budgeting a Feature

[David Roth weiss]

I understand where you’re coming from, however, just as one needn’t jump off a bridge to know that it hurts, you need not know a heck of a lot about a low-budget feature to know that the cost ratio of production to post is fairly consistent in most cases. I chose to say 60%, but others might say 40 to 60%. Is it ironclad? No. Is a good premise on which to model a budget? Absolutely. Is it a number thats accurate enough to allow you to get on to more important aspects of filmmaking? You bet ya. Is this worth anymore of our time? Not a chance.

All the best,
David

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ?

A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[David Roth Weiss] ” chose to say 60%, but others might say 40 to 60%. Is it ironclad? No. Is a good premise on which to model a budget? Absolutely. Is it a number thats accurate enough to allow you to get on to more important aspects of filmmaking? You bet ya. Is this worth anymore of our time? Not a chance.
“

I’m mostly just JOKING (and you’re being somewhat serious) about a pretty goofy question.
(If it was a serious question, the OP would be back with further discussion.)

But I did want to say that you are, of course, correct in a “guesstimate” based on, well, who cares what its based on… we all know what happens to so-called “budgets” when a production gets going, anyway.

I’ll now, at your wise suggestion, “fade to black” on this issue.

(Still don’t know how much to spend on a truck.)

😉

[David Roth weiss]

[Thax] “Still don’t know how much to spend on a truck”

Well, that should be obvious — a post-production truck is gonna be about 10% more than a production truck. :} :} :}

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ?

A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.

[Reuben Fink]

Thank you all for your replies. I’ve been too busy to reply myself. I know some wanted me to be more specific, but what I was looking for was a general rule if there was one at all. Which some believe there is. The 40 to 60 percent range is quite interesting, a little higher than I was thinking at first. My friend produced a 90 minute feature leangth that was not budgeted correctly They wound up going over budget in post of course. I didn’t want to make the same mistake and wind up considering post as an after thought. Thanks.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[rubefink] “The 40 to 60 percent range is quite interesting, a little higher than I was thinking at first.”

Its moot.

If your budget is X…

Then deciding to spend 40% X on shooting and 60% X on post is meaningless.

If you don’t have enough X to get the shoot right, you don’t NEED to have enough X to do the post.

There’s an old saying that goes…

If we had some ham, we could have ham and eggs, if we had some eggs.

[Eric Grush]

I am a feature editor with experience producing features as well.
In my experience and production education 40-60% is hard and fast the
rule for budgeting. If an experienced financier or executive producer sees
a budget with less than 40% allocated to post, they will be skeptical of your understanding
of the filmmaking process. If your project is a documentary or effects heavy, this can go even higher. The best way to work in budgeting is always backwards. Are you going to print? What are your deliverables? Too often independant and low-budget productions forget that a film in the can is not yet a film. A lot of time goes into post, a lot more than into shooting. Once you have determined how much it will cost to finish the film, put that $$$ away and don’t let the production touch it. The last 2 features I cut/post-supervised neglected to remove the post funds from the production account and watched that money fly away into the production. This cost them time to beg the investors for more money to recoup their original post-budget. Do not underestimate the time and energy and cost of post. It should be where the production is directed and not an afterthought.

Thanks for listening,

Eric Grush
Halo Arts Media Entertainment

[David Roth weiss]

Bingo!!! Eric gets a gold star. Oh, and a halo too…

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY

[Eric Grush]

Thanks David, glad to know I learned something useful in school. I was thinking about an earlier “ham + eggs” analogy that was made in this discussion. I think there is a trend in lower budget filmmaking toward blowing everything they’ve got on “putting it on the screen.” That usually get’s interpreted as spending everything on the shoot and forgetting the rest. I understand the appeal of getting the best actors and crew and gear you can afford. However, I think that limitations will force a project to be more creative and trim the trapping of a larger production. Think of Steven Spielberg. Just imagine what an amazing film he could make if he had $3 million instead of $200 million. I would encourage “rubefink” and the director to really focus on what they want their film to be regardless of cost. When it comes time to shoot they will find their decisions getting easier when problems or limitations occur. By setting aside a post budget they will keep the production tight and creative and still be confident that what they get will have a place to go.

Does that make sense?

Eric Grush
Halo Arts Media Entertainment

[David Roth weiss]

[Yidhartha] “Does that make sense?”

Yep!!! There are an awful lot of films in the can that never even make it to a rough cut because the dough for post is allocated for all kinds of things that somebody figured were more important.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY