 The Wiz was the eighth feature film produced by Motown Productions , the film / TV division of Berry Gordy 's Motown Records label . Gordy originally wanted the teenaged future R & B singer Stephanie Mills , who had played the role on Broadway , to be cast as Dorothy . When Motown star Diana Ross asked Gordy if she could be cast as Dorothy , he declined , saying that Ross — then 33 years old — was too old for the role . Ross went around Gordy and convinced executive producer Rob Cohen at Universal Pictures to arrange a deal where he would produce the film if Ross was cast as Dorothy . Gordy and Cohen agreed to the deal . Pauline Kael , a film critic , described Ross 's efforts to get the film into production as " perhaps the strongest example of sheer will in film history . " 
