Budget for something that would NEVER get shot ??

IndieBudget

IndieBudget

Ok, a bud told another friend that I was a "filmmaker type" so I get an email from this guy who wants to do a TV show based on some ideas. He wants to do a Sci-Fi show w/ LOTS of greenscreen and he thinks it can be done very low budget and he can just crank out episodes really fast. He "knows someone who has a HD camcorder". This individual knows nothing about production. ( ohh did I say that I don't know squat myself ?? considering what a true pro would know )

I give him some figures off the top of my head that go like :

Based on what you want to do Im suggesting the following

Get a script done.

Have a script doctor look at it and revise ( cost unknown )

You would need the following tools & facilities to make this happen for a 10 min pilot episode

1. Studio capable of 20ft tall greenscreen maybe for a month minimum maybe 2 $6,000
2. Construction of sets , crew, materials $10,000
3. DOP w/ RED video camera $25,000 10 days shooting, testing & proof of concept
4. Editor w/ editing system capable of editing RED footage $ 8,000
5. Production sound tech $ 2500
6. Audio post-production $2000
7. Misc crew $10,000
8. Kraft services for Crew / Talent $4,000
9. Props & Wardrobe $5,000
10. MUA - $2,000

TOTAL - $75,500 plus Marketing

You would also have expenses for casting, travel and the like. This is without paying the acting talent a dime. some costs would be lower...some higher is my thinking



SOOOOOO... how far off am I ??? crazy thoughts , rants and the like are accepted cuz all this is hypothetical
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
This is my take from the real world of construction. This looks like nothing but problems and headaches. When I see a job like that, I decide how much the trouble will be worth. I jack the price so high that if I do it it will be worth the hassle. And if you get a bad feeling, run away.
125k minimum.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The idea is to present him with this budget - give it a really complete line-by-line day-by-day break-down, the complete proposal. "This is what it takes to get top quality as long as the cast and crew are talented." He can then make decisions as to where he would like to cut costs. That way, when something doesn't work, you can always point out the objections you made during preproduction to cutting those particular corners.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I also see that my question is like asking "How long is a piece of string ?"

The individual wanted to do a futuristic story on an aircraft carrier and several locations around the globe using greenscreen. My take was to do it well it would not be cheap. Lots of 3D tracking and the like. But I dunno what a DP providing a RED would go for either.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Are you budgeting your producer fee in there too? That's a full time job for some amount of weeks, budget accordingly.

10 day shoot for a 10 minute pilot? Sounds a little excessive, especially considering it's more or less one physical location. You'll have to relight for different scenes but you don't have to move the cast, crew and equipment from a-b.

What's the greenscreen being replaced with? Custom 3D? I think your post budget is a little small for a chromakey heavy, 3D heavy pilot. I've spent as much as 40 hours in post for 60 seconds of footage in a 2.5D effects environment. It's usually less for that, but throw (good) 3D in the mix and it's exponentially more.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I recently looked over the budget of a 15 minute short film that was shot over 4 days. The budget was $108k and that was a 'low-budget'.

Keep in mind that your cast have to be paid, and paid extra depending on where you want to screen the film/show. All the crew have to be paid, and unfortunately you either say all cast and crew will be working for free or you pay them all their minimum day rates. You can't rightly say you'll pay a DP $25k for 10 days and then pay his 1st AC $100 for 10 days. Whilst the 1st AC shouldn't be expecting $25k (for example) the union rates is something like $500/day for ACs. You can't pay a DP above union rates and then the rest of your crew peanuts. By the same token, your editor may take 2 months to edit and you're only paying him $8k, even though he's supplying similar amounts of equipment to the DP who's getting paid $25k for 10 days. Plus you have cast to pay, gear to hire (not just cameras and lenses but lights, support gear etc), locations to (possibly) hire - whether that's the studio or not.. Local studio hire rates can be upwards of $2k/week so you might be hard pressed to find a studio ready for a 20ft greenscreen for 2 months for $6k...

You can't really budget without a script either. You need to take the script and look at everything in it and get real prices on day rates for crew, studio hire, vfx post for the green screen, equipment hire and what equipment you'll need etc etc etc. and then you can budget. Hypothetically you could call in favours and get most of it for free, hypothetically you could also pay everyone union rates and end up paying a lot more..
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
IndieBudget said:
..this guy who wants to do a TV show based on some ideas.
Click to expand...
Has this guy even bothered to contact SyFy's parent company NBCUniversal to see if they have any sort of broad or general minimal criteria before they'll even consider a lark such as this?
http://www.nbcuni.com/contact-us/

I mean, what's the point of spending ten minutes thinking about pie-in-the-sky with no practical foundation or even a hard industry contact?



Not to be Debbie Downer, but...

20120325FilmitAndTheyWillCome.png


Juno?



He "knows someone who has a HD camcorder".
Click to expand...
OMG.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Amen!
Oh, wait. I'm biased.
I made up that poster. ;)


I'm hunting down a number Warner Brothers handed to Zack Snyder to film his proof of concept for 300 before they green-lit the whole project... gimme a couple...
EDIT: Nope. Couldn't find it or any other POC budgets. Fail.

Here, ya'll watch this $300 film.
Let me know if it's any good: http://www.553am.com/Memory_Lane/HOME.html
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
"Low Budget" TV Shows Have Budgets Likely Bigger than Your Home's Value...

