Pre-Production

Pre-Production

In this blog I will be presenting my research into the pre-production process involved in film and TV development. I will analyse the pre-production requirements in the entertainment industry and present how they all apply to a range of media e.g. Independent films, Hollywood productions and television.

Finance

The first item atop any film makers agenda is to gain financial funding in order to kick production into gear. Now the usually route is to pitch your idea and hope that someone, somewhere in Hollywood picks up your idea and green lights your project - unfortunately unless you have a very substantial portfolio of work and/or an incredible amount of luck, this route tends not to be very viable for those in the film making industry who are just starting.

This is where independent film making comes into play. There are a lot of independent film organisations willing to fund new and original projects. Here in the UK The British Film Institute uses National Lottery funds to fund these films and kick start production.
The reason Independent studios exist is due to the boom of the blockbuster in the 80's, big studios such as Warner Bros., Fox etc. weren't interested in smaller films with a smaller revenue. Realising that there was a market for films of a smaller scale with story telling at their heart, studios like Miramax started funding these projects and as a result started gaining awards such as Oscar awards under their belt.
The bigger studios eventually caught onto this and started developing their own subsidiary studios created to focus on "indie" films, to create Oscar buzz and higher box office revenues, as a result the large studios could then funnel said revenue into their larger blockbuster projects in order to gain a larger financial return.
Taking the independent route always the film makers to retain their original ideas but this comes at the cost of a lot of hard work. You have no real idea of income, it's completely based on how the film performs. Distribution is a costly undertaking if you aren't a studio with ownership of a distribution division, and there's also marketing - sometimes the make or break of your box office return. Companies like Disney spend millions on advertising alone, this is usually taken from the initial production cost, independent film makers don't have the luxury of millions of dollars, therefore every penny must be properly spent, making the financial department of pre-production very important. If you don't have the correct information on budget and spending, you may go over budget which can result in your film being delayed or even cancelled should the studio in charge choose not to continue, or you may complete your film but have no resources left for marketing and distribution.

Big studios have more money at their disposal, but less care for story orientated stories. They care for big budget blockbusters with even bigger returns. Not to say that a pitched idea wouldn't be accepted, it's just chances are the characters will be played by big stars and the studio will maintain control over the production, marketing and distribution. It's ideal if you're out to make a decent pay cheque, but it all comes down to whether you deeply care for the representation of your work or whether you're happy to sell it off for at a price.
The bonus is that you receive proper accountants and a lot more resources to play with.

In the UK the BBC fund their television shows with licence payers money, which usually means a high standard of TV shows. Unfortunately for the BBC however, they are restricted in certain aspects from making what ever they want, as a condition over receiving the money from the government, the BBC has to cater to a massive range of audiences whether they're young, old, history buffs, antique enthusiasts or crime lovers.  Other TV channels (most notably Channel 4) make whatever TV shows they want, as they are funded by advertisements. Meaning they have free reign over what they produce and outsource to other companies. Another alternative (and an incredibly popular one) is a paid subscription service.
Sky for example use both a paid subscription service and advertisements. This may seem, strange but the paid subscription means advertisers pay more to have their products featured during Sky exclusive content. The revenue Sky make from both of these income methods goes towards higher quality shows and paid partnerships with American companies such as Fox, HBO etc.
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu etc. are paid for digital subscription service that allow you to stream from a library of content either outsourced or create in house via the money generated from the subscription payments. Netflix has just recently entered the $100 Billion club and is creating content faster than any other platform. Amazon owns Prime Video and due to the companies exponential worth, the platform can afford top tier level production of TV shows, such as The Grand Tour, which set Amazon back $250 Million according to multiple sources, that's film level budgeting. Again it shows us why financial advertisers are a vital necessity in pre-production.  

Costs and Logistics

Sourced from Den of Geek's Movie Geek by Simon Brew published in 2017, The 2005 film Sahara, starring Matthew McConaughey, became embroiled in a legal dispute, and as a consequence its budget was revealed in detail by the Los Angeles Times. This is just one example of one film, but it gives an insight into where the money goes. Here are just some of the highlights of the $160m expenditure, this will give an idea of how a films budget is distributed across roles:



$8m - The fee paid to Matthew McConaughey to star
$1.6m - for co-star Penelope Cruz
$450,000 for actor Rainn Wilson, at that stage riding high off the US version of The Office on television
$750,000 for director Breck Eisner
$3.8m split for the 10 screenwriters who worked on the script
$10m for the rights to make the film, based on the book Sahara by Clive Cussler
$237,386 for "courtesy payments" and gratuities" in relation to location filming in Morocco
$40,688 to delay a "river improvement project" in Azemmour, Morocco, which would have interrupted filming
$81,375 for the camels required master came at an extra cost of $51,638
$16,744 for prop selections
$54,600 for creating a facial-disease special effect.
$7.3m for other special effects
$1.4m for catering for the cast and crew
$102,884 for walkie-talkies so everyone could talk to each other.
$20.1m for transportation
$5.4m for insuring the product
$1.6m for accountants to keep on top of all of this

All of this is handled by accountants, who budget this properly beforehand and considered all the costs. You also need to make sure you have enough money set aside in case something happens that could potentially slow down filming (every day over schedule costs a lot of money). For example 2015's Mad Max Fury Road had planned to film in Australia and make use of their vast desert like environment, but when the crew arrived Australia was hosting a freak rain storm that (it hadn't rained in over 100 years) which caused vegetation to grow. Thanks to correct budgeting, the team were able to relocate to Africa and start filming, had the money for the film not been budgeted correctly, they wouldn't have been able to pay for the transportation of equipment via air which is very expensive, but because unforeseen expenditures were planned for, the film managed to stay afloat and met it's release date, resulting in no loss for Warner Bros.

