Not many other elements of movie production come to mind that have had such a major impact on a film as the Steadicam and the steadishot.   Invented in the 1970′s by cameraman Garret Brown the Steadicam combines all the best attributes of then existing capabilities of tracking shots.   This remarkable tool has been a boon to cinematography, directors, producers, the control of film budgets and the art of storytelling.

There was and remains the ever-useful dolly shot using a camera dolly on a series of connecting rails to allow a smooth motion and precision to tracking shots.   Likewise handheld movie camerawork has been a mainstay in the cinematographer’s toolkit.   While these stalwarts have provided countless years of service their impact on time and the inherent film budgets, due to the pace of productions using them, has been substantial without question.

Nothing has freed up a movie’s director of photography and a film director quite like the Steadicam.  It’s affect on the film budget for a movie has been indispensable for independent filmmakers and studio producers alike.

The elegance of motion and freedom of movement that the invention allows is astounding and so fully integrated into modern filmmaking that at many times it most likely goes unnoticed by the audience.

Here below is a video montage put together by the folks at Refocused Media which presents an alluring display of the Steadcam in action in some of the most memorable movie moments.   Clips pulled from the list of top shots on steadishots.org and more provide a unique look at some of the most dynamic cinematography ever seen in motion pictures, and certainly ones that would have been difficult, if not impossible, without Garret’s invention. The  trademark for this critical movie budget enhancing and time saving too is owned by the company Tiffen.

For the film producer the Steadicam is not only a creative win for the director and the aesthetic of the movie, but the impact on the film budget is an additional factor that is a welcome benefit.   By having the capability to launch into a shot set-up that is quick and efficient the affect on the film budget is highly favorable.  One of the most helpful times this can occur is late in the afternoon or shooting day.

As time is ticking and the hours with it the producer may find the crew heading into overtime.  These hours of filming are the most expensive as the movie production crew are on multiples of their pay hours of 1.5 and 2x their hourly rate. Shooting at these times is not only frustrating but extremely costly.   The Steadicam provides the most cost effective way to ‘get the shot’ if needed.

By not relying on track to be laid for a dolly shot or the multiple takes it may require to obtain a hand held shot without flaws that are natural in that process, the Steadicam allows the filmmakers this ability to get the work done more quickly.  This asset clearly is subordinate to the creative qualities that the tool offers the movie director, but the advantage in helping avoid costly damage to the film budget is unquestionable.

Make no mistake, the work is hard.  The Steadicam operator is a true athlete with immense skill and deserves the utmost respect of all involved in the film production team.   Despite the appearance of floating on air the equipment is extremely heavy.

Camera operators, and the Steadicam Operator in particular, endure an incredible amount of pain and suffering for their beautiful and fantastic results.   Great attention and care to their needs and concern for their well being is a fundamental duty of the producer and director. 

If you would like to know more about obtaining a qualified finance film budget for your movie production feel free to contact the leader in worldwide film budget production services by clicking the images above.  Presented by Filmbudget.com 

The voting is now closed for the 85th Academy Awards Oscars™.  The live show will be broadcast on ABC on February 24th, 2013 at 7:00pm Eastern / 4:00pm Pacific time.  The Ballots are in, and the campaigns have been extravagant this year trying to convince the public and the Academy members which movie will take home the prized statue.

The list of the film budget for each of the Oscar™ Nominees for Best Picture:

1. Amour                                                $ 9,720,000
2. Argo                                                     $44,500,000
3. Beasts of the Southern Wild     $1,800,000
4. Django Unchained                         $100,000,000
5. Les Misérables                                $61,000,000
6. Life of Pi                                             $120,000,000
7. Lincoln                                                $65,000,000
8. Silver Linings Playbook              $21,000,000
9. Zero Dark Thirty                            $40,000,000

While this certainly has little to zero impact on which picture may win the Best Film award it is interesting to see the movie budget range for the nominees.  From $1.8 million to $120 million these film budgets demonstrate the wide range of genres being considered for the motion picture industry’s highest honor.  From a low budget independent to a major studio big budget vfx masterpiece and everything in between this year represents a wide collection of tastes, styles and achievements for all of the filmmakers involved.

We wish all the nominees good luck and continued success.

© 2013 Film Budget Inc.

As the revolution in filmmaking continues to move forward more digital production tools are rolling out daily from movie camera and technology companies.  Who would have anticipated the incredibly rapid acceleration of the decline of the film cameras and the use of film as the dominant media format for motion pictures and television production?  These questions were addressed and discussed, with those in attendance offering questions and insights as well.  The financial impact of these changes and their affects on film budgets for independent film and major studio production was discussed with real world examples from the producer’s experience on various productions.

