex audience" and would face a limited release, citing that "it will not cater to all sections of the audience".^[8] He promoted the film by presenting a chat show dubbed as Koffee with Gautham where he intereviewed Bharathiraja and Silambarasan, both of whom had previously worked in such psychological thriller films with Sigappu Rojakkal and Manmadhan. The film, which was his first home production under Photon Kathaas and did not have a background score, told the story of a victim of child abuse and the havoc he causes to women, narrating the events of a particular day. The film opened to mixed reviews with one critic citing it as "above average" but warning that "don’t go expecting a typical Gautham romantic film" and that it "is definitely not for the family audiences", while criticizing that "there are too many loopholes in the story, raising doubts about logic".^[36] In contrast another critic dubbed it as an "unimpressive show by star director Menon, as it is neither convincing nor appealing, despite having some engrossing moments".^[37]

Future ventures, 2012–present[link]

Menon returned to Bollywood with the Hindi language remake of his film, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, titled Ekk Deewana Tha with Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson playing the lead roles.^[38] The film was a box office failure,^[39] with Menon admitting that he "got the casting wrong".^[40] Furthermore, he has expressed that he is likely to restart his long-delayed project Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam with reports emerging that he may begin the film again with a fresh cast.^[41] Another film, a home production Thuppariyum Anand has also been announced with Menon stating that he has completed the script and handed copies to Aamir Khan and Kamal Haasan, in the hope that either will do the film.^[42] However Ajithkumar was choosen for the film in 2012.^[43] Menon is also currently directing a trilingual romantic film titled as Neethaane En Ponvasantham in Tamil, Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu in Telugu and Assi Nabey Poore Sau in Hindi. While Jiiva, Nani and Aditya Roy Kapoor play the lead roles in their respective languages, Samantha plays the female lead in all three versions.^[44] Furthermore in July 2011, his production house revealed that he had agreed to direct Yohan: Adhyayam Ondru, a detective story set in United Kingdom, with Vijay in the lead role.^[45][46] This venture will be a joint production of Photon Kathaas, Eros International and Future Film Production (UK).^[47][48] Meanwhile Menon has gone on to confirm that he will direct a television weekly serial featuring Parthiban in the lead role as a police officer.^[49]

Filmography[link]