Introduction
Finance is critical for the success of a film; if managed poorly, it can stunt the development of a project or even cancel it entirely. There are many ways pre-production can avoid these issues which some producers and directors elected to ignore, putting them through development hell and extreme loss of profit. If a media product can’t turn a profit then it hasn’t achieved its goal, so a director should always be balancing income and outcome to project whether the production is worth the loss. Overall, money drives media, if it had been handled wrong many of the media products we know and love wouldn’t exist.
The benefits of finance orientated pre-production
By calculating the exact amount, you will need you can display your estimated profits clearer.
Production will run smoothly as it’s one less thing to worry about.
You can show the studio where all their money is going, which can help keep the production alive.
Or if you don’t have a studio yet a clear estimation of the necessary money can help get producers on board.
Where does finance come into pre-production?
The first thing you want to do, money-wise, when it comes to pre-production is to calculate how much money will be needed, allowing for studios to see roughly what budget your production will be. Media is a high-risk high-reward industry so by estimating the budget it can reduce the risk and make it seem like a sounder investment. However, many films, TV shows and even adverts have gone over budget putting studios into debt and destroying their own production. Another way it can help is like I mentioned earlier, a tight focus on finance can make a production run smoothly. For example, when director Alfonso Cuarón took over from Chris Columbus on Harry Potter’s 3rd instalment he decided to relocate Hagrid’s Hut to a location that better fit the books. However, they not only didn’t consider the weather but they also forgot to consider money ultimately causing a loss in money. This oversight is a mistake you must avoid because it may not have been consequential for a giant block buster but for an indie film on a much smaller budget it could demolish a production. Overall, good foresight of where your money is going can lead to greater investments from studio executives and a smoother production, avoiding what happened on Prisoner of Azkaban.
Examples of good/bad finance and how they got money:
With money being a deciding factor into whether a media product is good or not it’s important you know where to get it. There are several ways you can fund a production but through all of them you must remain diligent as to where expenditure is going. For example: if you are approached by your local council to create a poster for their new project, you must take into account how much he software will cost, avoiding copyright infringements and the cost of renting photography equipment. Depending on the media product the cost varies, with big audio-visual productions costing a lot more than magazine covers and giant music videos dominating in expenditure over the cost of the music itself. So, for your production you need to consider where the money’s coming from. Here are some examples:
Local authorities – a good way of getting funding is through your local council who have the funds available for organisations or projects that seek to enhance community engagement and cultural benefits. In a BBC article in 2018 a study was conducted revealing that adverts on council sites can boost income by £34,500 so it’s a great place to start! If you want to know more about local funding in your area enter your postcode on this search page on GOV.UK or contact your local authority directly to find out more.
Crowdfunding – another good way of getting the money to create a project is by using sites like Crowdfunder, Kickstarter or GoFundMe, where you can advertise your idea to people who might want to invest. These rely on a good pitch and a concise summary which shows it is a worthy investment. This is a great example of how calculating the estimated budget is critical as you need a goal to reach.
The BFI – a major initiative developed by the BFI to help fund independent British films. There are a variety of ‘hubs’ around the UK which offer support and funding to independent films. The BFI is not only a great place to get funding but also a brilliant platform to get your film seen.
In Conclusion
Finance is such a critical part of Pre-production that it can make or break a project. In my opinion, if a production can’t handle a budget or estimate their expenditure then they shouldn’t be allowed to control future projects as it’s a gross misuse of money. For example, Apocalypse Now is often regarded as one of the best films of the past century, however, their carless nature towards money lead to more worry than necessary. Doug Claybourne was brought in as production assistant. As a Vietnam vet, he was one of maybe two or three people working on the movie who had actually been involved in the war. “At the hotel where the crew were based, it was party heaven. We’d have a hundred beers lined up around the swimming pool. There were people diving off the roofs, it was crazy.” This is especially concerning if a production is crowdfunded because it looks although the investor’s money was just going into leisure. The overall rule of thumb is, if a production can handle its finance it can make a profit and if it doesn’t… well you better hope it’s the next Apocalypse Now.
Pre-Production 