Binder, the founder of film budget and schedule company FilmBudget.com discussed these trends and industry statistics shaping the present and future of filmmaking.    A Follow-up conversation will be presented as by the university at the ‘Inside Film’ event with Mr. Binder and prolific Australian Producer Antony Gianne giving a US and Aussie perspective for students and faculty.

FilmBudget.com Founder, Producer Jack Binder gives Keynote Address for Digital Cinema Symposium

Film Budget .com founder Jack Binder & Producer Antony Gianne at The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

As The Cannes Film Festival approaches we decided to take a look back at the winners of the ‘Palme d’Or Award’ since the turn of the century.   We have listed the year, film title, director, country of origin in order to review what were the  film budgets of each production that the jury selected as the best film of the year.

We wanted to know, is there a correlation between the size of the movie budget and the best film selection?  Are lower film budgets preferred to higher cost motion pictures?   Did one country dominate that last decade in terms of garnering the most favorite films?

The FilmBudget.com Cannes Film Festival Winners Film Budget List

2000 Dancer in the Dark  Lars von Trier  Denmark                                 $12,500,000

2001The Son’s Room (La stanza del figlio) Nanni Moretti Italy                   n/a

2002 The Pianist (Pianista) Roman Polanski Poland                             $ 35,000,000

2003 Elephant Gus Van Sant United States                                                $  3,000,000

2004 Fahrenheit 9/11 [7] Michael Moore  United States                        $  6,000,000

2005 L’enfant (The Child) Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne Belgium    €  3,600,000

2006 The Wind That Shakes the Barley [unanimously] Ken Loach  United Kingdom                                 $  8,000,000

2007 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile) Cristian Mungiu * Romania           €    600,000

2008 The Class (Entre les murs) [unanimously] Laurent Cantet  France                                                        €  2,480,000

2009 The White Ribbon (Das weiße Band, Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte) Michael Haneke Austria €12,000,000

2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ / Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat) Apichatpong Weerasethakul * Thailand                 n/a

2011 The Tree of Life Terrence Malick  United States                                                                                             $32,000,000

Results:  Of the nine years for which film budget data was available the average budget level was determined to be around $13,454,000 (excluding currency fluctuations and utilizing only the current year value of funds.)

While the two films with data unavailable would most likely have pulled down the average, it remains fair to say that the level of production costs associated with the last decade of Palme d’Or winners was at the higher end of the ‘art house’ range.

FilmBudget.com – The international leader in worldwide film budget and schedule production services.

FilmBudget.com

Here are the 5 top reasons to hire a professional line producer to create your film budget:

1.  Film Financing

To start with, you need film finance to produce your movie.  Film financing begins with how much money you require.  This needs to be an accurate number.  Don’t mess around with templates, a sample film budget or online software program.  Your financiers expect you have gone to a reputable line producer for your critical financial documentation.

2.  Casting

You need to know how much you can afford to pay your actors.   First you must know your below the line costs in order to determine how much you can pay above the line talent.  An experienced production manager and line producer can provide actor salary figures for your movie budget based upon years of experience paying for talent, and understanding current market conditions.

3.  Production

Obvious, of course, but nonetheless fundamental.  A filmmaker must know that they have the proper amount of funding to produce the film and deliver it to the distributor.   Investors need to know you have properly allocated those funds in a responsible manner.    With years if not decades of knowledge, experience and on-set understanding of the film production process, professional line producers know how to anticipate the unexpected in their film budget and schedule preparation.

4.  Completion Bond

If you are seeking bank, film finance institution and individual private equity you most likely require a completion bond.  The bond company must approve your budget and will insist it is of the highest quality and created by a knowledgeable line producer or production mananger.

5.  Recoupment to Investors

The best way to finance your movie is to have already financed one and paid back the investors.  In order to achieve this scenario the filmmaker must anticipate the cost of production with accuracy and confidence that they have invested the correct amount, no less and no more, as required to create the vision of the screenplay and the director.  Having the absolute correct amount of funding is critical.  One never wants to go back to the financiers asking for more, nor returning large sums as unused.

Filmbudgets.org recommends FilmBudget.com - the international leader in worldwide film budget and schedule line producer production services.  Since 1997.

Filmbudget.com | Producer credits trailer video:

The Venice Film Festival is upon us again as another incredible journey into the heart and soul of independent cinema.