... and Likely Your Neighbor's House, Combined!


http://abovethelineproducer.blogspot.com/2010/11/dramatic-television-series-cost-of.html

http://www.cybercollege.com/tvp007.htm
I like that "cost per viewer" metric.

http://askville.amazon.com/cost-pro...how-cable-tv/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=205895

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-much-television-shows-cost-produce-1657901.html

http://www.videojug.com/interview/reality-shows-from-pitch-to-pilot
Goto "Should I put my own money into producing a reality show pilot or series?"

This lady is just too smart and slick. I'm impressed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti1qNMZC5-w


Perhaps the below costs could in some way be carried over to infer TV production costs.
http://abovethelineproducer.blogspot.com/2011/02/film-budgeting.html
"Though movie studios are reluctant to release the precise details of their movies' budgets, it has occasionally been possible to obtain (clandestinely) details of the cost of a films break down.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life ** http://abovethelineproducer.blogspot.com/2010/08/magic-of-studio-financing.html
  • Story rights and screenplay: $4 million
  • Producers: $4 million
  • Director (Jan de Bont): $5 million
  • Cast: $17.25 million
  • - Angelina Jolie: $12 million
  • - Extras: $250,000
  • - Other (inc. Angelina's perks): $5 million
  • Production costs: $67 million
  • - Set design and construction: $17.8 million
  • Visual Effects: $13 million
  • Music: $3.3 million
  • Editing: $3 million
  • Post Production costs: $1.5 million
Total: $118 million​
Source: http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/laracroft1.htm


Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
  • Story rights (Carolco and Gale Anne Hurd): $14.5 million
  • Screenplay: $5.2 million
  • John D. Brancato & Michael Ferris: $1 million
  • Director (Jonathan Mostow): $5 million
  • Producers: $10 million
  • Cast: $35 million
  • - Arnold Schwarzenegger: $29.25 million + 20% gross profits
  • - Arnold's perks: $1.5 million
  • - Rest of principal cast: $3.85 million
  • - Extras: $400,000
  • Production costs: $58 million
  • Post-production costs: $4 million
  • Visual effects: $20 million
  • Music: $2 million
  • Other costs: $33.6 million
Total: $187.3 million​
Source: http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/budget.htm


Spider-Man
  • Story rights: $20 million
  • Screenplay: $10 million
  • Producers: $15 million
  • Director (Sam Raimi): $10 million
  • Cast: $30 million
  • - Tobey Maguire: $17 million
  • - Kirsten Dunst: $7 million
  • - Alfred Molina: $3 million
  • - Rest of cast: $3 million
  • Production costs: $45 million
  • Visual effects: $65 million
  • Music: $5 million
  • - Composer (Danny Elfman): $2 million.
Total: $200 million​
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/20 "
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
I just had a meeting w/ the individual and he wants to do this project. I told him of the pitfalls and he still wants to do it. He is ok w/ going lower production values and Im starting to think a 10 min pilot episode might be doable w/ me taking money as my fees in which I will direct and forgo the RED and use a 5D and Pro Level Camcorders. I understand it would be a huge task, but after seeing more of what he wants I think it can be done.

Im going to rethink the whole thing and I might tell him, yes we can proceed starting w/ a check to me and additional checks as the project progresses. He would do all marketing and work on internet distribution. He wants to get a mini episode done, then use crowdsource funding to continue the project w/ full episodes. He is wanting to do an English and a dubbed Spanish version and go from there. I shall use the proceeds to finance my love of tequlia, filmmaking and supporting single mothers who dance for a living.

So, I will see if I can make this happen for the single mothers.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
rayw said:
Best wishes.
Click to expand...

I CAN shoot it for the budget and get it done...will it be a success ???????????

The guy was Ok w/ it even being a vanity project, so on that alone, I started thinking, OK less pressure.

However. I know a few folks who are at the center of the local filmmaking scene. I know a gent who is "the go to guy for casting" and people involved in many projects that have been done. sooooo we shall see

If I do this . I will post here my story to share the adventure. Maybe hire a stripper to film my behind the scenes stuff !!!:rolleyes::lol::D:yes:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
IndieBudget said:
I CAN shoot it for the budget and get it done...will it be a success ???????????

The guy was Ok w/ it even being a vanity project, so on that alone, I started thinking, OK less pressure.

However. I know a few folks who are at the center of the local filmmaking scene. I know a gent who is "the go to guy for casting" and people involved in many projects that have been done. sooooo we shall see

If I do this . I will post here my story to share the adventure. Maybe hire a stripper to film my behind the scenes stuff !!!
Click to expand...
Stripper as DP. Interesting call. :blush: :cool:
Wait! To film YOUR behind?!
WHAT?!!
Well, aren't you just full of yourself! ;)



Just for your own personal growth (on friend's ticket, to boot) I'd investigate the cable TV distribution criteria HEAVILY before proceeding much further.
Re Cable Channel Strategy: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?p=258956#post258956


"Mark Burnett: 'Create Something People Want'"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwPRsEFlXn8
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I have it ! The behind the scenes stuff will be me "Taylor Swifting" ala Southpark ?? Really nothing special about my rear section.

If this person wants to do this. I will make it as good as I can. If he is not leaving the success and marketing up to me. Im free of that burden is my thinking. I will make it as interesting and compelling as Im able. Im still thinking this won't happenin, but if it does, I will give it 100%


Rayw ..interesting vid..seen some of it will watch it all later, thanxx for the tasty info ! heck if we are "fillmmakers" we also need to be "filmmarketers" !!





.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top