Q. Why are directors credited twice at the beginning of many films–once when the credits start with “A film by [stick director’s name here]” and again at the end of the opening credits “directed by [director’s name again]”?

Mark Gill, Petal, Miss.

A. For an answer, the Answer Man turned to Kevin Smith, director of several films that were “Directed by Kevin Smith, as well as proprietor of www.psycomic.com, a Kevin Smith Web site.” He replies:

“It’s because directors are completely insecure. Why else would you need to remind the audience of something you just told them mere minutes ago? There are alternate theories as well. For starters, it’s a marketing hook. If you can throw up `A Quentin Tarantino Film’ on a poster or commercial spot, more people are going to attend, since `Pulp Fiction’ had many fans, and Quentin’s name stands for quality on a picture. Along those lines, there are certain films that just feel like their director: `A Spike Lee Joint.’ `A Martin Scorsese Picture.’ These are directors who’ve been making films for many years, and have earned that title credit, in addition to the normal `Directed by’ credit, if that’s their thing.

“What bugs me about the `A film by . . .’ credit at the start of most flicks is that it’s used by people who haven’t been making films forever–so their possessory credit is neither marketable nor earned. That’s when the `A film by . . .” nonsense is more egocentric than anything else. It’s also highly insulting to everyone else who made the picture (the cast and crew–from leading lady to lowest production assistant on the totem pole), because it insinuates that the director made that film all by his or her lonesome, and no one else helped. That’s just a lie because filmmaking is one of the most collaborative art-forms there is. One cat hogging all the credit is as exclusionary as a restricted country club.

“For the record, I’ve never taken that possessory credit. I’m satisfied with the credits I deserve (written and directed by . . .) because that’s all I ever do on the films I’ve made. Write and direct them. Without the hundreds of other names you’ve seen on the credits of `Clerks,’ `Mallrats,’ `Chasing Amy’ and `Dogma,’ I never would’ve been able to make those films. And I’ll be damned if I’d ever rob all those craftsmen-and-women of their due by declaring that they were all `Films by me.’

“Besides, I feel it’s always healthy to spread the blame around, in case the flick tanks.”