As La Biennale di Venezia unfolds kindly find here the line-up for the 68th Venice International Film Festival

World Premieres include:

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Wuthering Heights

Texas Killing Fields

The Ides of March (which will open the festival)

Quando La Notte

Terraferma

A Dangerous Method

44:44 Last Day on Earth

Killer Joe

Un ÉTÉ Brulant

An extraordinary collection of films from diverse voices around the world, the Venice Film Festival gives voice and stature to a wonderful array of artistic and luminary figures, stories and emotions.   The European penchant for quality motion picture experiences, deeply rewarding storytelling and simultaneous exquisitely frugal film budget expenditure providing extremely high quality production value.

La Biennale is beloved due to its whole however important the Cinema section remains to the public perception of the event.  Likewise the film production industry admires and supports La Biennale for a great part due to The Venice Film Festival.   The prestige of inclusion into the festival is rewarding for the filmmaker emotionally and perhaps financially.   As a press event the beautiful backdrop of Venice is immensely desirable.

The strength of La Biennale is in its diversity with respect to artistic fields.   The sections include:  Art, Architecture, Cinema, Dance, Music and Theatre.

If you cannot attend feel free to experience the atmosphere for yourself here online.

Vittoria Puccini will host the Opening and Closing Nights

]]> http://filmbudgets.org/2011/08/31/the-68th-venice-international-film-festival-august-31-september-10th-la-biennale-di-venezia/feed/ 0 venicefilmfestivalfilmbudget lineproducer Venice Film Festival - Filmbudget.com La Biennale - 68th Venice Film Festival http://filmbudgets.org/2011/08/15/what-happened-to-film-tax-incentives-for-financing-a-film-budget/ http://filmbudgets.org/2011/08/15/what-happened-to-film-tax-incentives-for-financing-a-film-budget/#comments Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:53:57 +0000 Lineproducer http://filmbudgets.org/?p=122 Read more]]>  

Film tax incentives have currently undergone a radical reversal affecting the film  budget of numerous productions in the development, financing and prep stages.   This drastic downgrade in the availability of film credits as a film finance component is unprecedented in it’s immediate impact on film financing.

Created to reverse years of runaway production to Canada and overseas locations, film tax incentives grew to become a  basic part of the film budgeting and funding equation.  The U.S. states found themselves in a bidding war resulting in raising the incentive benefit rate higher and higher in order to gain more local production expenditure spent on businesses in their state.

The bottom line is that the readily easy soft money is much more difficult to obtain as the competition for the reduced film tax incentive pool expands.  Movie producers are leaving areas previously calling themselves “film friendly” with their programs and heading toward those states with a consistent and stable film tax incentive program.

States that have benefitted from these changes include:

Louisiana

Georgia

Massachusetts

California

Louisiana was best prepared to take up the production slack as their governor had provided the assurance to producers and studios by making the film tax incentive permanent.

California meanwhile implemented a film tax incentive of its own after years of pressure from the industry to do something about runaway production to the states offering the generous incentives as well as international locations offering their own film tax credit and co-production facilities.  Studios, production companies and producers utilize the California incentives to enhance their production film budget costs and return these film and television programs to Hollywood.

While the benefit to the local economy has been heralded by all sides, as well as the creation of a local film industry in their regions, the political mood during the current economic crisis has railed against the film tax incentives support for a production’s film budget as taxpayer giveaways.   Opponents fail to acknowledge the positive impact of film production to their locales, and proponents claim the expense to the treasuries of the states is a worthwhile investment in people, jobs and creating a green industry with high paying jobs.

The debate continues.

Filmbudget.com | The worldwide film budgeting expert

It has arrived clearly.   In the nick of time nonetheless.   While the anticipation has been intensive for decades, the current transformation of film and television distribution could not have come at a better time for all involved in the industry of entertainment.   For the consumer who has likewise been eagerly awaiting more choices, more readily available – free or not – this fact is even more welcome.

At a time when the independent film world has undergone yet another downward spiral, like the previous incarnations which were due mostly due to external factors such as the advertising market slump of a decade ago, the sector may now well be headed toward an inevitable rebirth.  With the abundance of independent and studio distributor pick-ups recently, including at The Sundance Film Festival this year,  to the recent success of films like ‘The King’s Speech’ winning Best Film at the Oscars one can readily see a comeback in the making.

This leads to the point about VOD, Premium VOD, pay per view and the film budget and the massive impact this is all about to have on the movie and television entertainment industry, theatrical distribution and home entertainment choices.   As the market for indie films contracted and the downward pressure that caused on the film budget became dramatic, the indie film business went through a much needed shake out that saw the glut diminish.   The glut of course was due to the immense amounts of hedge fund money which left the building.