When budgeting, you always need to make sure that the budget covers all ends such as actors, filming crew, props, costumes and of course the equipment to film the movie. You then have to factor in all of the crew behind the scenes and the costs that come along with transporting, accommodating and feeding the crew. You also need to factor in royalties when it comes to script writers for example - yes it allows you more room to breath when it comes to production costs, but if the film garners a high box office return, you will have to pay larger royalty costs relating to the size of the return.


I mentioned before that going over schedule can cost a lot of money for the governing studio. To avoid this, you need to make sure you create a detailed production schedule and make sure you have detailed each individual budget, you should also build in some form of contingency should something happen (like the previously mentioned Mad Max example) and you are left with no other option but to run over, so that the studios can be prepared to either postpone the release date of the film or supply a means to help out production if the budget doesn't stretch.

Codes of Practise

Code of practise are a vital part of pre production and vary from rules that should be followed when filming in specific location, and rules that should be universally followed when it comes to health & safety and wages.

For example;
The Code of Practise for Location Filming in London was developed to provide filmmakers with what they needed to know to ensure a smooth running shoot in the city. It is a voluntary agreement that aims to ensure:

• The industry can film effectively, efficiently and flexibly in London
• All involved in location filming act responsibly, professionally and considerately at all times
• The practical impact of filming on people and businesses within London is minimised.

Production teams always have legal representatives on hand to make sure the project stays within it's rights and does not infringe any of the rules set in place. Lawyers also come in handy when preventing/aiding lawsuits and claims against production companies. Codes of practise also refers to copyright. This can itself refer either to music, original ideas etc. that without the proper permission and/or purchase can lead to copyright infringement. If these actions are not performed through the MCPS (Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society)/PRS (Performing Right Society) then the company will find itself within court, be made to pay a fine if infringes are proven to be accurate and in some cases, the entire production can be shut down depending on the specific infringements and the discretion of the courts/copyright owners. Failure to comply with this would result in further fining and risk of imprisonment. This is why the use of legal representatives, no matter their cost, is very important to the cohesive and professional production of a film.

Health and Safety is also a very important factor in pre-production, for example you must carry out risk assessments on actors, equipment and locations. Now, health and safety is where it gets problematic for some production companies, especially with more renown (and as a result more expensive) actors.  As a company you must pay for and provide the necessary equipment used to protect actors from serious injuries, they may even use stunt doubles, but this tends to be down to the actor's inability/unwillingness to learn the required stunts needed in the film. The environment for stunt doubles must still be made safe, failure to do so may result in court action, take for example the death of John Bernecker, who tragically died from injuries from a fall on the set of AMC's The Walking Dead in July of 2017. Bernecker's death raised questions as to the safety practises for actors and stunt people involved in this type of work. The OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) issued The Walking Dead's production company a fine of $12,675 for "failing to protect employees from fall hazards."  OSHA then carried out an investigation, followed by Susan Bernecker, the mother of John Bernecker, proceeding with civil litigation. Jeff R. Harris, the attorney representing Sarah Bernecker, said. "We are hopeful that the John Bernecker case will elevate safety standards in the film and television industry so that stunt-related tragedies can be avoided in the future." As you can see, failing to provide proper safety equipment and/or follow through with health and safety assessments can result in both serious and tragic circumstances. John Bernecker story sourced from www.deadline.com (as of February 2018)

Another make or break component of the pre-production process is payment. Producers are in charge of making sure that the actors involved with filming are receiving the correct pay in relation to their status, role and position within Equity, a union which states how much money it's members are to be paid. Independent directors have their own union called PACT (Producer's Alliance for Cinema and Television) which "supports it's members with legal and business affairs advice and support." Another union available to directors and technical crew is BECTU (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union) where they have the ability to have rates of pay identified for each individual job. www.equity.org.uk www.pact.co.uk www.bectu.org.uk

Formats of Pre-Production Documents

Documentation is a very important part of securing a studios support and funding, as well as helping the production team have a clear understanding of roles, budgeting, storyboards, schedules, deadlines etc. It also relates to the market in which the film is appealing to, for example whether it's a UK production or a production financed by the US.

There are set formats in which to follow, these formats are universally recognised by production companies which therefore makes the task of processing these documents much easier, if you ignore these formats then chances are the production companies won't consider your work, as using the supplied formats represents a level of professionalism.

