Inspiration is at the start of every film, books, real life events and pre-exsiting films can all act as inspiration, even an everyday conversation or object! This forms an idea, this idea is proposed to a producer, if the producer likes the idea they will need to make a treatment and pitch and so find a director. The director will visualise the idea or script to see whats feasible for production. If the director is well known this will help to get a good writer on board and even finance for the project. The writer will be found next, he or she will define and clarify the ideas, the plot and the main characters, turning it into something tangible to work with. The relationship between Producer, Writer and Director is the ket creative triangle in the film business. Once the triangle has agreed ideas the Writer will then write a treatment: A one page description to the main story and characters of the film. The treatment will assume the tone of the film, if it's a comedy the treatment will be funny. A horror, it will be scary etc. The triangle will then make a pitch, this contains all the information the producer needs in order to sell the idea to financiers to commission a script. The pitch will start with a one liner which sums up the film, then the genre will be discussed, followed by the market and audience for the film, the people attached are included alone with a rough budget and finishing off with a brief synopsis of the film. The producer then goes to production companies with the treatment and pitch and persuades them that the film will make a profit, if the producer is successful in this they will receive development money which goes towards developing the script. The producer can also offer the future sales and broadcast rights to the film in return for money to develop the script. The producer can also apply to a public funding body such as the UK Film Council for a development grant or pitch the film to private investors in the hope that they will support the project. At the end of all this the Producer will have a development deal which he or she will use to tie down a writer. First the writer produces a synopsis, then outlines the steps, from this the first draft is produced. This is sent to the financiers, who will all have their own ideas, from this the final draft is written. The final stage of the script development process is the creation of a sales treatment, which is used as a sort of advert for potential financiers of the film. With the script complete the Director and Producer decide how they want to film it and who they will employ to help them; the cast, head of department etc. A detailed budget and production schedule is written up followed by a finance plan and recoupment schedule. The final package will contain: Final draft script, sales treatment, list of attached stars and HODs, detailed budget, production schedule, finance plan and recoupment schedule. This will be presented to potential funders to get money to make the film. Filmmaking in an expensive business and the Producer must secure enough funding to make the film to the highest standard possible. With the financing secured the full cast and crew are hired and detailed preparation for the shoot begins starting with the kick off meeting, through to storyboarding, production design and SFX planning. A large film production can involve hundreds of people and it is a constant struggle to keep it on schedule and budget. Post production usually starts during the shoot as soon as the first "Rushes"(raw footage and sound) are available. While the film is still in post production the Producer is already out selling it, he or she needs to find a distributor. The Producer hires a sales agent, a trailer is made and brought to meeting with distributors to sell the film, the sales toolkit needs to stand out as the market is saturated with films. A screening at a film festival can create heat which will get attention from distributers and help secure deals. As the finishing touches are being made to the film in post production the distributors plan their strategy and begin to market it. The audience is established and advertisement is produced to appeal to this audience. Press and media coverage is needed to spread the word of the film although the Internet and new marketing models are of increasing importance in marketing. Once distribution deals have been made and the film is hot and being talked about all over the web and world it is sold to exhibitors, the cinemas that will show it. Cinema exhibition is still the primary channel for films to reach their audiences and box office success equals financial success. First theirs the premiere, attended by all the stars which builds media coverage, then it is shown in cinemas, distributors supply the exhibitors with prints of the film. The more screens the film is shown on the more prints are needed. Data is collected about the popularity of films and from this the exhibitors decide which films to cancel and which to prolong. Once the distributors have been paid the financiers can recover their investments as laid out in the recoupment schedule. Hospitality sales for hotels and in-flight entertainment can bring in millions in additional revenue, then of course the film is released on DVD and Blu-Ray of which UK audiences spend more on than cinema tickets. A while after the DVD release the television is the final source of revenue, rights are sold seperately for pay per view showings, then pay TV showings and then terrestrial broadcasting. Rights for computer games and other product licenses can be extremely lucrative sources of additional revenue. Once the film has made a profit the Producer and key creative people can reap their rewards or so the theory goes...
The final income of a film is never known as distribution continues in perpetuity. It may even be re-released in the future!
No comments:
Post a Comment