Film Courage: Let's say you have your full budget? What happens?
Sean Reid, Producer: Oh, I got the whole budget at one time all in the account? Oh,
somebody believes in it.
Film Courage: Maybe, who knows?
Sean: Then we essentially start how we start the process. We're officially in pre-production. We
walk down to whatever that date is that we were planning on that we got them to
do in the first place off of a production date that we were with some imaginary date that we
put out in the sky. Now, that imaginary date's not imaginary, especially if you've done some
pre-work and you've had a conversation or maybe you've actually gotten to Idris Elba somehow.
Now you've got Idris Elba interested in the project and now you actually have the money. Now,
it's a race to address Idris Elba’s schedule, when is he available? If Idris Elba becomes not
available, who can we replace with that because it starts to more than likely be hinged on our
package with a movie on who the star is going to be. If we don't get a star, that might be another
reason why we can't spend the money they can put on that as it has to be and just Idris Elba
or a star that we agree to in the contract. I can easily say that so that'll give you a green light
but only a green light if you can get that person and you maybe only have a window of a certain
amount of time and can you make it? You're already under the gun and you’ve just got the money
or maybe this hotel is going to be demolished that we're going to get to shoot in for really
cheap because they're going to demolish it anyway so we just rented it and we can still stay in it
so we can save money on that (it was in the production plan). If we don't make it to that
now we're going to have to pay for it someplace or build a set and kind of blow your budget up again
that's why you always have a 10 contingency on five million dollars it's actually so it would
be a five point what 5.5 you actually really have a fight you present at 5.5 million dollar budget
you don't present a five million dollar budget 10 contingency on a budget that size should always
have a contingency on everything but a lot of us don't oh the contingency goes away it's I'm
gonna make it no contingency the contingency becomes your wallet credit cards your credit
cards your family okay just don't do car loans oh don't don't do yours yeah don't cut down don't
do that check advance or the cargo and things don't do that you got this full budget it's 5
million for the internal Butler how much toward pre-production how much for production how much
sword post and then distribution well let's say we've already got the script and let's say I wrote
the script so screenwriter is getting a standard WGA [Writers Guild of America] whatever that
is for that 100 and something thousand dollars so that's already gone so you own it out right
so then you've got your copyright chain and your lawyer you need you spend you unless you have a
lawyers internally in your team so then maybe you can get them to waive that for points so maybe
you've gotta 10 it's generally ten thousand dollars for that if you're then any investor
setting up investor paperwork that could be another ten thousand dollars too by the way
if you're doing all your paperwork appropriately and having lawyers do them if you're getting
packages and things and you make them then a member of your team then you get all that
stuff and you don't have to worry about any of it and you just give them points
then you've got the then the so that's your pre-production money essentially then you've got
to get then you well your pre-pre-production money now your actual pre-production monies are casting
right securing your locations having a so at that budget level I'm going to bring in a production
manager we will hire a DGA protector or make me a DGA director because of that which means you'll
have a production management team which means you'll probably have to figure out what that
schedule is to bring that out personally I wouldn't want to shoot that size of a
movie that let's say we're doing a six-week shoot we went at least six months of prep
so I'm probably from that date of getting the money would probably be about eight months out
before we Shot the movie unless there was some reason that we had to because of Idris Elba
so then probably I said before I'd say 2.5 is into
in the actual physical production and then probably another maybe and we made a deal
with Idris and we went with a smaller cast so maybe we only now have to give 1.5 to Casting
and gave interest some back end on the movie and then we took and then maybe now we've got
another 100 000 left towards final marketing prints bubble whatever's required to deliver the
movie for final end and Market it yourself and then obviously if you're gonna self-distribute
then maybe you do a and should build in 510 grand for shooting doing a theatrical run on
your own even if you don't get one bring up bring your status up and give you a better deal on your
thing or just do a festival runs you gotta hit yourself but you'll probably get in some festivals
so you need some money for that five ten thousand dollars at least a hundred thousands a dream maybe
five ten thousand dollars you can do that so that's that's how it allocated overall
and if you had to tighten the budget the production budget keeping in the main the
main actor how are you taking out ancillary characters or whittling down locations
dwelling down locations or maybe it's some special toys or bringing bangs that I've
got now because of the siege whether whether hunting them after them maybe I wanted to do
some kind of flying thing and now I have to do something more simple maybe it's just a
steady game thing through the forest and not a a five drone interlocking Steadicam five
steady cam blocked off Five camera now it's only you've got to do it with a drone and one camera
okay so you don't get that or you're not going to be able to the character
you you're still going to get the the the the love interests who needs to be another name
and that whatever type of Zone because that way you can draw because I think we can kind
of slip this into the romantic comedy romantic romantic drama thing with that love story so I
think you can draw a a stronger female audience with that storyline so you need to have a strong
female actress in that to draw to signal that to them to want to come so that would be word
so you gotta have that one but then maybe that's where you're not getting it so maybe there's some
new people in some of these other parts which I think would be fine for that type of movie
could you have a younger unknown I hate to suggest that but could you have a younger unknown actress
or actor yeah well yeah I prefer for the lead for that one parking it could turn out to be a
younger it could be the next city that we put in that part so it could be that yes
absolutely that would then but then you you yes you're lowering your budget and you're
lowering your scope and you're lowering your chances again now into festivals and your mark
some of those things that you're you're hinging on selling you're now taking away
sure and what if in the beginning Idris Elba is you're only hearing the family's voices and you
see his reaction so you're you're cut you're just getting maybe voice over from people and trying
to cut out some of them so you can just really see that he is very internal maybe he doesn't
even really see people that much because he's so in this world I don't know just just ways to just
take away some of the yeah I wouldn't I wouldn't necessarily be hard to say just us just sitting
here in our in our kind of broad Studio world that we've created but yeah there's definitely
I'm saying there's definitely ways to look at compromising cutting down scope maybe changing
the maybe that how long you're shooting for because I've already got it down in six weeks
which a month is shorter but and but again it's a little tight it's more a TV movie maybe maybe you
get five weeks out of that maybe I just lose one maybe I lose a little rehearsal maybe to get him
to donate some rehearsal make him a producer he'll do whatever maybe he'll drop his feet
if he's producing then he's more likely to drop his feet because he's getting
a producing fee anyway he can waive his fee by the way she really believes in the movie.