It's just waiting to implode. There's really no point to executives above and beyond securing a distribution channel and/or air time. That's their one and only job. The only reason they were ever let to "feel" like producers was just a scheme by shrewd producers to get funding. The studio moguls of old never needed someone patting them on their back, telling them they were integral to the success of the film. Hell, most of them didn't even give a shit. All they cared about was whether or not the movie made a profit. If it did, you could guarantee you had a career. If it didn't -- good luck. I'd probably argue the biggest influence on the modern studio system are the Weinsteins. They are producers at their core. Producers that didn't want to deal with executives -- so they opened their own distribution arm called Mirimax and made the films they wanted to make. Most modern studios try to ape this model. The problem is, it is really an independent model. Studios have far too much overhead to be worried about producing a film. The irony is, the more "producers" studios take on, the more their overhead expands. In a day when digital delivery via the internet, HD cams that can be purchased at a fraction of what film cameras were rented for even just a decade ago, computers capable of high end VFX at off the shelf prices -- it's only a matter of time before the studios bloat crushes itself. The studios of tomorrow are going to be much leaner, produce much more content, and do so at a budget that isn't even a fraction of some of these executive's salaries.

First: http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/avengers-director-joss-whedon-launches-next-film-under-bellwether-pictures-banner/ Second, I think something needs to be said about Kevin Smith's Red State, and how he completely bypassed the studio system to effectively distribute and show the movie on his own terms. Red State's financial success, modest as it is, clearly demonstrates what can be done when people start to address the issues inherent to the studio system, and decide to act independently. Clearly, this avenue is not open to all filmmakers, and certainly tent-pole style movies could not be made this way, but for a decent size group that includes Spike Lee, Joss Whedon and Kevin Smith, there are major opportunities.