MovieMaking

Ross Woods, 2015, Rev. 2020

I was asked about offering a qualification in film by running a college as a film company. This includes the idea of enterprise RTO, that is, the film company integrates a training system into its regular work schedules as seamlessly as possible. Such programs usually face an ethical tension between using students as free labour for the benefit of the company and offering a program for the students' benefit. It is not too difficult to overcome this tension, especially if the goal is for students to be trained to workplace standard.

1. Many aspects are probably best taught in a classroom situation; history of film and screen writing come to mind as obvious examples.
2. Some specialist roles are usually separate streams. Screen writing and acting are the more obvious examples.
3. Some specialist roles are interdependent. For example, camera operators and editors can both do better if they have had experience in each other's roles.
4. Before tackling even the most basic feature, students need solid practice making training films, segments for a magazine show, perhaps a short film or junior roles in making a feature.

Commercial viability

Training films are the bread and butter of small production companies. The income is steady, skills are less sophisticated than features, and profit margins can be slimmer due to the decreased risk.

For a program in feature film to be viable, each film needs to be a commercial success, that is, at least pay its own bills. Due to the high risk in films, investors often expect to at least double their investment. The first stage of quality control is the Go/No go decision, so the senior leadership group needs to select scripts with strong stories and good commercial potential. However, it is easy to be distracted into something arty, juvenile, parochial, or self-indulgent that is doomed to failure, and some excellent productions have been aimed at such small market segments that they cannot expect much success. Even if it is easier to see what won't work, it isn't easy to know exactly what people will want to watch. Some excellent films have not been successful at the box-office.

Commercial viability also indicates that key roles need a high standard of expertise, especially the director, script editor, producer, lead actors, sound recordist, cinematographer, and editor. Perhaps expert staff, not students, fill some key roles. However, the program also needs to train gifted students in senior roles. This means being very selective about which students enter higher levels and get streamed into key specialist roles or combinations of roles. To learn any of the senior roles and be assessed as competent requires more time than can usually be funded in an ordinary program of study, but students still need to be able to do the job for which they are trained at a professional standard. This indicates that the full program should be at least three years, and preferably four. Even then, it will be quite intensive.

Challenges

Such an endeavor still faces significant challenges:

1. A feature needs a wide variety of staff, including many with advanced expertise. Senior staff are expensive, but they also double as on-job instructors.
2. Funding is always a challenge in film production. Small budgets start at $2m. although this presumes all staff are paid. As an educational institution, students provide most labor, but even then costs are considerable. On the other hand:
   • Australian films are on average better funded that most US non-blockbuster films.
   • Some minimum budget films were major successes: Easy Rider, Mad Max, Boys Don’t Cry, Blair Witch Project.
3. Distribution is difficult:
   • Television networks and most major cinema chains have agreements that lock out new players.
   • Australian films tend to be less popular with audiences unless they deliberately address international audiences.
4. Webcasting is easy, but building an audience is difficult.
5. Promotion is normally very expensive.

Project plan

The diagram below is an outline of a project plan, listing production stages in order from left to right. For each one, it lists the roles required, except that it omits the script writer, whose job is usually finished before the leadership team buys the script. It also lists some optional roles, that is, roles not required for all films. (Of course major films have many more roles.)

Producer’s department

Before the start, the producer must decide go/no go. This involves:
• Selecting a script
• Workshop and edit script, and perhaps re-writing it multiple times
• Assess feasiblity and viability as a business proposition. This requires preliminary planning and budget, distribution options, and lead actors. (People often select movies because they recognize stars, although all major lead actors have films that are not well-known.)
• Secure funding.

During all later phases, the producer oversees funder relations, budget compliance, legals, and relations with distributors.