Pre-Production List

A

Andrew McCarrick

I'm in pre-pro on a feature film, and I'm making a list of what I need to do.

Here's what I have right now, looking for comments on what I'm leaving out.

Budgeting/Scheduling throughout as details are finalized.
1. Headshots/Resumes
2. Fund Raising
3. Auditions
4. Location Scouting
5. Audition Call Backs
6. Finalize Cast and Locations
7. Purchase Equipment
8. Equipment Tests
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
jax_rox said:
No post costs..? No legal costs..? No marketing costs..?

Also, every single producer I have ever worked with adds an extra 10% of the total budget as a contingency.

I'm not really sure what's going on here though - you've drawn up a budget for 150k but expect that you won't get it? If you expect that you're only going to raise 50k, then you need to do a line item budget for 50k, or keep raising funds until you hit 150k.
Click to expand...

Covering posts costs myself. Don't need legal, got that covered myself.

Well the issue is, I absolutely need $150k minimum to shoot, or the whole thing will fall apart in my opinion. I don't see anything I can cut, that wouldn't out right sacrifice the entire integrity of the film.

Crew is working deferred.

And the cast is non-union. I'm just paying minimum wage (which is technically legally required) for a 12 hour day.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Andrew McCarrick said:
Here's a copy of the script. If anybody has any free time, break it down and tell me what you would estimate the budget at.

http://www.area51entertainment.co/xmas/xmas.pdf



I'd like to get product placement, as there are numerous opportunities to do so in the script; but I don't even know where to start with such as thing.
Click to expand...

You can't just casually ask anyone to do a breakdown for you for free.

You need to do it yourself or hire a line producer.

Also a product placement deal for a no name indie movie is extremely unlikely.

You might be able to get some local businesses to give you some services for a discount if you show their products/store etc. on screen, but you probably won't be able to raise any money with that.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'm sensing a lot of negativity here. I'm sure Andrew is well aware that making a feature film is not going to be easy, but he came to us for help and support.

Maybe I'm being oversensitive because of recent personal experience, but I told my filmmaker friend that I was going to shoot my own feature for $10,000 and he completely shot me down. He said I was making a mistake, but I'm a firm believer that it can be done, and done well.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top