(written from a Production point of view)
William F. Phillips (17 June 1946 – 24 June 2020; age 74) is a former producer and production executive who worked primarily in television. He was the Associate Producer of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, his only feature film credit. He served as Executive in Charge of Production at NBC for five years.
Phillips was an associate producer for the hit NBC television series McMillan & Wife (on which John Schuck was a regular cast member) and The Rockford Files. He also produced the 1976 NBC movie Richie Brockelman: The Missing 24 Hours, featuring Barbara Bosson and William Windom.
Phillips was also a producer on the popular CBS series Hawaii Five-O. After his work on Star Trek II, he supervised production on the CBS movies Listen to Your Heart (starring Tony Plana and featuring art direction by John E. Chilberg II) and One Terrific Guy (directed by Lou Antonio and starring Mariette Hartley and Laurence Luckinbill).
In addition, Phillips is credited as supervising producer of the 1979 ABC TV movie The Night Rider, starring Whit Bissell, Kim Cattrall, Percy Rodriguez, and Harris Yulin. He also produced the 1984 movie Earthlings for Warner Bros. Television. This movie's cast included James Cromwell.
From 1986 through 1991, Phillips served as Executive in Charge of Production at NBC Television. During this time, he oversaw the physical production of numerous TV movies. Perhaps most notably, he oversaw production on hit television shows like Saved by the Bell and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
In 1991, Phillips was named Senior Vice President in Charge of Film Production at Columbia Pictures Television. [1]
