It goes without saying that Kevin Feige is one of the busiest people in Hollywood, with the architect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe overseeing the company’s entire slate of film, television, live-action, animated, printed, and online projects as its chief creative officer. He can’t do it alone, then, which is where his tight-knit team comes in, of which Werewolf by Night producer Brian Gay is a key part.
Like plenty of other conglomerates, the all-conquering Marvel machine loves to promote from within, and having started as Feige’s executive coordinator, Gay has worked his way up the ranks to become a director of production and development at the studio, as well as a co-executive producer on the recent Disney Plus debutant.
In an interview with Collider, Gay broke down what exactly it is an “executive coordinator” does, and it sounds as though he’s a key figure in ensuring Feige manages to keep all of those daunting plates spinning at once without dropping or shattering a single one.
“So, I was running Kevin’s office. So, I was getting him to where he needed to be, obviously traditional assistant duties, but also helping him get to the right reviews, check in, travel to set with him, attend press junkets, what have you, all things about Kevin. And the thing about that was I spoke to Kevin when I first was hired that job, I said, “I want to learn how to make movies.”
And he is like, “Well, get ready. This is it,” like it’s a crash course. Kevin is so hands on with everything that it allowed me to see every step from visual effects, to costumes, to casting, to making deals and agreements, to locations. He really touches it all and was an incredible mentor, but also an amazing storyteller. I mean, I know you’ve talked to him I’m sure plenty of times. He’s incredible at what he does and figuring out amazing stories.”
Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, and Brian Chapek are just three other integral figures behind the scenes of the MCU who’ve ascended through the hierarchy after proving their worth to the man in charge, and we can now add Gay to that list. As one of the best-reviewed offerings in the franchise’s history, his full-blown producorial career couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start, leaving us intrigued to see where he goes from here as he continues on an unstoppably upward career trajectory.