Films and Finance notes

"Of every ten films made in Hollywood, six will lose money from exhibition in cinemas, one will break even, one will make a little money, one will make good money and one will be a successful blockbuster that pays for all the others." - Armyan Bernstein, procure of Air Force One and other films.

The Film industry is a business - it's the place where art, creativity and business meet all at once, and the film industry in the U.S. is also one of the U.S.'s biggest exporters.

Before a film can begin to be made, the films 'package' must be shown to investors, this package must consist of:

• A script treatment - detailed plots, a list of possible sets, and a basic script (around 10 pages long)
• A story board of key scenes
• Basic character outlines
• Potential casting
• A suggested Director and/or Writer
• Other key creative personnel (e.g. editors, cinematographers, special effects team)
• Any possible marketing spinoffs (e.g. clothing, posters, sequels/prequels)

Currently, 50% of Hollywood's output are adaptions - however with the rising popularity of the comic-book, featured fairytale and novel-based genres, this percentage is expected to increase.

- A crucial point that people often don't know or don't seem to care about, is the difference between a director and a producer. Directors are in charge of all of the smaller decisions whilst the movie is being made, meanwhile a producer is in charge of of the bigger decisions and or raising confidence in the idea (so as to get more backing for the films production).