The topic of money in general is a little scary to most of us. When you approach the topic of money in film production – steel your nerve There are reputations at stake and careers on the line.
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that Directing Money in the film production business or any business for that matter is fundamental to your career – especially if you want to rise on the food chain of film production. If youre already a Film Director you know all about the flow of spirit vision and creative collaboration that it takes to make a film. If that momentum is stopped in some manner the whole project is clouded with doubt and apprehension. Film crew of all stripes can smell that arrested movement almost immediately – sometimes even before the Director and Producers. Metal shooting targets
Beneath the noble flows of creative spirit and collaboration runs the green flow of money. NOTHING happens without a corresponding effect on that money flow. Begin to think like a film director but in the area of money flows. Its really just a minor skill like playing bridge. Would a good director worry about the small stuff Okay maybe but lets hope not. Then dont put your attention on every penny – think in concepts of 1000 at a time.
Keep those creative juices flowing however like it or not your performance is measured to some degree by how well you can Direct the Money – in whatever level of production you choose but especially if youre an aspiring or working Film Director. How well you can do that is how well you control your career in film.
Anything thats bought I mean ANYTHING is tracked and compared to the budget. Every conceivable type of film equipment prop-holding rooms toilet paper you name it is compared to the approved budget. But youre not going to get fired because you wasted toilet paper. On the other hand if you Direct the Money and know it when youre doing it by borrowing the Construction Departments forklift for a couple of hours instead of renting your another one youre Directing the Money. Now you just need to learn how to parley that into a truce with the Studio Exec Producer Production Manager etc. by talking competently in terms of budgets and costs.
Its time to introduce some details. Lets take a look at what exactly is a priority in order for you to be seen as a competent money talk person in film production say a Producer UPM or Department Head.
The very first task is to be able to make comments intelligently about the budget. Read the shooting schedule and other script breakdowns from a viewpoint of money. Ask the accountant what is the average cost of shooting per day and multiply by the number of shooting days. Become familiar with the terms of the budget and learn how to comment about the most important elements read as know what categories of costs could benefit you or hurt you the most. Become familiar with the look and presentation of a budget so that youre not mistaking a subtotal line for an expense actually Ive seen that happen too often to laugh. Youll get some hands-on practice in the next 6 articles.
Before going any further lets look at the 4 basic sections of a budget. As I said in my article Making It in Film Production Ive written these articles for the complete novice so please be patient if youve already been exposed to the fundamentals here.
If you cant read the picture below click here- Page 37 of Walk The Talkfor a clearer PDF illustration.
The Four Major Sections of Any FilmBudget are-
1.Above-the-Line- This section includes all costs associated with the Writer Director Producers Cast and Stunts. The costs of the writer director producer and stars is driven by the market place Major Studios or financiers so I wont spend much time on them. However you will need to have a good understanding of the costs associated with the dailyweekly cast and stunts. Note- In the very early days of film budgeting there was actually a heavy line drawn here – thus the term Above and Below the line.
2.Shooting Period- This is the most important section for anyone looking to produce films. As you would have guessed from the title it includes all production costs of the actual time of shooting the film including a bit of wrap time say a week or two after the shooting is completed. It includes all of those costs that you would intuitively think of
– like the labor costs of all crew camera-grip-electric equipment rentals as well as all construction-wardrobe- transportation costs etc. When I first started in the business everyone called this section Below-the-Line and I still hear it occasionally. The official definition currently in use for Below-the-Line is the sum of the Shooting Period and the Post-Production Costs see point 3 below.
3.Post Production- This section of the budget includes all costs associated with the time period AFTER the shooting is complete – costs like editing sound mixing music visual effects etc. I wont be spending any time on post-production costs. Its in the interests of the Studio and Financiers to create the best look they can. There are experts in this area who stay current with the technology. The only control you can hope for is a tight coordination among the Director Editors Post-Production Supervisor and Financiers to arrive at some real plan for post.
4.Other- Finally the last section includes costs like insurance on-set publicity costs legal expenses etc. The financiers have certain requirements for these areas and usually have a pretty good idea what theyll cost before approving the financing. So in the interests of self-preservation always defer any discussion of Other costs to the Studio Bonding Company or Financiers.
Occasionally an Overhead account is added after Contingency – but its almost never used. Again they are what they are once the financing is in place and the Bonding Company agrees to bond the show. Note that if theres a bank involved there will always be a Bonding Company.
The four different sections illustrated above is a typical Budget Summary sheet. These four sections are universally referred to so dont be afraid to use the terms. Additionally if your show is an independent production there will be three more lines at the bottom always presented in bold – they are Financing Charges Bond Fee and Contingency after the budget is approved often referred to as the Locked Budget all costs incurred are compared to the approved budget.
At this point you need to switch gears from budgeting to the process of reporting the costs as they compare to the budget. There is an internationally agreed upon format for this purpose called the Weekly Cost Report. Its the Report Card of how the show is going.
This Weekly Cost Report process is where the fun begins and youll need to be familiar with the many ins and outs of cost reporting. How the costs are gathered together is a technicality belonging in the realm of accounting – what you need to know is the importance of the Weekly Cost Report and how to Direct the Money by knowing how to acceptably manipulate the reporting process to show an honest but credible presentation of the production costs. It is THE key report card presented to those with the money behind the film production. Its presented to the Financiers Studio Execs Bonding Company every week on every financed film production on planet earth period.
Presentation of this cost report can make or break your credibility. AND to my knowledge theres nowhere else you can learn these tricks of the trade – except for an off-hand statement here and there in the larger film schools. See my next articles for more about this report.
I want to remind you that in the 20 years that Ive worked in film production I have NEVER shown a crewmember a Final Budget or a Weekly Cost Report. They are considered sacrosanct by Studio Executives Financiers and Bonding Companies everywhere.
Well get a good book thats easy to read that lays it out for you. Recently both the University of Southern California Masters of Fine Arts Peter Stark Program and the University of Tampa Film Program have ordered my book -Walk The Talk- as required reading for their students.
Theyre available in my book – see my web sitehere -Walk The Talk-. All of them are simple but effective.
Check out all of my Film Production articles on Knol-
1. Making It in Film Production
2. Introduction to Directing the Money
3. Translating Script Ideas Into Money Talk
4. A Producer Favorite – Above-the-Line Film Budgeting
5. A Directors Tool – Below-the-Line Film Budgeting
6. The Film Production Report Card – The Weekly Cost Report
7. The Art of Presenting A Film Productions Weekly Cost Report
When you read my articles print them out. Make your own examples. Reread them.Send me your questionsif you get stuck. Youll find that youll be way out in front of the pack.
Cheers
Visit my web site at www.talkfilm.biz. To buy my E-Book Walk The Talk click herefor the full information and training on Directing the Money.
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