Now that the over supply has retracted a bit the distribution pipelines appear to be back in the business of creating and buying product.  Good news.   Even better news is the fact that with all breakout success of Netflix, which has now reached the subscriber base strength of Comcast Cable Co., the game is on for competitors like Itunes, Amazon, Hulu, CinemaNow.   The studios have jumped in the sport with Premium VOD which will aim to shorten the ancillary pipeline window in a battle for viewership.   And finally with the announcement of Google’s YouTube getting into the field (or extending further as they put it) the prognosis is becoming clear.

There will be a strong market for both studio and indie films to come in the very near future.   The numbers will begin to emerge on the video on demand, PPV, Premium VOD, cable, internet, online, streaming, downloading and all flavors of available distribution methods, including the Netflix DVD mailing model (remember that?)   Hence the effect will be more choice, more availability and more avenues for filmmakers to get their vision to the ‘screen’, for their film to be seen, bought, sold and traded.    Prices will rise due to competition and new fundamentals of the film business will break out from the tailspin of 2007-2010 that wreaked havoc upon many careers.

As mentioned before here, the impact on the film budget has been to create serious downward pressure.   This has made the importance of well crafted, finely detailed, custom and quality film budget and schedule production services more critical than ever.    Movie budgets will continue to be competitive with the tight supply of film finance supporting the new frugality and lower film budgets, however there will be a demand for quality production value in films which will help cushion the past damage to the filmmaking community.

As digital production methods continue to drive down costs as well the need for tight film budgets will certainly remain.   As this process continues reliability in the film budget will continue to be critical for film financing as recent days have demonstrated.   The ability to reduce a movie budget with skill while maintaining high production value cannot be understated.    A film budget by an experienced film producer with extensive knowledge of filmmaking is fundamental to provide investors, lenders, studios, production companies and film financiers accurate and proven numbers.

Jack Binder

Producer

‘Reign Over Me’, ’The Upside of Anger’

Founder of Film Budget – http://filmbudget.com

The international leader in worldwide film budget and schedule production services.

Co-productions, Film Budgets, China and Asia

Co-productions are integral to film finance and raising film budgets currently as motion picture financing continues to rebuild.  Following the economic downturn and great turmoil in its aftermath, movie funding has struggled to recover toward its previous levels globally.   As film tax incentives have risen to take up some of the slack, film budget integrity and reductions have been important to the industry worldwide.

Critical to movie funding as advised by film finance experts are film budgets created by a known and reliable source, a veteran line producer or unit production manager.  This fact is a recurring statement in investor and lending circles.  Rightfully so, financial transactions have undergone greater scrutiny.  Having a reliable film budget and associated shooting schedule with which to base ones cash flow commitment to, while once a very good idea, is at this time beyond fundamental.

These facts were clearly evident at the “Europe/China: More Film CoProduction for a New Step of Cooperation” * during FILMART in Hong Kong.    China film production is on the rise with box office totalling $1.5 Billion in 2010.   This figure is expected to rise to $5 Billion in 2015.    As Chinese film budgets grow however, they are exceeding the reach of the “common” wealthy individual investor to provide the money for a film budget beyond the low budget level of previous motion picture output.

The message leads to the fact that to truly achieve its movie industry potential China must develop structure to its financial entertainment sector.  Film financing specifically will need to gain a systematic approach, something that Hong Kong is adept at with its financial and legal expertise.

Movie Screens in China

The number of movie screens in China stands at 6,200 currently.  This figure is expected to grow to 16,500 by the year 2015.    Local films in China have a 50-60% market share.

China Film Production

Local Chinese film production generated 526 film in 2010, a vast increase from 82 movies in the year 2000.    Much of the new funding is coming from Co-Productions with European partners.   While producers see great value in such co-production activity, and providing film production services for those productions, the challenges of language, currency  and distance are significant to overcome.

The French-Chinese co-production agreement has yielded a successful collaboration rate with film from both countries gaining entry to each others markets.  Additionally, up to 30% and sometimes more can be gained towards their film budgets for a Chinese film from the European partner.   Italy is likewise working to formulate its own co-production agreement with Beijing.

* Read more at the Filmbiz.asia website

Section 181 extended by Section 744

Filmmakers film budgets have been missing this critical opportunity for film finance due to the uncertainty caused by the delayed extension.    American citizens may now receive a 100% tax deduction for their film budget investment in a domestic production shooting at least 75% of their movie budget in the United States.  Independent filmmakers now have a much needed avenue for film investors to help them in the financing of their film budgets for shooting in the USA.