1. Distribution and costs

2. Key tems
• Production cycle
• Distribution as invisible art/process
• Story rights
• Screenplay
• Producers
• Director
• Cast
• composer

3. The Production Cycle
The Conglomerate
• Production Company
Distribution Company Profit
finance
Returns
TV/
DVD
sales Exhibitors
Audience

4. Distribution
• The Invisible Art – process known only
to those within the industry, barely
written about and also imperceptible to
everyone else.
Producers Distribution Audience

5. Independent Films
• Independent Studios don’t ‘do’ vertical
integration
• No formal connection between
Producers, distributors and exhibitors
• Collaboration – need to get a major
company on side
• £££££££££££££$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

6. Distribution Companies
• Determine how many copies (prints) of
a film to make
– Why might this be important?
– What might be some issues surrounding
this?

7. Distribution = power
WHY? Films can not be financed without the help of distributors
They access to capital (like spare money in a pot/account)
HOW? They have deal with theatre owners (or are often the
owners)
WHAT DO Brand name recognition
THEY GET?
Ownership…………. (they own) copyright

8. It’s all about Money!
• Films are expense to make!
• Distribution Company and their
conglomerate owners are profit driven
so they must feel confident that they
can make sufficient return on
investment

9. How much to make Spiderman
2?
COMPLETE IN PAIRS
COST DETAIL COST
Story rights $?
Screenplay $?
Producers $?
Director (Sam Raimi) $?
Cast: $?
Tobey Maguire : $___million
Kirsten Dunst: $___ million
Alfred Molina : $___ million
Rest of cast: $___ million
Production costs $
Visual effects $
Music: $
Composer (Danny Elfman): $____ million.
Total $_____ million

10. Spiderman 2 COSTS
COST DETAIL COST
Story rights $20 million
Screenplay $10 million
Producers $15 million
Director (Sam Raimi) $10 million
Cast: $30 million
Tobey Maguire : $17 million
Kirsten Dunst: $7 million
Alfred Molina : $3 million
Rest of cast: $3 million
Production costs $45 million
Visual effects $65 million
Music: $5 million
Composer (Danny Elfman): $2 million.
Total $200 million

11. Unbreakable COSTS
DETAIL OF COST COST
Story rights and Screenplay $5,000,000
Producers $1,878,260
Director (M. Night Shyamalan & Assistant) : $5,081,749
Cast: $ 31,903,987
Bruce Willis: $20,000,000
Samuel L. Jackson: $7,000,000
Robin Wright Penn: $2,500,000
Rest of Cast, Casting, Stunts, & Travel: $5,568,388
Production costs: $26,214,709
Visual effects: $1,000,000
Music: $2,253,456
TOTAL $73,243,106

12. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of
Life
COSTS
DETAIL OF COST COST
Story rights and screenplay $4 million
Producers $4 million
Director (Jan de Bont) $5 million
Cast $17.25 million
Angelina Jolie: $12 million Extras: $250,000
Other (inc. Angelina's perks) : $5 million
Production costs $67 million
Set design and construction: $17.8 million
Visual Effects $13 million
Music $3.3 million
Editing $3 million
Post Production costs $1.5 million
Total $118 million

13. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
COSTS
COST DETAILS COST
Story rights (Carolco and Gale Anne Hurd) $19.5 million
Screenplay $5.2 million
John D. Brancato & Michael Ferris: $1 million
Director (Jonathan Mostow) $5 million
Producers $10 million
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger: $29.25 million + 20% gross profits $35 million
Arnold's perks: $1.5 million
Rest of principal cast: $3.85 million
Extras: $450,000
Production costs $58 million
Post-production costs $4 million
Visual effects $20 million
Music $2 million
Other costs $33.6 million
Total $187.3 million

14. Other Costs
• Promotion (marketing)
– often higher than Production costs
– Very hard to get accurate data (cost
projection)
• Promotion budgets usually around
$65m

15. Other sources of money
• DVD’s – can add up to $100m and a higher % goes
back to the company
• TV Rights
• Merchandising/synergy
• But in 2009 theatrical box office revenue was bigger
than home video revenue ……..why do you think?
• – piracy, Netflix, cost of 3D tickets (too high).