Do movie crews do cost control?

guylikeme

One of the things I always wonder about...

You hear of movie x costing 300 million to make etc. Some cool effects and all that but you wonder did they really negotiate to get a better rate with location, actors etc.

Does anyone ever say 'this is ridiculous, seriously eating into our profit margin' or is it a case of lunatics running the asylum.

Anyone here work in the industry and know whether method to.this madness?

VinLieger

Check out the creative accounting stuff around Hollywood production studios to see that the numbers reported for cost and profit are nowhere near the real numbers at all

justchecked

If its a Hollywood movie the costs are probably very tightly controlled.

Cee-Jay-Cee

OP do you really wonder about stuff like that or are you just trying to come up with something obscure that has never been asked before like 'do shopping trolley manufacturers have a standard mesh size for the cage or is specific to the size and type of trolley?'

the_barfly1

The crews couldn't give a shíte about costs. They just do what needs doing as long as they're getting paid their wedge. The money people look after the money!

The_Valeyard

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

OP do you really wonder about stuff like that or are you just trying to come up with something obscure that has never been asked before like 'do shopping trolley manufacturers have a standard mesh size for the cage or is specific to the size and type of trolley?'

Do trolleys actually have a device that locks the wheels after you take them a certain distance from the shop?

frag420

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

OP do you really wonder about stuff like that or are you just trying to come up with something obscure that has never been asked before like 'do shopping trolley manufacturers have a standard mesh size for the cage or is specific to the size and type of trolley?'

That depends on the shop.....Tesco seem to have a bigger mesh size than other shops. Dunnes seem to have a smaller mesh size as they sell a lot of sh!t and it stops it from dripping on the floor........

The thing I wonder about however is people with nothing to do but belittle those who are are seeking an answer to a question.I wonder do they not have a life, are they that bored with their lives that they have to belittle other people questions, do they have a job or are they virgin geeks trying to justify their existence with crap replies and being smart asses.....

I also question irony.......

bnt

Why do you think so many "Hollywood" movies are made in Canada? If it's forests you want, you go to British Columbia (e.g. the Twilight series); if your movie is set in New York, you shoot in Toronto.

There have been exceptions e.g. the film Miss Congeniality managed to keep costs down by shooting mostly in Austin, Texas, which wasn't a "movie town" at all. There is one scene in which two characters eat in a New York restaurant - interior shot in Austin - then walk out the door in to the real New York; they filmed there for just a day or two.

gctest50

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

OP do you really wonder about stuff like that or are you just trying to come up with something obscure that has never been asked before like 'do shopping trolley manufacturers have a standard mesh size for the cage or is specific to the size and type of trolley?'

asked before ? there's a whole subcomitee for that

http://www.astm.org/Standards/F2372.htm

Cedrus

I used to work next door to a small studio and have seen loads of location shootings around London and my observed answer would be NO. They'd put the archetypal council gang to shame with the number of liggers standing around. The only time they all break into action is when the food truck opens for lunch then it's like wildebeest on the serengeti. Mind you the lunch probably costs more than what all the 'resting actors' are being paid to hold scripts, open drinks, powder foreheads and all the other shyte they are being paid to do.

Sir Osis of Liver.

I was in Dunnes during the week and saw an ould one with her oversized joke tits resting in the child seats of her shopping trolley.

The_Valeyard

Waterworld, now there's some waste of money and crew.

The_Valeyard

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Waterworld, now there's some waste of money and crew.

And water

Sir Osis of Liver.

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Waterworld, now there's some waste of money and crew.

It was doing grand until Costner revealed the gills behind his ears.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Of course they do, look at how difficult it is to secure backing for a project in Hollywood. Big budget flops can sink a studio. For instance 20th Century Fox execs were puling their hair out during the filming of Titanic in 95/96, if it tanked it was looking likely that they could fold. So even the big studios are at risk.

FloatingVoter

Theres stuff you can't put in the credits and don't make it to the screen

• Cost of rehab for leading lady
• Hookers
• Cocaine
• Nocturnal trips to petting zoo for leading man
• Blackmail settlements for any and all of above
• Bribery costs associated with hidden extras

All this stuff adds up and hiding it in the special FX budget is as good a ruse as any. Except when its a two-hander adaptation of a stage play that has a $100 million spaceship/ dinosaur budget. In which case they tried to save money by not using accountants.

kneemos

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Do trolleys actually have a device that locks the wheels after you take them a certain distance from the shop?

No they commit suicide and head for the nearest river or canal.