Let's use scripts as an example of work that can be formatted to suit different needs. For instance you have your "spec script" which is a pretty basic document that is used to present your concept, whether it be for a television show or film. These documents are usually only seen at the very beginning of the production process and usually never end up in the hands of the actors/crew as all documents at that point will have been altered and refined to suit the needs of the production process should your proposal be accepted.

"shooting scripts" are the more developed, thought out documents that are key to entering a film/television show into production. Shooting scripts should be reserved only for the cast and crew as they do not serve the purpose of selling a precise product to investors and vice versa, you should never hand out a spec script to the crew, as it does not supply the necessary information in order for the production team to move forward.

You also need to make sure that time tables and budgets are formatted properly as this needs to be clearly understood by both the production and financial team, any mistakes caused through using incorrect formats may result in shooting being put on hold which results in money being lost, and/or money being overspent/spent on the wrong items which again, results in a loss for the production team and their financial backers.

Any legal documents require certification via legal advisers to make sure that the documents not only match up to laws required, but to also make sure the documents do not have loopholes open to manipulation.

It is essential that all pre-production documents are created to cover all aspects of the process, it is the only way that production can run smoothly, allowing the production company to move forward without the worry of miscommunication and loss of profit.

There are many different types of documents which require many different types of formats, of course, the industry is aware of this and has made the information and required formats available on the internet for film makers to use at ones own discretion. Here are links to just a couple of websites that supply this information:

www.filmschoolonline.com

www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/medium-and-format

Why is the Pre-Production Process Vital?

The pre-production process is the make or break of any concept in the industry. When pitching an idea you need to take into account the fundamental parts of production that must all be accounted for and prepared in the pre-production process, this ranges from budgets and timescales to target audiences and how viable the market is for your proposed concept.

You can't simply go ahead and state that you want to make a big budget film/television show, receive the required money, guess how many people are required to undertake the project and their wages, and produce a solid, quality production. It just doesn't happen without structure and cohesiveness within not only the production team, but with the parent company themselves who are backing the production. You need a solid idea of how much your project will cost, where it will take place, how many crew members will be required etc. No big league production company would be willing to invest money into an idea based on guesswork. You need to give a concise understanding of your chosen market and how your proposed concept will influence it, if you wish to secure the money required to start pre-production.

Another factor is outside input and constructive criticism. If you fail to create a pre-production plan that clearly outlies your proposed idea and it's requirements to a team in charge of supplying your needs then you would be limiting your film/television shows potential drastically. Production companies have market experts that constantly evaluate the ever changing media audience. They like to keep tabs on what is on the way in from a creative respect, and which content is on the way out, in other words, losing the interest of the audience. Failure to converse with these representatives, as well as other writers, directors etc. makes it impossible to iron out any problems you product might (and most likely will) have as self criticism is hard, especially when it comes to media such as film and television, as you usually find yourself within the creation process for so long, you lose the fresh perspective of an outside view. 

A major part of pre-production again is to of course supply your crew, both in front and behind the camera with the correct information needed to begin production without any major issues and hold ups. Documentation is vital, for example writers and artists will use storyboards to help them envision their work, where as camera operators will require shot lists to understand which equipment is needed, where it needs to be positioned and how long each shot should take on average so that it can be acknowledged within the productions time schedule.  A lack of proper documentation, whether it's scripting, shot lists or copyright applications, may result in consequences that cost the production a lot of money, which can be the make or break or a film or television show. This has been witnessed many times over the many years of film and TV. Projects have been announced, take Bruce Willis' "Wake", which was pinned in the calendar for a 2016 release after having been announced in December 2014 via www.deadline.com. After the film ran over budget the films production halted on the 26th February 2015, even tough filming had just began on the 16th. It was expected to resume production in 2-3 weeks, but it was postponed for an indefinite time after actor Bruce Willis and director John Pogue left the film due to financing and scheduling issues. The film has been dormant ever since, safely assumed cancelled, as a result of these issues due to poor pre-production planning. Information sourced from The Wake's Wikipedia page as well as external sources from www.denofgeek.com and www.cinemablend.com

Why You Should Keep Pre-Production Documentation

Documents are often referred back to during the pre-production process in order to maintain an efficient process should the crew require to see it again. Failure to keep the required documentation slows down production until it can be remade, baring in mind it must meet the standards of the original.
In terms of law as well, documents are very important. For example, say you bought the rights and gained permission to use a song in your film and just after the release, you receive a phone call from that same artists label demanding that the content be removed under violation of copyright,  demanding fees for damages, which also in turn would mean the removal of your film from theatres until the problem is resolved resulting in major losses at the box office, what do you do? You refer back to your pre-production documents, where you stated within your budget costs the purchase of the rights, alongside the documentation from the MCPS/PRS confirming the legality of the use of content. It's a hypothetical situation but one that could very well happen due to miscommunication, and without pre-production records, everything is put on hold until evidence can be sourced from elsewhere.

Another major reason is for finance. Your financial backers need to know that the money that was fronted has been spent in the manner described and represented during pre-production. This includes documented budgeting for actors, crew, equipment, transport, effects both practical and computer, catering, location, music rights etc. They need to know that their money has not been pocketed under malicious means and the only way to prove this, is through the proper documentation created during the pre-production process.