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Post Production Questios for feature

P

parasolution

We are producing our first feature film, which is self financed and currently doesn't have a distribution deal.

The film currently in post. It was filmed in HD and edited in Final Cut. The film has been edited and locked. The editor has sent drives to a sound facility and a composer for mixing. We will then color correct the film and be ready.

Someone had mentioned to us that we should do some of these things now, even though we don't have a distribution deal in place: M&E, inserting of titles/graphics, 5.1 audio, 4:3 pan & scan, end credit scroll, and deliverables such as a 1.85 HDCAM SR Master and a 4:3 HDCAM master.

Is all this necessary now or is it more common place to finish the film, sell it and then do the balance of the above, once the distribution deal is in place.

Thanks in advance.
 
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:welcome:

My understanding is that you should do these things while still in post, because it may cost you more money down the line.

You should definitely get a QC report for your masters while in post to make sure everything is up to par.
 
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Thanks for the welcome, I'm glad I found this site.

With finances being tight and no distribution deal in place, we are looking at all our remaining expenses. I take it that there really is no right or wrong answer on this, it's just if you pay now or pay later.

Let say we don't do some of these things and just have a finished film, if a distribution company picks up the film, will they take on this cost or are they just picking up P&A and we still the responsibility to finish the above items?
 
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I guess it would depend on the distributor. I've read numerous books and spoken to different people that have said they've lost deals by not having the M&E tracks in place at deal time.

The QC thing is really for your peace of mind. The distributor is going to do their own QC, and if they find issues they'll probably give you time to fix them. It's just going to cost you more if you do it after post.
 
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Music & Effects. Distributors need them on a separate track so they can add dubbing for foreign markets.
 
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