There's this thing where if you're a movie crew and you work past a minute past midnight, you get a daily wage no matter how much longer you work. So if you work until 1AM, you still get the day's wage.

ivytwine

Crews are Heavily unionised- as pointed out a second of overtime means another days wages are paid.

In Hollywood all sound is redubbed, nothing you hear in a big budget movie was recorded on set. Good foley and fx artists get paid a lot, edits for foreign markets, soundtracks etc all add up.

Actors are paid A LOT in Hollywood.

Everyone has to be fed everyday- again all adds up, especially in big budget productions where tea and scones won't cut it.

Equipment is hella expensive. You're talking pretty much a couple of grand for everything.

Set design and costumes, again a fortune.

Any professional production can't go ahead without insurance... Then you've renting locations, portaloos and all that jazz...

So yeah making movies is not cheap

ivytwine

ivytwine wrote: »

Crews are Heavily unionised- as pointed out a second of overtime means another days wages are paid.

Only if you're part of SAG, which, admittedly, is probably the largest.

There's a pretty good info manual here. Part referencing working past midnight is on page nine.

ivytwine

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Only if you're part of SAG, which, admittedly, is probably the largest.

There's a pretty good info manual here

In Ireland a lot of TV and co productions have agreements with SIPTU too. The crew rates are pretty damn sweet but then you may not work in film for god knows how long after that so it balances out.

And of course working for free is common too. But when you're doing shoots with your mates you don't mind *that* much! (Helps to have a 9-5!)

Manic Moran

I was peripherally involved in the making of Fury. The main reason they filmed in the UK was because tank rental was cheaper, and they cut several scenes out of the original script simply because of the costs involved in making them, both in terms of CGI (An airplane which gets shot down over the tank column), and filming time (Destruction of the AA gun, and there was originally a second Tiger).

Currently involved in a TV advertisement, same thing. They cut down from the original idea, simply to make budget.

afatbollix

Most of that 300 million is actually the marketing budget.

If Game of Thrones can make an episode for $6 million you can make most things for about that.

ivytwine

afatbollix wrote: »

Most of that 300 million is actually the marketing budget.

If Game of Thrones can make an episode for $6 million you can make most things for about that.

Speaking of GOT don't forget travel costs... Filmed between NI and Croatia (and some other places which escape me at the mo) so ferrying crews and actors must cost a bomb.

HBO would be willing to pump that much money into it because it makes them so much... They've been really stringent on piracy, tight on their deal with sky, won't sell the rights to Netflix, merchandising etc. They've been really canny about it so they're recouping what they spent.

I heard today that when GOT finishes HBO will badly need a similar hit or they'll be in trouble.

Massimo Cassagrande

I worked on one Hollywood film, once, as a one off..and no, no they don't contain costs. Mental, was the main word that sprang to mind.

humanji

One thing that happens with big studios is using companies they own, but billing themselves over the odds. So if, say WArner Brothers needed €20million worth of CGI, they'd use one of the companies they own and charge €100million. So that's €80million profit that's going to them before the film even hits theatres. And they wouldn't be the ones fronting the money. They'd have a long list of investors who throw cash at them to make a hit/ So any money to be paid back to investors comes from the profits, long after they themselves have taken their cut.

So every penny is accounted for, and when they seem to be spending like crazy, they know exactly what they're doing.

Cee-Jay-Cee

frag420 wrote: »

That depends on the shop.....Tesco seem to have a bigger mesh size than other shops. Dunnes seem to have a smaller mesh size as they sell a lot of sh!t and it stops it from dripping on the floor........

The thing I wonder about however is people with nothing to do but belittle those who are are seeking an answer to a question.I wonder do they not have a life, are they that bored with their lives that they have to belittle other people questions, do they have a job or are they virgin geeks trying to justify their existence with crap replies and being smart asses.....

I also question irony.......

Do you wonder about those sort of things regularly or did my question raise it in your mind just this one time?

And to answer your questions, yes I have a life (don't all living beings have a 'life'???) and no I'm no longer a virgin but why would a question make you wonder if someone that you've never met has ever had sex before? Are you looking for advice for your first time and too Afraid to ask People you know???

Capt'n Midnight

David Prowse played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars movies and signed up for a share of the net profits on Return of the Jedi.

The movie cost $32.5m to make. It made $30.5m on the opening weekend.
By the following week it had made $70m so already more than double what it cost to make.

The gross revenue from it is now $572m , and counting.
(not sure if you add the $191m rentals to that too.)





And of course David is entitled to exactly nothing because the film hasn't made a profit yet