Hi Allan,
Katherine has far better insight than me – but if it helps any, I co-Produced Twittamentary as a novice (http://youtu.be/Z3n1mcgzKtE):
Production: we crowd sourced twittamentary production, and some of the editorial (We did 15 rough cut screenings to gather live audience feedback via twitter which was then used to re-edit the stories before the next rough cut). We were lucky to get some friendly pro-bono post production for sound. Total production cost about 50K. This is pretty cheap.
Distribution: It really depends what you want to achieve. Rule of thumb is spend 1X to 2X your production costs. For us: we managed to get selected to screen at a few festivals (usually based on contacts), did a ‘premier’ at a big NY cinema as part of #140Conf and then used Distrify to distribute online – giving revenues to one of the charities in the film. We put the movie up on Youtube this summer & it’s now used as part of some higher education syllabuses in Asia/EU/US. This isn’t a traditional distribution model – but as I say, it depends what you want to achieve.
The one unspoken rule is that no one makes money on indie movies (hence the fanfare given to the few exceptions that break the rule), so see it as marketing or awareness expenditure.
Happy to catch up offline.
StJ
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StJohn Deakins
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From: Katherine Warman Kern [
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]
Sent: 16 September 2014 13:23
To: Alan Mitchell
Cc:
">
Subject: Re: [projectvrm] Terms and Conditions May Apply - costs?
I'd break down the process four buckets.
1) Research and writing the concept - (I suspect you have this covered?)
2) Writing a screenplay (this part is like choosing an architect, the more experience they have will save money on the next step - I mean a video news producer or documentary producer who usually have experience writing and producing their own stuff would be ideal)
3) Production - as I recall, Terms and Conditions was mainly edited footage and graphics with a voice over and not shooting live action at multiple locations. It was shown in movie theaters, wasn't it? This adds to the cost - a strictly internet based distribution plan will lower the cost. As long as you are talking one location (e.g., an interview set) and editing existing footage, you keep the costs down. Do a Ted talk type recorded "webcast" (with very little post - adding music, editing, special effects like dissolves between shots, etc) the costs go down more.
4) Distribution & Marketing - If you are doing this independently - i.e., not with a partner who has an audience already - like BBC, plan on spending as much on these as you do on the previous three steps.
That's a starting point. I think if you are hiring folks to do #2-4, you are looking at the $500,000 end of the spectrum. If you have partners who know what they are doing and will do this at friends and family rates, you are looking at the $100,000 end of the spectrum.
On Sep 16, 2014, at 4:45 AM, Alan Mitchell <
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> wrote:
Does anybody know how much it costs to make a documentary like Terms and Conditions May Apply?
Alan Mitchell, Strategy Director
West Wing, Somerset House
Mobile: +44(0)7711 899784
Office: +44 (0)207 759 1056
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