Getting a Film Made

8/4/2019 Getting a Film Made

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Draw out a flow chart that shows

the process of making a filmfrom start to finish.

GETTING A FILM MADE


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HOW MANY STAGES ARE THERE?

12! Each stage has a number of things that

must be done with it


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1. Idea

2. Development Finance

3. Script Development

4. Packaging

5. Financing

6. Pre-Production

7. The Shoot

8. Post Production

9. Sales

10. Marketing

11. Exhibition

12. Other Windows.


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1. THE IDEA Sources of inspiration

Original ideas

Real life stories

Remakes

Adaptations


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Producer

Acquires the rights to a film

Finance

Creative and Commercial driving force

Director

On board early

Turn the idea into a film Help to sell / get a good writer on board


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Writer yes they write!

Treatment

A one page description of main events and

characters

Well written / fit genre Pitch - Contains everything needed to sell the

film

One liner / Genre / Market / People

attached / Rough budget / Brief synopsis


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2. DEVELOPMENT FINANCE

Pitching the Project the producers uses thetreatment and the pitch to get money to develop thescript.

Themselves Production Companies

Sales / Distribution / Broadcasters

Public Investment Private Finance


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3. SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT

Synopsis key scenes and events agreed

Step Outline

Drafts

Revisions

Final draft

Sales Treatment


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4. PACKAGING

Rough budget

The Cast

HoDs Editor / Production Designer / Director ofPhotography

Detailed Budget and Production Schedule

Finance Plan and Recoupment Schedule


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5. FINANCING

The Market producer must travel around the world.Competitive market different countries offer differenttax breaks for investing in films.

Investment 3 sources: Private Individuals

Production Companies

Public bodies

Unless youre a huge film studio!


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Pre-salesSell the rights to the film before its made:

Sales

Broadcasters

Distributors first refusal to distribute film

Banks and Gap Funding Departments that specialise

in film investments and offer loans Completion bonds Financiers (other than studios)

insist on having a completion bond in place insurancefor the film and ensures it gets made

GREEN LIGHT!


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6. PRE-PRODUCTION

Kick Off Meeting develop the shooting script with

HoDs

Casting Casting director has to find all the actors

needed. Avg film has 30 cast members availability /fees etc

Storyboarding quick sketches to get exact shots

director and director of photography to develop the look/ structure of the film.


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Production Design: Design and build every set and

aspect of the film

Special Effects planning Effects takes months of

planning physical effects (stunts, models,

pyrotechnics or animatronics) or CGI

Production Unit Production Accountant = Money /Production Manager = day to day money and admin /

Line Producer = producer and financiers / 1st Assistant

Director = crew and schedule etc


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7. THE SHOOT

First day of principle photography funds released,

shooting begins!

Camera

Lighting and Sound

Acting

Special Physical effects Chain of command


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8. POST PRODUCTION

Rough cut assembles all the footage into the narrativesequence

Post Production Sound once the footage is locked thesound department works on the audio track laying, creatingand editing every sound

Digital effects and titles digital effects and credits etc areadded by special effects compositors

Grade and colour final aspect of the picture edit is toadjust the colour and establish the fine aesthetic of the film


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Final Mix - after picture lock the rough sound mix goes

to a dubbing theatre where the sound mixers set the

final levels

Final Cut After the final cut the film reaches full lock

and is ready for duplication. It is the investors, sales

and distributors who decide on the final cut very fewdirectors get this say!


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9. SALES

Selling the Product:

The producer must use the services of a sales

agent who specialises in film sales The process of getting the film to the public is

complex and time consuming. Need to use

film distributors (film marketing companiesspecialise is marketing and releasing films).


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Sales agents operate between the distributor

and the producer, helping them to assess

products and negotiate deals


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THE TRAILER

A trailer is made to show the film buyers themost marketable aspects of the film.

It must sell the film without giving too much

of it away show the selling points andwhats unique about it.

The producer will commission a promo and

then distribution company will commissiontheir trailer and tv spots


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SALES TOOLKIT

The producer and sales agent gather everything

they will need to sell the film to distributors.

Sales pack everything about the film trailer,one page sheet of key elements, estimated box

office figures etc


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TAKING THE FILM TO MARKET

Market is saturated with films. The producer

must go out of their way to attract attention to

their film.

With theatrical and DVD release shrinks it is

becoming more difficult to sell films to

cinemagoers. The producer must create a buzz

about their film


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Critical acclaim good indicator of quality

Audience enthusiasm evidence people will seeit.

Having a good film!


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SCREENINGS.

High profile screenings at top film festivals can

create interest

Stars promotional work


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DEALS

Now the film has interest the producer cannegotiate good deals with distributors around theworld.

The prodcuer negotiates a deal with a distributor forthe rights to distribute the film across certainterritories (countries or one or more countries withthe same language/culture).

Distributors have the rights to market the film andnegotiate deals with cinemas


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MARKETING

The marketing team look at the films usp and the

best way to hook the audience

Work out how much money they think can bemade based on the target audience and draw up

a marketing budget.

Must carefully consider the target audience andgive them what they want.


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THE AUDIENCE

Test screenings see how the film is received

Marketing is all about word of mouth need to

make people want to see it. Need to get thebalance right if they start too early it could

dissipate before the release. Too late and its not

seen either.


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ADVERTISING

Posters

Cinema trailers

TV Spots Difficult to get peoples attention high

marketing budgets.

Needs to be targeted just right.


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PRESS AND MEDIA COVERAGE

Television, radio, newspapers and magazines all

help to create positive word of mouth. Positive

reception in the form of reviews, interviews etc


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THE INTERNET AND NEW MARKETING MODELS

Targeted marketing more efficient

New ways of marketing through websites and

digital technology


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SELLING THE FILM TO EXHIBITORS..

Distributor needs to negotiate with cinemas to getthe film to the public

The cinema programmer watches all the films and

plans their exhibition schedule key decisionmakers. They choose what they will show based onwhat they think their audiences will want to see.

Exhibitors rely on blockbusters for much of their

revenue putting large distributors in a position ofpower packagespersuade them to take theirless commercial products.


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EXHIBITION

Getting a Film Made

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