Movie Production Essentials – Understanding Film Financing
How much does it cost to produce a movie? What should you expect to spend? And where does the money come from? These are some of the questions you might ask yourself before deciding to invest in Hollywood filmmaking.
Understanding Film Production
A film, also known as motion picture or photoplay, is a series of still images that are displayed on a screen inside a cinema, TV studio, and other places up for viewing to a captive audience such as people who paid to get in.
The Key Aspects to Movie Production – Financial Analysis
When you decide to make your own movie, you have two options. You can either finance it yourself or work with an experienced friend or business partner who has already put together financing. In today’s world, it is not at all easy to find financial partners who have experience putting together funding for independent films. The good news is there is no need to look far because investors will be more than happy to back projects like yours if they see what you do right.
How Much Does It Cost To Produce A Movie?
After discussing about where to source capital, let’s discuss costs involved in producing a movie. If you keep all the expenses under control, you will never run out of money during production. So what are total costs in producing a movie? Here’s the breakdown:
1. Filming – $100,000+/day
2. Post-production (post-visual effects etc.) – $30,000-$50,000/day
3. Distribution – 50%-60% (depending on how many theaters you choose); you share rest with distributors
4. Marketing & Sales – 20%-40% (depending on marketing strategy)
So basically, if you are planning to distribute digitally using the internet, then post-production costs will be lower than physical distribution. This means that once your film is ready for distribution, you only pay 30-50k per day to market and sell the DVD/Digital download. However, if you plan on distributing physically by going through major chains of retail stores, you would have to pay anywhere between 100,000 and 200,000 dollars every single day during shooting to cover the cost of advertising and selling DVDs/Downloads.
Conclusion
As you may have guessed, movie production costs real money! But don’t worry! There are ways to save money in production without compromising quality. First off, always try to shoot the best possible footage when you start production! Be creative with locations and use available props. Also, don’t forget about post-production since this is where most of your budget will go into. I hope this article gave you some insight into how movies are made and why so much money goes into making them!
